Johnson Telecaster Copy

Made in China in 2002. Comes with 22 frets and solid body. Two tone one volume control with 5-way selector switch, Body is solid alder with an inlaid two tone deck. Finish is silver lacquer on the body and clear flat finish in the neck. Has the standard Tele style bridge. The neck is flat and good for small hands.

I found the second tone control scratchy so I preset it before plugging in. I will probably change it out later. I am using a small Yamaha amp with it and the sound is fairly good for a $79 (US guitar. When I first got it, I didn't like the strings so I put a set of handmade FG flat wounds on it and it improved the sound.

For me, I think the bridge will be lowered but otherwise, feels good.

Appears to be a guitar that will last as long as I will. Finish looks good but I am not crazy about the color. I will likely repaint it later. Not bad though, all things considered. I am already using it playing with a group.

bought it off e-bay and the dealer was very good in getting it to me. Because the guitar came from the US and I live in Canada, it bogged down with Canada Customs but delivery was within the stated three weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years using Fenders, Yamaha's. Harmony, etc. I still play a Yamaha 12 string standard.
If it were stolen, I would certainly consider this make when seeking a replacement. It came to $170 Canadian when all said and done with exchange, postage, customs, taxes etc. The cheapest line I found locally was $375 so I consider, grade for grade, that I got a good deal.

Solid alder body, unfortunately covered in black. I tried to get a blond one but they appear to be very rare. Why??? Standard Tele configuration and hey, the bridge is exactly like the original Broadcaster bridge, top marks here. Pretty well made for a guitar under 300 EURO's.

The neck pickup sound is so creamy, it's simply unbelievable. This guitar looks ands sounds like a Tele. That's what you get and they've done a jolly good job. This baby eats Squiers for breakfast.

Very good now, but out of the box it was one of the worst guitars I've ever seen. For that reason only 9 points, but now it's a killer guitar.

It's heavy, solid, trustworthy, reliable, friendly, good looking, good sounding.

Would certainly buy it again, but next time it would be a blond one. One thing I can't understand is, why is there no option for a black scratchplate.

Standard Tele copy. One of the better ones I have found. It has the vintage style string through bridge like the late 50s tele that will accept the true fender ash tray. Plus it has the 3 barrel bridge saddles. They are grooved so it is impossible to adjust string spacing. I will probably upgrade to fender brass saddles for $10. Overall a nice tele copy, much better than the squiers and even on par with the mexican Tele with a little work.

I was looking for a tele for a backup to my strat. I wanted somthing I could modify and kinda kick around without too many worries. This guitar fit the bill. For a cheap knockoff it is outstanding. I really shouldn't call it a cheap knockoff because it is far beyond the others I have found and even better than the Squier line. I did have to do some adjustments and mods to get it decent sounding. I had to tighten all screws, tuners, reinstall the neck, replace the strings, adjust intonation, and oil the switch. After that it sounded quite good and had a very good tele sound. The pickups were a bit microphonic, but other than that were pretty low noise. I did however opt to replace the pickups since it was in my plan from the start. I installed a set of Fender Texas Specials and a 4 way switch so I could have the pickups in series too. Just doing that mod made it a guitar perfect. It sounds just amazing. I would expect to pay at least $700 to get a guitar that sounds this good, but it only cost me a total of $160, and it needs nothing more. I now favor it over my American strat. It is now my main axe. I only give it a 8 because of the work I had to put into it. After the mods I give it a 10.

It was more or less a preassembled kit. I had to rebuild it. No big deal, took me all of 30 min. The neck was great, and the body was finished nicely with all the proper routing -no excessive routing like I have found in the past. The frets needed a bit of filing, but were not bad. The selector switch was crap. It didn't have any detents, you just had to move it to the general area to work. I replaced it.

After my reassembly I fully trust it for live playing. I got it to be my backup, but now it is my main axe.

I would replace it if I lost it. I am even thinking of getting another in a different finish, at this price why not?

2002 (?) made in China Tele clone. It's more or less a copy of a 1958 Fender Telecaster. More or less, this is not a matter of philology, of course.
22 frets
? pieces (who knows? It's painted) solid alder tele body, black finished
rosewood fingerboard
2-pieces maple neck with (fine) rosewood stripe
Flat radius (maybe 13 3/4)
25.5" scale like all Fenders
Standard tele 3-ways switch
Standard tele passive S-S configuration (neck lipstick pup)
Vintage 3 (chrome steel) saddles tele bridge, top loading (not string-thru-body)
Die cast tuning machines
vintage (thin) frets
come with a cheap but fine bag + a crappy (but working) small practise amp and a cheap strap. Quite amazing for $ 97!

TWO THUMBS UP! I wanted something that looks and sounds like a tele, but without paying a lot of money. I choose a Johnson since two years ago I bought a Fat Strat clone by Johnson, and I've found out that it was a pretty fine copy. So that I tried the Johnson tele this time, and it was a gret surprise, too. This axe is a little bit worse in its finishing that my strat, but the sound is amazing. It's got two low output (jut have to turn up a little your amp volume) pup's that work. I play jazz, so that I prefer to play thru neck and sometimes middle (neck + bridge), and this little black cheapo toy PLAYS & SOUNDS pretty well. I play clean (no effects at all), and the tone pot works fine, you can obtain a sufficiently good variey of sounds, from dark (but well defined) jazzy tones to razor edge's ones. About the bridge pup (I seldom use) I can say it twangs as it's got to do. The pup's are not that noisy: anycase, they're single coils, you know that's normal.

As several friends wrote before me, out of the box this guitar is a disaster, but it took just an hour to transform it into something good, and I had a lot of fun.
First of all, you'll need a complete screwdrivers set: if you pay LESS THAN 100 $ for a guitar, you can't expect that's ready to play. It's just assembled, but not set up.
I had got to screw:
the tuners
the bridge screws (I mean the ones that hold the bridge attached to the body)
the selector plate screws
the pickguard screws
Moreover, I can't agree with someone who wrote that the neck matched perfectly the body neck pocket. I removed the neck (always do it, it's fundamental) and I found half a disaster: there were woodsheds, lacquer spots, some glue (?)... but in 20 minutes I easily cleaned the surface with some sandpaper. I've to admit that the neck size suits the pocker, slipping in perfectly. After this little sandpapering, everything was OK, this amazing girl demnstrated a fine sustain (I repeat to nausea, it's AMAZING for 97 $)
WARNING: I already knew, and I immediately changed those horrible (0.009"/0.042") strings. I immediately replaced them with my beloved 0.010"/0.046" Ernie Balls.
About the neck: it's not perfectly finished (some imperfections in the varnish on the fingerboard sides), but it's not that bad. It came terribly dirty and dry: I cleaned and smoothed with some wood wax, and its color tutned in a pleasant dark rosewood. It's quite straight, maybe a little more relief could be better, but the frets are straight enough not to have huge buzzes (unhearable when plugged), so that you can play with a rather low action.
The pup's switch was dry, too, it just needed two silicone oil drops.
Out of the box this guitar deserves 5, but with the above settings (not a grat job, believe me) it will deserve 8

It's a tele, anycase, so it's solid as a rock. The harware is cheap, but this doesn't mean that it will cause problems. I've been playin' the aforementioned Johnson Strat for years, and no problems occured.
The finish isn't the usual 5 mm-plastic-lacquer you usually find on the cheap instruments, it's a normal one. I know for sure that it the one you'll find one by far more expensive guitars. The stap buttons are OK (screw them!).
I suggest this guitar as a cheap but fine & solid backup, do not hesitate if you want a solid axe to carry in your car trunk for your holidays, but I guess this incredible little tele can be used on stage, no doubt.

5 years warranty I'm sure I won't use.

People at Music Brokers have been professional and gentle, very friendly (both by e-mail and on the phone).

I've been playing for 26 years. I have an old Eko Ranger 6 / el dreanought, a 2-buckers Yamaha Pacifica 311 tele, a Johsnon JS810 fat strat (see my reviews here on Harmony Central for each of those). I play through an old no-name valve amp, that gives full & rich sounds also to the cheapest guitars.
I love this guitar since it costed almost nothing, while it gives you a lot since it plays good for few bucks. If stolen or lost, I'll order another one immediately.
I wish it were string-thru body, but that's a fixable issue (and not urgent at all), you can drill the holes and put the ferrules... but who cares? It's good as it is. Fender built some toploaders in late 50's too...

My Johnson telecaster copy is the JT-800 model, which is made in China. It has a 4 piece alder block body and is finished in a good looking transparent dark blue. The headstock is a shape that reminds me of an Ibanez. It has a maple neck, slab rosewood fretboard and rosewood "skunk stripe" on the back of the 22 medium jumbo fret neck. The neck has a vintage honey tint to it. The neck is wide with a boat shape and is very flat. It may be a 12" radius. It is a formidible neck. The tuners are the sealed variety, but feel somewhat cheap. The E1 tuner has a rough spot in a gear.

The pickups have ceramic magnets. The neck pickup is adjusted by removing the white 3 layer pickguard. The bridge pickup has a brass plate attached to the bottom.

The bridge has three saddles and the strings are top loaded, just like the Fender Esquire. Well, not quite as the saddles are chromed.

The guitar came with a gig bag and Allen wrenches. So, it has all the feature a tele should have.

This guitar has a great blues vibe. The amount of sustain is truly amazing for not having strings through the body. This must be due to the heavy body and neck woods. Don't get me wrong, it's not uncomfortably heavy, it's just more heavy than my Stratocasters.

It sounds nice and somewhat bright. The pickups balance well with each other but lack the richness of Alnico magnet pickups.

I use 50 watt, tube or solid state combos with 1X12 speakers. It sounds good with either but the front pickup thru a tube amp is very sweet.

The bridge pickup is microphonic while using high gain distortion. It howled but is okay with Tubescreamer overdrive.

Dump the factory strings ASAP.

Did I mention it has tons of sustain?

From the factory, the intonation was right on and everything functioned. All new guitars need the hardware tightened, a setup and neck adjustment so, no points off for that. The fret ends were nicely dressed for a guitar in this price range. There were minor finish imperfections that cannot be seen from 2 feet away.

Now for the digs. Starting with ten points, I give -1 point for nut slots not deep enough, -1 for frets not level, -1 for too much nut material above the strings. These made the action too high. The neck pocket was rough and had loose wood shavings in it. So, -1 more. Total score = 6.

Noisy pickups? These are single coils, not humbuckers. Deal with it.

Yes, this guitar would survive live playing and the hardware will last. You could depend on it. I'd have to play it a year for it to show me if I could use it without a backup. Strap buttons? They're better that what Gibson put on my Les Paul Studio.

I don't plan on using Johnson customer support. I've already voided the warranty in making upgrades.

I've been playing guitar since Kennedy was president and got this guitar to experiment with. Check out the prices on the internet. These are more cost effective than a Squire. The blue finish is sweet and the finished alder body alone is worth the price of the guitar.

I'm presenlty recording and needed a tele sound. Since my "accountant" can't spring for that Fender American no-caster reissue, this will have to do. For now...

I replaced the wiring, switch and jack and installed a set of standard alnico tele pickups I had laying around. I kept the stock dime sized pots because they have a nice taper. After a fret level, neck adjustment and fixing the nut, it's a good guitar. The flat radius is KILLER for slide work.

Wishes? I wish Johnson had wax potted the pickups. Then, I might have kept them in. But this is just a project guitar for me and it may sport a white pearl PG and a new neck. Total cost will still be less than a Fender Mex Tele.

This is a good guitar for students. Too bad they didn't make these when I was a kid. I highly recommend this to parents looking for something for their kids. Just get it setup, first.

I'm gonna rate this on the "bang for the buck" scale.

This is a 2002 (I guess) model, 21 frets on a Rosewood fretboard. It has the typical Telecaster layout with respect to the controls. The body is Alder with a 3 tone sunburst paint job, finshed nicely (no serious imperfections) with decent grain. Aside from the headstock, the only other indicator that this is not a true Tele is that the strings are not run through the body.

I give it an 8 for having most of the "standard" features that I was looking for.

I wanted to plug it in to see how it would sound right out of the box. Okay, there could be some improvement there. I removed the strings, then the pickguard, and adjusted the height of the neck pickup. When I restrung it, I put on a set of 11~52's. It sounded much better than I expected.

I give it an 8 because, I didn't expect much for $97, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The action (string height) was good, the strings were right about where I like them; however, the intonation was off a little. This was not due to the increasing string gauge because the measurement from the inside of the nut to the top center of the first saddle was slightly less than an eighth (maybe 3/32") of an inch too close to the neck.

The body is 2 piece, not bookmatched, but not bad either. The finish is very nice, no uneven finished areas.

The neck pickup was all the way to the bottom (and then some... looks as though someone took some sort of screwdriver and removed material from the pickup route so that the big magnet on the bottom of the pickup would allow the pickup to sink a little further... they probably should have just left it alone. Oh well, its adjusted now anyway.

Other than that, no real problems with this guitar's action, fit or finish. I will say that if I was not aware of how to set up a guitar, I would not have been happy.

I rate this category a 7, since I could correct the issues, but they weren't correct when I took it out of the box.

I do believe that the guitar is extremely solid. This is a relatively simple guitar design, not very mechanical, not very many switches or moving parts (re: no tremolo, no floating bridge, etc.. things that you would see on other guitars). I believe the finish will last as well as any other guitar out there. It's not extremely heavy, but you know it's there, that's for sure. The neck to body joining is very tight, in a good way.

I have not had it long enough to know that it would withstand live playing, but I don't see why it wouldn't, and I would never gig without a backup... ever.

I am going to be generous in this department, just because of how it feels, and I will give it a 10

I have been playing for about 11 years, I have a 4 acoustic guitars (2 of which are Johnsons, and sound great), and 3 other electric guitars (all Fenders - Stratocaster, Jazzmaster, 72 Custom Tele re-issue).

If this guitar were to be stolen, I would simply replace with another just like it.

I will be changing the neck for a more vintage Telecaster type (thicker), but that is a matter of taste, there is nothing wrong with the current neck.

Overall, I will give this guitar a 9. For the money, you actually can get a pretty decent sound out of it.

Hey, it's a tele, they don't differ too much. This one has a sunburst finish and a rosewood fret-board.
I have no clue to when it was made, but I do know it was born in China.
It has a fat neck for a Tele, which is cool by me. I like em like that.
I ended up with this guitar in a very bizzare way. My band (Slow Motion Riot) was playing an opening slot for Joe Bonnamassa. Our local public radio station were raffling off the guitar (with Joe's signature on it) for 15 dollars a pop. I did not enter, but My drummer Drew did, and won. We already had a stellar night, so this was icing on the cake. Drew told me earlier that night that if he won, he'd give the guitar to me. Now THAT is a true friend! Thanks Drew!
When I got the guitar home, I played it. It blew. I looked it up on the internet and found out how cheap it was. Then by chance I happened upon this site. When I read about the strings and the action being really crappy, I decided to tweak it a bit. A half hour later I had an amazing guitar in my hands. When I put some Boomers (10's of course) it transformed to a blues machine. I can't belive this 100 dollar knock-off makes me want to throw my other guitars in the fire.

This guitar saved me from double-Humbucking hell, and I ain't going back. I play in a blues/rock band. This guitar sounds great and plays good once you set it up. If you put 9's instead of 10's on this guitar, you will miss out on the true tone.

The factory set-up was horrible, but who cares. I am the only one who knows how to set up my guitar anyways. I like my action a little higher for slide playing.
The pick-ups were just where I like them.
There was one minor finish flaw, but no big deal.
the hardware seems solid, and the electronics work just fine.

I would never suggest playing without back-up guitars, but if I had to, I think this guitar would be just fine.

I am just worried about the Joe Bonnamassa signature wearing off. I have to play it, I don't belive in display guitars!

Don't need it, don't care.

I have been playing guitar for 15 years.
My amp is a 100 watt Carvin amp w/tube electronics. I love that amp!! I have a blue sparkley Squier Tele with two double humbuckers, and that has been my main guitar, but no more. I have come back to the land of true blues tone. I also have a red Ibanez G10 with double humbuckers that I now despise with all my being.
I think I want another one of these Tele knock-offs, in a different color. Why not?
If you have a child looking to start playing, this guitar is the best bargain you'll find. BAR NONE! I got the best deal since it was a gift, but 100 dollars seems to be the average price for this guitar. It's worth more than that to me. I spent 250 on my squire, and it sucks in comparison. Go out and buy ten of these and donate them to schools. They sound amazing, just take the time to give them a little TLC, and they will perform for you.

Made 2001/2002 Korea or China
Basic Telecaster copy.
Don't know what one looks like got to Fender.com

Everything cosmetically is there.

Did not buy, tried out three models (finish-wise)
at local music store in MI.

Terrible sound quality, if any sound at all.
Pick-ups where excruciatingly weak. Selctor switch only
worked on bridge and middle position.
Pure sh%t, as sh%t can be. All thre models were defective.

All had a tinny sound. All buzzed like hell.

I guess if you don't know a good guiatr when you hear one,
you could mistake it as twang.

These are the sh%tty necks I've every tried to play.
The finish gripped your palm all to well. Any decent neck
with no finish aid should never do this.
Therefore, playability, had no ability.

Typical tele knock-off, body and finish okay.

Well seeing as the neck sucked and the pickups were weak and the selector switches all were screwed. ....can you guess?....

Thank God I wasn't blind enough to one,
to deal with any customer support.

Looks can be decieving. And in this case, they prove that saying.
DO NOT BUY a Johnson telecaster copy. Save and spend another 60 bucks and get the next best thing ...a Squier.

I have two guitars, an Epiphone LP-100 I use for playing punk and alt. rock ($310), a Fender Special Ed. Strat for playing almost any style I feel ($340) both a run through a Vox AD60VT 60W w/ effects.
I don't hardly use the effects onboard the amp, I just have a Boss compressor, chorus and overdrive. Like to keep it simple.

I was wanting to round out my axes with a tele-style guitar and didn't want to spend a lot more than I needed to. So, PLEASE, PLEASE,
PLEASE, save the extra 60 bucks and get your self a Squier or something.

Johnson Telecaster...just plain old sucks.

Made in China in 2001G
orgeous Sunburst finish
Solid Alder body
22 Frets
1 single coil, 1 lipstick pickup
volume, tone, 3-way selector
Maple neck w/rosewood
Tele style bridge
Included gig bag, Allen wrenches

After you change the stings (OEM strings blow), it's got a nice tele sound. The pickups are pretty weak though... the lower notes get picked up really well, but I really have to pick the higher notes harder for them to be heard... but I don't have a lot of experience with the tele so this might be normal. I would describe the sound as more bright than rich... it sounds really good with "distortion" on the Johnson 15 amp... my Johnson strat copy (w/humbucker) is way overdone on distortion, this one is perfect (not so much without distortion) for what I play (mostly the simple "learning" songs that come in the learning books. I don't like the way the stings are spaced so far apart near the bridge... it's hard to get used to since I mostly play my strat copy. Unlike my strat, the tone knob really works and works well, and the 3-way selector is a LOT quieter than the strat copy.

Out of the box, this thing was a basket case. I probably could have pulled my gig-bag all the way through under the strings at the pick guard. But that was easily fixed. Also, I had to tighten most of the screws on it. Other than a crappy setup, it was perfect. I have to REALLY try hard to see where the grains matched up on the top. There wasn't a single cosmetic flaw on it. Tuners seem to be secure and precise... This guitar was worth the $100 just to sit there and look pretty... Finish on it (at least cosmetically) is as good as the REAL sunburst Fender Telecasters I've been pawing on at Guitar Center

This is a very solid guitar... time will tell about the tuners and such, as I am not hard on my guitars at all...yet.... but I would imagine that it will take a lot of abuse and keep going... it seems to be made of quality components, even if Chinese slave labor can't get a screw tight...

2 year warranty... but at $100 brand new, it probably would be easier to just replace whatever breaks... but so far, nothing on it seems very fragile... the dealer I bought it from (over eBay) seems to be dependable if I should ever have a problem, so I'm not losing any sleep worrying about it.

I covered most of this in my above answers, but I would buy another if I ever lost this one... seems to be a great deal... When/if I outgrow what I can do on this, I think I'd probably keep it and upgrade parts (and still come out cheaper than buying a Fender)... I compared it to a real tele, and with my minimal skills, I couldn't justify the $$$, plus I need to pay my mortgage :) Also, if I ever do buy a real Fender, I'd keep this one to throw in the trunk for vacations and such... it's a lot of value for the money

Transparent finish T-style. A strait Tele copy - except for the neck and such. They included a good case and a pretty flimsy strap (I sewed it up and it woks fine) Pretty good for $99!

I play every style of music under the sun, but mostly psycho-blues. The only pedals are a BOSS DS-1 and a Crybaby all into an old Bassman. After a few little tweaks, I was left with only one thought in my brain, why did I pay so much for my Fender? It sounds a bit thinner and punchier then my old Fender Esquire, but not in a bad way. The tone control rolls off a bit to much volume, but it's easy to ignore because the guitar is so good as a whole.

Frets and every thing were great. Nut needed some attention, and a few of the screws were loose, but hey, it's $100!

Brilliant durability. Would gig without a backup.

N/A

Brilliant value