Johnson JD-26 Dreadnought
By Teja Gerken
An all-solid-wood dreadnought that delivers vintage tone and feel—without breaking the bank.

Originally developed by C.F. Martin and Co. in the late 1920s, the dreadnought has become the most popular steel-string acoustic guitar on Earth. With its large, nearly rectangular body, a dread typically offers great volume and punch, making it a great choice for keeping up with other acoustic instruments, especially when it's played with a flatpick.

While the dreadnought has been copied ubiquitously at every price point, a welcome new trend toward affordable instruments with true vintage-style specs has emerged in recent years. The Johnson Carolina II series is one of the latest in this category, and I recently had the chance to put the new JD-26 through its paces.

Johnson is part of the Music Link family (which also includes AXL, Lucida, and Recording King guitars, as well as Palatino bowed instruments) and therefore has vast resources at its disposal. For the vintage-inspired Carolina line, the company hired Greg Rich, whose 30 years of experience in guitar design includes working at Saga Musical Instruments and the Gibson custom shop.

PREWAR SPECS AND CLEAN CRAFTSMANSHIP
Built with all solid woods, the JD-26 has mahogany back and sides and a spruce top, which, combined with its other specs (including a dovetail neck joint and scalloped X-bracing), basically makes it a descendant of the legendary Martin D-18. While the JD-26's body binding and rosette are similar to the D-18's, its snowflake-shaped fretboard inlays are clearly patterned after those in the Martin rosewood D-28. The headstock inlay is where similarities to Martin dreadnoughts end: Carefully inlaid abalone and pearl sprout into a beautiful flower-and-vine motif. From there, though, it's back to the tried-and-true: Vintage-style tuners with 'butter-bean' knobs grace the back of the headstock, and a bone nut and compensated saddle round out the package.

The JD-26's craftsmanship was impressive, with precisely cut kerfing inside the body and well-fitting parts throughout. The neck relief in our review guitar was more pronounced between the fifth fret and the nut than throughout the rest of the neck, and I wasn't able to adjust it to a more evenly distributed curve using the truss rod. While not terribly compromising, this condition would make it difficult to dial in very low action, resulting in harder playability than can usually be achieved through adjustment.

The mahogany back, sides, and neck have attractively striped grain patterns, and the Engelmann spruce top had very tight grains, all of which contribute to the JD-26's uptown cosmetics. The only flaws I detected were small (about ?/64-inches in diameter) pockmarks in the top's finish, but these were only visible with a bit of scrutiny and the light shining on the guitar at a certain angle.

VINTAGE CONSTRUCTION PROVIDES AUTHENTIC FEEL
With the JD-26 in hand, I immediately realized that the vintage style of construction carried over to the guitar's playability. Players accustomed to modern, low-profile necks might cry out, 'That's a Louisville Slugger!' But those frustrated by not being able to find true prewar-Martin feel in a new guitar will be delighted. With a deep profile that's somewhere between half-round and V, the Johnson's neck will likely feel ideal to players with large hands and those who reach around the bass side with their thumb. Our JD-26 came with medium-gauge Martin phosphor-bronze strings (with a .013 high E) and medium-high action, making it more suitable for a flatpicking workout than nimble fingerstyle explorations. Because of the neck-relief issue mentioned earlier, the guitar's action and resulting playability were uneven between the low and high positions, which could be an issue for busy lead pickers who may wish for greater ease up the neck.

BIG VOLUME, DELICIOUS TONES
While playing the JD-26 may not be the most effortless experience, its luscious tones are bound to perk up even jaded vintage-guitar fans. I found it especially satisfying to play driving, bluegrass-style rhythms with first-position chords because it unleashed the booming, authoritative tones for which this style of dreadnought is famous. Volume limitations didn't seem to be part of the Johnson's vocabulary, and even under the most brutish attack, and using an ultra-stiff Wegen pick, the JD-26's tone remained focused, balanced, and, most importantly, pleasant-sounding. Flatpicking single-note lines, I felt that my attempts at Tony Rice style leads were hampered slightly by the fat neck and varying action, but I was still able to coax out juicy trebles and a respectable amount of sustain.

With its preference for the louder end of the dynamic range, the JD-26 was not what I would call an ideal fingerstyle machine, but this is true for many dreadnoughts. However, with aggressive attack I could get convincing fingerstyle blues sounds with a great dynamic range and strong bass response, and I suspect that players who use fingerpicks will be able to push the Johnson into its dynamic comfort range.

THE WRAP
I felt that a professional setup would probably improve our review guitar's playability, and other players to whom I showed the guitar (including serious flatpickers) agreed. However, even as it came from the factory, the Johnson's setup was quite decent, and with variations between individual guitars, you may find that setup isn't an issue at all. Overall, the Johnson JD-26 is a serious contender if you're looking for true vintage sound and feel on a budget.



The article may or may not be accessible here.