Johnson Guitars MG-10

For specifications are refferrer site to Johnson.
To remember, however: a very beautiful solid mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard of Honduras and mechanical oil bath, all in one design very bare comptemporaine ...
A metal box much copied in terms of national coastal and seems to be screwed to the road.
It is a question of a "cookie" and not a spider bridge.

UTILIZATION

As I said this race is very nice though with no-frills: no net, just stick pins pearl (plastic) on the sidelines, but the Honduras mahogany is beautiful in itself.
Question coast, close enough to the handle of a classical guitar, both the side pot-bellied lice than the width of the long key and the pitch ...
Radius flat, ideal for the slide, check out box 14, more than enough for the delta blues and bluegrass picking.
Attention, the action of the MG 10 is preset to a middle picking and slide.
The pure sliders (which never frettent) will face the nut sleeve, the other (like me) that alternate bluesy riff on the fundamental open floor 3rd and 5th with box and slide on the 4th and 5th degree can s' slider slightly in content.
The problem lies mainly in the third box on the low D (in open ground.).
In my case, I 'plans to raise the sleeve nut to 4 mm in the third box.

His side:
- Equipped with Dunlop tab and a metal bootleneck, we get the true sound of gear: A medium round and very very smooth with a touch of fraying wire that can be under the attack and the pressure to the slide or not very far. So the blues in open ground and even the blues, as swamps of New Orleans, Ry Cooder Alvin Youngblood Art.
In typical use, folk guitar, you get a medium that his lack of balance on other frequencies, for against, no sound churlish as Banjo type on FR48 fender or some other brands, but it depends on taste, some love side the banjo, but with the MG 10: No banjo!. (but it is not his specialty, the better (use the slide rural ...).
-N did not sustain the natural reverb and high-end type and National dobro: Changing the cone could be considered ...

SOUNDS

-I am in my period its "roots" and this is perfect for that: no amp or of effects (after 22 years of electricity ..), the fingers just the fingers and the sound of the resonator grows air from the box.
The sound of the "south", sticky, which s' stretches like an old cat in the sun ...
You will have all that at the end of the slide.

OVERALL OPINION

I-Slide for 1 year seriously, I'm looking for the spirit of a type of blues basics: no guitar hero, guitar is music and not the reverse; tired of typing the scratches, the feeling nothing but feeling.
Meanwhile, I also slide in electric (open ground) and this is the breaks, I plunged back into the blues rock with a more minimalist approach.
"I have tried many models:
10 Johnson MW hybrid fine, ultra dirty and roots and not expensive at all (but I wanted an all-metal)
Fender Fr48: A superb tank, very heavy with a handle huge but the sound was too typed banjo.
Fender FR50: Beautiful black and sustain a single note in interressant unfortunately just typed in arpeggios and banjo picking.
Aria: beautiful little reso sunburst with a very clean and balanced
Regal (model 700 euros): very disappointed, a lot of vibration parasites, in short I have not insisted.

I regret not being able to buy the electro model: "I was in a hurry and did not want to wait two months and refuses to buy Internet guitars that I 've not tried before.

For 470 Euros you have an excellent instrument (sound and correct) to start the slide and open tuning without breaking the bank.
Subsequently, and if I continue on the path of slide and "roots" with passion, I consider a "customization" heavy:

Laying of lipstick in a micro kind of Eric Sardinas
Laying of a national cone
-Pose of a sensor fishman
An electronic-knob with "blender" to mix the microphone to fishman lipstick.

A little history: In the '20s, guitarists were still and always looking for a way to increase the volume of their instrument to be heard. George Beauchamp, lap steel guitarist, addresses dopiera brothers, Austro-Hungarian emigrants, repair of various instruments for the design of a lap steel model "amplified". We are in 1927 and dopiera brothers, John and mainly dopiera, present at the Tricone Beauchamp, a lap steel with metal body and three metal cones acting as internal speakers connected to the bridge by a T. Let them join then in 1928 founded the National and commercialize this model: the National Tricone, which will be manufactured in factories of a certain Adolf Rickenbacher (finally Rickenbacker Americanized version), German immigrant. But the story of the young company run short: John dopiera filed a patent in 1927 for the Tricone, but Beauchamp managed to drop one in 1929 for Unicon, nose and beard of its inventor, John dopiera (this time a single cone replaces the three). Dopiera then founded the parallel Dobro (dopiera Brothers) and brings a lawsuit against Beauchamp with the idea of ​​regaining control of National. The trial lasted 4 years and finally ending on the sentencing of Beauchamp. National-Dobro was born. Beauchamp, however, contine to work with Rickenbacker in 1931 and they market the first solid-body electric guitar under the name Electro Rickenbacker then: the A-22, better known as ridiculous Fryin Pan, frying pan, equipped micro horseshoe patented by Beauchamp.
For the curious, note that the idea of ​​the resonator is not new. The maker of genius Antonio De Torres, who is responsible for the classical guitar as we know it today, proposed in the mid 19th century guitars with "resonance" means a cylindrical piece of wood under escutcheon and supposed to improve sound projection. This idea does not pass to posterity in the classical realm. Maybe the brothers attacked dopiera they inspired the Tricone?

- Made in China.
- Body: Bell brass chrome
- Cone: Aluminum,
- Bone nut, maple bridge,
- Mahogany from Honduras,
- 19 Rosewood cue with mother of pearl boxes,
- Sleeve width at nut: 45 mm, at 12th fret: 55 mm
- Junction handle / body in the 14th box,
- Scale 632 mm,
- Resonator Diameter: 24 cm
- Mechanical oil bath chrome (Gotoh)
- Assembled with 13/56 strings!

The manufacturing quality is bluffing for 440 euros! "It has everything a great ..."

UTILIZATION

Handle very pleasant, with highs access difficult due to the lack of cutaway, but on the other side is a slide guitar!
Rather cumbersome due to the materials.
Well balanced, as "classical" caregiver.
Not easy for little fingers the strings of 13/56 but the law of the dobro (must it sounds!)

SOUNDS

For the slide guitar of course. The resonator metal returns a metallic sound rather warm, especially powerful. Excellent sound regardless of the type (Hawaiian, rock, blues, ...).

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a few months and what a pleasure for the slide to have a dedicated guitar.
Well made, with the metal finish makes it at once an instrument a little bit different: we're in the mood just by looking.
What could be better for 440 euros?
Only downside: no cover provided (shame for this type of instrument anyway, they might sell a little more expensive with a gig-bag) and difficult to find.