Axl Johnson strat

Hello all! Someone just gave me a fender ultimate chorus 2x12 and an axl Johnson strat copy.

The fender amp is pretty freaking sweet to be a solid state and it's hella loud

But the Johnson only sounds ok. It has passive "emg" single coils in it that are less than appealing. The hardware is pretty cheesy. The body and neck seem to be decent but what the hell do I know?

Anyways my question is does anyone know any specs on these? Is it worth me modding to keep around? I have no need for another guitar but I've never done a full scale mod project and it seems appealing.

If anyone could help with specs on wood and manufacture information, also is there anyway to give these pups some life or would it be best just to swap them? (keep in mind I'm not really looking to spend much cash but I'm more interested in gaining some experience with guitar work)

Otherwise I would just pawn it and get some other time waster

Thanks guys!

The high end Johnsons are actually pretty good guitars. I don't know if you have a high end or a low end and I have no idea how to tell the difference. My brother has one and it is made of a solid chunk of real wood (probably basswood) and sounds and feels good.

Yeah this one is about twice as heavy as any squire I've ever played and it feels as nice as a mim or better. It's 3 peices of solid wood

Anyone know any specs?

I'm of the opinion that any guitar purchased today can be made to play exceptionally well as long as the neck is straight. And given the way things are made these days, they almost always are. I would also assert that in my humble opinion that PUPs are 95% hype.

Humbucker vs single;active vs passive ...Most people will hear a difference there. Other than that, I just don't think there's a huge difference. The amp has a much bigger effect.

As for the single coils in that AXL? I say a PUP upgrade would give marginal returns at best. Spend that money on a pedal. That will affect your tone a helluva lot more. Oh and practice, unfortunately.

I think those are EMG Select pickups, which sound just fine to me, are quiet, and well-made. Those AXL guitars are good enough to use and make $$$.

The Johnson strats and teles have alder bodies.

Some of the later models have EMG designed pickups (printed on the pickups).

I have three Johnson strat-clones, a Johnson tele-copy, Johnson Las Vegas hollowbody.

They are pretty good guitars.

The AXL strats are basically the same and also good.

For the money they are some of the best bargains out there.

As far as investing money in modding them I think except for little things it's a waste of money.

Specs...

http://www.proaudiomusic.com/instruments/guitars/johnson/JS-800.htm

"Johnson JS-800. These guitars are designed to reproduce the classic electric guitar sounds from the '60s. We use a thicker body to help produce that beefy tone associated with the glory days of the guitar. These guitars out-class any others in their price range.

Our double cutaway guitar comes with diecast chrome tuning machines to allow for easy tuning. The neck is made from one piece of solid maple, we then inlay a rosewood neck stripe to give it a classy look. We use computer cut, nickel/silver frets that are well dressed. The solid alder body allows us to give the guitar a beautiful translucent finish. We use only high quality electronics which include high-gain pickups for a better tone, sealed pots that won't collect dust. The bridge is modeled after the vintage fulcrum bridges and have 6 adjustable saddles. We're confident you won't find a better guitar in this price range.

Solid Alder Body

One Piece Maple Neck

Rosewood Neck Stripe

Diecast Machine Heads

Rosewood Fretboard

3 Single Coil Pickups

2 Tone and 1 Volume Control

5 Position Pickup Selector

Fulcrum Bridge "