I have a
Republic, which is pretty identical to the Johnsons, and I really love it. You need really thick, tough strings-- it's the only uke I've got that I took off GHS's only to take off the replacements and put new GHS's on. Stringing 'em can be a pain-- who knew metal could cut nylon?
That said, I love the sound, the feel, etc. of my Republic. I also replaced the friction tuners with geared, just 'cause I hate 1:1 tuning ratios.
Republics are cheaper than even the other Chinese-made metal bodied ukes, and I think their quality assurance is a bit higher, as they're actually assembled and set up here in the states by Frank, the owner. The only wierdness is that one of the markers on the fretboard is one fret off on all their ukes. It's not much of a problem for me, but it's strange. (Although, in fifty years, it'll mean that the Republics are easier to spot and identify than Johnsons or the other budget brands, which makes me wonder if they might end up being more collectible...) The cone's decent, with a nice sound. You'd be better off getting a National, but they're 5 times the price.
They *are* loud, but they're not insanely so... The uke player from the
Winin' Boys actually told me he bought a National for volume, but ended up never using it, 'cause his classic Martin had more volume.
A trick about the volume, though-- if you get one, or get a chance to try one out, you won't get a good sense of the real volume when you're playing. The resonator cone directs all the sound out and away from you. If you want to get an idea of the actual volume, have someone else play it in front of you, or play it facing a wall, so the sound'll bounce back at you...
I say go for it, though.
And check out Republic. They're available on ebay:
http://myworld.ebay.com/fr52he
I haven't seen any of the reso-ukes in a little while, but Frank's really good about communication-- shoot him an email and see if he expects to have any soon...