Johnson Amplification J-Station

Just an answer to the guy who said you have to have the editor to change parameter settings. All parameters are in deep edit mode press and hold the shift key until you see edit scroll across the screen

The factory presets run the gamut from bluesy to heavy to crystal clean. One thing I liked immediately is that Johnson wasn't trying to show me all the effects capabilities on every preset. Most presets have a usable amount of effects and my immediate desire was NOT to start tweaking the effects back, but to actually play!

Basic editing is pretty much a matter of twiddling "amp-like" knobs to get a desired setting and pressing the store buttin to save. Similar to the POD.

Advanced editing can be a bit involved mainly because you really need the manual in front of you to reference all different paramaters and values.

I had to place a support call to Johnson when I tried to use J-Edit (the librarian software that comes with the J-Station) because the display was kind of wacky (I'm a computer professional, so it wasn't for lack of trying) - I apparently discovered a new problem, which was resolved by changing my Windows Display properties to use 'Small Fonts'.

I am using the J-Station into a a stereo channel of a Mackie 1204 mixer into 2 separate power-amps (for band rehearsals) and out through Yamaha PA speakers (15"/Horn). The guitars have played through it so far are: Ibanez SC420, Ibanez S540, Ibanez 6-string bass (on the bass amp models).

So far, the sounds are pretty good - obviously everyone has different tastes - I already use a Johnson JM150 amp, so I like Johnson's modeling. They do a very good approximations of many amps.

Clean sounds are very easy to dial in (as is usually the case, I have found), but its not hard to get a great lead or crunch tone, either. Though I haven't tried it yet, I would say you could get good Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, etc lead tones from this unit, depending on what your preference is.

I haven't experienced any extraneous noise or any lame effects, however I have not had the thing long enough to get into too much effects tweaking.

The "Acoustic Amp" models are interesting, but a little to much top-end that just won't adjust out.

The "bass amp" models are good and I will definitely use them for any home recording I do.

At this point, I am pretty close to deciding to leave my JM150 at home and rehearse/gig entirely with the J-Station

Seems reliable enough so far, but 2 weeks doesn't say a lot... I'll repost after I've had more time on it.

Customer support was very quick to respond when I emailed them about the problems with J-Edit (I actually received a phone call back!), and also on another question about the software.

I play original music influenced by Sarah McLachlan, The Sundays, Natalie Merchant, Sting, Eric Johnson, etc. Jazzy pop-rock with lots of airy, ethereal clean guitars and warm, singing guitar solos. So far, the J-Station seems like a good fit. Its very well rounded, and should accomodate most styles.

I own tons of gear including 4 Ibanez guitars, 2 basses, a Roland GR-30 guitar synth, Ground Control midi-controller, lots of PA gear, the Johnson JM150 amp, and rack pre- and power-amps that are not currently be utilized.

I compared the J-Station to the POD and went with the J-Station for 2 reasons: 1) I like the Johnson sound, so I felt reasonably comfortable with the J-Station right away 2) The POD seemed a little more high-gain, head-banger oriented (no slam intended, I came from that background) than what I wanted.

Being that I like using midi continuous controllers, I wish there was more that 1 control allowed at a time. I would also like it if the unit listed patches as 0-29 or 1-30 rather in banks of 3 (comparably, the Roland GR30 allows you to switch between standard and banks of 4).

Easy to use. Some parameters can only be modified through PC software (have not used that feature as yet). Like many effects devices, I found the presets useless (at best a starting point). Expect to spend some time editing.

I play electric, bass, and acoustic/electric. For bass I give it a zero. For electric, buy a Line 6 POD. For my Godin A6 acoustic/electric, it is a 10! I go directly into a Soundcraft board for recording, and the J-Station is perfect for the A6 - what a surprise.

I tried a Boss AD3. It had a very good acoustic sound - one acoustic sound (like a loud acoustic guitar). The reverb was lame and the chorus was worse. Since I don't play live, I don't know about the antifeedback. The options with the J-Station, however, are impressive. The first evening I had 15 distinctive sounds stored in user memory. The Boss went back to the store. The J-Station is a must for my studio for acoustic/electric.