Johnson Amplification J-Station

Pretty easy to use. Out of the box, you don't need to know much because it's like an amp. Just turn the knobs. Some of the deep functions are more difficult to program without the J-edit software.

This is probably the closest unit you will find to the real thing, amp wise. Too bad Digitech bought them and then discontinued it. It has been said that the J-Station will become the TS808 of the modeling world.

This is about as good as it gets with present technology. Blackface and Tweed are almost dead on to the real thing. All the rest are really good. Effects are excellent, which is where many modelers really are lacking.

I don't use this with an amp, just for recording, but it does sound pretty good if you turn off cabinet modeling and run it into your effects return and use the J-Station as your pre-amp instead of your amps internal pre-amp. You then use the J-Station for all controls. It in effect makes your amp into a power amp, just like a PA. Which brings us to another point. It works great with cabinet models on and run direct into a PA.

It has worked great for a couple of years now. The things are going for quite a bit used on eBay. They were selling new for 89.00 right before they were discontinued and now I've seen them going for up to $155.00 on eBay.

Have not had to use them, but they do have a forum. The unit has been discontinued.

This is as good as it gets. Great sound, perfect for recording. The only thing I wish I could do is stack effects on top of each other.

I would desperately look for another one if it broke, and when they were selling cheap on eBay, I should have picked up a spare.

I've used a Digitech RP100, the Genesis 3, and a Vamp2.. It is much better, and I've been told it sounds a lot better than the POD products.

I received this information from the person who recommended the J-Station to me. He works for a movie studio and if you watch Stargate SG-1, the Outer Limits, or have seen the Mandy Moore film, Saved, you have heard him playing... through the J-Station. Also other numerous films and TV shows.

Very easy to get a good sound. Pick an amp, pick a cab are run with it. The J-Edit software makes this very easy. Deep editing off the front panel is a bit more trying. I wish this had the Genesis 3 user interface. Editing patches was easy. I upgraded to the latest and last patch upgrade.

I use it with a Fender Strat. The Gate works well. Effects are great. I love the Sound Stage reverb. I can get most any sound I want. The SOLDANO amp is pretty much in there with the JCrunch and JSolo. It depends what CAB you use. I really like the cab sims on this unit. The 4x12 really all have there own sound and I don't have to fight with EQ settings and CAB Tune like with the Genesis 3 and GNX products to get a good sound. The 4x12 cabs are well defined. I want bright select Boutique, I want dark select Greenback, I want a mix of the two select Johnson 4x12 etc. IMO this is the best amp modeler made to date period! If you want the sound of a real amp to the point that you can almost "hear the plywood" of the cabinet then this is it. I think it has a very "tube like" sound also.

I wish the SPDIF would mute when shutting the unit on and off. I get a loud POP sound.

I played a Genesis 3 and a POD XT and like the J the best.

I would use it live but would always have a backup. I wish thay made a rack unit of this. I may make my own.

Well they are out of biz right now. I wish Digitech would bring it back. (Note: Harman Music owns both) Email them and ask them to. They are getting sick of me bugging them I'm sure. I always get quick resonses from Digitech! I consider thier customer support outstanding.

I play 80's style rock. Dokken, Van Halen, Iron Maiden style. But also some soft stuff and am delving into some nu-metal kinda stuff slowly but surely.

Go to the J-Station sound forum and the Digitech Genesis 3 Sound Community to here real people making real music with the J-Station. and BRING BACK THE J!

Very easy to get a good sound out of this unit. It is much easier to dial in your sounds while hooked up to a PC, but it isn't absolutely necessary. The guys that whine about "dragging a pc to their gig" are being stupid. You can always dial your sounds in at home, and then once you get to a gig you can easily tweak eq, gain, levels, and all of the most critical parameters from the front of the unit.

This is my second J-Station. I bought when when they first came out about 5 years ago and I loved it. I used it for a ton of recording and got some amazing sounds. I bought a new guitar and suddenly didn't like the J-Station so much anymore. Instead of upgrading the pickups in the new guitar, I blamed the J-Station and sold it in search of something better. Since selling the first J-Station I have owned: Digitech GNX2, Digitech Genesis 3, Behringer V-Amp2 & V-Amp Pro, POD Pro, Rocktron Replitone MP preamp, Rocktron Chameleon, Sansamp GT2, Sansamp TM10, Boss GT-6........you get the idea. After all of those I finally broke down and bought another J-Station. I am very happy I did. The cleans are AMAZING in my book, and the distortions sound great for recording. I have run this unit to my power amp and speakers (Hafler G150 & 2 Fender 2x12 cabs) and gotten some good sounds, but this unit is best suited through a PA or for recording direct. If you do use cabinets just make sure you turn the speaker simulation off and adjust the eq. If you are not getting a good sound with this, then you better check your guitar and pickups. If you are running a crappy guitar with cheap pickups, nothing is going to sound good. I swear by the Dimarzio Tone Zone. This pickup is great for rock, metal, and lead guitar. I also have a Tone Zone S in my Strat and it sounds almost as good as the full size humbucker. The effects on this unit are outstanding as well. I love the delay, chorus, tremelo. This unit also has great bass amp models so you can record bass through it too. I am giving this a 10, not because it is the best thing in the world, but based on the sound you get for $100. This is the best bang for the buck going in direct recording gear. I also wanted to mention that I have tried running a Sansamp GT2 and a Korg Hyper Distortion pedal into this unit using the J Crunch channel and it sounded great. Back the gain down to 1 on the J-Crunch channel and use your distortion pedal into that model and you can get some great sounds.

Seems rock solid to me. I don't abuse my gear, but this seems well built and I have owned 2 of them.

Even though these are out of production they still maintain the Johnson website. You can upgrade the software on your J-Station as well as download patches directly to your unit. You can also download the manual for free.

I play rock & metal with lots of lead guitar and this unit is great. I don't think it is only suited to those styles though. The bass sounds are great, the acoustic sims are decent, and the various models sound great. I mainly use the Rectifier and Brit Stack for distortion sounds and the J Clean & Blackface models for clean stuff. The blackface model with some chorus and delay is breathtaking!! Just tweak the eq and experiment with the cabinet models to get the right sound. These are plentiful and cheap on ebay, so get one while they are still around. If you want to record direct to your PC, or if you want something that sounds great through headphones, I have not found anything better. I have know idea why the Line 6 POD put this unit out of production, because I think the J-Station is superior to the POD in every way. Maybe Line 6 just did a better job of advertising and marketing the POD?

Too few parameters are available from the front panel. The display has only 2 digits so it's really difficult to work with, you have to learn for example, that bank 26 is reverb on/off (or something like that) and the banks following that are all the different reverb parameters. It's really easy when you plug it into the computer and twiddle all the virtual knobs but that's never gonna be practical in a rehearsal/gigging situation. I hate programming sounds on this thing - it's so illogical. Plus, it took me ages to work out that the numbers with a dot between them are the parameters and the normal numbers are the values - it doesn't even mention this in the manual.

There are SOME excellent sounds in the J-Station. The Fender Blackface model is fantastic, and so is the Vox AC30, both of these will give you nice cleans and slightly dirty cranked amp sounds - very close to the reality of what these amps actually sound like. Aside from that however, most of the amps sound terrible. This is mainly due to the speaker simulations being way over the top - they're either very bright, or in most cases sound like you're using a wah wah pedal halfway a la Mick Ronson. The best reason for buying this would probably be for the bass amp sims, as the Trace Eliot and Ampeg models sound excellent in a mix, and how many bass players really need 16 different amps (as in the bass Pod)? The reverb, tremelo and rotary sounds are excellent and the compressor is nice too. In fact, the best sound I've ever got with the J-Station was by using it as an effects unit with no amp sim, in the effects loop of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

It's solid as a rock, I chuck it in my rucksack all the time, there's no real parts so there's not much to go wrong.

I play all sorts - but I would describe my electric playing as pop rock/ alternative. This is a fun toy but not really a serious piece of kit. I use it for recording all the time - because I can't afford a Pod XT or a Vox Tonelab. I do get some good sounds with it but it takes ages to find them and usually requires some external EQ. The main thing that's missing for me is big transparent crunch, as all the amp/speaker models apart from the Blackface and Vox have ugly mid peaks, and those 2 models don't prouce much overdrive (like the real things). If you've got some nice overdrive pedals you could just use the 2 good amp models to run your sound through - this works great, and things are slightly improved by bypassing the speaker sim and running into an amp with a decent speaker. But I've got some big festival gigs and stuff so I'm gonna have to buy something better.

A friend was selling this unit, and I took it home for a weekend test drive. I have lots of equipment already but am always experimenting with new tones. My initial plan was to hook this unit up in one setup that already has a Pod. I would bypass the Pod to play with J-Station tones or vice versa.
Well, it didn't work out that way. J-Station had NO bypass. (Apparently this was an older model and did not have the special bypass amp-type mentioned by others.) I would have had to buy an A/B box. Yuck. No thank you.
Secondly, I simply detest units that can be fully controlled only if you use a computer. Yeah, I have a computer, in fact I am an IT Sec pro and have 4 home computers, but I prefer to keep my computers and my guitar gear separate. I play in a number of bands and with friends. What am I supposed to do if I need to adjust the tone in band practice (to better match to current band)? Take a computer with me? I have anough gear to carry already.

Below par. I can see that this an "entry-level" unit targeted at young and inexperienced guitarists and does not even attempt to produce a professional-level sound (which can hardly be expected in this price category anyway). While I admit that some of the models were impressive on their own, the sound was far too mushy and distant for any serious use (even band practice, let alone gigs/studio work).

Secondly, I must wonder how many (if any) of the people who praise the J-Station Rectifier model have actually *played* through a real Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. As for me, I owned a Dual Rectifier combo for 5 years in the 1990s; I eventually "grew out of it" and sold it as my taste developed (and I had a better understanding of what kind of tone I was looking for). I would *never* mistake this model for a real Rectifier. People here say that it is better than the Pod model. Well, it may be "better" in the sense that it is more bassy and heavier than the Pod model (as well as more mushy and distant) which probably makes it "better" for beginner-level garage metal bands. But if you say that it is closer to a real Rectifier than a Pod is, you obviously have never owned a Mesa Boogie. The Pod is definitely closer to a real Mesa Boogie Dual Recto, albeit not by much. However, both modelers *completely* lack the bite, body, precision and tightness of a real Rectifier even if they catch some of its timbre. Yes, I can definitely tell whether somebody is playing through a Rectifier or a modeler. (Of course having actually owned a Dual Recto Combo helps.)
Bottom line is, I guess, if you want tube amp sound, buy a tube amp, not a modeler.

I did not buy it. The main reason was the lack of bypass, and secondly, my friend was asking for a price that was not very much lower than the list price.

I have been playing since 1985, and owned more gear than I can count. I favour Gibson guitars (SG and LP models), but also regularly play on custom-built "enhanced" Stratocasters.

I could recommend this unit to young guitarists who want a cheap modeler. The price isn't too bad, and the sound is so mushy that it sounds pretty much the same whether the player is a novice or an experienced one.

Not for the advanced guitarist.

I had one of these units a couple of years ago, and sold it to upgrade my live rig. I bought a Rocktron Replitone MP which I thought would be ideal for both live and direct recording use. Well guess what, just sold my rack of Rocktron gear and bought another J-Station. I still think this thing kills the POD and the other competition as far as ease of use and usuasable sounds. Hook it up to your computer and use the editor. It doesn't get any easier than that. The addition of a couple of bass amp sims is like icing on the cake. No other guitar modeller offers that.

I think this is still the best amp sim out there. Haven't tried the Vox Tone Lab, but I've read alot of people complaining about RF noise and the ability to only use certain effects at once. The amp sims are great, and don't have that boomy bottom end that the POD and the Replitone seem to have when used direct. Amazing effects. I love the stereo imaging with the ping-pong delay. Dead quiet with the noise gate and a real usable compressor. Really getting into the clean and semi-clean amps. I recorded someting last week using the Vox sim and it was dead one. 24-bit digital and digital outs make for noiseless recording.

No problems with either unit I owned. Had a little trouble this time installing the editor program on my PC. May have something to do with the fact I'm running Windows XP. Eventually I cut and pasted it into the programs files, and it works fine.

Even though they no longer make Johnson products, the website is still up and I ordered a cord for my J8 footswitch from it.

My guitars are Line 6 Variax 500( in a custom built strat body), Carvin Bolt with Lace Sensor single coils and a Seymour Duncan Holdsworth pickup on the bridge, Johnson electric-acoustic, Ibanex Roadstar bass, Fender Fretless Jazz bass and a custom body housing a Roland GK midi pickup. Recording is done using a Roland VS1680, Cakewalk Guitar Studio and Steinberg Cubase.
This thing is just ideal for me. I record jazz, fusion and world music. I'm also involved in recording a CD for a progressive-alternative band. My J-Station is all I need to get the sounds I want for any of these projects. I'm looking forward to using it as a pre-amp and running it through my ADA power amp and Avatar 2-12 cabs loaded with Eminence Vintage 30s. The J8 footswitch will eliminate all of my midi pedals and effects and will let me control different parameters live with the built-in expression pedal.

Easy to use but do the editing with a computer or keep the manually really handy!

I really like the tones. I also have a Beringer V-Amp2 but like the Johnson's tones better

Gotta go low here, my power supply crapped out & turns out a generic radio shack won't work even with proper amperage & voltage. Replacement power supply cost $50 which was a drag since the whole box was only $100. Also, mine won't hold the presets except factory presets. They could probably fix it if I mailed it back but who's got time.

they emailed me back and forth about preset but it boiled down to "send it in and we'll look at it"

As soon as I bought it for $150, they dropped the price to $100, go figure. It's been discontinued since Johnson is owned by Digitech or something and they didn't want the competition.

This unit is intuitive after an hour or so. The effects and settings are arranged pretty well. Creating a godd patch can take a while, but that is due to many options. After a week or so, you stop seeking perfection and you still have good sounds. I could not change settings on mine, but after the software was reloaded at the factory, it was easy.

The sound quality is good. I use a G&L Legacy, ASAT, 70s Gibson SG, and Charvel Model 1(w/JB humbucker and JB Jr.). I did not use this unit with my amp. I bought it to play at church and gigs where I would plug it into the PA. I plugged it into my Marshall head once, but it sounded like the amp was in a box.
The unit is not noisy due to the very good noise suppressor. The presets are over effected, you know the drill. Take out the effects, and the amp models and cabinet models sound good. The cabinet modes are to me, better than a red box pro. There are too few subtle differences between the different 4x12 cabinets, though. Maybe my ears are too fine tuned. My big gripe is with some of the amp models. Marshall JCM900? When was that considered a classic? Where is the Soldano model from the Johnson amp line? That was a good model. Where is any Marshall Super Lead? There are 7 or 8 higher gain models that sound very similar. Also, the gain sounds the same on almost all the models. The JCM900 does sound very different than any other model because it is the only model with sufficient mid-range body. Oddly the best models are the Johnson models and the generic fuzz model. The fuzz model reminds me of the fuzztone the Edge is famous for. Excellent!! The Johnson amp models are the clearest and most usable. Same for the cabinet models.
The effects section is stellar. The effects are subtle and quite uasable. I know 2 studio players that use the DI bypass of this unit and use the effects section for their rig. The chorus is especially beautiful, but subtle. Think TC Electronics, not Boss CE1. The delays are good. The reverbs are ok.
One important note: do no expect to plug your favorite overdrive or distortion pedal into this unit and get a usable sound. Mine sounded terrible with my Fulltone Distortin Pro plugged in.

My unit was faulty when it arrived. It just crapped out every 5 minutes. Sent it to the factory. They reloaded the software and it worked fine afterward. I have to grade it down because of the first one.

The customer support people at Johnson Amplification were helpful and fast. I sent my unit in and recieved it fixed within 2 weeks. Goo professional operation.

This is a real bargain. Modeling technology has moved past this unit, but it has some good sounds when you find its strengths. It is $50-$200 cheaper than its rivals. It does sound better than all Pods until the XT. It blows the Behringer out of the water and is still cheaper. Digitech Genetix sounds much better. The gains are more realistic and have different characteristics on each model.
You can tell from my gear I require good tone. I have recently sold my J-Station after 2 years of ownership. It does not deliver the tone quality I need, but it is a fine little system. it is good as a headphones amp or beginners with a PA. It was useful in the church band. It is a bargain and well worth the money.
If it were lost or stolen, I would have replaced it, if it had been an essential piece of gear for me. It will not get in the way of making music. For the hobbyist and beginner, this is a Holy Grail. For the semi-professional, you cannot replace tubes and good gear.

The front panel has all the important buttons/knobs so you dont need to go through menus. Its very easy to get very close to any sound you are looking for quickly. I think this is the perfect balance of featuers and complexity. When the guitar is in the mix, the ability to hyper-edit is not so important.

I have a Peavey XXX amp which I have recorded well with SM57 and Condenser mic, sounds great for rythym, but getting "that" lead tone can be maddening. Once you've tried recording with a mic, you appreciate how easy the J-station makes everything. The lead tones sound compressed, good, like they do after FX have been added. This works for 95% of the stuff anyone will do. No loud recording voulme, no difficulty monitoring, adding FX after tracking. Whatyouheariswhatyouget!

I wouldnt record a guitar masterpiece with it, but it works well enough for 95% of the recording situations a pro would be in. Time is money.

This would get a ten but after using it for several months, you realize that all the distortion models are tonally very similar. You can get lotsa differnt sounds but they all have that "J" sound. Need to use differnt guitars to get differnt identities.

The SPIDF output and J-Edit software have exhibited some flaky behavior that is usually fixed by unplugging and plugging back in. Crackling through the SPIDF sometimes. But only when tweaking with J-edit. I think its a software error, not hardware.

This is the guitar best buy of the decade. I think it still compares well to the POD XT Pro demos ive heard. (Here 5 years later and they still sound phony) Its all about recording and HEH 90% of the time I dont even fire up the amp anymore. Its not a tube amp, lacks the complexity and character, and has less identity, but it is a grreat tool and makes a very complex thing (recording guitar) easy.

Very easy to use in a basic mode, J-Edit makes it even easier, but I don't use it much. I can get to about 99% of what I want right from the unit.

It sounds great to me. I use it for recording and just basic playing with. I don?t use it much into an amp, but it seems to work best if you turn off cabinet modeling and run it straight to the effects return and plug your guitar right into the J-Station. Basically just using your amp as a power amp.

It does not seem to introduce any extra noise, and I use it via Analog outputs to my computer sound card instead of the S/Pdif output.

I really can?t compare it with any other unit. I was going to buy a Pod and put it up for discussion on one of the forums, and it came back the J-Station had a much more realistic sound to it. One of the guys that talked me into the J-Station works for a major motion picture studio in LA. He uses it exclusively on all the films he works on. I figured if it?s good enough for him, it?s good enough for me.

No problems yet. My movie studio friend drags his to sessions all the time and it keeps working.

N/A No contact yet.

This thing can do most anything. I really like the Tweed mode, and the JCM800. Very smooth. The Johnson lead mode is really hot and when you play harmonics, it screams like crazy. It has bass models also. I can just plug the bass in and don't need a second unit.

If it were lost or stolen, I?d buy another one. In fact, I considering buying a second unit so if anything happens to it I won?t be with out it.

From what my studio musician friends tell me, this is the most realistic sounding modeler you can get at any price. I love it also, but I?m not an expert like my friends are.

I just wish you could get a stand for it like you can with the POD.