Johnson JA Station (i think that's what they're called)

Hello everyone. It's been a long time since I last posted, but I don't think anyone noticed, much less cared.

Anyways, on with the post. I saw a live band perform at a wedding, and the guitarist had a wicked sound, not overpowering or in your face, it seemed like even his distorted sound was "clean". Maybe that's what compression does.

So, afterwards, I asked him about his setup. It was very simple - an American Fender Strat plugged into something called a "Johnson JA Station" (if I remember correctly). It has no speakers, but I think it does amplify the sound; he had it plugged into the PA. He said that the station is completely programmable, he can download effects off the 'net. The footswitch actually has three switches on it - one to select from a number of effect banks, one to scroll through the individual banks, and a third to turn the effect on or off. That's why his sound was so great - he was able to put five or six (maybe more) effects, like delay, compression, distortion, reverb, chorus, etc.

So my question is, has anyone ever heard of these things? Are they really any good? You would need a PA or speakers to use them, so maybe they're inconvenient for home use. Oh, also, the guy said that he paid $600 CAD for them, or about 10 cents USD. Okay, maybe more like $400 USD.

Thanks for your input.

I've heard of those things. I was at Guitar Center one day, looking at amps, and some guy comes up to me, and for no reason, explains that he has a Johnson JA Station and that once you get that, you'll never need to buy another amp. I've never played with one, but they sound good from the input that that guy gave me.

its funny that you ask this, because i just got out an old issue of GuitarPlayer magazine that has a review of the Johnson J station. It is a similar effect to the POD line6. these effects simulate different amplifiers and allow you to add effects like chorus, flange, reverb, and delay. You should know that the line6 is a proffessional quality effect (bands use them on recordings and live shows) and by this review i read, the j-station sounds comparable. I've heard nothing but good things about these the line6 and the j-station. people have told me that you can get ANY sound with them. you should look up their websites and compare prices.

these things were designed for home use. all you have to do is plug your headphones into them when you want to practice. if its anything like my digitech rp3 (its old, dont buy one ;D ) it should be easy to hook up to your computer and jam along with mp3's and record yourself.

The J-Station is similar to the POD. Both are direct recording tools that offer a variety of amplifier simulations and effects. You can use headphones or feed the output to a guitar amplifier, PA or computer recording system. However, both the POD and J-Station are not really designed for live performance without some sort of foot controller. The foot controllers from Johnson and Line 6 are expensive, but you can use a Midi controller, which is less expensinve. I use a Yamaha DG-Stomp, which can be used for direct recording and has foot switches for live performance. The J-Station received a good review in the September 2000 Guitar Player. I've just received an email notice that Johnson has bundled the J-Station with an editor/librarian and Cakewalk Guitar Tracks and lowered the price so that you can buy for about $150 US - check out guitartrader.com. Since I've been thinking about buying Guitar Tracks anyway, I've about decided to buy the J-Station bundle even though I have a DG-Stomp.

dood i was like a week or 2 away from throwin down $350 on a pod but if that website is correct $150 then im getting the j-station! that is insane! btw, its under the digitech section on guitartrader.com in case anyone was wondering.

I talked to a friend who owns a local music store - they are also selling the J-Station bundle at $150. Johnson is pushing the J-Station hard - they are offering dealers the ability to trade-in (unsold) older Johnson equipment on current models like the J-Station. However, the dealers will be unable to trade that older equipment as new equipment is released. He also told me that there is new Johnson gear nearing release, but did not have any details.

So, let me get this straight. The guy I was talking to spent about $400 USD. But now they're selling them for $150 USD?

Yes - I don't know what the SRP is, but dealers are selling the bundle for $150.

I just checked guitartrader.com - the list price is $369.99 USD, and the sale price is $169.99 USD

That's strange - I still see the price as $149. I also found the J-Station at Musician's Friend for $149.99.