effects stations

i was just wondering what everyone thought about those effects stations (ie: pods and such) i have a jhonson jstation and its ok, but i was just wondering if there was anything better out there

You'll get differing opinions on this, but I've got a PODxt Live that I use as a backup and for recording sometimes, and I think it's great. You have to spend some time setting it up, but I can get good tone with it - it's not the same as my rack gear, but for a fraction of the price it does a very good job.

The PODxt and BOSS GT8 were both pretty good - I went for the POD solely because it's outputs suited my recording setup better. There are also far higher spec units that are amazing, but they have price tags to match...

Check out the Rocktron Prophesy - particularly nice piece of gear. It's one of the high end rack units - digital tones forced through a tube preamp with serious dsp power. Certainly one of the best units available anywhere.

I have a bunch of effect pads, including the J-station.

I never took time to really learn the J-Station but I know some guitar players that uses it and get some awesome tones. If you take time to learn it, I'm sure you'll be able to find a good tone.

The only thing I don't link is that it's not great for live playing due to his construction. unlike the PodXt live that Ren talks about which perfect for stage work.