Journey OF660 Review & Comparison

[Crab]

Long time lurker here.... I finally got a Journey OF660 and figured I'd do a review. I didn't have any stores nearby where I could test this out, and I really wondered how it sounded compared to normal wooden guitars. So I compared in the video to my GS-Mini Koa, which is the closest in physical size to the Overhead. Also with a Little Martin, to compare it with a tiny travel guitar. And with Yamaha FG-TA (transacoustic), to show the differences to a big dreadnought.

Sorry it ended up being a very long video:



And it sounds great with ToneWood Amp

[Captain Jim]

Hi Crab, and welcome aboard (out of the shadows). Nice review, and nice playing. I had the opportunity to play an OF660 a couple days ago and was very pleasantly surprised with the tone.

It didn't sound as good as yours with the ToneWood Amp. Care to share with us how you recorded the demo (since I didn't see a mic)?

Thanks!

Jim

[Crab]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Care to share with us how you recorded the demo (since I didn't see a mic)?

Jim

Thanks! It was recorded with Tascam DR05, you can see it on the bottom of the screen on sound comparison part, and the second video playing the song. It’s a small stereo mic recorder, and I had it about a foot away from the guitar to get a good recording. There were no post processing, eq, or anything except bumping up the volume levels.

[Guitarbrent]

Awesome review! Have you traveled with any of your travel guitars on a plane yet? How much did you save with the B stock model?

[Crab]

Originally Posted by Guitarbrent

Awesome review! Have you traveled with any of your travel guitars on a plane yet? How much did you save with the B stock model?

I have not traveled with my other guitars, but I’ll probably start bringing this guitar on trips

I contacted Journey first to see if they would consider sending me a review unit, because I have a small following on youtube. However, my youtube channel isn’t about guitars (I make steam powered robots, review digital art tools). So they felt that my fan base didn’t fit with their customer demographic, in which I agreed, but was worth a shot asking.

But they offered me a blemished model so I jumped on it. If you’re interested, contact them to see if they have them available.

[actaylor]

Nice review! Don't sell yourself short. Your playing was very nice. I'm curious how you mounted the Tonewood. Isn't there a magnet that has to hold the amp on the guitar? Did you have trouble getting your hand in there? BTW, I've ordered the RT660 (the non-foldable version). I'll try to post a video when I get it.

[Crab]

Originally Posted by actaylor

I'm curious how you mounted the Tonewood. Isn't there a magnet that has to hold the amp on the guitar? Did you have trouble getting your hand in there?

I actually took a video of the install, but left it out of the review video because it was running long, and I wanted it to be more about the guitar. I just uploaded the clip so you can see it: https://youtu.be/2SaG3_WUV5o

The install was actually easier than on wood guitars. Normally, you’d tape the TWA to the back, capo the strings, remove the strings and bridge pins, put in the x brace magnets, avoiding the bracing in the guitar, put the strings back, tune it up. If you wanted to try a different spot, then you’d have to repeat the process.

With OF660, the offset soundhole means you just put in the magnets without needing to go through putting on and off strings, every time you want to try a different location. Testing location took seconds instead of minutes. In fact, when trying locations, you just put in the x brace magnets and TWA, no need to tape it, and just reach in to try different places easily. It’s tight fit to get your hand in there, in fact I had to take off my watch so it wouldn’t bang and scratch the soundhole. But I was able to test in every conceivable area, and found towards the back work the best. More towards center sound better and had less feedback, but it was in the way when I stand up with the strap on.

Then when you’re ready install the x brace magnets for good, tape on the TWA to the back and do the install like in the video link above. However, you actually don’t need to even tape on the magnets if you want to just easily move the brace out every time you want to take the TWA off.

Like I’ve said in the video, it’s really important to adjust the frequency notch cut off filters. It’s a painful process but you force the feedback to turn on and do a “seek and destroy” method to find the frequencies. It’s loud and piercing, will wake up everyone in the house Every time you change location for the TWA, the frequency cut offs need to be readjusted. Even if you are not getting feedback, if you don’t cut off certain frequencies, it sounds like a strange airy high frequency reverb. So take time to find the right frequencies.

My settings are below, your mileage may vary:
Notch low 543 hz
Notch high 1426hz

[Res Ipsa]

Excellent review. Nice playing too.

Love the barbeque visual. A good way to secure your strap is the Strap Keeper from TapaString. It’s a clever device specific to endpin jacks like yours. I have it on my OF660 and it works very well. Certainly secure for grilling, if not playing a game of badminton.

I didn’t have much luck notching out the feedback on my Tonewood Amp taped to the back of my OF660. Will have to perservere. The Tonewood Amp is great on my Rainsong Shorty with zero feedback issues there.

Welcome to the forum and kudos again on your review.

[Crab]

Originally Posted by Res Ipsa

Excellent review. Nice playing too.

Love the barbeque visual. A good way to secure your strap is the Strap Keeper from TapaString. It’s a clever device specific to endpin jacks like yours. I have it on my OF660 and it works very well. Certainly secure for grilling, if not playing a game of badminton.

I didn’t have much luck notching out the feedback on my Tonewood Amp taped to the back of my OF660. Will have to perservere. The Tonewood Amp is great on my Rainsong Shorty with zero feedback issues there.

Welcome to the forum and kudos again on your review.

Thanks! I’ll check out the tapastring for sure, thanks for the recommendation! I’m currently using Planet Waves CinchFit, which works ok, but maybe Strap Keeper would work better.

FOR TWA, instead of taping, have you tried to just using the x brace magnets without tape? When I did that, it held the TWA very securely to try in different locations. When the TWA is not firmly in place, I get a lot of feedback. In the case of my gs-mini with the arched back, it’s hard to make good contact, but once I got that actuator cup to press firmly, feedback went away.

So maybe try using the magnets? I only used tape on the of660 when I was ready to tape the magnets for good. Also try the notch filters around the range that I posted? With full cut off at those frequencies.

[rmsstrider]

Very nice review. Thank you. I just received my OF660 recently and agree with all your pros mentioned. I have found that Ernie Ball Medium light Aluminum Bronze strings are very nice on this guitar. Will have to see how long they last and if they will be ok with the repeated tension from taking the neck on and off.
And now you have me wanting the Tonewood Amp!

[Crab]

Originally Posted by rmsstrider

Very nice review. Thank you. I just received my OF660 recently and agree with all your pros mentioned. I have found that Ernie Ball Medium light Aluminum Bronze strings are very nice on this guitar. Will have to see how long they last and if they will be ok with the repeated tension from taking the neck on and off.
And now you have me wanting the Tonewood Amp!

Thanks. I tried those aluminum bronze strings, but didn’t notice increase in volume, so I switched to my usual go to, elixir 80/20 lights. Maybe I should experiment more with different types and gauges.

And with tonewood amp.... you get used to having reverb, it’s hard to go without

[Crab]

I just wanted to post an update, I found a better location for ToneWood Amp on the OF660. I was noticing the old location (as shown in the review video), reduced the amount of bass more than this new location, see pic below.

The placement of TWA on wood guitars doesn’t effect the actual tone of the guitar, it effects how the FX sounded, but not so much the actual guitar tone, as far as I could tell. But on the Journey, the placements effects the tone of the guitar itself, especially the bass. TWA can dampen the thin carbon fiber back quite a bit, since it’s a heavy box, so I tried to get it as close to the edge as I could. I guess that the back and sides of carbon fiber guitars contribute to the sounds much more than traditional wood guitars.

I also had to change the notch filters settings, and it’s surprisingly very different than the original numbers. New settings are: High cut: 554 hz, Low cut: 222 hz