Mark V owner review of JP-2C (multi page post)

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I spent a few hours last night jumping back and forth between the JP and the Mark V. Can I dial in on the JP something I like on the Mark V?
Mark I mode can be obtained but without the thick switch on. JP has more midrange than the V in Mark I mode so can be tricky. Drop in the 240Hz slider really gets much closer than just dialing out the mids. Yes, there is plenty of bottom end in the JP but it sounds so good and tight. Makes for a great companion to the Roadster for some really heavy riffs. Time to experiment with some preamp tubes in the Mark V. The JP is staying as is since I do not want to loose what it has going on. I will start with the Doug's Tubes tone kit (have same tubes he now selling as the 7 tube tone kit). If I am going to be tube rolling the V, may as well tune for the V30 speaker. Time to roll in the Recto 412 again.
 
Whatever it is I did to my Mark V, it sounds incredible now. Yes I changed preamp tubes again. The change was intentional. Now I want another vertical Recto 2x12 and to convert my Mark V back to a head. This is probably the first time I ever liked the tweed setting on the clean channel. Amp also seems much tighter in the bass (have to channel it though the V30 cab though). Still a bit bright but I sort of like it, no longer harsh or icepick. Edge, still have no idea how to use it as that is one of my least favorite voices on the Mark V.
 
Don't even worry about edge mode :lol: Glad to hear your V is sounding better! It's a great amp but it just doesn't have the magic that's in the JP2C. Be sure to try tweed mode with some power tube overdrive, I like it in 10 watts for that. One of my favorites
 
I did that for some time. I fully explored the Mark V, each channel and each voice with various settings and 5BEQ adjustments. I can agree finally that the Mark V is tight in some respects but seems to only be apparent with a sealed enclosure having V30. I was enjoying the Mark V just as much as the JP. That is a change... :roll: You know something is good when you cannot stop playing. My dream amp would be the JP-2C having similar settings for the clean channel as found on the Mark V. I am still going to order the Grid slammer anyways. May not give me exactly what I am looking for with the JP clean channel but will be used to push the RA100 as I have seen a demo of it used with the RA. They should have kept this video on the Mesa Website. They seem to still have most of the pedals demonstrated though the TA combo amp. I can only imagine what the GS will do with the Roadster or JP, and Mark V.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mesa+grid+slammer&&view=detail&mid=BD0FD145A7DBBEAE108BBD0FD145A7DBBEAE108B&FORM=VRDGAR
 
SamuelJ86 said:
Don't even worry about edge mode :lol: Glad to hear your V is sounding better! It's a great amp but it just doesn't have the magic that's in the JP2C. Be sure to try tweed mode with some power tube overdrive, I like it in 10 watts for that. One of my favorites

What fixed the V, I had some various preamp tubes I had bought over the past few years.
Have approximately the following: Not accounting for what is in use in my amps.
6 Tung Sol 12AX7
5 Preferred Series (Chinese Shuguang 7025 9th gen)
4 Sovtec LPS
5 Mullard CV4004/12ax7
7 EH12ax7
5 Mullard Reissue 12ax7
10 Mesa 1990/1989 Chinese square getter 12ax7a (some used more than others) LUOS = lightly used old stock (Mark III )
More than I can account for Mesa 12AX7A (JJ ECC83s) a few SPAX7's and a few 12AT7 (used in RA)
4 JJ ECC803s
NOS 12AT7 (Jan/GE, RFT)
1 Jan/phillips 5751

I have rolled in just about every tube I have available in the Mark V. I do like the Mullards RI on the first 3 positions, they also sound great in V4, 5 and 6.
After looking at what Doug is supplying in the Tone kit now, Used to be TS, Ruby JJ HG, Ruby 7025HG, Penta Labs 12ax7A and the LPS. He has dropped the Penta Labs and replaced them with the Ruby 7025. I used what is close to his current offering but opted to throw in the 89 Mesa in V2 and bingo, amp never sounded better though a V30 cabinet. :roll: That was an unexpected surprise for sure. I may change V2 to something else. At least I believe the Mark V is much closer to what others are familiar with. Too bad it is not a head as it sounded so good though the V212. Even the clean channel sounded amazing. Probably the first time that tweed sounded excellent and equivalent to the Roadster tweed setting. What have I been doing with the V all these years I had it? Still I would find it hard to displace the JP except for the clean channel, sounds great but I think the Mark V sounds better in that regard (with proper tubes in it that is). Nothing wrong with comparing amps, actually that make me focus on the Mark V a bit more to see if it is really something I want to keep or sell. Still debating, either get a head shell (should have kept the original) or trade in my Mark V combo for a new Mark V head. and spend more money for another 212 cab. I am already running out of room as it is. Perhaps next year... something new may be available then. I may just order an MC90 to stuff into the Mark V combo. I never had a properly working MC90. Also I think the Celestion 90W alnico is dead or on the way out as it sounds more like a blanket over the amp now since I overheated the voice coil, when you smell it, it is usually too late....
 
My first JP-2c changed how I looked at the Mark V, especially channel 1 and channel 3. Once I had those cracked I started really unlocking some great tones from channel 2. I love my Mark V combo so much.

My JP-2C is predominantly back because it has a great clean and iic+ tone (ahem, duh), but also because it is midi controller and has a cab clone, which makes it very appealing to me for band situations. I can throw a throttle box on low gain on to channel 1 to fake an Edge/Crunch tone or switch it to high gain to have some recto-esque tones to use.

I can also use the integrated cab clone to drive a floor monitor when I'm playing with the band. So much great stuff built-in to this thing.

But the V has lot more tonal flexibility and I love playing it.
 
In all respects, I still find the JP-2C to be a favorite but only had it a short while. I like all aspects of the JP even though it does not have other voices that can be applied to the clean channel. I have been thinking things over and over about what I am going to do with the Mark V. Now that it sounds much better than it did, I may still end up selling it. The Roadster does everything I want in terms of clean and gain. The RA100 fills in the gap for Classic rock, actually the JP does a nice job there too as does the Roadster. Probably better off keeping the Mark V than selling it for a loss. Today I removed the Celestion Cream speaker, I like it but was beginning to sound darker in tone. Perhaps that is the true nature of the beast. Just for kicks I threw in a Carvin G12 100W speaker I pulled out of my Carvin V3MC. It is supposed to sound like a V30, well it did for a short while but I blew it out along with a few other speakers when I installed it in my Mark IV combo a few years ago but was not entirely sure if it was dead or just did not work with the Mark IV. Sounded great clean, but once I switched over to CH2, very scratchy, sounded more like arcing between voice coil and driver. No smoke or anything of that nature. While removing it I purposely ripped the cone as I was going to throw it away. Removed the voice coil and sure enough varnish was extremely dark but could be color of varnish. Issue may have been on the cone leads vs the voice coil windings. Another large magnet trophy to add to my collection. Figured I would try the Emminence Tonker Lite, I did not like it before but why not while the combo was in parts. If it does not work, I can install a V30-16 and put the other V30-16 in the extension cab and run both in parallel in the 8 ohm jack. Tonker lite: I am not overwhelmed with it but it sounds quite nice. Much bolder in the low end than the other speakers I have used. Articulate in all the channels. I will keep that in place for a while. I can always plug into any of my other cabs so no big deal. The EV speakers just seem to sound mushy. Great when pushing the ear drums into submission but overall lacking what I am looking for in a 1x12 speaker for a combo. Actually I have removed myself from EV speakers. If I do sell the Mark V, I would only miss the clean channel. I will not miss edge voice although it sounded much better with the Tonker speaker. The rest I can get with my other amps but not that I really used the Mark I mod all that much or the IIC+ voice. Either Crunch, Mark IV or Extreme is all I basically use. JP just does it better. If I sold my Mark V, it would be to fund another JP and V212 cab so I can run stereo but that is not really necessary.
 
bandit2013 said:
If I sold my Mark V, it would be to fund another JP and V212 cab so I can run stereo but that is not really necessary.

Why not KEEP the Mark V and use IT to run your JP-2C in stereo? Best of both worlds. Spend 90% of your time with it as a slave power amp for your JP-2C, capable of transforming magically into a Mark V when needed :)
 
I can slave the Roadster quite easily, also it has very similar tones, of course not the same but much closer than it does with the Mark V. I have done this already but not yet with the JP. I doubt I would sell the V as I regret selling the Mark III and a bit about the Mark IV, it is a nice piece of gear. I may get around to getting an MC90 sooner or later. Perhaps by next week. If I do sell the Mark V, it would be for the next version of Mark amps or to replace old with a new one in head format. I could get another head shell, but I am just waiting for the next failure to occur with the one I have now. One of the reasons why I got the JP in the first place other than how it sounded in the demo videos. In reality, it sounds better in person. I think my money would be better spend on something else, new guitar :roll: An acoustic drum set :shock: yeah, that even sounds better.


I spend part of my day exploring the clean channel but with a different guitar. Since I have roughly 10 Carvins, I have been using my set neck type similar to the PRS, called the CT or California Carve Top. I have two of those, one a 22 fret and the other a 24 fret with a Floyd Rose. Both have ebony necks, stainless Jumbo frets, and thick quilted maple cap over all mahogany body and neck. Best guitars in my arsenal for just about anything. However I decided to change things up a bit and pull out one of my Bolts C (one is alder and the other is Black Limb) maple top is only a quarter inch thick, both have bolt on maple necks and birds eye maple fret boards and each is equipped with Floyd Rose. SSS format but not stock pickups, the double coil mini humbuckers.

Now I am in heaven. The JP sounds so incredible with the Strat type guitar. Then I hit it with the CH2 and CH3 each set more aggressive than the other. I could not stop playing. I can sum it all up in one word about how I feel about the JP-2C. Gorgeous!. I see hard wood in my future as I feel that this amp would be worthy of the extra expense. I did play the Mark V again. I prefer the JP even with its limits on the clean channel. I need to learn some more Pink Floyd as it just sounds right on the clean. I do not get that tone from the Mark V.

Ordered the grid slammer. Even though I am not much of a pedal junkie I am hooked on Strymon in a bad way. The Flux drive so far is the first OD/distortion pedal I actually liked though any of my Mesa amps. I hope the Grid Slammer is just as good. May even get a throttle box next.

As for gain, the JP-has plenty in my opinion. Actually I looking to boost the RA100 mostly. May have to see what the side effects on the Roadster will be. Obviously I will be using the pedals on all of my amps just to see what hidden characteristic I can open up in them.
 
I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I seem to only want to play through my JP-2C. It seems my other amps have lost their appeal. This may eventually come to pass.
 
Funny isn't it? You can have 3-4-5 GREAT amps, the amps you always wanted or dreamed of... then you find one that just pushes the right buttons and you want to play it all the time. I force myself to rotate between the V, V25, Mini Rec and PRS Custom 50.

They all sound GREAT. There is one of them that has sounded KILLER every time I turn it on though. All the amps get dialed around for different guitars, different tones, different amounts of gain, and many times I get good tone, really good tone, great tone... But one of those amps sounds GREAT every single time I turn it on. You probably won't guess which one though. 8)
 
my guess would be you prefer the Mark V.

I hear ya about the rotation. I just jumped back onto my RA100 Combo. I decided to get some Mesa EL34. They sound a bit compressed more than I would like. I will reserve them for the RA100 Head as the Recto cab will work great. I still prefer the Mullard EL34 with the combo. A bit louder, perhaps slightly more headroom but really chewy tone. Next I will have to plug into the Roadster and the RA100 half stack.

It is great that I am finding some inspiration to complete a project I had started. Since the JP responds so well to my pick attack and how I am playing I have found really cool things about my technique that I have not heard with the other amps. Perhaps it is due to loving the character of the JP that I am improving on what I am doing. Still waiting for the Grid Slammer ( was out of stock when I ordered it).

Bummer that my fridge died. I could have put that money towards another amp or guitar. Sort of thinking of a acoustic drum kit though. Playing the drums is a lot of fun. That comes second to the guitar. When I have guests, I usually play drums or bass, and when they get tired I will take over on guitar. Everyone wants to either play drums or guitar, nobody seems to want to touch the bass. That reminds me, I may have to move the studio to another room in the house as it was a bit too cramped in the small bedroom.
 
I think I must be sick or something. No fever, no headache.

I am considering selling off all of my amps except for the JP-2C and vertical cab. Will have to keep the OS Recto 412 though. Why is the JP so appealing to me? Is it the saucy mids and tight bass? I would definitely buy another JP-2C in a heartbeat. I will wait and see what comes up next year. Perhaps there will be something else to consider. I may just get another 412 to replace the old one (something not right with that one).
 
Slow down you idiot. :roll: Keep your gear as you may be looking for it after it is gone. I sort of miss the Mark III and Mark IV but I was fortunate to get that back with the JP, only more user friendly version with the extra touch of IIC+ (if this is actually the case). Still debating on what to do with the Mark V as I am moving further away from it. Tubes have been cold for some time now with the exception of a few days ago. Tried comparing the Mark V with the JP though the 412 cab in stereo mode. Mark V mixed with the JP being driven by the same signal did not sound all that great. I thought they were balanced enough but was not an experience to write about in more detail. Will have to do the same thing with the Roadster and see what happens.
 
bandit2013 said:
Slow down you idiot. :roll: Keep your gear as you may be looking for it after it is gone. I sort of miss the Mark III and Mark IV but I was fortunate to get that back with the JP, only more user friendly version with the extra touch of IIC+ (if this is actually the case). Still debating on what to do with the Mark V as I am moving further away from it. Tubes have been cold for some time now with the exception of a few days ago. Tried comparing the Mark V with the JP though the 412 cab in stereo mode. Mark V mixed with the JP being driven by the same signal did not sound all that great. I thought they were balanced enough but was not an experience to write about in more detail. Will have to do the same thing with the Roadster and see what happens.

I ended up buying back gear that I'd sold when I got my JP2C the first time around, because although I didn't use it a lot, I ended up missing it badly. That was expensive and painful.

As my brother-in-law Gordon says, if you have extra amps, you have gear for friends to play on when they come by :)
 
Yep, having extra gear is always a good thing. Even when not in use. If I only had one amp, I would force someone on Bass and the other on drums. Heck, I will play the drums as that is more fun than you think it is. Even bass is great too. I will not get a keyboard though. Just not my style I guess. Working on getting a 7 shell acoustic drum kit. The eDrums are great but more difficult to add more things to hit. Hopefully I will not go overboard with it and wind up with a Neil Pert drum set in my living room. May add an extra floor tom and lots of symbols. "More cow bell" is always good. My drumming skills are about up to par with my guitar playing ability. I suck at it.... I must really hate my neighbors 8)

Roadster is a keeper, may just get a horizontal 212 to use. RA100 (keepers but I have two of those). Not sure what I am going to do with the V. I have to be realistic, I am happy with what I got so another JP just does not seem necessary. Have to wait and see what is next from Mesa. I can wait for the next flagship to come out what ever that will be.
 
I think I have a preamp or power tube issue. It is minor but could be related to the guitar I am using too. I first heard it with a quick recording of the Vertical 212 cab vs a 112 EV loaded cab. It sounds like a getter vibration in one of the preamp tubes. Almost sounds like the onset of going microphonic.

I do have new power tubes and plenty of preamp tubes to swap in if there would be any issues with what came in the amp. Looks like I need to set the amp so I can hear it again, and then roll in a preamp tube to see if it goes away. Almost sound like it is later in the chain. Will have to look at the tube map to see how the stages are wired in.
 
oh yeah, we've all had that sale regret... got to sell something you really like to fund something you just KNOW you're going to like even better. And even if you do, you still liked what you sold enough to want it back. This is EXACTLY how I feel about my TA15... just a great little amp and I just loved that Hi1 in all 3 settings, and could really rock that at home at very friendly volumes.

I just need more room (and obviously more money so I don't have to sell something to fund the next thing! LOL)
 
Everything has its own value. Even if I do not see it at the moment. I may cave and buy an MC90 for the Mark V combo. I have yet to hear it with that speaker since the one that came with the used shell had an issue (Dust cap came off partially and would make a sound like a blown speaker). I put in a Tonker Lite as that is all I had left, Celestion Alnico 90W Crème seems to have lost is tone after I overheated the voice coil. That did not smell all too great either. The JP-2C may have been a little too much to pump into it. Oops. :oops:

I decided to get the Horizontal 212 cab so I can use it with the Roadster or RA100, any amp actually. I like to have variations as each cab does have its own character.

The JP-2C does have one feature I wish was available on the Mark V head. Remove the face plate and get access to the preamp tubes. Had to use a long screw driver to push the plate out as it fits in tight due to the piping accent. No complaints here on replacing preamp tubes. Mesa listened to the VOC this time around :p The pocket is tight for big hands but I was able to manage. Had to track down a ringing preamp tube. Replaced V1 with a new preamp tube and the ringing stopped. I did try a Mesa SPAX7 but did not like it as much since I believe it has lower gain character than the standard tube. I am not ready to try other preamp tubes yet as I love how the amp sounds, why change it.
 
Perhaps I need to elaborate on what gear I am using as a reference point. Perhaps the Brand name of instrument does not matter as long as the construction of the instrument is of good quality. This may make some cringe and others may appreciate what my preference is. Carin /Kiesel. I actuall do not have any guitars with the Kiesel name on them but same company as Carvin but they recently changed their name back to their roots.

Here is my run down on guitars:

Neck though instruments: 2 Walnut bodied with maple walnut neck and ebony boards (DC400W) 1 alder body with maple top and neck (DC400) and one with koa body and maple neck (DC200) with a Kahler bridge. All three are strat shaped instruments similar but not similar to the strat body shape. These guitars are now out of production since the active electronics are no longer available. Closest instrument still in production would be the DC127 as a point of reference. Metal covered pickups.

Set Neck instruments: 3 mahogany body and neck construction (metal covered pickups) , 1 solid maple (DC100 1982 double cut, Kahler bridge). All three have ebony boards (one has royal ebony). Maple cap (two quilted, one flame). 2 are CT models (CT6M 22 fret, CT624C 24 fret with Floyd Rose) these would be similar to a PRS at a quick glance. The last one is a Les Paul body shape. All three sound really good though the JP. My favorite would have to be the CT624C. I can do so much more with that one than the others. The solid maple DC100 I have yet to plug in since I do not use it all that much as it is the heaviest guitar I own.

Bolt on neck Instruments: 2 of these. Both have Floyd Rose and SSS pickguards, birds eye maple boards, each has a 1/4 inch maple cab but body woods are different. Both models are the "Bolt C". 1 is Alder and the other is Black Limba (aka Korena). Pups on these are of the Seymour Duncan variety. One has the "everything Axe" set (on the Alder body) and the other is a mix of the hot rails, cool rails and vintage rails. Both have a unique character. I just did not like the hum or noise I was getting with standard single coil pick ups. If one were to get one, check the pot values as they tend to use 500k pots, for singe coil and including the mini humbucker type, the 250k pot sounds the best.

I am really amazed how each guitar sounds thought he JP-2C. My favorite for all around would be the set neck mahogany guitars. Very nice warn tones but yet very aggressive when you want it to be. The bolt on neck variety with the single coils sounds really good on the clean channel. Somewhat bright with CH2 and CH3 but depends on amp settings. the hot rails on the one guitar is just sinister for a small humbucker. The Neck through guitars actually sound better though the JP than they do with the other amps. I did not expect the alder bodied guitar to really sing. The JP-2C really brings out the differences of the different tone woods and type of construction. I had thought the same about the Mark V but it is more notably appreciated though the JP. The Roadster almost does not matter what type of guitar you play though it except for the bolt on neck instruments as there is a definite tone and volume difference. You can hear the differences but the natural resonant frequency of the Roadster sits much lower on the spectrum than the JP or Mark V. Not sure how a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar would sound as I do not own one. Perhaps some day I will. No complaints on different guitars played though the JP-2C as they all sounded great with each having a different characteristic as I would expect. On the flip side, the Mark V took on a different character when it comes to tone woods and guitar construction. Walnut bodied guitars just sounded brittle, Maple bodied guitar was also very bright, Mahogany probably the best and the bolt styles were harder to adapt too. I will still stand strong on my comment that the JP-2C and Roadster make a great complement to each other. Still need to evaluate the RA100 relative to the JP but those two amps are so different from each other. Vintage voice vs something more modern and aggressive. Even if the JP and RA100 do not mix, I still love the RA's. Note that it is a hard sell to claim the RA would blend with the Roadster but depends on what settings are used with the Roadster. Now for the Mark V once again, been sitting silent for some time. I decided to give it another chance and I am waiting on arrival of a replacement speaker (MC90, have yet to have one in good condition to sue with the V, the original that was stock in my Mark IV was blown, the one that came with the combo shell was also damaged in one way or another also sounded blown it was used so no big deal since I only cared for the combo shell with reverb tank anyways). Hopefully the new speaker will change my mind. I have not given up on the Celestion Cream 90W speaker as I may install it in my 1x12 extension cab. It has not sounded the same since I channeled the JP though it as I believe I overheated the voice coil. Does not sound bad though just darker in tone.
 

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