General tone

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dmcguitar

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Those who have experience with the V and jp, can you try to answer this?

I find the V in 45/90 watt mode to have a very pronounced mid hump at lower volumes, and at higher ones I wear ear plugs so I don't really know is it's there.

As of late I run Variac'd, 10 watt, triode, 2c+, el34 with the master up high and find the tone quite pleasing. It's a crisp sound(typical v shape) without that boxy mid sound.

If anyone understands what I'm hearing and can comment on if the jp acts/sounds the same way.

Thanks!
 
The "boxy or "honky" midrange in the V has plagued many of us. There are ways to minimize it, but it's always there for me, in every channel, every mode. :cry: The JP has none of that ugly mid to upper midrange the V has. When I first compared the two the JP sounded scooped in comparison. It's not a scooped amp by any means but it was such a relief to have that great mark tone without the ugly midrange. So if you hate that about the V, you should definitely try out the JP2C. I think the JP sounds tremendously better than the V. I've had it almost seven months now and I still can't belive how good it sounds. :mrgreen:
 
As far as general tone goes, the JP2C is General Tone! This amp gets better with age and is extremely versatile as far as getting general tones. Although at first I had difficulty finding a good low volume tone, I have found settings that work great at low volume. This amp is designed for performance so it sounds best loud like all previous Mark amps do. After a super quick, 30 second, sound check last night, I had a group of guys come over just to see what the heck amp I had! One guy went as far as to ask me if he could try my rig out after which he exclaimed, "holy sh!t, this amp is unbelievable! Wow! OMG!!!"

https://youtu.be/wgmp1v32KdA
 
I can remember how my Mark V sounded with KT77 (but at full power and driving EV speakers). To me that was the kick-in the pants fun with the crunch channel. Lower volume settings with EL-34 just did not phase me much, 10W mode was not all that great either and never really made use of it but have on a few occasions. I got tired of the EL-34 type tubes and went back to 6L6 since there is a slight difference in tone and a bit more bottom end. Actually the Mark V was the reason why I began hating the V30 (old cab more than likely the problem).... ear plugs were not enough to get the broken glass out of my ears. It took quite a long time to hate the amp enough to begin liking it again. None-the less, it seems to be sounding much better with the stock 6L6 tubes......Still not fond of the V30 but it is okay with the Mark V, actually my most recent cabs sound great, but I get tired after a while. On the flip side, the JP-2C is amazing though the V30 cabinet of any size. I am blown away how it sounds every time I plug in and power it up. I can play for hours and get lost in the blissful tone at any volume setting. This amp does not come with fatigue built in (this is a good thing), so you need to find that elsewhere or stick with your Mark V if that is your desires. Some love the amp but decided it was not right for them due to difficulty dialing in the amp at lower volume settings. JP-2C can sound great at lower volumes, and very similar to the sweet spot at higher volumes if you use shred at low volume. At first it seems like a one trick pony due to the identical gain channels, it will be that if you desire but it is more than what you perceive it to be. If you have the Mark V, the JP should seem familiar and much easier to dial in a likable tone. Does not have the other voices so it is not as confused as the Mark V. Perhaps it is more bi-polar as it has clean (good) and dirt (evil) channels but they play well together.

If we had a choice for speakers, Mark V definitely needs something different than a V30 (considering the head version of the V). Sealed enclosure EV, open enclosure MC90, Celestion Cream 90W, even a pair of creambacks would suffice. speakers that lack the mid hump on the response curve seem to sound better with the Mark V. At least mine does anyway.

JP-2C definitely a V30 dream amp, Awesome, unbelievable, and many other words I cannot spell or think of... Great with creambacks in a 412, but okay with the EV (sounded flat but you could get used to it after a while).

General tone, it sounds like a Mesa should.... Mark III (yes, with proper settings), Mark IV (yes, with proper settings and selection of power tubes). The JP-2C sounds more like the Mark V- CH3-Extreme but without the ice pick. It would be difficult to replicate the character of the JP-2C using the Mark V with stock tubes. The IIC+ mode does seem to get close but still does not have the mojo. The only way I was able to get extremely close was with a grid slammer on the front end of the Mark V using CH3 extreme. Now that was convincingly close. I have spent more time playing the amp at a lower volume setting since I learned a few tricks to reduce the bass without having to dial it completely out (9:00 basic setting for CH2 and CH3, but depends on presence and gain settings).
 
To me the difference between JP-2C and Mark V is not just tone, but dynamics. Both are tight, but the JP has more bounce and bloom to my ears, as well as the lack of ice pick.

If I read your question correctly, you are asking why the 10W mode might have a very different character. I believe that running the tubes in such an anemic bias point and mode is going to get quite mushy, which for the overly tight and squawky V is something useful.
 
elvis said:
To me the difference between JP-2C and Mark V is not just tone, but dynamics. Both are tight, but the JP has more bounce and bloom to my ears, as well as the lack of ice pick.

If I read your question correctly, you are asking why the 10W mode might have a very different character. I believe that running the tubes in such an anemic bias point and mode is going to get quite mushy, which for the overly tight and squawky V is something useful.

Agree, the 10w mode adds more saturation as well as more harmonic overlay to the tone. Variac adds the bounce.
 
The JP2C is really unparalleled. I can get tones from this amp that mimic Marshall & Fender tones easily. As far as getting the darker tones that amps like Diesel & Orange are known for, I'm not into it but I could easily mimic those general tones.

The magic in this amp is in it's overtones, never stale sounding or one dimensional. There's so much chime and color when a note sustains and the pick attack is non-compressed and full. It is so magical, I love this amp.

The one thing about any Mesa amp is mastering the 5-band GEQ!!! I cannot stress that point enough, ever. The GEQ can't, IMO, be a "set it and forget it" option. You must learn how each slider interacts with not only each other slider, but the rotary knobs also. Each new place you play, even atmospheric conditions, will make the amp sound different. I can immediately hear what needs to be adjusted as soon as the amp gets warmed up, (20 minutes like all Mark amps) and rotary knobs are also adjusted slightly, especially the mid control as that provides either the punch or the smoothness.

Mesa Mark amps are for those of us that like to adjust the knobs. I played an Orange amp last week, it had a single knob to adjust the tone marked "contour"!!! You won't get an Orange amp to sound like the JP2C no matter what you try, but hey, some people just don't give a crap.
 
elvis said:
To me the difference between JP-2C and Mark V is not just tone, but dynamics. Both are tight, but the JP has more bounce and bloom to my ears, as well as the lack of ice pick.

If I read your question correctly, you are asking why the 10W mode might have a very different character. I believe that running the tubes in such an anemic bias point and mode is going to get quite mushy, which for the overly tight and squawky V is something useful.

There is a fix for the ice pick in the Mark V channel 3. The earlier versions of the Mark V have a different tone stack arrangement that was changed sometime in 2010. Models prior to the change will definitely have an ice pick tone, however that is also present in the models following the change. The fix is very easy to implement as it is just a preamp tube change. Install a NOS JAN/Phillips 12AT7 into V4 and the amp just blossoms into a JP2C rival, for those who own a Mark V 90W, I highly recommend the V4 change as this will make the amp sound very much like the JP-2C and also cures the ice pick character when driving the amp at higher volume levels. It is really an OMFG change.

Still I love the JP-2C as this one is just awesome on all levels. The dual 5BEQ is a nice feature.
 
You may want to try the AT7 tube mod. Each mode in channel 3 sounds amazing which seems to be the general consensus.

The amp's natural character includes high mid range levels but with the mod, the channel 3 modes sound open, 3D, aggressive and loaded with more overtones. Now that I've had a chance to compare with the JP, I'd say the V definitely holds its own. Pretty much as good as the JP channel 2 / 3 but more immediate.
 

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