Hello, fellow tone nuts. Long time lurker, avid reader, first time poster. I owned a Mark V from 2009 until very recently, I got some great tones out of it. I tried lots of stuff, EL-34's, ECC83S in V1, 12AT7's as recommended on this board, etc. I always felt like I was missing something with the Mark V.
Although I somewhat enjoyed the variety of tones I could get out of the Mark V, I play metal. I don't need variety, I need *my tone*. CH3, Pentode, Mark IV mode, high gain, V-taper EQ, you know the drill. I do appreciate the tone of a good cranked Marshall too, and CH2 of the Mark V in Crunch was a pretty good approximation, I used that a lot when I was in a more "rock and roll" type of mood. Occasionally I'd play around with Tweed mode on CH1 for 30 seconds to remind myself I don't really care much for that tone... Mainly, I'm just a metalhead and I would stick to CH3 with the gain up pretty high.
As I recall, a lot of people said they didn't think the V was as aggressive sounding as a "real" IIC and I was after aggression... When the JP-2C came out it got my attention. So about a month ago, took a gamble on the JP-2C. I didn't have a chance to try one out in person, the nearest dealer is some hours drive away from me and as soon as they get one in stock it's gone, it seems, so I bit the bullet and just ordered from Mesa Hollywood.
I was not disappointed on turning it on the first time, and tweaking it a bit with the GEQ disabled. Once I got it to sound good to my ears, I fine-tuned it with the Graphic EQ and I was in heaven. THIS was the Mark-series tone I had been looking for, what the Mark V simply could not deliver. I'm sorry, but if you are looking for really heavy tones, the Mark V just is no match for the JP-2C. I don't play "modern" metal or anything, I'm just talking about a good 80's/90's heavy type of tone; not Hair Metal, but heavy, heavy metal.
Anyway, thinking I must just have forgotten how great the Mark V is due to excitement about my "new toy" I put it on standby and turned on the Mark V, I A/B'ed them quite a bit. I toyed with the Mark V from ground zero (flat EQ, knobs at noon) several times and it led me right back where I had always set it as my "best" or favorite tone I could get out of it, and compared it again to the JP-2C, and the JP-2C won, easily. I like a pretty bright tone and you have to work to get it from the JP-2C (especially with the presence pushed like I prefer) but compared to the IIC mode on the Mark V, the JP-2C is way more what I expected out of a "IIC reinvented" or however you want to put it. Much more aggressive and, well... Metal. Way more aggressive sounding than the Mark IV mode as well. The final straw was, I played though the Mark V exclusively for a few days, to get my ears "used" to it, then switched to the JP-2C, and again the JP-2C won. No matter how I tried to trick my ears, I always preferred the JP-2C
So, all that long-winded bullshit said... In my opinion (and keep in mind, this is all opinions, tone is subjective, and we all use our "tools" in different ways...) is the Mark V redundant? No, it's got a lot of tones that the JP-2C doesn't do... But for me it was rendered unnecessary, because there are far more authentic "crunch" amps (i.e. Marshall or Marshall clone) and I don't really dig the boosted Fender clean thing that much anyway. The JP-2C is a better Mark for my needs. The Mark V simply will not create the tone I'm getting from the JP-2C, I know, I tried for 8 years to do it and I dialed it in on the JP-2C in under 30 minutes (sure I've made a few minor tweaks since then.)
I sold the Mark V a few weeks ago, and I bought a nice Marshall type of amp. This covers all the bases for me much better than the JP-2C + Mark V did.