A Live JP2C Implementation... Any Others?

[rarebitusa]

For the Mesa gear nerds...

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Ok this is the JP2C sub forum and no I do not have a JP2C but do have something similar... a IIC+ HR. Amazing amp. Gigged it live for many years but it had always been a bit of a compromise to cover a wide range of musical genres. So a while ago went looking for a 3 Chan Mesa with Clean, Crunch Rhythm and Lead chans. It came down to a V:90, TC or a JP2C. Ended up with the V in large part cause of a Godfather like "Offer He can't refuse" deal presented itself, plus the JP2C in my mind was perhaps duplication.

Do dig the V... currently it's my #1 live rig, have alot of time invested tweaking it in, 4CM, Boss Core, etc. It was a steep learning curve and a fanboy now but can totally understand why some folks give up on it, feature richness leads to complication and at times yes, they can be temperamental.

But man... gotta give it up for the JP2C live. This weekend, in a small club, unmic'd setting @Doug Doppler was playing with his JP2C rig. Hearing firsthand is believing... amazing tone, sat perfectly in the live with a 2nd guitar, bass & drums mix and cut thru without being overbearing. Yea there was more to the rig then just the JP2C and Doppler can play, but it was impressive nonetheless. A bit of an overview of the rig gets alluded to here.

Doppler JP2C Rig

Now that I've heard this example I admit that the has been stoked GAS a bit... if anyone else has a JP2C live rig pros/cons and would like to share the details, I for one would be very interested.

 

[Doug Doppler]

@rarebitusa aka Albert - MANY thanks for coming to the show, the hang time and your WONDERFUL post...

Noting 25 reads since yesterday there are some folks interested so here goes...

I'm a Boogie fanatic and per a Classic Rock flavored album I'm working on with American Idol winner Caleb Johnson, a pair of Badlander 50 Combos has become my go to studio rig as I finish out that album...

I'm also in process on an instrumental guitar album which includes guest tracks with Joe Satriani, Jared James Nichols, and few other folks who have yet to record their bits. While this is also in the Classic Rock vein, the melody / solo tones are a bit more gained out, and for live playing the JP~2C has been my amp for this...

I started both project recording direct using modelers, enjoying the ease of use. I'm friends with Nili Brosh who had a gig in L.A. that I opened for. As I was prepping for that gig I became VERY frustrated in making what sounded so great in the studio, work when played loud in the room. In my frustration I jumped into the shower, a place where good ideas seem to hit, and in this case they did. I went out to storage, grabbed my 4x12 oversized Recto Cabs and wired up the JP~2C rig in the video that Albert kindly shared. There I was using CabClone IR vs the Slave out which is what I use now > Axe-Fx IIi > Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 power amp > Boogie Cabs for a crazy LOUD stereo spread...

All three channels are simply amazing. VINTAGE black panel cleans, CLEAR Classic Rockish Crunch, and SOARING Leads. A spot of the spring Reverb for a bit of that Fender vibe and just enough Digital Delay and Verb to wet things up a hint. The last gig I did was at the OC Vibe Guitar Show in Anaheim (Larry Mitchell, Phil X, and Philip Sayce also played). I literally pulled the head out of the case, pulled the back and front off the rack and was good to go. The power amp is a bit of an 'afterthought' just to take things stereo. The tone happens before then. This rig is ROCK solid and is a TONE MACHINE. As I said to Albert, I'm an expensive friend, but if you're looking for a rig that rocks, you can't go wrong starting with the JP~2C!!!

CHEERS ~ Doug

 

[rarebitusa]

There I was using CabClone IR vs the Slave out which is what I use now > Axe-Fx IIi > Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 power amp > Boogie Cabs for a crazy LOUD stereo spread...

Man I can't help but nerd dive a bit further.

The slave out being a tap off the output transformer then the Cabclone must have been active. Thanks to @bandit2013 for the descriptive pic here. Unlike the Badlander and others you have to flip the switch to enable operation without a load. Safe to assume this was the case



So unlike a 4CM implementation (which I run) the Doppler JP2C signal chain has a different approach.

A spot of the spring Reverb for a bit of that Fender vibe and just enough Digital Delay and Verb to wet things up a hint.

So I'm going to assume that the "Spring Reverb" is from the JP2C. That would come in before the Power Section. Then the external "Delay and Verb" delay is added post Slave out which is after the power section.

The 4CM rule of thumb "modulation effects" after the preamp is what I've followed but running delay and verb on the Slave Out is something TBH I've never thought of trying. You get the true combination of the JP2C preamp and power stage effects at their optimum working levels. The tailoring of the Delay & Verb in stereo is also another point, in mono it wouldn't be as momentus. The Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 power amp gives you also an extra EQ stage and controllable volume that is independent of the full amp. A take on essentially live reamping.

As I said to Albert, I'm an expensive friend, but if you're looking for a rig that rocks, you can't go wrong starting with the JP~2C!!!

Well yea that was a rocking rig, but isn't this what we want these days??? Well I certainly do. Always fighting the live volume vs optimum amp volume situation. End up sacrificing the power section contributions in order to survive my bandmates wanting to kill the guitar player and his loud rig

I know there are others who have some involved Mesa rigs @DECEMBER @CoG come to mind. Anyone else???

 

[DECEMBER]

I know there are others who have some involved Mesa rigs @DECEMBER @CoG come to mind. Anyone else???

Yeah, but mine isn't really portable, it's never left the house. I'd have to scale it down to make it practical for a show.

 

[Doug Doppler]

Man I can't help but nerd dive a bit further.

The slave out being a tap off the output transformer then the Cabclone must have been active. Thanks to @bandit2013 for the descriptive pic here. Unlike the Badlander and others you have to flip the switch to enable operation without a load. Safe to assume this was the case

View attachment 4992

So unlike a 4CM implementation (which I run) the Doppler JP2C signal chain has a different approach.

So I'm going to assume that the "Spring Reverb" is from the JP2C. That would come in before the Power Section. Then the external "Delay and Verb" delay is added post Slave out which is after the power section.

The 4CM rule of thumb "modulation effects" after the preamp is what I've followed but running delay and verb on the Slave Out is something TBH I've never thought of trying. You get the true combination of the JP2C preamp and power stage effects at their optimum working levels. The tailoring of the Delay & Verb in stereo is also another point, in mono it wouldn't be as momentus. The Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 power amp gives you also an extra EQ stage and controllable volume that is independent of the full amp. A take on essentially live reamping.



Well yea that was a rocking rig, but isn't this what we want these days??? Well I certainly do. Always fighting the live volume vs optimum amp volume situation. End up sacrificing the power section contributions in order to survive my bandmates wanting to kill the guitar player and his loud rig

I know there are others who have some involved Mesa rigs @DECEMBER @CoG come to mind. Anyone else???

Hey @rarebitusa - YES on the built-in spring reverb, and YES, the speaker off switch lives in the off position. I'm SO used to running these amps NOT using the speaker out that I failed to mention that part of what I ALWAYS do is choose how hard I want to push the power amp. Per a conversation I had with Maddi (JP's AWESOME tech) about this rig his comment was that I had to have backed off on the pre-amp volume for that channel, which comparatively to the other two channels I had. John like's a 'piano string' vibe for celan tones per his style and band/s. I prefer the old school Black Panel vibe which you get what you start goosing the power amp. This rig is ALL about manipulating the pre-amp and power amp (why in the world do they NOT both have a DASH!!!) and then as you pointed out, the PowerStage 700 just makes all that louder or softer without any noticeable shift in tone LOVE THIS RIG!!!

 

[Doug Doppler]

Yeah, but mine isn't really portable, it's never left the house. I'd have to scale it down to make it practical for a show.

Hey @DECEMBER - nice to eMeet you. So my 'travel rig' is the Mark V 25 on its own OR with a power amp and a backlined cab. They are on sale for $999 at Sweetwater right now too Cheers ~ Doug

 

[rarebitusa]

This rig is ALL about manipulating the pre-amp and power amp (why in the world do they NOT both have a DASH!!!) and then as you pointed out, the PowerStage 700 just makes all that louder or softer without any noticeable shift in tone LOVE THIS RIG!!!

Yea, I heard it ... there was alot to "love" about that rig tone.

FWIW I experimented with that balance of pre-amp/power amp gain levels and running the master up with a reactive load and then reamped from the Slave Out. There's certainly more headroom to play with and easing back on the Chan gain is compensated with a better driven power section. Have got more tweaking to do tonight.

 

[Doug Doppler]

Yea, I heard it ... there was alot to "love" about that rig tone.

FWIW I experimented with that balance of pre-amp/power amp gain levels and running the master up with a reactive load and then reamped from the Slave Out. There's certainly more headroom to play with and easing back on the Chan gain is compensated with a better driven power section. Have got more tweaking to do tonight.

RIGHT - headroom manipulation WITHOUT going deaf/er. Tweak on my friend, tweak on!