If you're a fan of the mark series tones, then you will fall in love with the JP2C. Guaranteed! And I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with gibbycustom. The JP crunches just fine. Actually, I think it crunches better than anything my mark V can do. A few tips maybe, or suggestions for you and gibbycustom to try out. Because I too had the same opinion as gibby the first week or so I owned the JP. I thought the lead channels just had too much gain and that the amp wouldn't do bluesy, crunchy tones. I'd roll the gain back but the amp would always be too saturated. All or nothing, like gibby said. It was amazing and kinda frustrating at the same time. But after some experimenting I found some great crunch tones. I have discovered every knob on the tone stack will add gain. We all know the treble adds some gain in Mark amps, but it adds ALOT in the JP. The mid control adds gain too, albeit at higher settings (past 1 o'clock). Even the bass control adds gain, but you probably don't have to worry about that one. You can remedy the "all or nothing" gain thing by lowering all your tone stack controls. Start with them about 8 or 9 o'clock and work with them from there. Get your brightness from the presence control. Then you can roll in the amout of gain you want and it won't get so saturated so quickly or easily. Also, volume is a big factor here too. The louder the better for crunch. Not power tube overdrive, but you have to open the amp up. This amp, when loud, becomes soooo clear and crisp. I find that when I turn up the volume usually I have to turn up the gain a little bit too. It's a funny thing. But experiment with this gibbycustom, let me know if it doesn't change your mind about how versatile the JP2C can be.
One more thing; avoid an extreme V curve on the GEQ when dialing in a crunch tone. I don't use the GEQ for lower gain sounds. This amp sounds wonderful without the GEQ engaged. Which can't be said about the mark V.
