JP2C disappointment

[sherpa_man]

I am wondering if anybody out there could give me some advice. I have always been a Friedman user, brown eye, JJ and then the butterslax. I bought the JP2C after listening to some of the YouTube clips and no matter what I do, I can't get it to sound anything like the new videos. Doesn't sound as big or full. I can't get the volume much past 9/10 because it's in a small room and I'm wondering if it's down to this? Maybe I should look into a attenuator.

Any advice would be welcome.

Many thanks.

 

[Nitrobattery]

Mark series amps take a while to dial in. What do your settings look like?

 

[Markedman]

Your absolutely right. The amp is terrible at low volume. The sound kicks in at 10 O'clock or so, you'll hear it and the amp will turn into the amp you were hoping for. It kicks in just below average Joe band level so if your drummer plays a little bit loud, that's perfect. More speakers at a low level helps IMO. A 4X12 is better at low volume than a 1X12, YMMV. I run a 1X12 open back & a 1X12 thiele bottom. They don't sound that great by themselves at low volume but they're O.K.ish/better at low volume together.
I've never had the pleasure/nightmare of using an attenuator so I can't answer that.

 

[Zesta]

I have a JP2C with the horizontal 2x12. It definitely sounds better at ~10 o'clock or higher. It sounds much better at lower volumes than most tube amps I have used, though. I can get pretty decent tone at lower volumes, just not exactly the same as when cranked.

I use mine with a SPL Reducer attenuator. It works very nicely and is very transparent. I keep the master at around 10-11 o'clock.

 

[dlpasco]

Volume really shouldn't factor into it too much, the amp sounds really good at low volumes. What setting are you using?

 

[sherpa_man]

here they are

 

[shortaus]

You need bass bro, I'm not sure if you are trying to tweak it like it is an actual iic+, but these amps allow (and benefit) from higher bass settings. Tweak it with the 60Hz slider to make it as tight or as flubby as you want, but you need more of that bass if you want to make it fuller. To improve on the dullness, tweak the 6600 EQ slider and the presence knob. The 2200 and 240 sliders affect your direct tone the most, these will often dictate how your overall sound is shaped.

You can get incredibly good tone from Mark amps at low volume, that is kind of the selling point (and has been since the 70's).

 

[dlpasco]

For channel 2 I'd start with the bass at 10 o'clock, maybe goose the presence a little more, and push in the gain and presence knobs in. I'd also turn off Shred to start out as well.

 

[Icarusuki]

I am wondering if anybody out there could give me some advice. I have always been a Friedman user, brown eye, JJ and then the butterslax. I bought the JP2C after listening to some of the YouTube clips and no matter what I do, I can't get it to sound anything like the new videos. Doesn't sound as big or full. I can't get the volume much past 9/10 because it's in a small room and I'm wondering if it's down to this? Maybe I should look into a attenuator.

Any advice would be welcome.

Many thanks.

A little more information may be helpful.

What kind of cab/speaker(s) are you using? Do you have an example for the type of tone you are aiming for? Are you using an FX processor or pedals?

It is important to mention that a recorded/mic'ed amp will always sound very different than a live, in the room amp. Coming from a tube amp background and entering the Axe-FX/Kemper world was difficult, because those devices sound like a recorded amp, not at all like an actual, in-the-room amp.

The reverse is also true, the first time I played a Mesa Boogie (a Mark IIC++), it took me ages to dial it in. Luckily, it was a long-term loan. If I had had only had a few minutes, or even a couple of hours, in a music store to dial in the amp, I would have confidently told you that the Mark IIC++ was absolute garbage.

From the picture, I don't see any egregious errors in settings. If the amp sounds dull, I would pull the Presence knob out on Channels 2 and 3, since they appear pushed in. You can also try shred mode to add some additional high-end frequencies. My particular preference is the scooped tone, so I would drop the 750 slider down near the bottom.

As far as sounding big/full, at some point volume is going to be involved. If you're playing through 1x12 at low volume, there are only a few things you can realistically do. Get the cabinet directly on the floor, if it isn't already.

I agree with DLPasco, I find that my JP2C sounds good at low volumes. It sounds better louder :mrgreen: , but still sounds good low.

~Icarus

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

You guys who own them can tell me if I'm wrong, but from my V25 and Mark V reference points, that's probably too much mids on both 2 and 3. At least with the EQ settings, and on C3 with the Mid knob as well, unless that's the style of tone you are going for. Heck, compared to most of you, I probably use the least drop of the 750 slider of anyone who has posted their settings, and I use much more cut than that with the EQ.

 

[Ibanezex718]

It all depends on the tone that you're trying to get. If you're going for more of a modern sound for hard rock or metal, I'd recommend scooping those mids on both the channel and the EQ. Look in the manual as well and they have some settings to start out with. I haven't found a tone I don't like from this amp, it's truly a versatile amp, but just like any other mesa, you'll have to play with the settings a lot, but once you get it tuned in, it's truly amazing.

 

[Agustín Collia]

You need bass bro, I'm not sure if you are trying to tweak it like it is an actual iic+, but these amps allow (and benefit) from higher bass settings. Tweak it with the 60Hz slider to make it as tight or as flubby as you want
You can get incredibly good tone from Mark amps at low volume, that is kind of the selling point (and has been since the 70's).

WTF??????? The internet CAN be dangerous indeed.

 

[SamuelJ86]

You need bass bro, I'm not sure if you are trying to tweak it like it is an actual iic+, but these amps allow (and benefit) from higher bass settings. Tweak it with the 60Hz slider to make it as tight or as flubby as you want
You can get incredibly good tone from Mark amps at low volume, that is kind of the selling point (and has been since the 70's).

WTF??????? The internet CAN be dangerous indeed.

Hahaha :lol: :lol:

Just like every mark manual says 1000 times; as the gain goes up the bass goes up! :lol:

 

[SamuelJ86]

You could sell your 3 Friedman's and buy a bigger house. Maybe one with a studio with that kind of money. :lol: But seriously, your settings look fine. At least do some more experimenting with the GEQ. A lot of different ways to use it besides the classic V. In fact, someone mentioned the W shape in another thread for the mark V and I thought it sounded very good through the JP2C. An attenuator isn't going to do to much for you either. At the bedroom volumes your playing at, it's just not going to make enough of a noticeable difference to justify buying an attenuator. My favorite GEQ settings are not too far off from yours, just pull that 750 down a little bit and your sound will open up a bit. Also, at such low volumes, you can get away with extreme GEQ settings. And maybe this amp just isn't your cup of tea.

 

[sherpa_man]

I will post some clips later, I am starting to think its a bad pre amp tube.

 

[nitefly]

I was naughty and turned the amp up to ~10 o'clock in my terraced house this weekend - loud... but sounded so good!

As per the settings thread, I'm still hunting down those metallica tones. I'm using the following (or approximate too):

Channel 3
Gain (pulled) - 10:30 to 11:00
Presence: either (i) pulled at 11-12:00 or (ii) pushed from 12-14:00
Treble: 14:30
Mids: 11:00
Bass: 8:30 - 9:00
EQ - similar to sherpa_man's picture above but will all sliders boosted very slightly save for the 750 slider which is above the bottom line (about 1/3 of the distance from the bottom like to the middle line)

As master volume goes up, tone becomes better for sure. Hiring a practice studio room this weekend so will see how that goes

I mean really... it's a fricking 60/100 watt amp... it's designed to sound best at performance volumes.

 

[Markedman]

Once you've played a thousand different amps, you'll realize a 1 watt amp is about right for bedroom level. Even the Mark V25 is too loud at 10 watts for strict bedroom level usage. It's not all the amps fault either, the speaker and cabinet type will make a difference in tone at lower levels, a bigger difference than wattage. A closed back ported enclosure will deliver more bass than an open back or half open back.
Nitefly, I like those settings, mine have been similar.

 

[nitefly]

I'm glad you like them!

The interaction between gain and treble has taken me a seriously long time to get used to. If you listen closely you can hear the point at which the amp becomes too saturated with gain.

In other words, if you set the gain at noon and then increase the treble from, say, 9 oclock upwards, when you approach ~2 oclock you will hear the noise / hiss in the amp start to increase massively! At that point, it's time to back one of them down imo because you just end up with loads of string noise. You can do the same think by setting the treble at ~1 oclock and increasing the gain... there is this saturation point where it's time to start backing things way down.

Obviously it becomes even more complicated when you factor in that bass adds gain and the mid control does add some slight gain... what a difficult balancing act it is :lol:

As for the EQ settings, I have basically nicked those used by Dusty whats-his-face from the official Mesa demo.

 

[dlpasco]

I will post some clips later, I am starting to think its a bad pre amp tube.

Did you have any luck with this?

 

[Markedman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19UZd_DKs2Q

Dusty what's-his-name and his band. (for those of you who can't stand heavy, go to 4:40 to listen to some of the sweetest MESA/Boogie lead tone ever.)