Owner's of both JP2C & C+ which get's played more?

[Markedman]

I fired my C++ up this morning because it hadn't been turned on for a month or so. Sounded great. I'll turn it on in another month just to play it but I play the JP2C all the time and I'm about 50% at mastering the tone with it. The JP2C is nice and easy to quickly dial in tone when playing different places whereas the C++ took a couple of songs to mete out punishing tones. For practice, the option of changing between 3 real channels is hard to resist.

 

[GJgo]

Markedman, after some time do you still feel like the IIC++ & the JP2C are close enough in tone that if you had one you wouldn't miss the other?

 

[GJgo]

Edit. Screw it. I found a great deal on a clean IIC HRG that's headed my way now. Already have the call into Mike B.

 

[Markedman]

Markedman, after some time do you still feel like the IIC++ & the JP2C are close enough in tone that if you had one you wouldn't miss the other?

Although they sound very similar, they are so much different in features I would not think of selling either one.
I never had a problem with getting a clean tone and heavy tone with my C++ because I'm not an emulator type, I prefer to get my own tone and generally go with that tweaking the amp throughout the night as needed. For example, playing Metallica I pull the 750 fader down. Playing BB King I'll turn volume 1 down. I had a MXR Micro-amp in the loop for a volume boost and a mini tube screamer out front for "hair" making the C++ very versatile. I played the C++ a lot this week because I played out most nights so instead of setting my JP2C set up up every night at home I used the C++ set up. I also used my JP2C quite a bit this week at different practices and I must say I was floored by it tonight. I really mean it when I say it sounded unbelievable, shockingly great tone! I'm learning the ins and outs of the interaction of the GEQ/shred/treble/presence controls getting my totally awesome thick saturated uncompressed gained-up feedback at a reasonable volume.
Sophie's choice? Only one? C++

 

[GJgo]

So I got the HRG back from Mike B., I now have a IIC+. Damndest thing though, I came up on a deal I couldn't refuse on a factory DRG & sent it off to Mike as well, in about a week I'll also have IIC++. :mrgreen:

I've been working on some simple recordings of the HRG vs. the JP2C. I hope to record something I can post soon. I do agree with what most everyone has said here:
- Yes, in a recording you can get them to sound the same, or at least VERY close.
- In the room the IIC+ does sound / feel more vintage & the JP feels more modern.
- Live the features of the JP definitely give it the edge. For recording I think the IIC+ has an edge.

To add:
- The IIC+ absolutely has a FEEL that you get as a player that is amazing, 3 dimensional with its harmonics & feedback, that I don't get with the JP. Now the JP is no slouch, but the original is just off the charts.
- The JP has WAY more gain, I'm really thinking the JP is modeled after a IIC++. I'll know in about a week!

 

[Markedman]

My C++ has the gain that the JP2C has.

 

[GJgo]

Alright guys, check this out! My IIC+ vs IIC++ vs JP-2C. No more guessing.

https://youtu.be/T8XI4fE46qk

 

[UpNorthMark]

Wow, great comparison. I love my JP-2C and I am always cusrious about the "Originals" this video confirms I'll continue to be staisfied with what I have. Great Job!!

 

[dlpasco]

In this context (isolated guitars) the IIC++ sounds the best to me: fuller, edgier and more aggressive.

Generally speaking for what I heard, I liked the IIC++, then the IIC+, then the JP2C.

But I also think that third place in this lineup is nothing to sneer at.

-Dan

 

[bandit2013]

I like all three. I am sure things would be different with a different cab. Awesome video BTW. Love the guitar case too with the Mesa logo, nice touch.

Thank you for sharing and your narrative comments were an added bonus. Well done.

 

[GJgo]

Thanks I also have a 1960 cab, and an EVM12L I'm looking for a cab to stuff it in. Different speakers definitely change the tone, but the concept of differentiation between the heads is still the same. The G12T-75s are darker, and the EVM is very hi-fi.

 

[jack s.]

Markedman, after some time do you still feel like the IIC++ & the JP2C are close enough in tone that if you had one you wouldn't miss the other?

Although they sound very similar, they are so much different in features I would not think of selling either one.
I never had a problem with getting a clean tone and heavy tone with my C++ because I'm not an emulator type, I prefer to get my own tone and generally go with that tweaking the amp throughout the night as needed. For example, playing Metallica I pull the 750 fader down. Playing BB King I'll turn volume 1 down. I had a MXR Micro-amp in the loop for a volume boost and a mini tube screamer out front for "hair" making the C++ very versatile. I played the C++ a lot this week because I played out most nights so instead of setting my JP2C set up up every night at home I used the C++ set up. I also used my JP2C quite a bit this week at different practices and I must say I was floored by it tonight. I really mean it when I say it sounded unbelievable, shockingly great tone! I'm learning the ins and outs of the interaction of the GEQ/shred/treble/presence controls getting my totally awesome thick saturated uncompressed gained-up feedback at a reasonable volume.
Sophie's choice? Only one? C++

Hey, don't mean to hijack the thread here, but I'm looking for a pedal to provide a volume boost for solos in the effects loop of my 60 watt IIC+ 1/12 combo. Do you recommend the MXR micro amp? Does it change the eq of the signal much? Using the overdrive pedals I have set for a clean boost always shaved off a lot of bass and/or treble. I'm looking for the exact same sound just LOUDER for solos. Also, any experience with the Mesa 5 band EQ pedal? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! -Jack

 

[Markedman]

If the JP2C had only ch.1 & ch.2 with 1 GEQ, I'd use it more than my C++.

 

[themisfit138]

After a few months I went back to mostly just playing the C++. The JP2C still has too much of that modern compressed tone, for my liking, and not near the edge and aggression of the C++.

 

[GJgo]

That sums up how I feel about it too. However, I ended up putting the JP in my bedroom because it has a headphone jack so I can play when the kids are asleep, so technically I probably play it more, but my DRG C++ occupies a special place in my heart that no other amp has ever been before.

I think the modern compressed feel has its place depending on what you're playing, though. Modern metal = definitely the JP.

 

[dlpasco]

I've owned a JP-2C two different times and just never gelled with it. I ended up selling them both times.

I'm probably going to be leaving the IIC+ in my will for my kids.

 

[Davey]

Alright guys, check this out! My IIC+ vs IIC++ vs JP-2C. No more guessing.

https://youtu.be/T8XI4fE46qk

I wanted to thank you for doing this video. This is the video I watched before I bought the JP-2C that convinced me to pull the trigger.

To my ears, the HRG IIC+ sounds weaker in the bottom end, I'm thinking that it's most comparable of the three to the Mark V I already had, which I felt was lacking. The IC++ is right on the money, that sounds fantastic to me, pretty much exactly what I'm looking for... The JP-2C follows up and I think it's just a tiny bit darker, perhaps a little less mids, but looking at how you have the EQ set it was apparent it was adjusted more toward that kind of sound regardless. (I use a shallower V with the mids just at the center).

Also agree with our comment on Youtube that the JP-2C does struggle a bit with the more "classic rock" tone. I find that bypassing the EQ and dialing the gain way back works well enough for my purposes, but when I really need a great classic rock tone I use a different amp more suited to that sort of thing. The JP-2C is a metal machine, though. Love this amp, no regrets, makes me smile every time I hit that first power chord.

 

[GJgo]

Sure thing Davey, thanks. I think you've nailed it. I ended up sending the HRG C+ back to Mike for the ++ mod so now I have a pair of ++. MUCH happier with it now. I can still dial it back with the knobs, but with just the + I couldn't get where I wanted. I think a LOT of people have the ++ tone in their head from the music they hear but think it's + tone.

I think the JP has to stand on its own merits (epic gigging amp, metal machine), but in the room with a ++ (or even my IVa) it's a challenge to get the same huge all-enveloping sound out of it. You can get the recorded tone really, really close but what you don't hear in the recording is the feel.