Guitar Gear Forum

screamingdaisy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2024 11:28 pm

nightflameauto wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2024 10:35 pm I figure this happens before they're even available to try. Cork sniffers gotta get a leg-up these days, or they're just trend-hoppin'.

Well, in that case, lets get this party started.

I haven't tried one, but I don't think it sounds like a real IIC+.

Spread the word.

The guy playing the strat in the demo video doesn't sound like Bastard of Tuffets. This amp is trash.

Endtime wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 2:06 pm The only thing I’ll add is… and I’m not all that interested in this. Lol. But… the shop I’m at is literally one of the biggest Mesa dealers in Illinois and has been for almost 20 years. We’ll definitely get a few of these and I can see what the hubbub is all about. Having owned a JP2c for awhile, I’m sure I’ll like it. But if it could get maybe a bit “wider” in the lows I can see that being a good thing. I really had no complaints of the jp2c. Besides maybe that. And that it seemingly suffered from the same issues as any amp, but apparently Marks are more prevalent in that you’d swear you’d have the perfect settings. Finally dialed in all the sliders juuuust right. It’s literally god-tier tone. And then tmro… I’m moving the sliders again. Lol.

Definitely want to hear you with one. And you’re right, the thing is a bitch to dial in and the smallest of tweaks can totally ruin it, I’ve started taking pictures of my settings for different guitars and speakers cause I need some reference. you’re also right that it is god tier when you do find it, and the feel is so fluid, I understand the reason why they go for so much

It's about time they brought back the original control layout. The V and all the rest don't have the same feel as the 2, 3, and 4 because they don't have the input gain control. I hated how they used the Recto control layout because retards couldn't figure out how to dial it in without 3 separate banks of controls.

I have little experience with the modern Mark's but I had a III and a IV at some point and I didn't find them hard to dial in. The thing to keep in mind is that they're derived from a Bassman so the tone stack needs to be dialed like a pushed Bassman or even a Plexi (which is also derived from that same platform), meaning Bass near zero, Mids to taste and the Treble acts as part of the gain voicing. BMT at 1-5-7 is a good neutral point for these amps, then take/add frequencies with the GEQ.

Guitarbilly wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 3:16 pm I have little experience with the modern Mark's but I had a III and a IV at some point and I didn't find them hard to dial in. The thing to keep in mind is that they're derived from a Bassman so the tone stack needs to be dialed like a pushed Bassman or even a Plexi (which is also derived from that same platform), meaning Bass near zero, Mids to taste and the Treble acts as part of the gain voicing. BMT at 1-5-7 is a good neutral point for these amps, then take/add frequencies with the GEQ.

Yup exactly.

And most important, matching the guitar being used to the amp via the input gain control. Getting the right signal at the input makes all of the downstream controls work like they should.

Endtime wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 2:06 pm The only thing I’ll add is… and I’m not all that interested in this. Lol. But… the shop I’m at is literally one of the biggest Mesa dealers in Illinois and has been for almost 20 years. We’ll definitely get a few of these and I can see what the hubbub is all about. Having owned a JP2c for awhile, I’m sure I’ll like it. But if it could get maybe a bit “wider” in the lows I can see that being a good thing. I really had no complaints of the jp2c. Besides maybe that. And that it seemingly suffered from the same issues as any amp, but apparently Marks are more prevalent in that you’d swear you’d have the perfect settings. Finally dialed in all the sliders juuuust right. It’s literally god-tier tone. And then tmro… I’m moving the sliders again. Lol.

The low end was my biggest complaint about the JP, too. Just not quite wide enough, especially if you used the Shred feature. I liked how the Shred would take the gain and tightness up a bit, though. And yeah, the dialing thing. Everyday, don't touch the settings, friggin thing sounds different lol. I agree on all of this haha.

Guitarbilly wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 3:16 pm I have little experience with the modern Mark's but I had a III and a IV at some point and I didn't find them hard to dial in. The thing to keep in mind is that they're derived from a Bassman so the tone stack needs to be dialed like a pushed Bassman or even a Plexi (which is also derived from that same platform), meaning Bass near zero, Mids to taste and the Treble acts as part of the gain voicing. BMT at 1-5-7 is a good neutral point for these amps, then take/add frequencies with the GEQ.

yeah i keep the bass and mids at around 2 and most everything else at 7. i dont know if the iii's and iv's have all the push/pull knobs that do whatever but its finding the right mix of which ones to pull that take it from really good to god tier as endtime described.

The IIIs and IVs do have a bunch of push/pulls, too. The V changed that with fixed values for some of those controls. Detriment to the series, IMO.

RaceU4her wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 2:46 pm

Endtime wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 2:06 pm The only thing I’ll add is… and I’m not all that interested in this. Lol. But… the shop I’m at is literally one of the biggest Mesa dealers in Illinois and has been for almost 20 years. We’ll definitely get a few of these and I can see what the hubbub is all about. Having owned a JP2c for awhile, I’m sure I’ll like it. But if it could get maybe a bit “wider” in the lows I can see that being a good thing. I really had no complaints of the jp2c. Besides maybe that. And that it seemingly suffered from the same issues as any amp, but apparently Marks are more prevalent in that you’d swear you’d have the perfect settings. Finally dialed in all the sliders juuuust right. It’s literally god-tier tone. And then tmro… I’m moving the sliders again. Lol.

Definitely want to hear you with one. And you’re right, the thing is a bitch to dial in and the smallest of tweaks can totally ruin it, I’ve started taking pictures of my settings for different guitars and speakers cause I need some reference. you’re also right that it is god tier when you do find it, and the feel is so fluid, I understand the reason why they go for so much

So you have one??? I musta missed this or just forgot… That’s killer. Yeah I wouldn’t say they are hard to dial in. For me Marks are actually easy to some degree. It’s just, with that said, something about them was inconsistent day to day. I don’t know if it’s cause that graphic is such a powerful eq that even small increments matter but yeah I just found myself messing with it , when just a day or 2 prior I was sitting back thinking like the old Busch beer commercials. “it doesn’t get any better than this.” Lol. Cause the JP anyway, really did have a depth and 3D tone at times which was the first amp I could truly say had that “swirling mids” and all those great old tone descriptions. Lol. And also the JP was maybe one of the best amps I’ve used as far as how I dialed it in at lower volumes really translated well at loud volumes and In a band. While say my 5150s get loud and are known for preamp gain, I can hear pretty clear changes in tone when the power section starts working. Definitely mids come more forward, where as the JP just got louder in a very linear way. It felt like it retained its tone when the master was being pushed. I never felt like I didn’t have enough power or headroom.

Yeah Mesa bias their Marks really cold, just enough to clear crossover distortion. Then they put a resistor in place of the bias pot so no one will fuck with it. And that's the best thing to do to a high gain amp. It gives the power section max headroom and keeps the tone about the same at any volume.