nicolasrivera
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Just a fun time in the studio trying amps with friemds, the JP2C and a 4X12 OS Rec cab are a match made in heaven. One could spend hours just riffing out.
MESA JP2C + 4X12
- Thread starter nicolasrivera
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I’ve still yet to play through one of these (just the models).
Listening to that clip, I found myself asking, “Is that Petrucci’s tone, or Mesa’s tone….or are they same thing?” His tone has been so signature Mesa-sounding since the start that the JPIIC+ actually sounds like you’d think a Petrucci sig amp would sound….but is that because it’s a Petrucci sig, or because it’s a Mesa?
I’m not saying that negatively in any way, but you know how many people bought a Carvin Legacy and said “I don’t sound like Vai, wtf?”, or how many people hated Nuno’s sig amp (seems he did too), Dimebag with his sigs, etc.
Listening to that clip, I found myself asking, “Is that Petrucci’s tone, or Mesa’s tone….or are they same thing?” His tone has been so signature Mesa-sounding since the start that the JPIIC+ actually sounds like you’d think a Petrucci sig amp would sound….but is that because it’s a Petrucci sig, or because it’s a Mesa?
I’m not saying that negatively in any way, but you know how many people bought a Carvin Legacy and said “I don’t sound like Vai, wtf?”, or how many people hated Nuno’s sig amp (seems he did too), Dimebag with his sigs, etc.
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Oh man, Nuno's Randall was the darkest, most inarticulate piece of poo I ever owned.
I did dig the aesthetics, though.
Hahahah he had a Rat and a Marshall behind them for quite a while. I actually dug the way they looked, too, seems we’re the odd ones out on that.
nicolasrivera
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The Two Notes captures of that cab do sound really good, just the right mics. I use it in some of my presets.Oh man, Nuno's Randall was the darkest, most inarticulate piece of poo I ever owned.
I did dig the aesthetics, though.
nicolasrivera
Roadie
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A Mark tone is very distinct, in my case I was introduced to it by Metallica and my aim was to own an old Mark and do the AJFA riffs. DT came later.
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This might better illustrate the point I was trying to make-
Plug into a Mark IIC++ and you’re not going to get James Hetfield’s tone.
Plug into a JPIIC+ and you’re going to basically have Petrucci’s tone served on a platter.
Blix
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Life Eats Life
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I think with that whole thing y’all are hearin’
relates to the EQ that always has to be ‘on’
in the MKII’s-7’s?
You gotta have that EQ engaged in the preamp and our ears become trained to it, like something’s wrong when it’s not on..,when nothings wrong
Now it’s f’king hard for me to explain! LTFOL!!!
relates to the EQ that always has to be ‘on’
in the MKII’s-7’s?
You gotta have that EQ engaged in the preamp and our ears become trained to it, like something’s wrong when it’s not on..,when nothings wrong
Now it’s f’king hard for me to explain! LTFOL!!!
EOengineer
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Sounds gnarly. Marks are so good.
It depends on which tones you are chasing. I’m probably not going to sound like his usual quad tracked (or more) studio tone in my music room but I gotta say, my Mark III ruthlessly crushes his Binge & Purge live tones, which I think still sound like Hetfield and are some of my favorite live tones.
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GreatGreen
Roadie
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I might be nuts but personally I think a good chunk of the most recognizable traits of Petrucci's tone comes from his pickups. There's a subtle softness or looseness to his core tone along with slightly subdued treble detail that I almost always recognize every time I hear him play, along with just about every single clip of anybody else playing one of those signature JP Music Man guitars too. BTW I'm not saying there's not plenty of upper harmonic content to his tone, because there's plenty of that, but I think that's coming from the harmonics generated by the amp's distortion. I'm just saying I think there's a lot less trebly articulation coming from the pickups than you'd expect in a modern metal tone.
I think if you could give JP his guitar and plug him into a different amp and cab (with similar gain levels as his normal rig), the tone would be different but he'd still sound like John Petrucci. However, if you gave him a different guitar with like active EMGs or something and let him keep his Mesa rig, then suddenly those signature palm mutes of his and the character of that signature lead tone smoothness of his would completely change and it would sound more like a different player on JP's rig.
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mavrick102000
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The flailing excess strings at the tuning pegs - OCD on high alert. 
Sounds like a fun time.
Sounds like a fun time.
Bruce
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It’s that 2C+ sound. It is 110% Mesa, which Petrucci ran with which is of course one of 10000 reasons we love him.
Fun fact: before the JP2C existed I spoke to his tech Maddi Scheiferstein at NAMM (oh god, forgive the spelling) about the MKV they were using and how much 2C+ was actually in the MKV. He told me it is definitely the flavor, but 2C+ amps came in many configurations and they all sounded different. That kind of sealed the MKV deal for me. That amp gets slagged a lot but it really is a fantastic amp with a library of Mesa tones.
nicolasrivera
Roadie
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- 407
Yes, the Mark V is a beast, it is still in my most have (again) list. I still remember the first time I had it, man my mind was blown. I spent hours in the Tweed mode alone with my Strat, what a sound and feel.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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I can't believe they killed that in the VII. Seriously! Fucking Gibson. :lol
They also ditched the ability to switch between Tube and Solid State
Rectifiers. That's a massive deal in terms of feel, headroom, and compression/sag.
I just don't understand the rationale apart from a cost-cutting perspective so
Gibson could make the VII cheaper.
This is why I think the VII is a step-back tonally (haven't played one, granted, but without
those features the V has, why would I?) as compared to the V. And fuck the Cab Clone,
there are better sounding options for add-on load boxes that are super cheap.
A used V and a load box and you are still $1500 less than a VII. That's a really nice guitar,
a sweet modeller, or a tube amp in my book.
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