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A Legend, 30 Years in the Making
If you play electric guitar, chances are you’ve heard of John Petrucci and Dream Theater. You may even know of our 30-year relationship building many of his favorite amplifiers–the very same amplifiers you might have chosen for your sound. This distinguished list includes the MARK IIC+™, Dual Rectifier®, TriAxis™, MARK IV™ and MARK V™ to name a few.
Inspired by our longstanding relationship with John Petrucci and more than 30 years of collaboration we are proud to introduce a MESA® first; The JP-2C™. Our first unlimited-build Signature Amplifier.
In celebration of John’s talent, his life-long dedication to our shared art, and the long relationship we’ve enjoyed with him, we are proud to introduce a MESA® first; The JP-2C™ - Our first unlimited-build Signature Amplifier.
And YES, it’s a MARK IIC+! A next generation Re-Issue of the legendary amp so many Recording Artists, MESA enthusiasts and Tone Freaks the world over covet, often searching high and low to find. Only THIS IIC+ pulls in an enhanced feature set born from our collaboration with John over a period of three decades of research and development.
SIMPLICITY IN DESIGN
Much like a race car or fighter jet, the JP-2C strips down to bare essentials to get the job done effectively, in the simplest way. It’s a purpose-built, no compromise rendering that aims at one single goal; deliver the most aggressive, purest sounding IIC+ EVER in a versatile package that delivers the goods to meet John’s recording and stage needs. All Things Heavy! But more specifically; the highest headroom Clean sound possible, a Crunch rhythm that has Lead Channel gain available, but is tight, grinding and articulate, and the ultimate Boogie® Lead Channel with access to even more saturation and the ability to track any technique and speed while also reaching to the stratosphere for single note solos.
In that spirit, unlike other MESA amplifiers, the JP-2C foregoes the concept of multiple voicing Modes derived from other MESA circuits and instead dedicates each of the three Channels exclusively to circuit voicing’s of the MARK IIC+, including the new SHRED Mode, which further enhances the top end harmonic layering of the original IIC+ Lead Circuit.
CHANNEL 1 - DEDICATED TO CLEAN
Channel 1 is dedicated to Clean sounds and is optimized for the maximum headroom possible in the preamp section. Power section clip may be employed to attain some degree of overdrive in Channel 1, albeit at very high volumes due to the 100/60-watt rating of the JP-2C power section. Additional “drive” may be sought in the upper region of the MID control (above 12:00 noon) as the MID pot employed here is the same value and taper as our MID/BOOST control found on some of our newer MARK SERIES amplifiers. However, increased headroom in the preamp reduces the amount of overall “gain-boost” available as compared to our other amplifiers with this feature. This fact renders this more powerful MID control as just that, a MID that has increased range to add more midrange frequencies and a “cleaner” gain-boost into the mix.
CHANNEL 2 – EVOLUTION OF THE ORIGINAL MARK IIC+ CIRCUIT
Channel 2 is the JP-2C’s Crunch generator. This Channel is all about aggressive, tight overdriven rhythm sounds delivered with amounts of Gain usually associated with Lead Modes or Channels. It IS in fact a Lead Channel, the LEAD Channel from the MARK IIC+ in its original state, circuit-wise. The setting of the Gain has been optimized for its performance in this category of sounds and though it can definitely be used for Lead sounds of all kinds, it is perhaps the best choice when dedicating a Channel in the JP-2C to Crunch rhythm work.
To achieve the most famous, now classic MARK IIC+ grinding rhythm sounds in Channel 2, you can now employ one of two 5-Band Graphic Equalizers…yes, here in the JP-2C, you have a separate EQ for each of the high gain Channels! This means greater flexibility and improved accuracy when crafting your sounds and allows you to arrive at a truly no-compromise set of sounds for both rhythm and lead! This was something that was impossible on the original MARK IIC+, hence the fact that many top Artists of the day used two MARK IIC+s and a MIDIswitcher (also contained here) in a rack system to call up dedicated amps with different settings for each sound.
In both Channels 2 and 3 of the JP-2C, we have removed the VOLUME 1 Control and the LEAD MASTER control from the Panel Layout as compared to the LEAD Mode of the original MARK IIC+ in favor of user simplicity. The LEAD MASTER is a largely redundant control here in the JP-2C and its setting has a very minimal role in the sound. The VOLUME 1 is a bit more sensitive and critical, and here in the JP-2C it is preset internally (as we did in our MARK V) to its optimum setting for each Channel. The end result for the user is an amplifier that is MUCH easier to dial and arrive at the very best of the MARK IIC+’s most signature and mind-blowing sounds more quickly and with less “neurotic tweaking” required. There is NO compromise of the original’s performance and yet a SERIOUS benefit in the dial-ability of the JP-2C.
CHANNEL 3 – HIGH GAIN SUSTAIN AND EXPLOSIVE ATTACK
Channel 3 is created with soaring lead sounds in mind. Our first priority was to meet and even exceed the incredible explosive attack, blistering sustain and harmonic complexity of the very best of the MARK IIC+. We, along with the amplifier’s namesake, feel we have achieved exactly that. Channel 3 boasts all the nuanced performance of the originals and delivers it with unbelievable authority due to the 100-watt Class A/B (versus 90-watt Simul-Class™) power section. This difference in power section serves John’s musical style extremely well - In fact, his absolute favorite amplifier of the many IIC+s he owns is a 100-watt model. Channel 3’s character is therefore a little warmer, fatter and compressed and this plays well into its intended application for lead work of all styles and gain requirements.