Top Jimi: Pet2C Pack (Mesa/Boogie Petrucci JP-2C)

  • Hey Kemper Fans,


    We're happy to announce the new Top Jimi "Pet2C Pack" (20 profiles), which seeks to recreate the sound of a Mesa/Boogie JP-2C Head (100 Watts). The JP-2C is the John Petrucci signature head.


    Speakers Used During the Profiling Process: Celestion Vintage 30


    Gain Range (Scale: 0 to 10): 0 to 8


    Profile Type: Studio, Merged


    Rock and metal players, whether they're fans of Dream Theater or not, will love these profiles. We've done profiles which are tailored after John Petrucci's lead, crunch/rhythm, and clean tones. We've also created others that extrapolate off those tones. I'll be using these profiles in my next project.


    Mesa/Boogie JP-2C Background Info: The JP-2C is Mesa's first unlimited-build signature amplifier, designed for Dream Theater's John Petrucci. This reissue 2C+ offers 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.


    Profiles available at: http://www.topjimi.com


    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.


    Thanks!
    Jimi :thumbup:

  • Killer profiles,will purchase today.I have a lot of your profiles and they are all amazing.Check out the "Brown Sound" pack or the Lee 50 pack,awesome stuff brother.....

  • quick review:


    First of all it's a bit misleading to say there's 20 profiles in this pack. Yes, there are...but only because there's studio and merged versions of each of the distinct settings captured. 6 of those are geared towards the Petrucci sound - 2 cleans, 2 crunches, and 2 leads. Only the 2 leads have the gain that Petrucci uses 90% of the time. These are the profiles I tried the most, so I'm really only reviewing those two sounds.


    First of all, this pack sounds very dull. I immediately had to boost up the treble and presence to get back in the "normal" sounding ballpark. You can hear this in the demo clips. Compared to the Mark V and pretty much any other Top Jimi clips, you'll notice this amp sounds quite dull. That's not a huge issue, so long as boosting the high end back up doesn't yield a lifeless sound. In my experience that's rarely the case with a Kemper profile, so long as you don't have to go too far. I'd say its certainly manageable here, although if you're looking for a bright, modern, thrashy metal tone, I would not recommend this pack. This seems geared more towards the modern Petrucci lead and rhythm tones (as you should expect).


    The first lead is more fat and open-sounding. I wouldn't use it as a rhythm tone - too loose on the low end. But it really nails the creamy Petrucci leads. Only tweaking I needed to do was add treble and presence. I really like this profile and easily feel it will compete with other killer lead profiles in this vein. It's very responsive and feels lively. The notes bloom. It's got a squeak of vintage nasally-ness but also sounds modern. This is the quintessential Mark IIC+ tone. I used to own a Quad preamp and 2:95 - this sounds very similar.


    The second lead tone is sharper and tighter. Not sure if this is shred mode, but it wouldn't surprise me; as I don't remember being able to get my rig this tight. Again, dull until you boost up the treble and presence. I went a step further and added a Studio EQ to cut about 2.5db at 650 HZ - there's a ton of mids here, more than I feel Petrucci uses, at least for a rhythm tone. Even after, this isn't going to deliver a great modern metal tone. But it does a good job for a Petrucci rhythm. It's best at a tighter Petrucci lead where the notes need more attack and maybe there's some palm muting involved. It's not as open and lively as the first lead and I feel there's something missing, but I think it would sound better louder or in a mix.


    Overall, I'm a bit mixed on the pack. I hate to buy a commercial pack and have to immediately tweak. I would have liked some more high-gain tones between the two Petrucci leads. I wish there were profiles that captured sounds other than the darker Petrucci sound (Metallica style thrash for instance). Still, there aren't a ton of profiles of this amp, and that first lead really nails the creamy Petrucci lead sound. I can probably tweak those two profiles into other variations, or switch cabs for more radically different sounds. Normally, I'm immediately pleased with a Top Jimi pack, so this one leaves a bad taste initially; especially since this amp is exactly what I want from my Kemper. But I don't want to push away potential purchasers. It's by no means bad, but doesn't hit the mark I had my hopes set on.

  • Thx for your rewiev. When i hear a demo tune and i buy a pack and the profiles didnt sound like the teaser tune i wont buy a pack again. The soundfile from top jimi sounds very good, clear and not dull. The profiles didnt sound exactly like this? Normaly i would say that a supplier has to record a soundfile right out the box into a linear daw and this is what you can compare to the the soundfile when you load the rig.
    @ top jimi: How did you record the teaser tune? Main outs of the kpa into your interface and than into logic or cubase with no extra eq and thats it?


    Cheers
    Frank ( Every time looking for good petrucci tone)

  • Let me post a track. I am not accusing TJ of anything, and I think the teaser clip is accurate to the pack. But if you listen to other TJ clips, you'll notice this one is noticeably darker/duller. Again, it's an EQ adjustment away from sounding balanced again.


    Here's a clip - for both profiles demo'ed here, I had to boost treble and presence both + 1.3 (3 LED lights to the right of noon). The way the profiles were delivered, treble and presence were slightly decreased. Even with the EQ off, it sounds a bit dull to me. But maybe that's me. I'm more used to brighter profiles.


    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.


    edit: listening to it played back, that second clip sounds a little too sharp. I think a touch less definition and presence and it's a winner.
    also forgot to mention i'm cutting mids at 650 HZ via a Studio EQ on the 2nd part, in addition to the treb/pres boost on the EQ knobs.


    And if you listen to the demo clip posted, the JP lead and JP lead2 are the 1st and 2nd to last clips TJ posted and they sound more midsy than bright. The other profiles sound more balanced, IMO.


    Point is, if you like either TJ's clip or mine, you should buy the pack. I'm a big fan of TJ and will continue to buy packs from him. And listening to a recorded clip of my own playing leads me to believe maybe I overdid it a bit. So... maybe I don't know what I'm talking about lol.

  • I think people may be seeing this review as overly critical, and I should have spent more time before posting. Here's some mild pre-EQ and post-EQ tweaks to the JP lead 1 profile - the first profile demo'ed in TJ's clip above.


    EDIT: I ACCIDENTALLY BOUNCED THE WHOLE THING. The rhythm part I was trying to post here is the last minute or so (start at 3:18). The rest is just the same thing as above. fixed


    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.


    I said in my review above I wouldn't recommend this pack for metal, but I'm taking that back. This profile rules.

  • Could you post the eq settings from this one..

  • gladly.


    Studio EQ in Stomp B: Mid1 Gain +3.0 db, 946 HZ, 0.707 Q; Mid2 Gain -2.0 db, 151 HZ, 0.707 Q; Mix 100%


    EQ Block: Bass -0.7, Mids 0.0, Treble +0.4, Presence +0.5


    Studio EQ in Effects X: Mid1 Gain -2.0 db, 646 HZ, 0.707 HZ; Mid2 Gain -2.0 db, 335 HZ, 0.707 Q; Mix 100%

  • Thanks a lot - but am I wrong if I think it´s not that fine to get a profile "cool sounding" by blocking 2(!) stomps with add. EQs? Hmmm....

  • I can not find any particular differences in my comparison - played with my Les Paul Traditional the sound is hardly distinguishable from TJ's recording.
    Very good sounding profiles, for my taste!

    good to hear. Imho jimis tune sounds good and i cant hear that its dull like meambobo has written. I have profiles of this amp and they sound also very good. Awaiting a statement from jimi how he produced his tune

  • Killer profiles! They are all great, but I'm really digging the mid gain tones. Very usable as both rhythm or lead. The high gain profiles are just brutal. Love the tightness that was captured.


    As always TJ, great job.