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

  • 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....

    Well, one Stomp and one Effect slot. For me, this isn't bad at all. In Stomps I can put a Gate, and I have two slots for mod effects or pitch shifting. For a metal rhythm tone, that's generally all I'd do - either a flanger or phaser, and a whammy pedal. If it was a lead patch, then I'd consider Wah and then things get a bit more tight.


    For Effects, I often use a Studio EQ to get the fine-tuning the standard BMTP EQ can't provide. As for effects, I have my preferred delay and reverb on there. So I have one slot for any miscellaneous effect. For metal rhythm, this generally goes unused. I'm trying to think what JP has used. Tremelo, or maybe a chorus or flanger. 90+% of the time, the important thing is just the raw guitar tone, including EQ.


    I find it ALWAYS goes back to a patches vs. pedalboard mentality. If you want your Stomps and Effects to consistently have the same effects over many patches, you're going to run into compromises quickly. Maybe I have two patches for the same exact sound, but one has a phaser and the other a flanger. I also hate tap-dancing. So pressing one or two buttons at my leisure to switch to a different patch is preferable to trying to turn 2 effects off and one effect on between the end of one measure and the beginning of the next.

  • "Dull" is a bad word - it implies the profiles are bad, or that they were strictly far-mic'ed or something like that so they don't have any clarity. That's never what I meant. I simply meant compared to other Top Jimi profiles as well as my own favorites, that these sounded too bassy and especially midsy. It's a simple EQ thing, not a reflection of the quality of the profiles. I only brought it up because it's generally kind of a bummer to have to start tweaking a pack as soon as you load it. But as many others have noted, they seem to like the profiles out of the box. So this may be something personal to me specifically.


    Also, keep in mind I only focused on the two JP lead profiles, not the standard TJ mid, high, max profiles, which may be EQ'd differently.


    My main gripe with the pack is that only the JP lead 1 profile really made me smile. JP Lead 2 must be shred mode, but it seems overdone with the pre EQ on the amp, at least for my 6 string. It probably sounds better on some of my other guitars. But I guess I would just have liked a couple more profiles in this ballpark. If I had something that sounded like the rhythm tone I produced using my own pre-EQ and something less aggressive than the JP lead 2, I'd be very happy.


    And keep in mind, I haven't dug into the other profiles other than JP lead 1 and 2, so there might be other profiles that suit me well.


    I don't have any regrets in this purchase, and I recommend this pack. I just want people to know exactly what they're getting. I've bought just about every Mark II/IV/V/JP-2C pack out there, and only a few of them sound anything like Petrucci. Most are fun, but not usable for me. Is this the pack that just nails it? IMO, it's better than most of them; but it's not going to end my search. OTOH, most other Top Jimi packs I've bought I instantly recommend. The 74 super lead is just about perfect.


    If anyone cares to know which packs I've bought and my opinions, I'm happy to share via PM. But I'm not going to discuss other sellers or even free profiles on someone else's thread.

  • Hi,


    Glad you guys are digging the Pet2C pack. In reply to some of the comments:


    - My demos are recorded with as little as possible between the Kemper and DAW. Just taking the digital SPDIF out of the Kemper direct into the DAW. Nothing in between -- not even A/D converters. Nothing is done in the DAW either other than sliding the demo pieces to line up in time and then exporting.


    - The amp settings used for the JPCnch (crunch) and JPLead profiles are exactly the same as what Petrucci uses for this amp. I took them directly off his video demo. He uses the JPCnch for rhythm tones, which is most of his playing. If you listen to Dream Theater stuff, he actually doesn't use a ton of gain for rhythm. That's why it cuts and is so punchy. But it sounds heavy because of his playing, tunings, and double tracking. The JPLead profiles are what he uses for leads, which are thicker and with more gain. I like the JPLead tone for rhythm as well. When using the JPLead for rhythm, I recommend increasing the Treble and Presence together to increase the high end to taste (for more edge) and to match your guitar's pickups. I personally love this tone.


    - JPLead 1 and 2 are the same amp settings, but use different mic techniques.


    - I use a Les Paul with Fralin Pure PAF pickups for most of the demo work. I consider it my most "neutral" guitar. You'll need something similar to closely match the demo tone. The other primary demo guitar is a Custom Shop Strat with a Fralin 5% overwound (I think) in the bridge and stock Fender Custom Shop pickups in the middle and neck positions.


    -Jimi

  • Looks like it would be a fun one!


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  • Nice JP tones Jimi!


    I know its the amp and not the profiling but I found some of the crunch tones a little wooly or fluffy.Not as defined as I would have imagined.


    Any one else think that ?

  • straight out of the pack straight into logic =good tone

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    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

  • as for the JP gain levels, yeah, ive seen the video and its confusing, because when he does the Mark V demo video, he uses the Mark IV mode with the gain cranked WAY up - more than id consider using. When he demos channel 2, he plays a crunchy bit but not his classic riffs. Once he goes to channel 3, then he plays a whole bunch of various riffs. In the new video its quite different. But then he goes to shred mode to demo some of the heavier riffs.


    I always wanted a mark iv back in the day and have played the mark v a bunch. They had a good amount more gain on tap than the quad preamp i had.


    But you're right. The last album Jp said he exclusively used the JP2C to record, and you can hear theres definitely less gain.


    I need to spend more time with the other profiles in this pack. Again, sorry if my initial review came off overly critical. Really i just want more of this amp.


    As ive said, i have a lot of mesa mark stuff, and most of it id consider throw away, but i do recommend this pack.

  • jimi, just tried the jp crunches and they are both very good. I did add a little gain to get them where i wanted (5.5 -> 6.5), but i agree that where they are dialed in does sound like the tone on the latest album.


    The eq is more balanced. Maybe some ppl will want to make small BMTP tweaks, but theres no need for an Eq effect. I found them very good without tweaking.


    I also tried applying that pre-eq/eq boost mentioned in an earlier post and it takes them into that mark iv, chuggy goodness.


    These two sounds are different than the JP lead 1 profile, even after gain leveling and a meager effort to make the eq about the same. So its more variety in that ballpark, exactly what i wanted. And JP lead 1 is definitely one of, if not the, best JP lead tones available.


    Upgrading my recommedation to must buy for any JP fans

  • Bought the pack as I was curious of the amp because it has received quite a lot of praise and I still haven't seen any negative comments about it. I tried the sounds with three different guitars (Ibanez JEM's and UV's, one guitar in D-tuning) at home using studio monitors and at the band practice room with higher volume using Atomic CLR. In all cases I didn't find them muddy at all (or too bright). In general, the amp/these profiles sound very promising, enough meat but still good separation and clarity (and not too much gain which seem to be often the case with more "metal" oriented profiles/amps). Remains to be seen how they will work in band practice context (we play covers of Opeth, Tool, etc.)...

  • Now that I were able to try these at band volumes using quality ear plugs, the sound was indeed a bit muddy in this context, at least compared to other profiles I have been using (and those might be thought as "too bright" by some.. everything is relative). It's nothing which some EQ adjusting could remedy though (and maybe it's how the amp sounds). Good thing is that they sound quite different from the others I have.

  • I think the big take away is that the profiles really do capture the subtle goodness of the amp, which also applies to a Mark 2 and really the entire Mark series, which is that the notes have this vowel-y bloom to them, and palm mutes have a perfect balance of chug and djenty crunch, not just on the low notes but even on the thin strings.


    At least thats what i love about the amps and my favorite profiles of these amps.