Posts by meambobbo

    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.

    "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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    FYI that's od1 orange with the od820 boost through the Marshall cab with greenbacks. Using my ebmm Jpm with cl/lf pickups. I really love how both pickups sound so different no matter where you are on the neck, and they both sound great. You can do rhythm work with the neck pickup and it's fat but not muddy. The bridge really has that Marshall nasally snarl, even on high note leads. Extremely versatile. And this is just one profile of the hundreds in the pack. I really like the mustaine cab for modern metal, but it seems like all the classic sounds are represented. There's a Marshall cab with t75s, another Marshall with greenbacks, and the mustaine and stiletto cabs with v30s. Then I forget which cab it is but one has g12 h for that more modern greenback like tone. Lots of mics. And every channel and mode boosted and unboosted.


    It's like having an actual jvm with a cab switcher and 6 4x12s.


    One of the best parts of cili's profiling is he has lots of great mics and knows how to use them. You can get the classic sounds from each, but he also mixes them skillfully so you get bigger sounds that are more like the amp in the room. I believe he runs them through a neve pre as well. Everything very high quality. No duds or redundancy.

    Here's some JVM doing some EVH. Gets a bit sloppy in there - very tired but wanted to lay down how awesome this tone is for yall. Very raw, and there's a huge change in tone between the neck and bridge humbucker, but both sound good everywhere on the neck. Must buy - this is the JVM pack that ends them all.


    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.

    Guys, I give up :) I started profiling Mesa Boogie Mark 5:25 a month ago, making merged profiles. And dammit it's taking tooooo long. For now, I finished: Clean ,Fat, Crunch and IIC+ channels and I'm still on 1 cab Mesa Boogie Stiletto 4x12. So instead of merging 2000 profiles I'll stick with only studio profiles for this pack and 22 DI profiles featuring ALL channels, gainstages etc etc.
    All John Petrucci's settings!


    Cheers!

    its all i use anyway. Just be sure not to delete them 8o . so psyched.

    no time to work on an effort like this on my end. What ive been using lately is theres a delay preset called like quad delay or something like that and it sounds like a very lush verb. I also run a hall delay with delay reverb mix a bit to the left of center and it sounds amazing. I locked my delay and reverb and havent changed in a month or 2

    Cililab's new el34 dual recto is very good. Very comprehensive coverage of all channels, modes, and gain stages, through a variety of cabs. Also boosted via od820 and unboosted. The od820 is far more subtle than a typical 808 and it's obvious he wasn't going for the super tight sound which can make many amps sound very similar. So I think it's a very good pack and probably the best if you want all the possible sounds of the amp.