Mesa/Boogie JP-2C, Owner'S Manual, Page: 16 / 56

FRONT PANEL
THE CHANNELS
As mentioned in the OVERVIEW, the JP-2C forgoes the long-standing MESA concept of selectable Modes within its 3 Channels and
instead focuses in on three globally accepted necessary sounds with those being Clean Rhythm, Crunch Rhythm and Lead. There-
fore, each of the three Channels is optimized for its sole purpose in achieving the ultimate performance in each of these three realms.
CHANNEL 1
This Channel is dedicated to one thing pure and simple; attaining the Cleanest sound possible with the maximum
headroom. To achieve this goal some of the “normal” things we strive for and consider in our other amplifiers are left on the table here.
The most important of these is the ability to obtain overdrive from the preamp, still keeping in mind the circuitry is basically “vintage
architecture” and therefore creates a low gain “mode”.
Channel 1 is not meant to obtain overdrive. In fact, quite the opposite, it is designed with the intention of avoiding clipping in the
preamp stage. The whole goal here was to give John, and now you, a clean sound that will remain “clean” and devoid of clip past
the point where the original MARK II-C+ would begin to clip or overdrive. There is still the potential to clip the output section, but with
a massive transformer and 100 watts of power on board, that will be a relatively loud exercise and possibly not one with the desired
results. The JP-2C is intended to provide a pristine clean sound for Intros, Breakdowns or any other rhythm part that needs to be
really sparkling clean with virtually no hint of clip. Now conversely, there is a limit to how loud a volume can be achieved even with
this robust power section, but the PREAMP does feature increased headroom in the early stages and that will keep the signal feeding
the driver and power sections cleaner longer than any of its MESA siblings or ancestors.
As far as settings go, there are no real danger points or guardrails to hit… Channel 1 dials up really friendly and fairly obvious. Perhaps
start with the GAIN around the 12:00 noon range and increase or decrease from there to find the desired blend of low end richness
and top end sparkle. A good rule here is that the lower the GAIN setting (below 12:00), the brighter and thinner the sound will be,
whereas higher GAIN settings (above 12:00) will unveil a richer, thicker, warmer mix with less emphasis on top end harmonics and
brightness. There are no real bad settings to be worried about for the most part.
Do keep in mind though, that BASS and/or lower frequencies take more power to reproduce cleanly than do treble or upper frequen-
cies. So the more BASS or bottom end from the EQ Sliders you dial in, the sooner the power section will be unable to reproduce
them without the potential for clip. So if you are looking for the absolute cleanest response at the highest volume level, dial in lower
frequencies with a degree of finesse. This will help you attain the best performance with that criteria in mind.
The only other thing to keep in mind for the best clean performance is that the MID control used within Channel 1 is of the same
value as that of our amplifiers that feature the MID/BOOST feature. That means that, while the JP-2C is largely unable to utilize this
higher value MID for its purposeful clipping potential, it is nonetheless a very powerful MID control. Higher settings (above 12:00)
will dump a very large amount of midrange frequencies into the mix and can cause the sound to become pointed or unbalanced if
other compensations and/or considerations aren’t made. For the best clean performance with the sweetest, most balanced sound,
we suggest setting the MID in Channel 1 below 11:00, with many players preferring it much lower, like 9:00 or even all the way down.
You can also think of it this way; 12:00 on the MID here in Channel 1 is like “10” or all the way up on most other amplifiers. This is
true on most older amplifiers (ours and other brands) and definitely on original MARK II-C+s.
CHANNEL 2&3
These are the two high gain Channels and they are identical save for one small difference; Channel 3 is ever
so slightly higher gain due to a higher value for the internally preset (missing as compared to a MARK II-C+) VOLUME 1 Control.
This difference optimizes Channel 3 for single note Lead work and makes the response a little more fat and round sonically and more
legato and creamy feel-wise.
Certainly either Channel can be used for any manner of high gain application–or even lower gain application as well–but for John,
and many other players that need a high gain Crunch rhythm and a soaring Lead sound, you will most often find that Channel 2 is
great for Rhythm and Channel 3 is better tuned for Lead.
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