Is it worth upgrading to a JP2C over my MKIII?

[Racerxrated]

I had a Red stripe and a Purple stripe, both simul and I found them both sterile no matter what settings I used. Both had 415s too. My experience when I tried a JP in a shop in St Paul was that it sounded better to me than either III I had, but a week after I tried a IV and I liked that one just as much as the JP.
But, none of them compare to the 3D/open tone and touch sensitivity of any of the 4 C+ I've owned. Now that I have a C+ Coliseum I find no need for any other Mesa product, as cool as they are. This is the one to rule them all.

"Sterile" is definitely not the word that I would use to describe my mark III blue stripe! It does sound aggressive, bald and articulate. A clip a member sent me some years ago and I uploaded on youtube myself - Mark III blue vs Mark IIC++

I'll also add that clips don't mean anything when comparing. Nothing. You have to be in the room to get it...I understand that's very hard to do for most people esp you since you are in Greece, but you aren't going to get the attributes of certain amps to translate over youtube...they'll all sound the same. Example-there's a video of an SLO and a 6505, gee they both sound the same! I can save a bunch of cash and get SLO tone for 400 bucks!!!!

No, you can't. In the room the SLO blows the doors off the Peavey in EVERY category. Period, end thread. That's what I think of those youtube comparos. The clarity, feel, and push of any amp can't be measured in any video.

I partly agree with that, but nonetheless sometimes clips can help. Myself for example, located in Greece it would have been really hard - almost impossible to try a mesa boogie mark III in person, but based on the various youtube clips that I had watched, I finally pulled the trigger That being said, you are the only person I know who owned 2 mark IIIs and found both of em sterile!

Hey, your Blue stripe might sound as killer as my Coli! Who knows. That was just my personal exp with MK IIIs, lots of guys here love them. Keep in mind too that when I had the purple I also had my first 2C, before I sent it in for the + and that amp was killer, I loved it so much I thought about leaving it alone. Comparing that SRG 2C to the purple stripe, it was like taking a blanket off the speaker different in clarity. Braintheory and Glip22, I trust their ears and they each had a III that was killer and compared to their C+ so there are some killer IIIs out there..the 2 I had were not that great to my ears.

 

[Exo-metal]

My MKIII++ blue stripe rips it up but that amp has been back to the wizard@mesa at least six times to get it to where it sits now. He beat the sterile right out of it and now it is a beast and easily hangs with my C+ This would never be possible unless I lived as close to the factory as I do, shipping a MKIII that many times would kill that idea fast.

 

[severinsteel]

So I already own a Mesa MK3 (mine is a black stripe modded into a MK3C+ according to the previous owner) , and I love it to death for both thrash and more modern tones.
The issue is that there's a JP2C head going for a pretty reasonable price (like 1900$) near me, and I really don't know if it's worth dumping my MK3 for it.

Any help would be appreciated.

I think your answer is right there. If you already love the MK III, don't dump it for something you may not like as much. The JP2C's aren't going anywhere, and you'll be able to find one in the future.

 

[Exo-metal]

The only reason to buy one would be for updated switching options and how many tones does anyone really use? The tones certainly aren't better to justify all that bread.

 

[Racerxrated]

The only reason to buy one would be for updated switching options and how many tones does anyone really use? The tones certainly aren't better to justify all that bread.

The JP has Midi, 3 separate channels and 2 GEQs....perfect gigging amp with all those options. For me though, all I ever needed was the ability to dial back my guitar volume with my pedals off for a half ass clean. Maybe 2 songs a night needed a clean tone. When I've used a C+ I had a 2 channel amp with a great clean, maybe the best clean in any high gainer out there, and for leads I used a pedal. Mark IIIs already have a 3rd channel so no need for the JP.
As I said before, I can't count how many times I've loved an amp and regretted selling.
Like my first Cameron..the rare "Modern" mod.....