Mesa IIc+

[Racerxrated]

III is pretty close when I had them side by side IMHO. IIC+ did have a unique feel. But recordings of the two were essentially indistinguishable to me.

And here lies the differences in our ears. I had a purple and a red stripe III, at the same time as my first SRG C+. Huge difference to me. Like taking a blanket off the cab in the clarity dept.

FWIW the III has one of those giant power transformers. It was actually inherently brighter than the C+. Had to dial down the III to make them similar, but it got there to my ears.

Both IIIs were DRGs too. I have heard the early no stripes are closer due to the 105 PT. But without the proper RP/SP 10 pre board it ain’t happening.

Guess we all just hear different things. Or my ears are shot, which could be true.

I'm with ya there....

 

[Racerxrated]

Maybe check out the JP2C instead of the Mark V. Petrucci says the JP2C is a bonafide reissue, everything from the circuit board to the transformer, it's the real deal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEorYSfUIBo&t=158s

I've played one in a store. It's not the same. Many C+ guys bought them when they came out, only to return them. Nice amp but still falls short of the real thing. No feel, and lacks the clarity of the C+.

 

[Racerxrated]

/\ Yeah, I'd be curious to hear from some of you with IIC+ experience how the JP-2C stands up? After chasing tone/flipping amps for years, I've settled on a Mark IV and JP2C as my favorites, but have been wondering if tracking down a IIC+ would be worth it?

If you like those tones I say yes, for you it would be worth it.

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

III is pretty close when I had them side by side IMHO. IIC+ did have a unique feel. But recordings of the two were essentially indistinguishable to me.

And here lies the differences in our ears. I had a purple and a red stripe III, at the same time as my first SRG C+. Huge difference to me. Like taking a blanket off the cab in the clarity dept.

FWIW the III has one of those giant power transformers. It was actually inherently brighter than the C+. Had to dial down the III to make them similar, but it got there to my ears.

Early black dot I'm assuming?

It's a no stripe that at some point was converted the red stripe spec. Don't know how different that makes it from a typical no stripe or red stripe.

I don't know much about the circuit differences, but I have a friend who REALLY knows his C+'s...has owned MANY of them (50+) and they are his favorite amps of all time. He says the red stripe is the closest III. Considering that one had the 105 and was a red stripe...I bet it was damn close to the C+. Makes sense to me.

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Never played anything that is quite like the DRG I have now. It really is a unique beast, both in tone and feel. Insanely versatile too, which I don't feel it gets enough credit for. The C+ is a paradox in a lot ways, bright yet smooth, aggressive and rich, etc. It's an amp that really doesn't make sense!

That said, I've set up my Mark IV to sound very similar. I have a video comparing the two but haven't put it on youtube yet. The Mark stands up SURPRISINGLY well to my ear. When the IV is set up the way I have it, it gets some of the C+ bounce in the feel department, but not all the way there. For $1200 or so, it's a great alternative.

If you want the full experience though, you gotta pay to play. No way around it.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

The mark V is really compressed. Get a mark iv or mark iii red stripe instead and thank me later

 

[GJgo]

The JP2C is like a 2 dimensional version of the Mark IIC+. You can get the recorded tone pretty close (with some nitpicky issues) but the feel is not in the same league.

IMO, closest thing in feel to a IIC+ is a IIB+ (loop mod).

 

[WarHed]

I have a IIB loop mod and a mark iii green and a mark v. The loop mod B doesnt sound much like III or V to me, much more vintage sounding

I think one of the issues with the V is the master gain control that all the other marks have is internally fixed at about a 5. Modding it to push that up to 7 or 8 brings more of the flavor I think.

 

[cardinal]

Yeah I hate that the newer Marks lost the separate control over Volume I and Lead Drive. The JP2C claims to have some adjustability, and the numbers given in the manual are about where I'd set it up anyway, so it might work. But then there's the fact that it forces the pull deep and shift, I think. Really wish they'd give that control back and just ditch all the other bells and whistles they added instead.

 

[Tiger1016]

Kind of an older thread but wanted add something new. Never owned a real 2C+, but even the models of it in my Axe II then Axe III were noticeably better than any of the lead channel voicings on my Mark V 90 watt. This was in both tone and feel and running the V into the Axe with a reactive load box for a good apples to apples comparison.

The typical reviews on the Mark V's, which happen to unsurprisingly be consistent with mine, are that lead channel leaves most people wanting better and conceding that all of its predecessors had relatively better lead tones. On the other hand, Channel 2 is arguably the best low to mid gain tones ever in any of the Mark series (and it can get into high gain territory too), and channel 1 is also very highly regarded. Coupling that with the ability to have 3 separately dialed in channels, and the V 90 is a great all arounder but low on the totem pole of Mark series lead channels which is an unfortunate compromise.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

The JP2C is like a 2 dimensional version of the Mark IIC+. You can get the recorded tone pretty close (with some nitpicky issues) but the feel is not in the same league.

IMO, closest thing in feel to a IIC+ is a IIB+ (loop mod).

I had a IIB with the loop mod and it was an absolute MONSTER. HUGE sonic footprint. Could be set to be super open or extremely compressed with amazing clarity either way. Might have to get that one back.

 

[Achilles]

The Mark V in its original form.. maybe not so interesting. But, put some 12AT7 in V4-V6-V7 slots (especially V4/V7) and its a different story (honorable mention to APEMAN from the Boogie Board forum, who discovered this).
And im not even talking about the hardwired mods, like the C39 or the GEQ coupling cap (pull deep I believe) mod for the iiC+ mode.

It really brings out the best of the amp.

 

[misterspockyall]

The Mark V in its original form.. maybe not so interesting. But, put some 12AT7 in V4-V6-V7 slots (especially V4/V7) and its a different story (honorable mention to APEMAN from the Boogie Board forum, who discovered this).
And im not even talking about the hardwired mods, like the C39 or the GEQ coupling cap (pull deep I believe) mod for the iiC+ mode.

It really brings out the best of the amp.

What did this do tone wise? Looks like his posts may have been deleted?

 

[GJgo]

An AT7 in the right spot (I do the same thing in V2 of my Mark IIIs) uncompresses it & opens the feels up. Marks have ample gain, so this is a welcome change.

 

[Achilles]

What did this do tone wise? Looks like his posts may have been deleted?

A quoted response from the man himself:

APEMAN wrote:
Hey there,
over the past days I was able to deepen my tests with 12AT7 in V4 vs V6. Here are my thoughts about it:

In V6 (with IV mode engaged) it is the pure and cleaned IV mode - just without the ice pick (the overall effect is more subtle). FX and Solo work very well without sound degration. It has that special drive in the upper mids that makes the sound very big and chunky, perfect for heavy rythm, but you might fight those upper mids for leads. Unfortunately, I found the total amount of gain in the crunch mode in CH2 suffers a little bit - which is sad because I totally love this mode.

In V4 (with IV mode engaged) it is all what I wished the IIC mode would be. It sounds and plays phantastic. There is a certain amount of low mid girth that the V couldn't do before. No ice pick at all and Solo and FX work very well again without sound degration. Those upper mid harmonics I talked about before in the V6 configuration get lost with the 12AT7 in V4 - but it is possible to compensate that with the channel eq pots so it is just a little different. Everything sounds more organic and musical. After all this years with the V (in the IV mode) it feels a little like a new amp and settingwise I have to get used to it. The Extreme mode makes that even more expressive with a very musical mid bump. CH1 and CH2 stay original which is perfect. I will run my V with the V4 config for at least a while. Tomorrow with the band I will see if it cuts as good as the V6 config.

In conclusion, it is very nice to have the ability to choose! Some MarkIV lovers might like the V6 config more, some more lead orientated players might become addicted to the V4 config. So it is up to your personal feel as a player.

One final thing, I never had more fun to experiment with the triode/pentode switch and the multiwatt features together with the full power/variac selector then now with the V4 config.
Just wow! Unbelievable what this amp has to offer! This amp is so highly adaptable, it covers any stage from small club to stadium.

Cheers!

 

[RaceU4her]

this dude seems to get the somewhat similar

 

[GJgo]

I noticed in the schematic there are two 'mods' that say "for Simulclass" and in both cases it appears to be an effort to brighten up the Simulclass preamp to account for what I assume is a darker power section. I'd love play an H and a D side by side before I buy one. I'll prob never have a K.

There is an early "warm" and later "bright" version of the C+ circuit. (IDK if this is Simul only) When I've sent early ones in to Mike for some love he's modded them to the later version for me.

 

[GJgo]

/\ Yeah, I'd be curious to hear from some of you with IIC+ experience how the JP-2C stands up? After chasing tone/flipping amps for years, I've settled on a Mark IV and JP2C as my favorites, but have been wondering if tracking down a IIC+ would be worth it?

You can get the JP to a recorded tone that is very close to an original, but the feels are light years difference. It's 2D vs. 3D. here's a vid I did to compare the former. You can't compare the latter, you just have to experience it.

Here's my take. Playing with yourself, there is no amp better than a real IIC+. It's like being in the porn vs. watching it. I class them like this.
IIC+ > IIB > III > IV > V > JP

However, playing with your friends it's a totally different story. For me personally the C+ has a nasally mid note that fights with my vocals in the mix. The III has it a bit too. The B not so much. Also, the newer amps (despite all the compression) are just WAY more versatile in the band mix and in that context the tonal differences are largely lost. I class them like this.
V > JP > III > IIB > IV > IIC+

 

[GJgo]

I have a IIB loop mod and a mark iii green and a mark v. The loop mod B doesnt sound much like III or V to me, much more vintage sounding.

My IIB+ has the RP9C preamp. Recently I was able to borrow & play an older IIB+ that had the RP8 preamp. While it did still sound really damn good in the band mix, and still had less of the nasally mids that I liked compared to a C+, the loop on that board was not happy with my pedalboard at all whereas my 9C is no problem so it didn't work for me. Honestly my 9C is more aggressive as well.

Here's a couple more comparos I've done. IIB+ vs. III-

I don't have III vs V, but I have IIC+ vs. V here. This SR was tonally the best of all 4 C+ I had.

 

[peterc52]

I have a IIB loop mod and a mark iii green and a mark v. The loop mod B doesnt sound much like III or V to me, much more vintage sounding.

My IIB+ has the RP9C preamp. Recently I was able to borrow & play an older IIB+ that had the RP8 preamp. While it did still sound really damn good in the band mix, and still had less of the nasally mids that I liked compared to a C+, the loop on that board was not happy with my pedalboard at all whereas my 9C is no problem so it didn't work for me. Honestly my 9C is more aggressive as well.

Here's a couple more comparos I've done. IIB+ vs. III-

I don't have III vs V, but I have IIC+ vs. V here. This SR was tonally the best of all 4 C+ I had.

Living in Denmark and not being able to ship anything to Mesa. Is it possible to do the loop mod yourself?