Mesa Mark VII vs JP-2C

[Mike Oxhuge]

Unless you need the separate channels etc, I'd go for a Mark with all the controls (volume and lead drive). The JP2C and VII don't let you adjust both (though the JP2C has push/pulls to supposedly let you tweak them, and channel 3 is set higher than channel 2).

Those controls are important and it sucks they took them away in the modern designs.

I don't even miss those controls. The VII is the only Mark I've had that is set it and forget it. Same consistent great tone every day. I'm sure certain tones may be harder to get but it definitely gets Metallica and Whitesnake tones with no problem. And the VII channel is so good for 80's rock it's ridiculous. And the best clean channel of any amp I've owned.

 

[Brandonrz]

I’m a bigger fan of Rectos than mark series. If I had to choose between an VII and jp2c I’d go VII… the jp2c is boxy/honky as fuck. Over both those I’d grab any one of the reissues.

 

[PurityS.L.G]

I would say the JP2C is the better choice of the two. I sold mine and miss it. You really don’t know just how useful the dual GEQ is until you have it. It’s invaluable if you gig since you can set it differently for each channel. Tone wise they are similar enough but the VII is more flexible for lower gain stuff if you see yourself ever needing it.

 

[mentoneman]

i like the VII, but since you’ve never owned a mark period, you could pick up a used III, go through it to refurbish it and with your mod killer skills turn it into a magic boogie.

 

[Holy-diver]

I've had a few Marks over the years...V25, V90 (twice), IVa, IVb, JP, and a VII. My favorite probably was my IVb. I had the JP and VII at the same time. The VII is like the most modern sounding Mark. More gain, tighter, more aggressive. The JP feature set is the best. 3 channels, 2 EQs, and Shred mode, but I thought the VII sounded better than the JP. The JP has this slight boxiness going on that you can't really dial out. The VII is more open.

The IV has a bigger low end and the overall tone is a bit low mid focused compared to the others. I think that is a unique character to the IV that makes it my favorite.

All that said, they all sound great, and you really can't go wrong. I was happy playing each one of those amps while I had them. But of all of them, I wish I kept my IVb.

I wish they did end up doing a Mark VI with the clean, IIC+, and IV channels set up like the JP, with 2 EQs and Shred built in. To me, that would be the perfect Mark series. I liked Extreme mode on the V a lot...shared some midrange character with a 5150, but overall the V needed more low end.

I know we totally agreed about this a while back, it would be the ultimate to have the VII mode wiped from existence and set the amp up like this. Or make ch3 have a new VII mode that was like an evolution of the extreme mode from the mark V.

I have pretty extensive mark ownership experience and also owned the JP, mkivb and VII at the same time and the VII was my favorite of those 3. I have a Mark iii++ HRG now that im holding onto. I haven’t tried the reissues though, I want to get my hands on the HRG and see how it compares to my iii++

 

[dead-pan]

Can you go into more detail about the similarities/differences? What kind of music do you play? I don't need a review of the clean channel (haha). Just high-gain stuff.

The JP2C is more mid focused. I couldn't dial it to sound like the VII in 2C mode. I prefer the IV mode but the 2C mode is really good also.

This is for metal. Thrash and beyond.

The VII is more open sounding.

The VII mode reminds me of the Badlander direction.

Here is a quick comparison clip. This was as close as I could get the JP2C to the VII. The VII could be dialed to sound more like the JP2C though.