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Jimothy JP7

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Mar 2, 2007
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I'm still looking for a new amp, and I'm still leaning toward Mesa. What I want to know is...


What are the strengths and weaknesses of each head?
What genres are each head more comfortable in?
Where would an F-50 or F-100 come in handy?

and anything else you know that may be helpful in my decision. I'm trying to get the most out of my JP7, and my Randall is actually making it hard for me to enjoy playing it.
 

jagged

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Jan 26, 2007
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Mississauga, Ontario
I've had the opportunity of playing several different mesa heads as well as new the express combos. What i've found is that they definately give you a very amazing modern rock sound. while it will be able to hold its own in every situation, some would say that for the vintage rock/blues sound, it does a very good job, but it isn't as good as marshall per se. My favourite haed is the dual rectifier roadster. It comes with 4 6L6's for the modern sound, and 2 EL34's for the vintage sound. The Lonestar appears to be mesa's best head for the clean sound, but it all comes down to preference and your style.

If you listen to JP in any of the G3 jams, you'll know that even though they're jamming to classic rock songs, his tone still sounds sweet.
 

Jimothy JP7

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Great info, thanks. What would you reccommend if I'm trying to achieve a tone similar to Petrucci in "This Dying Soul", "Honor Thy Father", "Caught in a Web" for my go-to distortion?
 

Jimothy JP7

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I know Dual rect's only reach there prime when cranked out, and even then thats just about all there good for; power. I'm all about power, but I want nice cleans too. What would be best for that?
 

Jimothy JP7

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I tested out a Krank a while back and although it sounded good, the quality was lacking, and I wasn't going to pay close to 2k for a head that was missing screws and stuff. I also tried out a Soldano at GC when my Petrucci came in, I kind dug that, but I wasn't getting the bite I wanted, and there was not channel selection, plus I was in GC, so I couldn't really crank it up.

I don't know anything about Triple rec's...
 

Jimothy JP7

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I also tried out a Marshall stack, but I'm not a Marshall fan, so that didn't go over well. I was jamming on a Dual rec and I dug that, but then someone bought it out from under me haha, so I was stranded on a Line 6 spider.
 

JSX

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Nov 19, 2006
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I played at stilleto combo once, it had really nice cleans, but the distortion wasn't for me. Have you ever tried out the JSX head?
 

73h Nils

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If you want Petrucci Distortion with great cleans and searing leads, go Mark IV/Roadster or Road King II. Check out forum.grailtone.com, they'll hook you up with this information...Mesa FTW.:)
 

Jimothy JP7

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Never tried a JSX, but I have tried a stilleto and I agree, the distortion just wouldnt go haha

I'll look into Road King, although I think thats way out of my price range, I'll do what I gotta do. Thanks!
 

Sub1 Zero

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The dual recto and peavey JSX are looking good to me, for the same reasons as Jimothy except I am an uncivilized metallica fan :p
 

Rossie

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Sep 20, 2006
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For your JP7, you would like to look for an amp that can handle the low B. Some users of the Mark IV said that it doesn't hand;e the low B as well as a RK/DR.

Just throwing it out there for you :D
 

philiprst

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Mar 1, 2006
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Baltimore, MD, USA
Personally, I would have a look at the Mark IV. It is probably about the most flexible amp out there. It does well on the modern Pet distortion sound but can also sound really great clean or with a small amount of overdrive. It is also capable of producing the most awful tones I have ever had the pleasure of creating and sometimes the line between great and appaling is just the slight twist of a knob. If you like tweaking though, there is some great stuff in there.

Another amp you might look at, but no one has suggested, is the H&K Switchblade. It has some great tones and has one of the most flexible midi implementations out there which allows you to control gain and eq, not just switch between channels. It has a very nice DSP unit onboard too.
 

Jimothy JP7

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Yes Sub1, far too uncivilized :D

I've never had a chance to play a Mark IV, so I wouldn't know how it handles B, but if it can't, thats out of the question. Thanks for that.

You know, I thought about H&K, that amp in particular, because McAlpine uses it, and Lifeson, and those are great tones, but someone told me it wouldn't have the crunch I was looking for, so I disregarded it. Keep in mind my biggest influences tone wise are Petrucci, Loomis, Tremonti, Lowery, anything with equal parts grit and beauty. Do you think it could handle that?
 

dwells

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May 11, 2007
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dude try a peavey triple x i was shocked to hear how awesome they sounded with a luke with emgs i think meas rectifiers are over rated and priced !
 

Jimothy JP7

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A Triple X did about as much for me as a B52 did. I want an amp that motivates me, but when I played those, they just motivated me to put the guitar down, or play a different amp. I don't know what it was, Mesa just grabs me by the balls, and I trust their brand as much as I trust EBMM, Peavey dabbles in a bit of everything and IMO nothing they do really speaks to me.

Of course, it may be perfect for you, not saying its no good. I jammed with a guitarist that has a Triple X half stack, his tone just wasn't cutting it for me. Then again, I didn't dial it in, so that may have been the problem :D
 

Plaschkes

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Feb 28, 2006
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Isra-Hell
If you want to try out somthing a bit less traditional, you should check out Rivera amps, I recentley discoverd them, and they have the most articulate distortion I've ever heard.
 
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