Musicman JP6 & Mesa

[BlueMetal]

Hi everyone,

New around these corridors.....please be gentle
I have a problem!!!

Well, I was on a guitar mission. Not many Musicman's floating round here in Melbourne so never actually got to try one. Well, that was until New Years Eve, got my paws on a JP6 and instantly fell for it. Had been looking for a long time and decided to purchase it...

A JP6 Mystic Dream. On first play was a beautiful thing, but noticed on a Peavey amp they chucked me on in the shop was the sound. Something didn't seem right on distortion. (Almost sounded 'twangy' like when switched to the bridge pickup, but part of the neck pickup coming through). But, (maybe silly) me went on with the purchase.

I have a 2010 100W Mesa Dual Rectifier and have been running a few tests over the last couple of weeks. (Run final test the other day after the guitar had it's free setup)

My problem is on distortion the guitar sounds AWFUL (Running on bridge pickup(s) - Note: I think it uses the Liquid Fire & Crunch pickups when switched to bridge pickup). No matter how I tweak the amp no luck. Awful meaning - on distortion is has no balls, very very harsh, muddy and very biting sound. Not smooth at all.

One test I ran was throwing my Jackson Kelly through on my normal distortion settings, sounded smooth, plugged the JP6 in and god awful.

Thinking it might be the amp, I also have an ENGL Powerball 100W and tried that on the weekend. Not as noticeable but bad sound still there.

I rung the shop and they said it could be the pickups and are arranging a set of replacements.

Problem is damn, maybe this is the way the guitar is supposed to sound?

Anyone else had any experience with this setup?

No effects are being used.

Thanks

 

[Lax]

The JP6 is known not to be an aggressive sounding guitar, but since you setup your distorsion on the rectifier and play loud, it's supposed to be blasting your ears thought.

I think everything is fine except your amp tuning, did you try adding gain & lowering bass ?

That's an exotic guitar Tuning is part of the job

Cheers and keep us informed !

 

[Roubster]

First thing should be to have it checked out by your dealer which I guess you did. The JP is definitely not supposed to sound thin and brittle nor muddy, but definitely crunchy in bridge position. Maybe bottom line is that the pickups don't work for your style and ears. However check out some Andy James and Travis Larson footage...they get a nice fat and warm tone out of the JP.

 

[beej]

Sounds like you might have an issue. Was the guitar new or used?

My suggestion is to give MM customer service a call or send them an email. They should be able to help sort out what's going on.

 

[smd24fan]

Call customer service. My JP6 sounds UNBELIEVABLE through my Mark V and my Rectoverb combo., nothing quite like it!

 

[Lou]

Do you have piezo? Are you sending that signal to your amp? If so, it will sound like poo.

 

[David Corrales]

Be sure to check if you're sending the piezo signal because it muddies things up. Also, have you check the battery? Maybe it's drained.

 

[BlueMetal]

Thanks guys,

Yeah I contacted the shop I purchased from late last week and for starters they are arranging new bridge pickups.

Other than that I've had no joy. Changed over the battery, and have always made sure the piezo isn't on.

The guitar tech I took it to for the free setup (he setup John's guitars when John was last here in melbourne for a clinic) said that the frets looked worn

Should be brand new considering the price I paid for it. And to give you an idea here in Melbourne the ticketed price was $4700 (although I definitely didn't pay that!)

 

[Vodka]

I had the same experience with mesa tremoverb(which is actually dual rect). Now i'm 100% sure the problem was amp. I regret that i sold my jp shortly before selling the amp =\ want my jp back
My JP had the same PU combo btw.

 

[BlueMetal]

Thanks for the replies everyone

Update from the Battlefront

The store I purchased from sent out a replacement crunch lab pack for a guitar tech to install. To demonstrate the sound that I'm getting (with the bridge pickup selected and distortion on the amp) I decided to take the mesa (dual rec 2010) along with me to the guitar tech.
(The sound, so hard to explain but over-bright and harsh) Nothing smooth about it.
Almost like it's selected the bridge and part of the neck pickups, it has a 'twang' to every note

A quick test of the pickups concluded that nothing was stuffed or bleeding through (nothing from the piezo either). He actually had another musicman there (a BFR model with the same pickups) and we tried that through the Mesa. (It actually sounded worse!)

So, it must be the guitars. (Can't be the amp as I've tried the JP6 through my ENGL Powerball as well with same results)

So now I'm stuffed. Looking at changing the pickups to get something smoother sounding although I know diddly squat about pickups.

I've got seymour duncans in my Jackson Kelly (I guess I'm used to the sound)

I realised all this may happen when I tried the guitar in the shop, something didnt sound right, but it's such an amazing guitar to play I thought if it came down to it I might have to look at the pickups

Back to the battle I go...

 

[ScoobySteve]

Eq eq eq eq eq and..... Eq.

When I had my JP6 an ran it through a DSL100 and mark iv it sounded incredible. Even through a TC Nova System. Had great clarity and punch. Nothing bright or twangy (except in the middle position) and just sounded HUGE! Sound clips with a decent mike would help a lot.

 

[mikeller]

I will tell you - I own a Mesa Boogie Electra-Dyne (actually two of them) and I think all my EBMM sound great thru them, but they each need some EQ tweaks also.

There are many variables,as others have mentioned. Aside from EQ, it may be something as simple as the guitar needing a new set of strings....

 

[BlueMetal]

Hi guys,

Yeap tried, but couldnt eliminate with eq (and has new set of strings)

I've got some sound clips recorded at the studio. (i'll chop them and put them up when I get back in there)

Thanks!

 

[slukather]

Hi bluemetal,

I'm sorry to hear you aren't happy with your guitar, maybe you could get similar pickups that are in the Jackson Kelly you have and put them in the JP.

The majority of people on this forum have a JP and i've never heard one of them describe the JP as "very harsh, muddy and very biting sound. Not smooth at all. " Which is why a lot of the posts are about eqing your amp/wiring issue or faulty pickups, maybe the JP guitar isn't for you, l'd be very interested in hearing it for myself.

Good luck.

Scottie.

 

[Roubster]

I'm with Scottie on that one. Not to be mean or anything, but that description of the guitar simply sounds like its not for you tone wise. Also due to the fact that you mentioned you compared it to a BFR JP and stated that it sounded horrible, I dont think its fair to say that it must be the guitars and they sound bad and the description you stated. I think it is simply the fact that those pickups do not work for YOU, and probably the way you are used to EQing your amp based on what you want to hear. I have played JPs before and heard TONS of players with them and never heard such tone as you described. Either way, good luck and keep us posted...hopefully you will find the right pickups as you seem to like the playability of the guitar (which is undeniable hehe).

 

[Fun111]

I find this thread very interesting... The first Silhouette I ever tried I plugged into my own Roadster head and it sounded really really bright like it had some tele bridge pickup with the treble whacked up, it was bizarre.

I personally am not a Fan of the CL/LF set at all, I preferred the D-Sonic, but it's not my signature guitar haha. My D-Sonic JP sounded amazing through my amp.

 

[mikeller]

The other thing is this - rooms/environment can make a huge difference in tone. I have been using an Electra-dyne 1-12 widebody combo amp for the past year. It is heavy and killing me carrying it around, so I bought a ED head to go with a Recto 2-12 cabinet I have had for a while. When I got the head, I hooked it up in my man-cave and thought it sounded gross. The gains weren't right, everything was bright and shrill. But I had my first gig with it last week in a very nice club and the rig sounded incredible - both on stage and out in the audience.

I say don't make any quick judgments - let it settle in and learn your gear.

 

[riffs101]

My 2010 JP6 sounds awefull. I have several amp setups, Mesa DC-3, Rocktron Prophesy through a Mesa 50/50, Ect. !960A cabs. One with V30s the other with G75Ts. This is the only guitar that sounds bad and the only guitar that feedsback badly. I have been playing for 30 years and have been in bands most of my life, so i know how to set my sound. My brother lives in Florida and ordered mine and his at the same time, his has the same problem. Sounds very harsh and sterile. We play different styles of music so it is not the amp or the gain settings. When i plug my RGA121 Prestige or my MM Luke into all my amps , they sound sweet. My brother does not have any problems with his PRS, Gibson or Ibanez JS1000.I think it is the pickups, maybe that batch of DiMarzio's. It plays excellent and i love the guitar. I will replace the pickups if i have too, also have it checked out by a tech. Could be something simple. A guitar this awesome should not sound like this! I will never get rid of it!!

 

[PaoloGilberto]

although I do not judge cause I can't hear your guitar, but I've tested a few guitars along my JP and though I always preferred my JP in terms of sound, there are friends that don't like it and friends who always say "it sounds huge, now I know I understand why it cots so much (in europe)".
compared with other hi end guitars - Gibson, Manne - custom shop, Framus - custom shop, Dean, Ibanez, Esp - the JP has more mids, more rounded sound, cuts through the mix.
and although in some situation I said that other guitar sounds better alone through the amp, no drums , bass etc along, in the mix JP was far better.
just check if there is no tech problem with yours...if not, you just might not like the JP sound

My 2010 JP6 sounds awefull. I have several amp setups, Mesa DC-3, Rocktron Prophesy through a Mesa 50/50, Ect. !960A cabs. One with V30s the other with G75Ts. This is the only guitar that sounds bad and the only guitar that feedsback badly. I have been playing for 30 years and have been in bands most of my life, so i know how to set my sound. My brother lives in Florida and ordered mine and his at the same time, his has the same problem. Sounds very harsh and sterile. We play different styles of music so it is not the amp or the gain settings. When i plug my RGA121 Prestige or my MM Luke into all my amps , they sound sweet. My brother does not have any problems with his PRS, Gibson or Ibanez JS1000.I think it is the pickups, maybe that batch of DiMarzio's. It plays excellent and i love the guitar. I will replace the pickups if i have too, also have it checked out by a tech. Could be something simple. A guitar this awesome should not sound like this! I will never get rid of it!!

 

[jediboab]

same issue here .....

Hey guys, I had a minty mint Mystic Dream JP6 a while back, and it sounded amazing!!! LOADS of gain, smooth as butter, etc... (sold it to get a PRS as a project came up that required a different sound) Recently I managed to get my hands on an Olive Gold JP6, which looks AMAZING!!! (the neck profile seems different too, seems a wee bit wider than my last JP6?) But when I plugged it into a Marshall DSL 100 at the studio it just didn't sound quite right at all!! Hard to put into words but the sound on the dirty channel was kinda middy and bright, piercing, just not smooth at all and LOADS of feedback! It was also not as gainy as my other JP6. The clean is a bit muddy, and no sparkle/spank in the middle position. (The Piezo sounds spectacular though!, actually better than my old Mystic Dream)

From what you guys are saying, the pickups may be the issue, but before I go out and buy replacements, I just wanted to know if it could be anything else?? (I played it through my Mesa Boogie MKIV at home, still not sounding quite right, although definitely better than the Marshall), I've had my MKIV for years, so EQ tweaking isn't the issue.

Cheers in advance guys
Boab