General
To commemorate thirty years of friendship and collaboration, Mesa Boogie and Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci have launched the Limited Edition JP-2C tube amp head, which encompasses years of mutual experience and know-how. This all-tube amp head has three channels, selectable wattage, an expansive equalizer, a speaker simulator output, MIDI connectors, and a front panel in Private Reserve Flame Maple with a Custom Oxblood Stain finish, adorned with mother-of-pearl inlays and framed by Gun Metal Grey aluminium.
This head has got the beauty and the brains!
Petrucci based his signature model on Mesa Boogie's Mark IIC+. Just like the Mark IIC+, the JP-2C houses five 12AX7 preamp tubes and four 6L6 output tubes, as well as a tube-driven spring reverb. When you're ready to channel all that power, you can hook the JP-2C to two 4-ohm cabinets, an 8-ohm cabinet or even a 16-ohm cabinet. In the studio, you can use the head in combination with the speaker simulator XLR output (CabClone D.I.). Besides a booster/limiter function and ground lift switches, it also offers the choice of an open or closed back, and a selection of vintage voices.
Good luck comes in threes
On the front panel, we see three blocks of six knobs, each of which corresponding with its own channel. One of the most interesting controls on the front panel is the mid/gain/presence knob. The mid control is a regular tone control from position 1 to 5, and after that it becomes a variable gain boost. On channel two and three, the gain has a push/pull function for extra boost. The presence knob works under the same principle and allows you to shift the frequency. Finally, the two 5-band graphic equalizers can be activated by the improved Mesa MIDI foot pedal. This Limited Edition is also equipped with MIDI in and thru/out.
