Display MoreAfter spending a little over an hour with the first part of the JMPee pack, here are my rambling initial thoughts...
The first five profiles in the 1977 JMPee pack are all pure clean profiles. The different profiles are done with a 4x12 with the following speakers: Alnico Blue, Classic Lead 80s, Greenbacks, Lynchbacks, and V30s. The gain on the Kemper is one bubble, and if you pick lightly or moderately, they remain very clean. One problem I have noticed with some zero gain profiles on the Kemper is that they sound kind of flat and lifeless. The cleans in the JMPee pack are the total opposite -- full of richness and harmonics. I am testing these with a Schecter C1 Classic, with a JB in the bridge, and a Jazz in the neck. Both individual pickups and the middle position sound great with every cab. The clean profiles are all pretty bright with a lot of clarity, which is important for me as I primarily play humbuckers. I did try the coil split (or tap, I don't know what this guitar has) though, and they did not sound harsh with either humbuckers or the single coil. If you really dig into the strings, you can hear just a slight amount of breakup. I liked the cleans on the Brown Eye, but I think I like these even better.
Next up are five LG+ profiles, with the same cabs as the clean profiles. These are also on the bright side, with the definition on all of them at 10. The Lynchback doesn't seem as bright as the others. When I say bright, I mean good, Marshall cut through the mix bright, not ice picky bright. These may be a little too bright for playing solo in the bedroom, but I really like them for a mix. I loaded up EZDrummer2 and played along with a random drump loop, and the guitar fit right where it should. I typically use a low cut at 100hz, but I don't know that I need it with these. With the volume knob, I can't get all the way to clean, but I can get a pretty good range of breakup using just the volume knob.
The next five profiles are listed as HG (high gain). They also use the same cabs as earlier. These are listed as 4.4 on the gain level. That is a little under noon on the dial, but they sound a little higher gain than that, to me. These aren't quite as bright as the LG+ profiles, and sound a little better to me playing with only the guitar, but still cut through very well. The HG profiles in this pack are basically what I think of when I hear JMP. These will be perfect for a lot of the hard rock and early metal that I like. These also respond well to the volume knob, to get different gain levels.
The next five are the HG+ profiles, and are 7.1 to 7.2 gain. These are what I think of when I hear "Brown Sound". They are pretty saturated and sound like they would be really good for lead work. If I was good enough to play some Van Halen, I'd love the HG+ profiles in this pack for that.
I'm going to try to go through the JMPee2 pack tommorrow, and hopefully get a few short clips up this weekend. I want to do a few more tests with the picking dynamics, volume knob, and gain knob on the Kemper, as well as trying a couple of Les Pauls with it. I really think I'm going to like this pack with the 57 Classics.
Right now, I'd put these right up there with your Brown Eye pack, which is one of my favorites. I can't wait to spend some more time with these. You did a hell of a job on them!
(To be continued...)
Well Patrick, you just made my day sir! Thanks for the details and the review...
I gotta say I'm relieved and excited....JMPee came out OK in my opinion but not great; It is a Marshall 1977 that was tricky to profile....Whereas JMPee2 is a 2013 and gave up its tone freely to the profiling process....What I'm trying to say is thanks and the best is yet to come in your JMPee experience!