Ola Testing Amps - MESA BADLANDER, JP2C VS. PEAVEY 5150 VS. EVH 5150

[mpexus]

[Iron1]

I would go insane if I had all 4 of those amps & had to choose which to use.

The cabs is pretty easy, the black Mesa O/S all day.

[Phil]

I just listened to that on laptop speakers, but I thought all the amps sounded great and didn't have a huge preference for any one over the others.

But every time he does a video like this, it's crazy how the black Mesa cab sounds so much better than the other cabs.

[Mike]

That Mesa OS sounds fucking great on everything.

The amps I like the sound of the most was the Badlander with the OD and the EVH on the blue channel with the overdrive, then the JP2C without the OD.

[Iron1]

That Mesa OS sounds fucking great on everything.

The amps I like the sound of the most was the Badlander with the OD and the EVH on the blue channel with the overdrive, then the JP2C without the OD.

Agreed. And, if I ever do need a bigger amp again, it's most likely going to be a Badlander...

[dahla]

Ugh, I can’t watch videos like that. I’ll enjoy it, look to my left and right, and realise that I don’t have an amp. Nevermind a wall of awesome amps… Then it’s a slippery slope of gas, misery, wants and wishes for a few days.

[Jeff]

They all sounded good. EVH and Peavey were a bit too raw for me though.

[thrashinbatman]

That Mesa OS sounds fucking great on everything.

The amps I like the sound of the most was the Badlander with the OD and the EVH on the blue channel with the overdrive, then the JP2C without the OD.

The JP2C is the only amp I've ever played that I've felt did not benefit from an OD. It has everything it needs straight-in.

[Budda]

Ugh, I can’t watch videos like that. I’ll enjoy it, look to my left and right, and realise that I don’t have an amp. Nevermind a wall of awesome amps… Then it’s a slippery slope of gas, misery, wants and wishes for a few days.

I think about weight, power and retubing and get glad i have it all in 3U

[dahla]

I think about weight, power and retubing and get glad i have it all in 3U

I’m happy with my Kemper too. But still…

[desertdweller]

The JP2C is the only amp I've ever played that I've felt did not benefit from an OD. It has everything it needs straight-in.

Shred mode is an overdrive, so yeah you're absolutely right in that it's built in. Like any Mark amp, it sounds great without an overdrive engaged as well, whether that's shred mode or an overdrive pedal, especially once you really get the relationship between the treble knob and gain knob. For me, and rhythm guitar especially, I prefer using an overdrive pedal with mine and turning the treble knob up and the gain knob down a bit on the amp for metal tones.

[thrashinbatman]

Shred mode is an overdrive, so yeah you're absolutely right in that it's built in. Like any Mark amp, it sounds great without an overdrive engaged as well, whether that's shred mode or an overdrive pedal, especially once you really get the relationship between the treble knob and gain knob. For me, and rhythm guitar especially, I prefer using an overdrive pedal with mine and turning the treble knob up and the gain knob down a bit on the amp for metal tones.

i used Shred for a while but i find it works better without it. typically i run a TS9 or SD1 in front of my amps, either set to full volume or to unity depending on my pickups (im using EMG almost exclusively these days so i really don't need the extra gain lmao). i find regardless of gain boost, it just tightens it up and gives that bite that makes the palm mutes really grindy and nasty, just like i like them. the JP2C sounds exactly how i want going straight in. im sure it sounds great with an OD in front, why wouldn't it? im a pretty hardcore "ODs are great and necessary" guy, so an amp not needing it is really rare to me.

[JJ Rodriguez]

It's amazing how bad that Marshall cab sounds, at least in the video, in comparison to both the Mesas and the Engl.

[Naren]

It's amazing how bad that Marshall cab sounds, at least in the video, in comparison to both the Mesas and the Engl.

I watched this video yesterday and my biggest takeaway was that every head sounds amazing and every cab sounds amazing except the Marshall, which just sounds muffled, weak, and flat. You go from those two crushing Mesa cabs to that miserable Marshall cab, then back to a massively crushing Engl cab. And I say that as someone who used a Marshall cab with a JCM800 for a while way back (and it sounded pretty kickass, though not as good, of course, as my Mesa cab I had later).

For the amps, I think the Badlander sounds the best, followed by the newer EVH 5150. For the cabs, I think the black Mesa sounds the best, followed by the Engl (though the other Mesa cab sounds really good too).

I tend to be in the "an OD is necessary for metal rhythm guitar" camp, but I do think both of the 5150s sound awesome without an overdrive. As much as I love all Mesa Boogie amps, I do tend to think they really need an OD to tighten them up.

[thrashinbatman]

Marshalls generally sound good, I think, but yeah, that one is no good. I wonder how much the speakers are contributing to this.

[Josh]

The Marshall sounds fine to me. It's just way quieter than the V30-loaded cabs.

[desertdweller]

The Marshall sounds fine to me. It's just way quieter than the V30-loaded cabs.

A few years ago I owned a Marshall 1960 angled 4x12, and since it was smaller than my Mesa 4x12, I used it at band rehearsals. I always had to turn my amp up quite a bit louder with that cab and my sound didn’t cut through as much as I’d liked. At one point before I realized it I thought it was a problem with my amp or effects setup, but then one day I brought my Mesa 4x12 to rehearsal instead and everything was instantly fixed. Those Mesa 4x12s are just dominant speaker cabinets IMO. There is a reason I’ve kept the same Mesa cab for over 20 years and I no longer own the Marshall.

[Chris]

Worth noting: I have a Mesa 4x12 and the Soldano 2x12 that I have next to it sounds just as full/loud/everything. The thing is absolutely aces.

[Leon]

The JP2C is the only amp I've ever played that I've felt did not benefit from an OD. It has everything it needs straight-in.

In my AxeFx, I keep trying different OD's in front of the Mk4 model, which I like that it adds some compression, but I always lose girth, and so I just bumped the gain up a bit, and yeah, no OD needed there

[desertdweller]

In my AxeFx, I keep trying different OD's in front of the Mk4 model, which I like that it adds some compression, but I always lose girth, and so I just bumped the gain up a bit, and yeah, no OD needed there

The truly great thing about the Axe FX and FM3 is that there are so many parameters too for each amp, you can usually get it to sound amazing whatever your tastes are just in the amp block. I’ve noticed the new parameter for speaker compression to be really powerful at the 3.0-3.5 range.

For the real amps, it’s been an education having both the JP2C and the older Mark amp now for a few months, and being able to really compare the two. I still think they both sound best with the gain lowered and an OD added in front, but I get a clearer, less compressed tone from the Mark III. I’ve been playing through and teaching myself some older DT songs that I never learned when I was younger, like Innocence Faded or Caught in a Web, and I’m finding that the Mark III perfectly nails that tone without an OD, where the JP2C can sound a bit muddier with similar settings, which leads me to prefer shred mode or an overdrive in front when using it most of the time.