Def Leppard rig rundown - jmp1 with axefx

John_P

I just watched the new rig rundown with def leppard and was surprised to see they are still using their jmp1 preamps but combined with fx from the aexfx.  I would have thought if they are happy using the axe they wouldn't need the jmp1 anymore.    Might be time to fire mine up again.

Danny1969

There's a lot of love for the JMP-1 it's an awesome sounding bit of kit. Now you could prob get a JMP1 sound out of an AXEFX but what would be the point when you have the unit anyway. 

John_P

Danny1969 said:

There's a lot of love for the JMP-1 it's an awesome sounding bit of kit. Now you could prob get a JMP1 sound out of an AXEFX but what would be the point when you have the unit anyway. 

Certainly - I love the jmp1 and have toyed with going back to a rack setup linking it to the Gsystem, if I see a decent poweramp going cheap.

It just seemed like an extra complication and if they are enjoying the newer technology of the axe why not go all the way.
The jmp1 is getting on a bit now (it must be 20 years ago I bought mine)- not sure if they still make them and I'm surprised they haven't released a newer model.

timmysoft

I love the jmp1 but sounding like Def Leppard is pretty much the worst thing that could ever happen to a human.

John_P

timmysoft said:

I love the jmp1 but sounding like Def Leppard is pretty much the worst thing that could ever happen to a human.

A singer was talking to me about doing a def leppard tribute the other day - I'm guessing you wouldn't be interested then ;-)

Danny1969

John_P said:

Danny1969 said:

There's a lot of love for the JMP-1 it's an awesome sounding bit of kit. Now you could prob get a JMP1 sound out of an AXEFX but what would be the point when you have the unit anyway. 

Certainly - I love the jmp1 and have toyed with going back to a rack setup linking it to the Gsystem, if I see a decent poweramp going cheap.

It just seemed like an extra complication and if they are enjoying the newer technology of the axe why not go all the way.
The jmp1 is getting on a bit now (it must be 20 years ago I bought mine)- not sure if they still make them and I'm surprised they haven't released a newer model.

Yep I see what you mean but I expect they got it in a rack midi'ed up like I got mine. When you change patch on the JMP-1 it changes the AxeFX or in my case it changes a GP100 or GT10. Once it's connected like that once you never need to touch it

It's a Parallel loop on the JMP-1 as well so I would imagine they are only using the AxeFX for time based effects rather than harmonic

@timmysoft yeah I know what you mean. The sound I always associate with Lepard is the processed sound on Hysteria and that was Rockmans running into an SSL channel strip. Worked well on the radio as it's a very inoffensive guitar sound but not my bag either

Deftones get some great heavy sounds out of the JMP-1, so does Billy Gibbons. It's a very versatile unit  

vasselmeyer

LOL. Did you see the stickers on the flightcases at 10:24 in the video? Here's a grab:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45292621/defleppardrack.jpg

Si_

Interesting rig rundown.. but never been a Def Leppard fan...

Moltisanti

I would love to be in a def leppard tribute band, seriously!

David5150

Aren't their jmp's modified by voodoo? Still a great sounding unit-love mine

jeztone2

I'm not much of a fan but my brother saw them live a few years ago & said they were brilliant

Fuzzdog

I keep getting the urge to buy a JMP-1 again - based my entire rig around one for a few years, and I remember it sounding a lot better than it really had any right to.

Sold it to buy a Roland GP-100 and go all new-fangled.  Regretted that rather quickly.  

Horatio_Caine

To be honest I am a fan of them and I find their riffs cool, seem them live twice a few years ago and they were excellent.  As time goes on though I'm not a fan of their studio sound around the era of Hysteria, Adrenalize and Euphoria which they were most known for, too overglossed and overlayered for me.  That's one thing where Slang in particular and certain others are better to me and live I found their sound better.  Mainly the 1993 Don Valley Stadium performance on the extending solo of Love Bites is what's does it for me.

The JMP1 is a superb unit, thing is I don't really want MIDI switching on amps at least for my personal preference so I sold it.  Ideally I'd love Marshall to make it in amp head/combo form with the Clean and Overdrive channels separate in the form of control knobs, with the simple 1 input jack channel footswitch with a series FX loop, nothing else I can get all my boosts/extra kick etc from pedals.  Wishingful thinking because they'll never do that.

I do wonder though if I could get a cheap not so nice condition JMP1 and gut the internals have an amp chassis made for it and turn it into a head or combo with what I mentioned.  Dunno if it would be possible for a tech to do but I am wondering, might ask Martin at MJW whether it would be sometime because if it is then I'd seriously consider doing it as soundwise it sounded excellent, dare I say better than the DSL1 I have (not that the DSL sounds bad though).

Danny1969

@ Horatio_Caine

The midi switching is kind of the point isn't it ? I mean it basically allows you to have a 50 channel amp, each channel with different settings of EQ and gain. You can switch the thing from any midi enabled effects floor unit or a stand alone midi switcher

I think they did a simple channel switcher for it when it came out actually 

Horatio_Caine 

Horatio_Caine

Yes I know it was when MIDI was coming into play and for the most part that is what the JMP1 is about in terms of flexibility, being able to have loads of channels and use it in conjunction with effects and floor units.  Although for my needs I am happy to just set the clean and overdrive to where I like it and then I'm fine with it barring some easy tweaking, and if I want to go back to before I'll just write my settings down and save them on a word document or something.  I find MIDI with my Eventide H9 pedals with my Musicom loop switching system fine and very handy, I just don't need it with amps personally, for that I am happy with just a standard guitar cable going from the amps channel socket into one of the Musicoms inputs and going from clean to dirty or the other way around.

Danny1969

Ah yeah see what you mean

I love mine, I'm so used to it I can change things on the fly during the set without even seeing the controls cos I know where they are (and cos I don't like wearing my glasses at a gig  )

The type of valve used makes a big difference on these units, bigger difference than I thought it would. I put a NOS Harma in mine and it changed the voicing a lot. 

thecolourbox

I have one, not touched the midi, that's just a bonus that may be useful, it's more about the sound really. I didn't sell my laptop because I didn't use the Visual Basic editor!

siraxeman

always liked the JMP-1 every time I've heard them...not got one but often think I should get one...but then I'd have to get a separate rackmount  power amp and something like TC G Major 2 or Intellifex to complete the rack...then an extension cab. Hmm then its all starting to mount up......

xwolf5150

Voodoo have a UK guy now. I had the plat mod done to my JMP-1 last year.
Apart from the upgraded transformer the mod is a waste of money.
All they're marketing is bull... mine sounds exactly the same.
If you want to mod yours, just upgrade the transformer.

EricTheWeary

I saw them during the On Through the Night period IIRC, around the time the UK music press was slagging them to hell. From one of the interviews later I gathered every song was in A, but I enjoyed it at the time. I hate the Mutt Lange productions, just awful to me. I don't suppose the Leps agree with me though.

maxdown

Bringing this post back to life briefly ....

Going to try the AxeFX with my old JMP-1 ....... my old 80's/90's rack has the JMP-1, Boss GX-700 and Mesa 50/50 ..... my newer rack has the AxeFX and Matrix GT1000FX amp (plus a 1U interface panel). Both neat little 4U racks.

The AxeFX rig is great if there's a good stage monitoring system ..... but a real nightmare (for me) in small gigs - the FRFR backline cabs can be hard to make cut through .... and the alternative method of the Matrix amp driving conventional guitar cabs has a brittle dry quality in the highs I can't seem to get completely rid of.

The pain in the arse being if I use the AxeFX with the JMP-1 and Mesa I'll need to upgrade to a 5U (or 6U rack if I include my 1U front facing interface panel that brings all the relevant rear I/Os of the rack gear to the front for easy access).

I play in a covers band with one of Vivian Campbell's younger brothers (also our vocalist was one of his best mates at school) and had an invite to go backstage when Last In Line were playing Belfast last week due to Viv being 'back home' to accept a N. Ireland Music Legend Award ..... but at last minute my plans changed so didn't get a chance to have a yarn with him about his Voodoo modded JMP-1/AxeFX Def Lep rig. Not that I'm interested in getting the mod done ..... the JMP-1 sounds just fine as it is in my opinion - yes the stock transformer hums a bit - but the hum doesn't actually come through the speakers unless you bring your guitar right up to the rack and any other noise is pretty easily dealt with by any noise gate in the FX unit.

After endlessly fiddling around with the AxeFX settings for years to try and get amp models, cab IRs etc to work live with FRFR it's highly refreshing to just find sounds on the JMP-1 in literally seconds!

The 'emulated outs' actually work very well - as long as you don't expect them to sound like your real power amp and cabs if they are plugged in at the same time. But with just the JMP-1 and FX unit turned on I can dial in very authentic sounding DI tones ..... for live work I'd always prefer mics on the cabs though because your patches are dialled in to suit the power amp and cabs.

Great and uncomplicated piece of kit ..... and Marshall still will service them if you've the need