TC50 vs Stiletto

Hi Everyone,
I currently have the honor to review a TC-50 here. Awesome amp - I live every channel.
I have a Mark V and Recitifier Preamp. However, I have never played the Stiletto series.
Since the TC50 seems to voiced pretty britsh, I wonder how close it is to the Stiletto series (which is discontinued).
Can someone chime in?

Another thing I found: Although I really love channel 2, it doesn't seem to benefit from the typical Tube Screamer in front. What do you think. I found my EMG SPC to be a great boost though.

As a start I'll try to communicate you my impression of the TC-50.
Individual sound in the Boogie range. It has a british heritage but again it is more modern.
Great layout ans features. Awesome sound that changes with the player, the instrument and the tuning.

I love the clean. There could be be a little more headroom when using actives.
Drive mode is fine but not really my cup of tea.
I find both modes, especially the pure Clean to be picky with gain pedals.

Crunch channel is simply awesome. Fast, defined and more gain than a JCM800.
Reacts fine to the volume pot of your guitar so you can clean up easy plus add more gain using a boost or overdrive.

High Gain is fast and tight, too. Great for fast thrash riffs and fun to play. It is tight but not too stiff.

What I miss is a Deep control to give it more bass when needed. It is pretty slim.
Or make a 100 Watt with that deep control.
I would love to see a preamp version because it would pair up great with a Rectifier.


But back to my question. Who has compared it with a Stiletto?

I had a Stiletto Deuce Stage 1 for a week, ordered it from GC online and returned it in exchange for a RA100 Combo. It was okay and sounded similar to the Roadster but not as robust. The Royal Atlantic was more aggressive than the Stiletto. At the time before the trade-in, compared it to the Roadster and RA100. Had to put new tubes into the amp but held on to the one's it came with. Stiletto did not appeal to me. Worked with the controls and such to dial in something. TC-50 based on videos on Mesa site sound really good. I did play though one but at lower volume. Not sure why I did not open it up and actually hear the amp. Perhaps I did not want to buy it that time.

The Stiletto was a real shot at a JCM800 as I understand it. The tone was a bit thin for me and the gain was pretty low. I think that the way Andy Timmons uses it shows where it shines.

The TC50 is EL34, but has a thicker tone with more overtones and a little bit of grind. It also has WAY more gain than the Stiletto, even on channel 2. Channel 3 is ridiculous. I'd compare it to a Splawn Nitro maybe.

I had watched the Sweetwater demo on the TC-50. Then I watched the PRS Archon. Very similar tone but not identical (TC-50 CH3, Archon CH2) well at least in the demo videos. Archon is 100W vs the 50 W on the TC. You probably cannot use 6V6 on the Archon. I was comparing amps in the same price range.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TripleCH

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Archon

I can say for sure that the TC50 does not compare to the Archon. The Archon has much more low end and more mid-grit. The TC is more of a screamer. It has mid presence, but not a ton of grind.

Long time Deuce II owner and got to try a TC50 for a decent amount at a store recently. Let's just say I haven't given the TC50 another thought. It just seemed to lack character. The amp just sounds like it's adding more gain to the same basic tone as you go through the channels. I feel the Stiletto can really nail down some EL34 tones as I know them much better. I didn't get a chance to try pedals with the TC50 but the Stiletto takes pedals (at least the few I have) like a champ. The TC50 is like a dedicated EL34 Mark while the Stiletto is much more old school Marshall. My V (loaded with 34's) can do what the TC50 does but much better. For those wondering what a 100 watt version of the TC50 would be like you could probably emulate it with an EQ in the loop. I've found a slight boost in the lows and broad but slight boost in the mids (MXR 10 band) gets my Stiletto into full on JCM/JMP territory.