TC-50 vs TC-100

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bandit2013

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I messed up with this one, both amps are quite similar but yet different. Sorry did not exploit the switch track or indicate what amp was on when not running in parallel. TC-50 was on circuit A, TC-100 on Circuit B. I did use the cab clone for this one and only one mic per cab. The TC-50 comes off as a beast compared to the TC-100. Once you get past the midpoint I push into a harder clip and switch between one or the other. I ran the stereo effect most of the time. The project would have had more progressions and back and forth between the two amps on each channel but did not have the cameras recording at that time. Not used to running cameras when recording. I do have an hour of audio but not video to link to it.

Here is the first or last video of the pair together. :roll:

https://youtu.be/ohx9N_z0Y-o
 
I apologize for the video. I found out the reason why the TC-50 was much more prominent in the upper frequency range vs the TC-100. I had replaced the V3 and V4 preamp tubes early on as I had issue with one of them but could not pinpoint which tube was at fault. The issue was a pinging noise when changing channels between CH2 and CH3 or from CH1 to either. Typical sound you get when a preamp tube is on the edge of going microphonic. Also my bad in selecting a preamp tube that was used (probably was harvested from the Roadster and may have been in a cathode follower circuit). Need to take more care in what is done when pulling used tubes. I did have a fresh stash of Mesa preamp tubes so I replaced both V3 and V4 with new tubes. Amp is very much on par with the TC-50 tone wise and character. Not sure if it would be worth doing a better comparison video of the TC-100 or the TC-50 as there are a few of them already. Also doubt I would be able to capture the tonal differences with the gear I have in respect to the dryness of the TC-50 vs the wetter tone of the TC-100 (wet being the saturation level of the midrange). Either way you go, TC-50 or TC-100, they are both great amps to have. The TC-50 is surprising as loud as the TC-100 in all respects at least with the Vertical 212 cab in use. There is a difference once you begin loading the outputs. If you are one who must run a full stack or prefer to have two cabs in use, the TC-100 will deliver quite well and more so than the TC-50. A single half stack or 412, not an issue with either amp. That will definitely bring out the full potential of both. I am also finding out new tricks especially with the presence control on the blue channel. I was keeping it set rather low but if you back off on the treble control and raise the presence it will help to define the distortion characteristic more than I thought even though it is not a negative feedback control like it is with other Mesa amps. This is simply a high pass filter designed to roll off the upper harmonic content above hearing level. Sure the effect has the same function but it is not used to cancel out the upper boundary of high order harmonics at the phase inverter as this is generally where the negative feedback is introduced as it is supplied from the speaker side of the OT.
 
I was starting another project to compare the TC series to the JP as that is the common question with most looking for a new amp, which one to get. Well now, I did have the phase out of place on the recorder. oops. I hope there will be more amp content than mulling around in the following project as I will be running the TC-100 with 6L6 tubes to compare what the TC-50 sounds like with EL34s. If I am up to it I may allow for the TC-100 to cool down and swap in the EL34s again and do over what I attempted but failed to do. Some say there is more headroom with the TC-100, I would agree with that as I have actually noticed that difference after replacing two preamp tubes and the quad of EL34s. For some reason I believe the TC-50 has just a slight more power tube grind than the TC-100 when using identical control settings on both amps. Also when switching the TC-100 to 50W does have the same tone character as the TC-50, but expect to boost the master control volume to obtain the same output level. The TC-50 is almost as loud as the TC-100 at full power so reason has it to push the master volume up when dropping to 50W or lower if you still want that power tube saturation. It could be the power tubes in effect here. I have not noticed the saturation levels on the Royal Atlantic changing with the multi-soak when used with the Mesa tubes. That characteristic becomes more apparent with =C= EL34 tubes in the Royal. Still a bit subtle to pick out when comparing the TC-100 to the RA100 using a 212 cabinet. The 412 cabinet seems to help to reveal that character. Will have to run the TC-100 on the OS Recto 412 cab as I have yet to do so since I got it or at least I do not remember doing so if I have.
 

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