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Note: I may be writing a negative review here.... There may be hope yet but time will tell if I can adapt to the TC-50 or not. Don't let this post dissuade you from getting the amp.
In short: it sounds similar to the Stiletto Deuce Stage 1 but not as spongy. However that may not be very accurate... Close to the RA100 but that is not accurate either. Comments I heard regarding the TC-50 may be true, it is in a class by itself with a hint of some of Mesa's earlier British amp attempts.
Note: if you are easily offended by reviews that are not in favor of the product, do not continue reading....
I should have stuck to my guns and waited for something better to come along. Not very happy with it. I thought the Mark V was bright. Ouch my ears are still ringing. May take a while to get used to it but I am almost leaning on returning it and get the drums instead. IMHO it is a good amp but not sure it is good for me.
Have to admit that I am amazed how loud it is for a 50W. To **** bright for my tastes....Clean channel is nice though. Out came the screw driver to see what I can throw in it to make it more appealing. I had seen the manual a while back so I was sure it would be similar to the RA100 in some respects. Have a few Mesa 6L6 (matched quad I bought for the JP-2C) and two pairs of Mesa EL34s (set of blues, set of gray). Tubes that were in the amp are Green so the blue or gray would be about the same. Probably would not notice the difference if they were reds. Took a while to find my spare Mesa SPAX7 (it was in a Mullard box, silly me). That helped with the icy top end somewhat for the Hi/Lo channel. Very similar to the RA100 lo gain as that one can be very bright with stock tubes and pushing the frontal envelope through an OS Recto 412. I will get to the comparison soon enough.
Had to try the Mesa 6L6 tubes, seemed to reduce the power a bit and was not as loud as it is with the EL34 (Yeah I flipped the switch). Actually this is the first time I ever liked the Mesa EL34 in an amp. I did not favor them in the RA100 as that made it harsh and brittle when driving EL34 speakers. It could be similar as the 2x12 is right in my face with the top speaker. I am not trying to write a bad review here. It does have a nice clean channel. May as well go through the typical swap this and that before I return it, but have to use Mesa tubes though.
The Mesa SPAX7 did the trick... for those unfamiliar with the RA100 including this amp (not sure if the dyne has the same tube topography) V1 is not the first gain stage of the Hi/Lo channel on the TC-50. On the RA100 it is, but V1 does not feed the clean channel, in the case of the TC-50, V1 does not feed into the Hi/Lo channel. Difference here is that with the RA100, V1, V2 are only used by the Hi/Lo and V4 and V5 are only used by the clean (yeah, V4 is the tube position of the first gain stage for the clean channel on the RA100). The TC-50 has a role reversal here but some other tube position differences relative to the RA100 (I will not go into full detail on this). V3 is the first gain stage of the hi/Lo channel so I swapped V3 with the SPAX7 and that made a huge difference on the icy tone. Actually sounds much better and once I figure out to reduce the treble control on the front panel and use my ears to adjust not my eyes. Figured I would state with all tone controls at noon and adjust moving forward.
How it compares to the RA100? It does not. I still favor the clean channel on the RA100 as that is one sweet channel and no switch required to get it dirty either. So in other words, the RA100 clean wins for now (once you figure out how to used it, hint: dial down the bass and boost the treble as the clean on the RA100 is a bit bossy and is a bit bottom heavy). TC-50 on the other hand for its tonal character on the clean side is Fender'ish. Not as saucy as the JP-2C clean but it is nice and will provide a very soft clip with high gain settings. Drive switch is okay to get it dirty but the RA100 gain on the clean channel is the mojo for that bluesy awesomeness. Still need more time with the amp to get a better feel for it.
Hi/Lo Channel, obviously the huge difference is independent controls with an added bonus (It has presence control). Odd that the mid and treble seemed to be similar to the RA100 to some extent, have to drop the treble a bit and boost the mids. What I love about the TC-50 over the RA is the bottom end is tight and more apparent than the RA100. The TC-50 is definitely an offspring or perhaps a close relative’s neighbor. Not sure I like the tight switch on either Hi or Lo channel but after a while with it on, I can appreciate the normal setting and then again want to turn it back on.
Perhaps it is time to read though the manual and find the suggested settings page or pages.
At least I did not set my expectations too high on this one so I guess I am not all that disappointed. Did I say it has a nice clean channel? Actually it does have awesome grit, grind, and massive crunchiness to its gain channels. Lo channel almost passes the RA100 Hi Gain channel but does not saturate as much. Hi gain channel definitely is overload to the senses. Not what I expected though. The amp seems a little stale to me, more 2 dimensional in its gain characteristic than what I am used too. It is almost as forward as the RA100 but with reservations on being flat. However, being the Mesa (EH) EL34 tends to sound that way. I think they get better with age once the cathode burns off its coating more. Still need to learn the tricks with this one. Hopefully my opinion will change or improve overtime and be more in favor of it. Perhaps I am not out of the honeymoon with the JP-2C yet. I will give it more time and see how I feel later on.
Note: I may be writing a negative review here.... There may be hope yet but time will tell if I can adapt to the TC-50 or not. Don't let this post dissuade you from getting the amp.
In short: it sounds similar to the Stiletto Deuce Stage 1 but not as spongy. However that may not be very accurate... Close to the RA100 but that is not accurate either. Comments I heard regarding the TC-50 may be true, it is in a class by itself with a hint of some of Mesa's earlier British amp attempts.
Note: if you are easily offended by reviews that are not in favor of the product, do not continue reading....
I should have stuck to my guns and waited for something better to come along. Not very happy with it. I thought the Mark V was bright. Ouch my ears are still ringing. May take a while to get used to it but I am almost leaning on returning it and get the drums instead. IMHO it is a good amp but not sure it is good for me.
Have to admit that I am amazed how loud it is for a 50W. To **** bright for my tastes....Clean channel is nice though. Out came the screw driver to see what I can throw in it to make it more appealing. I had seen the manual a while back so I was sure it would be similar to the RA100 in some respects. Have a few Mesa 6L6 (matched quad I bought for the JP-2C) and two pairs of Mesa EL34s (set of blues, set of gray). Tubes that were in the amp are Green so the blue or gray would be about the same. Probably would not notice the difference if they were reds. Took a while to find my spare Mesa SPAX7 (it was in a Mullard box, silly me). That helped with the icy top end somewhat for the Hi/Lo channel. Very similar to the RA100 lo gain as that one can be very bright with stock tubes and pushing the frontal envelope through an OS Recto 412. I will get to the comparison soon enough.
Had to try the Mesa 6L6 tubes, seemed to reduce the power a bit and was not as loud as it is with the EL34 (Yeah I flipped the switch). Actually this is the first time I ever liked the Mesa EL34 in an amp. I did not favor them in the RA100 as that made it harsh and brittle when driving EL34 speakers. It could be similar as the 2x12 is right in my face with the top speaker. I am not trying to write a bad review here. It does have a nice clean channel. May as well go through the typical swap this and that before I return it, but have to use Mesa tubes though.
The Mesa SPAX7 did the trick... for those unfamiliar with the RA100 including this amp (not sure if the dyne has the same tube topography) V1 is not the first gain stage of the Hi/Lo channel on the TC-50. On the RA100 it is, but V1 does not feed the clean channel, in the case of the TC-50, V1 does not feed into the Hi/Lo channel. Difference here is that with the RA100, V1, V2 are only used by the Hi/Lo and V4 and V5 are only used by the clean (yeah, V4 is the tube position of the first gain stage for the clean channel on the RA100). The TC-50 has a role reversal here but some other tube position differences relative to the RA100 (I will not go into full detail on this). V3 is the first gain stage of the hi/Lo channel so I swapped V3 with the SPAX7 and that made a huge difference on the icy tone. Actually sounds much better and once I figure out to reduce the treble control on the front panel and use my ears to adjust not my eyes. Figured I would state with all tone controls at noon and adjust moving forward.
How it compares to the RA100? It does not. I still favor the clean channel on the RA100 as that is one sweet channel and no switch required to get it dirty either. So in other words, the RA100 clean wins for now (once you figure out how to used it, hint: dial down the bass and boost the treble as the clean on the RA100 is a bit bossy and is a bit bottom heavy). TC-50 on the other hand for its tonal character on the clean side is Fender'ish. Not as saucy as the JP-2C clean but it is nice and will provide a very soft clip with high gain settings. Drive switch is okay to get it dirty but the RA100 gain on the clean channel is the mojo for that bluesy awesomeness. Still need more time with the amp to get a better feel for it.
Hi/Lo Channel, obviously the huge difference is independent controls with an added bonus (It has presence control). Odd that the mid and treble seemed to be similar to the RA100 to some extent, have to drop the treble a bit and boost the mids. What I love about the TC-50 over the RA is the bottom end is tight and more apparent than the RA100. The TC-50 is definitely an offspring or perhaps a close relative’s neighbor. Not sure I like the tight switch on either Hi or Lo channel but after a while with it on, I can appreciate the normal setting and then again want to turn it back on.
Perhaps it is time to read though the manual and find the suggested settings page or pages.
At least I did not set my expectations too high on this one so I guess I am not all that disappointed. Did I say it has a nice clean channel? Actually it does have awesome grit, grind, and massive crunchiness to its gain channels. Lo channel almost passes the RA100 Hi Gain channel but does not saturate as much. Hi gain channel definitely is overload to the senses. Not what I expected though. The amp seems a little stale to me, more 2 dimensional in its gain characteristic than what I am used too. It is almost as forward as the RA100 but with reservations on being flat. However, being the Mesa (EH) EL34 tends to sound that way. I think they get better with age once the cathode burns off its coating more. Still need to learn the tricks with this one. Hopefully my opinion will change or improve overtime and be more in favor of it. Perhaps I am not out of the honeymoon with the JP-2C yet. I will give it more time and see how I feel later on.