I love this blue channel.

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danyeo1

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I got a TC-50 really cheap on Craigslist, just had to drive 3 hours 1 way to get it. PLaying it on a vertical 2x12 Mesa with V30's. I've been a Mark series user for years but I've owned Electra Dynes, Lonestars, Royal Atlantics, DC5, and a Maverick or two. Right off the bat the clean and crunch, blue channel, are winners. Super easy to dial and just sound good for lot's of sounds. I feel I could stay on the blue channel for a cover gig all night and just kick on an OD pedal if needed. I'm still tweaking the red. One thing though, my vertical 2x12 I just picked up is MINT and the guy never used it so the V30's are not broken in. It sounds damm good but red channel on tight can be a little bright and I found I needed to lower the gain to about 2 Oclock. Compared to my Mark IV the TC-50 clean and crunch kill the IV.....but the lead channels are just too different to really say one is better. I'm finding that this may be the first Mesa that you can switch back and fourth between normal and tight without having to EQ everything from scratch. BLue channel on normal with gain halfway and both masters halfway just kills for some Jimmy Page tones.

The amp has a lot of mids so I can see this really shining in a band mix where sometimes if you scoop a Mark series too much it's bye bye. Can't wait to use it loud with a band which I will be doing shortly.
 
Its def. An extremely musical and versatile channel, ive been using it for tool covers and with the volume knob on the guitar it covers the clean and crunch tones perfectly, but also with lower gain settings it shines for some crunchy blues and SRV tones.

The amp takes a little bit to get use to as far as dialing in the eq and clipping but the more i play around, the more my heart melts with satisfaction.

The high gain is prob the most difficult to dial in, i usually set the gain at 1 and master to match the other channels, its a hairy tone that sings and snarls but roll back the guitar volume to tighten things up, great for early metalica tones with an eq in the loop to pull a little midrange for that 80s metal chuggin sound.

Killer amps, congrats!
 
I found CH3 quite easy to dial in. Not much different than the blue channel. Channel volume and gain set to about 2pm, bass to 2pm, midrange noon to what ever works for you, Treble just about anywhere. Be conservative on the presence control, start with it all the way to off and raise it to adjust the edge. I generally use the CH3 in normal mode. Tight mode, back off on the gain a bit to keep from feedback issue. I usually use the same settings on both CH3 and CH2 Clean channel, gain at max, bass dialed down, midrange and treble between noon and 2pm, channel volume where ever it sounds good to you, presence 9am and enjoy. This will be close to distortion level to the Blue channel but a bit more bold and dynamic.
 
Interesting to see you believe the Triple Crown has a lot of mids. I argued with Mesa's help desk about the tone of my amp sounding pixelated (distortion-wise) and overly "mid-rangey" but they claim the TC is not a "mid range forward" amp and I never got any real help.
But one day after about a month or so of fighting this thing I turned the amp on and the distortion was tighter, more focused and articulate along with the tone being more aligned with the mid range not being so overbearing. I don't know what happened but I'm glad it did! I've read you need to let the amp "bloom"(?). I wasn't sure what that meant considering I've had many Boogies starting with an original MKI in the late 70's. But now I guess there's some truth to this. Love this amp and I prefer the Blue channel but now I'm starting to focus on dialing in the Red channel.
 
The stock EL34s from Mesa really need to be "broken in." I do this by leaving the amp on for 24 hours with nothing plugged into the front. It has been my experience that it tames any harshness in the top end and makes the tone more smooth overall. YMMV.
 
jnoel64 said:
The stock EL34s from Mesa really need to be "broken in." I do this by leaving the amp on for 24 hours with nothing plugged into the front. It has been my experience that it tames any harshness in the top end and makes the tone more smooth overall. YMMV.

FWIW, this is done at the shop before final play-test and boxing!
 
I think there is some merit to the amp ‘blooming’ as it breaks in. There are hundreds of components in the amp, I think once they all ‘settle in’ (especially the Output Transformer) the TC really comes alive.

Either that, or I’ve just adjusted to the amp LOL. When I first got it I was instantly in the honeymoon phase, which ended quick. I felt the distortion was somewhat anemic and stiff. Now that I’ve really been playing the amp more and more, I’ve really grown to love CH1 Cleans & CH2 Crunch & High Gain rhythms, but still find CH3 as a lead channel tough to get smooth. Right now I’m using normal mode and boosting with a Mesa Grid Slammer. I think this keeps the amp fuller in the low mids compared to tight mode, but I still struggle with pick attack vs icepick attack in the upper frequencies. Treble is at 11:00 and mids around 11:00, presence is around 9:00-10:00.
 
rrguitars said:
Interesting to see you believe the Triple Crown has a lot of mids. I argued with Mesa's help desk about the tone of my amp sounding pixelated (distortion-wise) and overly "mid-rangey" but they claim the TC is not a "mid range forward" amp and I never got any real help.
But one day after about a month or so of fighting this thing I turned the amp on and the distortion was tighter, more focused and articulate along with the tone being more aligned with the mid range not being so overbearing. I don't know what happened but I'm glad it did! I've read you need to let the amp "bloom"(?). I wasn't sure what that meant considering I've had many Boogies starting with an original MKI in the late 70's. But now I guess there's some truth to this. Love this amp and I prefer the Blue channel but now I'm starting to focus on dialing in the Red channel.

Ya I read that 'bloom' comment a few times before buying mine and discovered pretty quick that it was true! Either tubes or speaker break-in... or both? Anyway, it's been well over a year now and it's still AWESOMENESS all the way!!
Cheers,
 
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