got a demo of the new Mesa Tc-50 today

[sleewell2]

they should call it the meh 50.

nothing great, nothing terrible. just average and nothing I would ever buy.

 

[glassjaw7]

Rez, you said you didn't get to hear it at a decent volume. I'm thinking it probably needs to be turned up a bit more to give up the goods. The Electra Dyne for example sounds good at "TV" volume but it kills when cranked up. This amp seems like an evolution of that circuit so maybe it just needs a little more volume. Then again, you have a selection of some really nice amps so it could just be meh compared to the Friedmans, Diezel, SLO, IIc+, etc.
I'm holding out hope that it's a great amp! Thinking about moving my Mark IV if the TC is badass.

 

[the4thlast1]

Oh no Reza doesn't like the amp it must suck lol....

 

[jharpersj]

I have one, it has a TON of bite and bark. The clean can be super crisp, but also you can make it very warm/fat/dark. Layout when you are using it is great.

I haven't been blown away by the clips either. Jury is still out for me. I think the clean sounds really good, but I expected more bark and bite out of the crunch channel. And I thought the red channel would be more crisp, like a MKIII or JP-2C. The layout bugs me, too.

 

[LP Freak]

And the other thing is, not all amps are for everybody. You tried the JP2C and said it was nothing special. I got it home and the amp killed so you never know.

 

[Racerxrated]

If you can't spend some serious time with an amp, no fair judging imo. Example: at GCs over the past 2 years, I've played an Uber and an Archon, and a Nitro. All three sounded shit to my ears, and I wouldn't pay over 500 for them. But, I know they are great amps, and I didn't spend enough time with them.
Maybe there are some unorthodox settings that kill on the Mesa? But I didn't post my experiences with those amps here because I know they should sound great, and I didn't spend enough time with them.
I know Reza knows how to dial an amp in..but unless you really can dig in I don't think it should be written off.

 

[polaris20]

I've not played one yet, but it's not sounding like it'll be the amp many people were hoping for (Stiletto or RA part deux).

 

[stephen sawall]

Clips are pretty lame. The amp needs to be played, not romanced.

true... the clips don't give you any usable idea on how the amp sounds and feels... You have to try it yourself.
Even with "better" demo videos, were the sound is supposedly not changed/ post-produced, I still find it hard to "replicate" that sound.
So bottom line, you have to play the amp for yourself, to really get a feel

Mesa told me that channel 3 was a hybrid circuit design of a Mark/Recto blend. That alone was enough for the price of entry for me.

I can fully confirm it is a blend of Mark and Rectifier. The feel is more like a Mark. Unlike any other Mesa you can start with all the tone controls at noon and use their entire range. It has two power tubes .... So it does not have the girth of the larger amps..... But does have the punch you would expect from a poweramp this size.

 

[Chris6870]

not a great experience. but whatever. (some douchey young salesKID in there is a know it all but doesnt know 1 important thing, when to shut up and let the men test the amps)

my best friend who is an excellent guitarist took the amp for a test drive, it was kinda MEH at best.

At no single point as I was observing and listening did I say, WOW AAAAMAAAZING, this is a fucking killer amp.

Nope. instead had to listen to the wasted sperm of a saleskid prattle on about shit we already knew, and even stopped us from testing the amp with a guitar of our choice (single coil strat).

Thats what my friend wanted, instead he went and got the shop "test guitar" and forced the demo with that, all the while standing over us adjusting knobs like we can't do that. Bad Experience with the staff today (there is like 2 cool dudes at that place, the rest I don't know about)

Long story short, the amp seemed VERY vanilla. It didn't sound BAD in anyway, but it wasn't Exceptional IN ANY WAY either. I was just bored immediately with it. Non inspiring, and nothing interesting about it at all.


(also, I would have spent $2K on a new Nash guitar if that salesdouche didn't mouth off to me first thing)

Reza you need to speak up! I would have been rude back and told the kid to get lost. I never used to be like that but the last couple years I don't seem to have a filter any more. You should try it. If I wanted to buy that guitar I would have made it well known to that kid what my plans are and that he's not part of it.

Agree. If I'm considering buying an amp I'll play whatever guitar I want thorough the fuckin thing. Did he not know who he was dealing with? Did you tell him you were Rezamatix from Rig Talk?

 

[jsp]

I found it to be closer to a Rectifier than a Mark, IMO. I prefer Rectifiers with EL34's though, so maybe my idea of a Rectifier sound is a little different than most people. I thought the TC would've sounded great with a boost.

 

[glassjaw7]

Clips are pretty lame. The amp needs to be played, not romanced.

true... the clips don't give you any usable idea on how the amp sounds and feels... You have to try it yourself.
Even with "better" demo videos, were the sound is supposedly not changed/ post-produced, I still find it hard to "replicate" that sound.
So bottom line, you have to play the amp for yourself, to really get a feel

Mesa told me that channel 3 was a hybrid circuit design of a Mark/Recto blend. That alone was enough for the price of entry for me.

I can fully confirm it is a blend of Mark and Rectifier. The feel is more like a Mark. Unlike any other Mesa you can start with all the tone controls at noon and use their entire range. It has two power tubes .... So it does not have the girth of the larger amps..... But does have the punch you would expect from a poweramp this size.

Nice. As far as the controls go the ED was like this too. Seems strange that they wouldn't release a 100/50 watt version since it's being aimed at the big rock sound crowd. I wouldn't be surprised if it's on the way.

 

[angelspade]

I have one at my house now. Will gig it this weekend and report back but so far I have to disagree. To my ears the cleans are lone star (which is great), the gains are sort of mark/recto ish with some of the stiletto slice. Not as bass heavy as some other mesa's but still plenty of bass. Tons of gain. The tight switch makes a big difference. Amp is super quiet, reverb is great and has great features. Cab clone is OK but compared to my go to Aiken gold brick it is not as good. I think the amp sounds like a mix of all the best parts of some of mesa's recent amps. So far I am digging it. It really has an awesome range of tones. I feel like it smokes say a runt 50 in every way. Now compared to my 2016 Wizard MTL, it does not really hang with that, but that is $3K more so I would expect that.

How did it do at lower volumes (living room)?....Could you get good full tones at living room levels with the master vol?

 

[jharpersj]

It was fine at lower volumes, sounded good, that being said no tube amp sounds its best at whisper volumes. It fills out when you turn it up.

I have one at my house now. Will gig it this weekend and report back but so far I have to disagree. To my ears the cleans are lone star (which is great), the gains are sort of mark/recto ish with some of the stiletto slice. Not as bass heavy as some other mesa's but still plenty of bass. Tons of gain. The tight switch makes a big difference. Amp is super quiet, reverb is great and has great features. Cab clone is OK but compared to my go to Aiken gold brick it is not as good. I think the amp sounds like a mix of all the best parts of some of mesa's recent amps. So far I am digging it. It really has an awesome range of tones. I feel like it smokes say a runt 50 in every way. Now compared to my 2016 Wizard MTL, it does not really hang with that, but that is $3K more so I would expect that.

How did it do at lower volumes (living room)?....Could you get good full tones at living room levels with the master vol?

 

[eddyrox]

well if it can't do this....

I'd say fu*kk it

btw, I love Jimbo and John....and like Reza have been going to (harassing) MB Hollywood since the late 90's...and love MB...
not sure of the this TC50 though...

my BE100 needs a voicing update

 

[Mr. Willy]

I have one, it has a TON of bite and bark. The clean can be super crisp, but also you can make it very warm/fat/dark. Layout when you are using it is great.

I haven't been blown away by the clips either. Jury is still out for me. I think the clean sounds really good, but I expected more bark and bite out of the crunch channel. And I thought the red channel would be more crisp, like a MKIII or JP-2C. The layout bugs me, too.

Can't tell if I ruffled feathers with my post or not (and I'm not referring to your post here). I understand full well that listening to clips is a world of difference from actually playing an amp in person. Even playing an amp by yourself versus in a band context can be a world of difference. Maybe I should put that disclaimer in my sig or something. I thought that kinda went without saying. I've never thought Sweetwater or Mesa/Boogie's demos have ever been that great. I don't think the amp sounds bad by any means, I'm just not blown away by the CLIPS I've heard. I could play the thing tomorrow and totally change my mind. It actually crossed my mind that this amp would be a really good fit for me in my cover band.

 

[BYTOR]

Nope. instead had to listen to the wasted sperm of a saleskid prattle on about shit we already knew, and even stopped us from testing the amp with a guitar of our choice (single coil strat).

Thats what my friend wanted, instead he went and got the shop "test guitar" and forced the demo with that, all the while standing over us adjusting knobs like we can't do that. Bad Experience with the staff today (there is like 2 cool dudes at that place, the rest I don't know about)
(also, I would have spent $2K on a new Nash guitar if that salesdouche didn't mouth off to me first thing)

So you let some sales dude tell you what guitar you can use with an amp? You allow him to turn the knobs for you? What are you nuts ............I'd have told that guy to leave me alone to use whatever I wanted, & for him to go somewhere else in the store until I summoned him. I'm a nice guy, but I'm not putting up with that shit without telling the dude to stop crowding my ass & to stop trying to tell me which guitar I can use

Must be a California thing

 

[angelspade]

Nope. instead had to listen to the wasted sperm of a saleskid prattle on about shit we already knew, and even stopped us from testing the amp with a guitar of our choice (single coil strat).

Thats what my friend wanted, instead he went and got the shop "test guitar" and forced the demo with that, all the while standing over us adjusting knobs like we can't do that. Bad Experience with the staff today (there is like 2 cool dudes at that place, the rest I don't know about)
(also, I would have spent $2K on a new Nash guitar if that salesdouche didn't mouth off to me first thing)

So you let some sales dude tell you what guitar you can use with an amp? You allow him to turn the knobs for you? What are you nuts ............I'd have told that guy to leave me alone to use whatever I wanted, & for him to go somewhere else in the store until I summoned him. I'm a nice guy, but I'm not putting up with that shit without telling the dude to stop crowding my ass & to stop trying to tell me which guitar I can use

Must be a California thing

Not a California thing....I live in Santa Monica and would never deal with that.

 

[jsp]

For whatever it's worth, I didn't have to "deal" with much, just let the kid mess around with the amp first to "set it up for me" and he left me alone for a while. I didn't think much of the whole thing because I decided I wasn't buying from there anyway. No need to make a scene over nothing. They also exchanged a blown tube for me and were nice about it.

 

[LP Freak]

 

[Deleted member 13074]

For whatever it's worth, I didn't have to "deal" with much, just let the kid mess around with the amp first to "set it up for me" and he left me alone for a while. I didn't think much of the whole thing because I decided I wasn't buying from there anyway. No need to make a scene over nothing. They also exchanged a blown tube for me and were nice about it.

nice of you to take their time and resources to demo the amp then accept their help with the tube to then go and buy somewhere else
very noble of you
when the store closes down and you can't go and demo the amps in future, or get your amp serviced, no need to wonder why