Mesa Engineering is rightfully known for pioneering the modern high-gain amp as well as for their incredibly versatile Mark Series amps, which offer guitarists a staggering variety of tones and sound-shaping options.
However, I personally think Mesa’s more streamlined amps are worthy of similar acclaim, especially when it comes to their rock- and metal-voiced amps like the Dual and Triple Rectifier models as well as the under-appreciated Caliber Series.
Mesa’s new Triple Crown Series seems to spring from a similar streamlined-yet-versatile mindset, delivering awesome rock and metal tones but also offering some of the best clean tones in the industry. The TC-50 is currently Mesa’s only Triple Crown model, available in head only, rack mount head or 1x12 combo formats. We auditioned the TC-50 head with a Mesa 2x12 Compact Rectifier cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
FEATURES
As you might have guessed from the Triple Crown TC-50’s name, this is a three-channel 50-watt amp with fully independent Clean, Lo-Gain and Hi-Gain channels, each with its own set of gain, treble, mid, bass, presence and master controls on the front panel and independent reverb controls on the rear panel. Each channel also features a mini toggle switch for choosing drive/normal modes (clean channel only) or tight/normal modes (lo-gain and high-gain channels) that let you further sculpt and customize each channel’s character.
Other front-panel controls include a Solo (boost level) knob, master output level knob and toggle switch for manually selecting channels.
The rear panel is generously appointed with a wide variety of professional features that allow further customization for performance and studio applications. The Bias Select switch features two settings (EL34/6V6 and 6L6) that allows users to swap power tubes to modify the amp’s tonal and dynamic character (the amp ships with EL34 tubes).
Switches for the