barryswanson said:
Thank you so much for the detailed response and sorry to high jack your thread. Yeah I love my Mark V could never part with it and I also have a multi watt dual recto. I love my Metallica and thrash metal so part of me wants a 2c and the other tells me to go something different. I guess I’m worried that channel three in the TC will sound too much like my rectifier? Then there is the fact that I live in Australia and a JP-2c is $5,500 the same price as a new Diezel VH4 which is something else I’ve always wanted. I guess I just need to weigh it all up. I was even considering an Axe Fx 3 but then I thought why have a computer that pretends to be all my favourite amps when I can just own all my favourite amps and play the real deal. Instead of spending the rest of my life turning knobs on a computer convincing myself how convincingly real it is.
Hijacking? really? :lol: I think the Fourums have been slowing down for some time. At least this is a discussion worthy of merit on any page here, and it is somewhat related.... I am not sure how much the Multi-Watt Recto compares to the Roadster, I have all the same bells and whistles and CH3 should be as close to the Multi-Watt. I first compared the Roadster to the TC-50, sure it is similar in its organic tone but yet not the same. If the Multi-Watt is similar to the Roadster, it too would have some dynamic response to guitar volume. Just like the Mark V but different. In my experience with the Roadster, Mark V and JP-2C, they all seem to be on the same tone farm range. The JP-2C (tone wise) fits in the middle between the Roadster and the Mark V. Some would say that the Mark V on CH3 has a broader distortion (gain) or drive range than the JP-2C. Perhaps they are right but yet I often felt that the Roadster had more meat in the distortion range than the Mark V. It all depends on how you percieve the characteristic. Mark V will give you the most harmonic response especially with pinch off harmonics where as the Roadster is tuned against you in that regard and works hard to cancell out your efforts. I can pinch off some harmonic tones but the decay rate is excessive even with a sustain pedal. The JP-2C has characteristics of both Roadster and Mark V. Pinch off harmonics do not ring out as effortlessly as they do with the Mark V but I can get some really cool effect with the JP-2C. My issue with the Mark V is I have had a 20 minute run time before the fundamental tone starts to annoy me. I know you have seen the saturation mod, well the 12AT7 helps but there is a false sense of treble response and filtered upper midrange as that gets removed because of C39. It is the high frequency non-linear gain that re-inserts the upper frequency due to harmonic doubling, quadrupling, etc..... There is no boundary or roll off on V4B circuit which in many cases can result in ice pick. 12AT7 seems to cure that issue but it also becomes apparent that there is some musical content missing (C39 again). That and a few other mods I have done improved my amp in particular. Not everyone needs to do this so I envy those that have the ideal amp as mine was not but it is much better now. The 12AT7 does help you get that JP-2C tone but only so far. Even the IIC+ mods help but thats all it can do. Add a grid slammer to the front end will bring you much closer to the JP. So in that respect, do you need it? If you love the Mark V, you can always get a grid slammer or even the flux drive and you will be in JP-2C territory. Just the fundamental characteristics mind you as it is difficult to replicate the power supply of the JP or to get that dry tight bass response which is the side effect of the massive transformer. Even the OT is not the same as the Mark V. At this moment, the JP-2C is by far the loudest and most powerful amp I own (100WRMS, on paper yes, in reality it will peak at 140WRMS as I have seen with the Rivera Rock Crusher, Roadster and RA never get beyond 100WRMS. Mark V may peak around 110WRMS. Not too long ago I restored the bias circuit to its original state and the amp was pegging the RMS meter at 150W, no wonder why I kept red plating tubes in stock form, typically it should get to 110Wrms which is what I have seen before I made any circuit mods to the Mark V).
Now to the topic at hand, TC-100. It may not be as organic or dynamic in its gain response, it can clean up with volume control but the drive or distortion influences are still quite present so it becomes difficult to get a clean sound with a moderate gain setting using the volume control on the guitar. That character is differnt than the other amps that use a different preamp design. The Clean channel on drive mode will give you that dynamic. Holly crap do I love the clean channel with the gain maxed out with the voice switch set to drive. That is Plexi on steriods. CH2 seems to have less midrange but yet it is also a great channel with the bass boosted. A big trick about the TC series that some did not understand when they read the manual or perhaps they did, but from a viewers perspective they will not understand unless they actually use the amp. The Presence control is not a negative feedback control like it is on the Mark V, Rectifier, or JP-2C. Call it the ice pick control but that may be misleading. the presence on the TC is actually a high pass filter for frequencies above audible range. 20kHz and above (or somewhere in that range). What it does is sharpen up the distorted waveform, gives it more edge (assuming that is where the actual term comes from). If you saw the actual waveform from the amp for a given frequency, it will look square but with the corners grosly rounded off. this is part of the high frequency roll off. The more round the corners the warmer the amp will sound, The sharper the corners of the waveform (higher frequency, more harminic content and not referring to the musical sense of harmonic here) the brighter the tone will be. A tube amp will not generate odd harmonics, it will always be an even order of harmonic so the tendency of shot noise is not as great. What is shot noise? This term is common with solid state amplifiers since they can generate odd order harmonics as well as even order harmonics since the gain is basically linear. Shot noise is the description of the sound of an audio amplifier relative. It was said that too much gain or clipping on a solid state amp sounds like thousands of small steel BB's falling into a large steel bowl. That is a nasty sound. This is caused by influencing the wave form with odd harmonics, may even add a hook to the waveform or a peak like I have seen with the Mark V (result of the GEQ circuit as it is all solid state devices). In short, the presence control on the TC series amps will enhance the high frequency response and it set aggressivly may result in ice pick tone. No fear though. I have yet to find any setting that would annoy me. The amp can get bright but not like the Mark V in stock form. I would highly consider the TC amp but considering the cost, compare other amps in the same price range or what it would cost you. I basically did the same thing befor getting the TC-50 and looked at what else was available in the same price point. PRS Archon 100W head was the other contendor since that was closer to the cost of the TC-50 than the 50W Arcon. Similar amps but I thought the Mesa sounded better. I have to say this. My friends are overly impressed with both the TC-50 and the TC-100. They like it more than the other amps I have including the JP-2C. Have to consider that they are more tuned into the hard rock of the 70's. I do not see it as a Heavy Metal amp as it has much more use in other music styles. JP-2C on the other hand, you need to be creative if you want to get more into classic rock tone as the gain can only go so low. Clean channel can be driven hard but lacks that character needed for classic rock. TC series can do it with ease. I would say the TC is as versatile as the Mark V, it may not have the same number of voices per channel or may not be a novelty amp in the Mark areana, it is a novelty amp in the British format though. Vox, Marshall, Orange characteristics but with a Mesa twist. It should not replace the multi-watt or the Mark V but it will complement each amp if you use it in parallel. Mark V + TC-100 = :shock: :shock: awesome. Roadster + TC-100 = :twisted: :shock: , TC-100 + RA100= :shock: :shock:
