TC-100 vs Rectifier - Questions

[Monsta-Tone]

I have a Rev. G Dual Rec and a Mark V.
Neither one of these amps does what I want.....

I love the cut of the Mark V, but it can't give me a huge thump like the Rectifier.
I love the thump of the Rec, and the tone/feel of the lead channel, but the Orange/clean channel does nothing for me.

I got to play a TC-50 for about 5 minutes in the Mesa Hollywood store. The guys that work there were hovering and it bothered me, so I didn't stay long. To top it off, the only guitar that they would let me use was a beat up old Schecter Strat copy with flat frets.
At one point, I cranked the gain on channel 3 just to see what it would do. All of the sudden, I hear a somewhat scolding voice from across the room....."That's a lot of gain."
I think I left after that.
I had $2,000 in my pocket and wanted the TC, but they unsold it for me........


Anyway,
My questions are:
1. Can the TC 100 provide that thump like I am used to?
I'm not looking for metal chunk, I'm just looking for the deep bass thud that hits you in the chest with the air from your speakers.
Even my DC-3 gives me more thump than my Mark V.

2. Is there any pop/glitch/drop in sound when changing channels on the TC?

3. How does the clean channel sound through a 4x12? I have the Traditional/Stiletto Mesa 4x12 cab.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I live on a small island and do not have an opportunity at this point to go play one in person.

 

[Daxman73]

That's very disappointing to hear about your experience with the Mesa Hollywood store. I thought/expected that place to be of a higher caliber store. I've owned both the Mark V and the Dual Rec. The Dual is the only amp I regret selling. I played the Mark V for over two years and thereby giving it ample time to gel with me and to learn the monster, but to no avail. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad amp. To be honest, I LOVED channels 1 and 2, but I could not gel with channel 3. And I agree with you, the "thump" was missing for me as well. I prefer my Mark IV over the V.

I own a TC50 head and run it through a Recto 4x12 cab and I honestly can not be any happier. While some may describe it/view it differently than me, to me it's the PERFECT blend of a Mark and Recto. And I'm not saying that was their intent, that's just my opinion. It is one of the BEST amps to come out of Petaluma recently. It has everything you mentioned you're looking for. And from what I've heard, the 100 has even more thump. Bandit2013 on here has a lot of experience with both and could probably provide you with more info, but just knowing what you've said here, what you've had and what you're looking for, I can honestly say you'd be extremely happy with the TC100. Just my 2 cents.

Answers:
1 - Yes
2 - No
3 - The clean is very good

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Thanks!
I've been a Mesa tech since 2006. Now I just repair amps in my spare time, the day job has kind of taken over unfortunately.

I've worked on and owned just about every Mesa amp, but I'm still looking for something different.
High gain with no sloppiness, but lots of chunk.
Stellar cleans that make my Strat want to play the blues all night long.
Great reverb
No pops/squeals/chirps/glitches when switching channels
I don't think I'm asking too much!

I've narrowed my search down to a Royal Atlantic or TC-100 head.
The thing I like about the Royal is that I have the schematic, so I can fix it if it ever breaks.
I'm intrigued by the midi control and separate controls for the TC though.

I should bite the bullet and fly to Oahu to try the TC out.
Or....I could just buy it from Sweetwater and eat the $100 in shipping if I didn't like it......

Hopefully Bandit will chime in about the differences between the RA and TC!

 

[barryswanson]

Honestly dude go and try a Diezel VH4. Channel 3 sounds like a Mark series amp but with that big thick massive chunky chest pumping low end that I think your looking for. I’ll probably get banned for saying this, but since owning one I don’t play my Mesa’s anymore they seem inadequate. Although I sometimes run them in stereo and that has ended my tone hunt. For now.

 

[elvis]

For the price of two Mesa amps, the VH4 better be that good. I'd love to try one. I have an Einstein that I really like.

Still love my recto, though.

I just played through a TC50 head, first time I've retried one since they first came out. Real nice amp. Thinking of getting one. I've call it a nice upgrade from the RA, and more recto than Mark. Kind of F50-ish, but with the great addition of the red channel.

Having completely separate controls per channel really makes it.

 

[bandit2013]

BUMP…..
I know this is late... been a while since I have been on. Thought I had posted to this thread but for some reason not there... sorry for the late response.

Have both TC-50 and TC-100. Sure, Mesa knocked it out of the park with this series. TC-100 would be more favored for the ample bass.
I get your point on the V not providing the bottom end punch. It is there but not as strong as a Dual rec. I do not have any experience with the Rev G DR. JP-2C on the other hand will give you the bottom end and top end if that matters. TC-100 is epic with the EL34 and becomes a bit softer with the 6L6 tubes. RA100 is a bit softer on the bottom than the TC but not in sound level, more so in tightness. Think classic rock and the RA100 would be your best friend. Sure the TC series will excel in this arena too. My recent add to my collection is the Multi-Watt Dual Rectifier amp. :shock: Sure it is king for heavy metal, just as much as the JP-2C but it does classic Rock with plenty of punch. MWDR is just as dynamic as the JP-2C with a moderate gain setting (cleans up great with roll back on guitar volume). Want more from the MWDR for lead style voice, just add a reverb pedal to the FX loop and the amp just sings. If you can find a dealer that would want to help you spend your money I would suggest trying out the Multi-Watt Dual Rectifier in its several power configurations (bold, Spongy, tube tracking and diode tracking, 50W, 100W). Also the pushed voice on the clean channel with a desired gain adjustment will give you that vintage vibe of the TC or RA but sill have that punchy voice. I have had the MWDR since March of this year. I did not expect to like this amp as much as I do. I have basically been running all of the controls at noon so I have yet to experience the full spectrum of sound this amp can provide. Also it is one of the best sounding amps with the OS Recto 412 cab I have yet to experience. I feel that is a perfect match. I am also using the same cab I paired up with the RA100 so I am now considering getting another OSRSF412. I did start off using the horizontal 212 cab which I though sounded epic. Now I cannot seem to get myself away from the 412 cab. I have not explored the depth of the MWDR as much as I have with the TC-100. Since there is more midrange content with the TC, the Mesa 5BGEQ does set the stage when used in the FX loop. So with that in the signal path it tends to lean heavily on the Mark series platform. I will have to see how I feel with it in the FX Loop of the MWDR.

 

[bandit2013]

Another late response. Today I pitted the MWDR against the TC-100 just to see what is similar and different other than the obvious (EL34 vs 6L6). Since the MWDR does fit on top of the Vertical 212 (rubber feet will sit but head is much wider than the cab) Well a surprise was to await me on the clean channels of both amps. Almost identical voice wise without any clip on each channel. Drive on the clean with boosted gain level and the same on the MWDR set to pushed. Similar but there are some slight differences. TC series ch2 (blue) is more of a unique voice which is also a carryover from the RA and ED amplifiers. Raw on the MWDR was more like the clean channel shifted in drive mode (sort of). Ch3 of the TC-100 was in good competition of the vintage voice and the modern (with a reduction in master volume). TC-100 is capable of punching your ear drums out as well as thump your the rest of your body just as well as the MWDR. However, the MWDR has more of a scooped tone, not dramatic but definitely is notable. I did try to compensate with either amp to see if I can get a good match. Nope, not exact but close enough. TC-100 with a 5BGEQ would definitely go for the win. It almost seems overkill to have both.... as well as a Roadster. :roll: However, the Mesa switch track makes up for it so I can run dual amps so I can loose my hearing much quicker than with just one amp. Note that I had more gain dialed in on the TC than I did on the MWDR not that it really matters. Both are great amps.

 

[Voron]

Very late response, but...
TC-50 or 100 is really that mix of Recto and Mark series in a best way ever! It will be exactly what you are looking for!!!
I've played and toured a lot with different Rectifiers ands I have Mark also. But when I played with TC-50 it was THE sound I wanted from Recto and Mark!
Precision and thump together in a good proportions. Recorded some music with it, and now I want this amp :lol:

 

[bandit2013]

It has been a while since I have been running the 412 cabs. I basically forgot how they sounded until I bought a new MWDR. Damn does that sound so good. Then it dawned on me that I never really dove into the TC-100 as much as I should have. I have been glued to the Vertical 212 so much that curiosity got the best of me yesterday. TC-100 is an excellent alternate to the MWDR through the Mesa Standard Recto slant front 412 cab. It does not get into the sub harmonics as much as the MWDR but that amp is just as bright as the TC-100. If I did not have either I would have a difficult time choosing between the two. Need to find where I left the Mesa 5BGEQ and see how that levels out the playing field. Depending on the Model of the Rectifier you are comparing too, it may be dramatic or close. TC-100 and MWDR are almost on equal ground, pitting the 6L6 loaded Recto to the EL34 loaded Triple Crown. I love both of these amps. I never really considered the Recto series to be ideal for lead style playing but that was before I got my hands on the Multi-Watt version. I actually like it a tad bit more than the JP-2C and TC-100. That amp has a bit more sensitivity on the front end than the JP so I can easily clean up the Modern voice on CH2 or CH3 just like I can with the JP-2C with a moderate gain setting. MWDR does the chug much better than the others but also sings amazingly well with a reverb pedal in the fx loop for that incredible lead, sweet with the neck pickup too. Dynamics are there for expressional style as it is with the JP-2C. The MWDR is just as tight as the JP and TC. I am pulling in the JP to this because there are some similarities of the dynamics. Tone is different as the JP has more midrange where the MWDR is more scooped with more sub harmonic content. TC-100 is just as epic and I would say the clean channel on both amps (one set to drive and the other set to pushed) are as amazingly similar and yet just a tad different. The differences will become more apparent if you want to run a 50W power, MWDR will give you more tube saturation and that effect will change depending on tube or diode tracking and if on bold or spongy. The 50W power setting on the TC-100 is too sterile as this is an attenuated function than it would be if it disabled two power tubes (RA100 has that option which I feel makes it more usable and the attenuator (multi-soak) does a better job at tube saturation than the TC-100.) This is not a complaint about the attenuator as it does a good job on cutting the power down to something of bedroom level at 50W. The TC-50 is loud compared to the TC-100 set to 50W. At full power setting the TC-100 is a solid performer. Since I have the RA100 I got spoiled with how the multi-soak works with that amp and also having a half power switch to run a pair of tubes vs all four. If you can ignore the multi-soak feature and just use the TC at full power it is quite manageable with the global volume control. For a gig, either TC-100 or the MWDR will perform extremely well. They are not identical in the tonal structure due to the different preamp design but I would say they perform equally well. Perhaps there is a larger gap between an older Recto before the new born date of 2011 but with the MWDR and the TC-100 both pushing a quad of V30 in an oversized (standard) recto cab it is tone heaven. Since there is a bit more midrange content with the TC-100 that with the MWDR you could get a bit more out of the TC with a 5BGEQ in the FX loop for additional tone shaping, anything goes from typical V pattern to what ever your ears desire. MWDR already has a scooped tone so the V pattern will not do much of anything but you can use it to boost the midrange if needed. I may have repeated some of my last post. :roll:

 

[dlpasco]

Well, if we're doing late responses here, I'm happy to throw in my two cents worth.

I own a MWDR, a TC-50, and a bunch of Marks.

Regarding thump: for the Mark V, you need the speaker cabinet on the floor if you are in IIC+ mode, or you need to have it in Mark IV mode with a decent amount of bass from the graphic eq. It's in there.

I'm serious about having it on the floor in IIC+ mode.

The Triple Crown is a great amp. I used to have two types of amps that I couldn't pick between. Now I have three.

They're all good. I have to admit that I turn on the TC-50 more than the others, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily better than the Mark and the Recto at they're own things, it's just a seriously great amp that does a lot of the things I like really well. It's also really hard to get fizzy tones out of it, which is nice.