I've owned a Two-Rock as well as lots of boogies. The preamp distortion characteristics of the Two-Rock (as with a Dumble) are somewhat similar to a mesa, being based on a cascading preamp design. It's smooth and fuzzy like a Mark, rather than thick and buzzy like a recto (whatever that means). The Two-Rock has a shorter signal chain and overall is more refined than a Mark. It's more hi-fi in the clean channel and more full-range in the gain channel. So it lacks the characteristic mesa midrange hump, which is different but not necessarily better. The thing I noticed right away is that the "fat Robben Ford" thing is all about hand control; if you bang away on the amp (or a Dumble for that matter) it actually sounds rather thin. It takes a very refined touch to coax those thick sounds out of it, which for me means twenty minutes of warm-up and some meditation. :lol: To my ear, the biggest difference is at higher volume with the preamp set lower and the master set higher, the touch sensitivity of the Two-Rock (which is their selling point) is more sophisticated. But Two-Rocks are commanding some pretty steep prices nowadays and Dumbles are absurd. Unless you really need that Dumble-esq thing, and you have the buttery touch to fully use it, for my money I'd get a mark V plus a car rather than the Two-Rock, but that's just me. A Fuchs-modified fender or traynor gets you into the ballpark for a lot less. But of course a mark IIC+ is a great amp in its own right, and deserves the accolades. And to me, the Mark IIC+ is probably closer to a Dumble sound than the other Marks (although I haven't played the V yet). Really all about personal preference. :mrgreen:
