Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

[Kruspe]

Hey,

I play metal and really like the mesa sound, i have been using Kemper but i would like to go back to the real tubes, i tried a Mark V in local GC it sounds awesome, i have seen some review for triple crown as well, i like more modern setup specialy the midi support in it.

I there any body here that could compare the triple crown vs mark V ?

price tag is similar Mark V used vs triple crown new.

Not sure if the 50w will be enough, i kinda like non compressed raw sound, so the 90W would be probably better choice also you can go for 45W by switching the power section on Mark V.

Also heard its hard to dial tone on the Mark V (did not have that issue in GC but i was not playing loud), this is easier on triple crown.

Any guys with real experience here ? Specially for the triple crown ?

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

Trust me when I say that 50 Mesa Watts are enough for ANYTHING!

The Mark Series are notorious for being finicky to setup, but the reward is Tone Valhalla. I will say this about Marks, the precision of individual notes doesn't give you as much room to hide behind the wall of sound as a Recto series---if you are a sloppy player, the Mark may expose you. But I've always played Marks, so I'm used to it. I'm sure it made me a better player than I might have been otherwise. I usually play both my Mark III and IV in ~15 watt mode (loudest 15 watts ever....). This mode is extremely responsive even at moderate volumes when you want to record with high gain.

Haven't played the Triple in person yet, but I'm sure it's another world class Mesa. Not enough to lure me away from Mark Series goodness, however.

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

I agree with the above.

I've been a Mark user for 22 years now. I now have three IIIs, a IV, a V, a V:25 and a V:35. All slightly different.

My V is a C-90 combo, and I use it with a 112 V30 Wide-Body Closed-Back cab. I use the FAT mode on the clean channel, CRUNCH on channel 2 and either the MKIIC or MKIV mode for lead. I also really like the TWEED mode; it's great for pushed Texas Blues tones. Channel two has all kinds of Marshally crunch or REALLY fat MKI Santana tones. There is a LOT to explore here, but the amp sounds good right off the bat with minimal tweaking. The Graphic is purely additive for me, unlike the MKIII and MKIV where I deem it necessary. Mesa says there's nine amps in this box, but with all the power amp options, it's more like 27. I like a high headroom amp, but the 45 watt setting with the tube rectifier lets you dig in for vintage response.

Personally, I wouldn't think anyone who can expertly manage a smartphone much less a Kemper or Fractal or tweak 38 pedals will have ANY problems setting up the MKV. If you have a problem, it will be cause there are so many great tones to choose from.

Handles humbuckers as well as single coils. Some guys will use Channel Two for HB leads and the higher gain Lead Channel for SCs. It has a great footswitchable loop and tuner out. I like the SOLO feature. The amp has separate reverb sends for each channel which is nice.

Now, the TC50 has great promise. I have not yet gotten to play one, but hope to soon...though I'm not in the market for another amp...at the moment, LOL! The power level is right for many players today who prefer smaller amps, and it will still have enough versatility to cut across many genres. The demos sound pretty good. I would suggest downloading the manuals from the Mesa website for both amps...it will give you some familiarity. I'm excited to play it.

One other one to look at is the Petrucci MKIIC Sig. I thought this would be a pure metal amp but it is so much more. Having the two EQs is a neat feature. Midi if you need it. Absolutely no need for this amp, but I loved it!

I'm seeing used MKVs around here for around $1500 or even less. I would rather spend that on one good amp that will last a lifetime than screw around with the amp-of-the-week club, like so many guys do.

The Mesas are professional amps and rugged, i.e., heavy. You may need to bulk up and hit the gym, lol! Just pick the amp that has the feature set that fits your style the best. I'm a huge fan of the MKV, since I play so many styles with several different guitars. It sounds good across the board. Couldn't be more pleased.

Good info on the Mesa site, and over at The Boogie Board, grailtone.com

Good luck!

Bill

P.S. If your budget is really tight, I wouldn't pass up a great deal on a used MKIV either. A little less flexibility in the preamp, but a little more flexibility in the power amp options. Heads are great, but I prefer the smaller boogie cab 112 combo with an EVM. Add a 112 EVM Thiele and you'll have a potent little mini-stack that can handle ANY situation. I use 6L6s with EL34s in the Class A sockets. Still one of my favorite amps to gig with.

Bill

[allbutromeo]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

I can't really comment on the TC50 other than to say I want one. As an owner of a MkV for the last 4 yrs I can tell you it is an excellent amp, as said by the previous posts. It's not as easy to dial in as a lot of Marshalls or Fenders, but it's not all that difficult. It's best to read the owners manual and/or watch the demo video and tweak their settings to your liking. I'm not sure if the TC is this way, but compression is not really an issue on the 45w setting on the MkV, it's volume is high enough that with a full band my channel and master volumes are all less than halfway up.

[Kruspe]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

I agree with the above.

I've been a Mark user for 22 years now. I now have three IIIs, a IV, a V, a V:25 and a V:35. All slightly different.

My V is a C-90 combo, and I use it with a 112 V30 Wide-Body Closed-Back cab. I use the FAT mode on the clean channel, CRUNCH on channel 2 and either the MKIIC or MKIV mode for lead. I also really like the TWEED mode; it's great for pushed Texas Blues tones. Channel two has all kinds of Marshally crunch or REALLY fat MKI Santana tones. There is a LOT to explore here, but the amp sounds good right off the bat with minimal tweaking. The Graphic is purely additive for me, unlike the MKIII and MKIV where I deem it necessary. Mesa says there's nine amps in this box, but with all the power amp options, it's more like 27. I like a high headroom amp, but the 45 watt setting with the tube rectifier lets you dig in for vintage response.

Personally, I wouldn't think anyone who can expertly manage a smartphone much less a Kemper or Fractal or tweak 38 pedals will have ANY problems setting up the MKV. If you have a problem, it will be cause there are so many great tones to choose from.

Handles humbuckers as well as single coils. Some guys will use Channel Two for HB leads and the higher gain Lead Channel for SCs. It has a great footswitchable loop and tuner out. I like the SOLO feature. The amp has separate reverb sends for each channel which is nice.

Now, the TC50 has great promise. I have not yet gotten to play one, but hope to soon...though I'm not in the market for another amp...at the moment, LOL! The power level is right for many players today who prefer smaller amps, and it will still have enough versatility to cut across many genres. The demos sound pretty good. I would suggest downloading the manuals from the Mesa website for both amps...it will give you some familiarity. I'm excited to play it.

One other one to look at is the Petrucci MKIIC Sig. I thought this would be a pure metal amp but it is so much more. Having the two EQs is a neat feature. Midi if you need it. Absolutely no need for this amp, but I loved it!

I'm seeing used MKVs around here for around $1500 or even less. I would rather spend that on one good amp that will last a lifetime than screw around with the amp-of-the-week club, like so many guys do.

The Mesas are professional amps and rugged, i.e., heavy. You may need to bulk up and hit the gym, lol! Just pick the amp that has the feature set that fits your style the best. I'm a huge fan of the MKV, since I play so many styles with several different guitars. It sounds good across the board. Couldn't be more pleased.

Good info on the Mesa site, and over at The Boogie Board, grailtone.com

Good luck!

Bill

P.S. If your budget is really tight, I wouldn't pass up a great deal on a used MKIV either. A little less flexibility in the preamp, but a little more flexibility in the power amp options. Heads are great, but I prefer the smaller boogie cab 112 combo with an EVM. Add a 112 EVM Thiele and you'll have a potent little mini-stack that can handle ANY situation. I use 6L6s with EL34s in the Class A sockets. Still one of my favorite amps to gig with.

Bill

Thanks for this, the budget is not a problem, I am just really trying to find out if the tc50 can deliver same love as the mark V. I went to GC to try it yesterday, but somebody was quicker and bought it already as I live in Austin TX, very hard to find something with $1000+ as amp here, they got all the cheap stuff but not a single mesa, only sometimes as used. Would probably need to drive to Dallas to see something better, Austin is horrible for musician tech market unfortunately.

I know all the people really like mark series, however nobody with tc50 experience

[Kruspe]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

So guys, i finally found a store in Austin TX that is a retailer for Mesa Boogie !!

I went there and tried out Dual rectifier, JPC2 and triple crown.

I did not like the dual rectifier at all, clean channel horrible, 2 and 3 channel good, i liked the 50W setting much more than the 100W.

I very liked the JPC2, awesome awesome amp, clean channel is probably the best thing i ever heard in my life, both second and third channel very amazing tones having 2 EQ is also good bonus, however the price tag of $2500, it was just too much, so i put my hope into TC50.

The TC-50, i have one word for it : Fantastic

The clean is very similar to the JPC2, I think the EQ probably made little bit better sound on the JPC2, but the clean is just amazing, in drive mode you get dynamic response you pick light and the amp stays absolutely clean, you pick hard and the amp starts to break up and roar.

Channel 2 i liked the best, in the normal settings you get more dynamic sound less gain perfect for any rock situation, adding bass will really make the bottom end huge, even though its just 50W, this thing kills, i got is on probably 50% of volume and the whole room was shaking. Very very loud. Switching to modern sound will give you very nice sharp metal tone with extremely tight bottom end, very quick, ideal for fast picking palm mutes, i was able to get pretty much exactly the same sound as the JPC2 second channel.

Channel 3, if you still need more gain, this channel is for you. At 11 oclock it starts where the second channel ended, more mid range again very tight, easy harmonics, if you play chord you can hear an identify each string in it, hard to imagine, but its like each note has its own frequency range, i dont know but whatever you play you always hear each string and all together as well. Dont know how to describe.

I tried 6L6 (this comes with EL34), i think the EL34 are little bit better with the V30 speakers or at least the mesa 2x12 cab, the 6L6 were more scooped but richer high end and more bottom end but no necessary as same tight as the EL34. Still not sure what tubes i want to use probably EL34.


To anybody who is thinking about purchase of this amp, this is just great, worth every penny.

[Kruspe]

Re: Mesa Mark V vs Triple Crown, help me select the right boogie

For anybody interested, here is a demo of what kind of sound you can get out of TC-50 using multiple setups.

https://youtu.be/FqJbxn0sLIA