Picked up a TC-50

some_dude

some_dude

Raging BB Gunologist
Picked up a TC-50.

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Sold my Roadster. I haven't really used it in over a year since I think my Rectoverb:25 sounds better. Was trying to make the ROV:25 work for a band I'm in but two channels and no dedicated solo boost was cramping my style. No volume boost had solos sounding small/weak and I didn't want to dedicate my entire high gain channel so soloing just so I could have a volume boost when I change channels. I was seriously considering getting a second ROV:25 and using the second amp and an A/B/Y box as my "solo boost", but on a bit of a whim I gave the TC-50 a try a few days ago and wound up sitting there with a big stupid grin on my face as I laid into the lead channel. I was really digging the open grain texture of the distortion... not as tight/buzzy as a Recto or Mark.

Now that I have it at home and have spent a couple hours with it I'm really digging this TC-50. Although it has a lot of gain it's not as smooth as a Mark; leads have a really nice way of compressing without loosing the rawness this amp has. Lots of top end without getting harsh or fizzy. I like that I don't feel pigeonholed with this amp; normal (loose) mode lets me dial in some fairly classic sounding rock while tight mode lets me dial in really aggressive metal with great definition/separation.

Also digging the crunch-to-lead transition on this amp. Channel 2 is just thin enough to make riffs on the fat strings sound tight while channel 3's just fat enough to make single notes on the thin strings sound really full. Leads just sort of sing.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Oh man that's sweet!
I was seriously on the fence about this one last year when it came out. The features were damn near perfect too.

I then had an epiphany regarding my reborn dual, which made it an even better fit for me but I'm still really itching to try the TC...

From its nam and the clips I've heard it quite a bit more british-flavored than the rectos and marks. What's your opinion on this? Can it cope satisfying ad convinving british tones?

Glad it works for you. I'd like to hear your thoughts in the long-run... In the meantime: congrats!
 
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Re: Picked up a TC-50

Probably won't happen anytime soon but I sure would like to try a TC-50 and see how it compares to my series2-single w/el34.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Surgeon said:
From its nam and the clips I've heard it quite a bit more british-flavored than the rectos and marks. What's your opinion on this? Can it cope satisfying ad convinving british tones?
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It's definitely more Marshall flavoured.

IMO, it's basically the evolution of the Stiletto. It has a similar bright, high mid/upper bass sort of emphasis, only better voiced and with a more pleasing response. Where the Stiletto was stiff and ear piercing the TC is bouncy and sizzly without getting harsh. The Stiletto had a LOT of gain on tap, but past a certain point it was basically uncontrollable. They seemed to have refined that with the TC so that it can get pretty compressed and singing without completely obliterating your nuance.

Each channel has a switchable mid boost built in that sort of functions similar to a Tubescreamer in that it gives each channel a bit more push and tightens up the response.

Through the 2x12 Recto cab I've managed to get karrang out of the mids, which kind of surprised me. The TC seems to pair up very nicely with the 2x12. I haven't tried the 4x12 yet. The stock combo version sounds great too and for about an hour I had a personal argument with myself over whether I wanted the head or a combo. While the closed back cabs have more top/bottom and thump the open back cab chops off the top and bottom end to produce an old school mid heavy vintage combo sound that's pretty cool.

I decided on the head figuring I could order a 3/4 back extension cab if someday I really want that open back sound.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Any amp with an fx loop can be made to have a solo volume boost by putting a Micro Amp in the loop.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Gtrjunior said:
Any amp with an fx loop can be made to have a solo volume boost by putting a Micro Amp in the loop.
Click to expand...

I know. Thought about it and decided against it.

The point of the ROV:25 (for me) is that it's a grab-and-go rig. If I have to run effects, cabling and power to make it work it looses the grab-and-go simplicity I want out of it.

And if I'm going to have to drag a bunch of stuff to make it work then I might as well go all in instead of trying to half-ass it.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Cool! Glad you like it!

Thinking about getting one, too...but I need another amp like I need a hole in my head.

And oh Gawd...just saw a closeout price on a JP-2C...the Petrucci Sig Model...

Deep breath...deep breath....

Bill
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Played around for a bit with both the TC-50/Recto 2x12 and a ROV:25 combo. They sound pretty good together. I don't normally dig two amp setups but I may need to explore this option in more detail.
 
Re: Picked up a TC-50

Now that I've had it for a bit I figured I'd do an update;


Q: What are your thoughts on the TC50?

A: I like it a lot.

I recently picked up a gig playing lead in a bar band that's covering a lot of 60s-70s-90s material. I needed something that would give me clean, crunch and lead with the ability to punch solos out of the mix. I normally play through Rectifiers, but with two channels and no solo boost I had to dedicate an entire channel just to soloing, leaving me with one channel for clean-to-crunch using my guitar's volume. Not a big deal, but not ideal either since it means I have no option of a high gain rhythm sound. Plus, with this band playing a 100w Rectifier kind of felt like I was trying to use a sledgehammer to drive in a finishing nail.

The TC-50's been great. I pretty much dialled in the "instant gratification" settings from the manual and tweaked them a bit to my taste. I like that it has a natural progression between the three channels, so each time I change channels it feels like I'm kicking the same amp up a notch instead of changing to a totally different sound. With the solo control I can get it to sit down in the mix or pop up above the mix, and with the FX loop control I can leave my delay pedal sitting on my amp with a couple of 1 foot patch cords instead of running another 40 feet of cable.

I found a spot on the gain around 1:00 on channels 2 and 3 that I really like. If you sweep between 12:00 and 2:00 while playing you can hear the preamp amp start to saturate and get sizzly. I find that spot and back it off just a hair. It gives me maximum crunch and compression without sizzle... but, if I really dig in it'll put a touch of sizzle on the attack before smoothing out. Setting it up this way sometimes feels a little under-gained when playing alone, but in a mix is sounds primo and it allows the character of different guitars to stand out. I've stopped using an overdrive because the amp does it on it's own, and if I need the mid boosted sound I flick the tight switch on.

All that said, the thing that really sold me on this amp was that when demoing it I didn't feel pigeon-holed or constrained by the amp. Everything I threw at it I could dial it in for, from classic rock to modern metal. I wasn't stuck with a vintage amp that farted out when I tried to do modern, and I wasn't stuck with a modern amp that felt stiff and sterile when I tried to do vintage.

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Re: Picked up a TC-50

Sounds impressive.. Pretty much what I was hoping to get from it when I was considering it...
 
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