Mesa/Boogie Triple Crown TC-50 1 x 12 inch 50-watt Tube Combo Amp Reviews

I have owned many Mesa Boogie amps over the years and have sold them due to two reasons. I either needed the money or felt that it was too much of an amp for my modest needs. Forget that.

I have attempted to sell my TC-50 over the past two years for the reasons above and after much thought and soul searching I decided to keep it. I have owned countless guitar amps mostly tube models. After trying to make a less expensive am sound like a boogie, I end wasting much time and money and end up with a ton of pedals that may only get close but never the same.

A lot of people who review Mesa's state they they are made for heavier metal types of music but that could not be farther from the truth. So what is the truth. The clean channel sound much better and clear than any Fender Amp. To compare it to a Marshall and for those Marshall fans out there, I am sorry but, I have never played a Marshal amp that was not overly saturated or muddy.

As I stated, channel one is pristine clean and with plenty of options to modify the sound. Channel two has a bit more gain and suited for blues or classic rock and channel three, the the options are limitless. The only pedal that I use with my Boogie is a Boss DD-200 delay and a volume pedal. That's it. Why would you mess with perfection.

Lastly, I purchased my in August 2019 and the price of the unit has gone up. If you are a professional musician or serious about creating magic, this amp will deliver and very likely be the last am that you own. Imitation is flattering but simply not the same.

best amp i ever played. bought an open box at a discount. it was pristine. clean is deep and warm. ch 2 tight mode gain around 2:00 is instant acdc. ch 3 has more gain than ill ever need. reverb sounds really sweet. im not a big pedal guy and this is a great plug n play amp. if you cant get good sound from this may i suggest you give piano a try.

Incredible range and thoughtfully designed to allow for a relatively simple way to dial in a desired tone within each of the three channels. The end of line output control makes the amp ideal for nearly any venue including home studio. Very glad I decided to step up to a Mesa Boogie.

I purchased a demo Mesa TC-50 combo from Sweetwater approx. 3 years ago. I immediately replaced the EL-34 power tubes with Mesa 6V6s and found the perfect amount of clean headroom and great crunch at a reasonable volume. I later replaced the stock Celestion Vintage 30 speaker with a Celestion Gold alnico and that was the the secret - no more peaky mids/shrill highs - just tonal bliss. I also found I like to use channel 3 as my "just breaking up" sound, and channel 2 as my "crunch" tone - a great combination. Channel 1 cleans are awesome and the tube driven reverb is the best I've heard in a Mesa. The footswitchable boost works well and the effects loop takes my time based effects nicely. Overall, this is now an awesome, versatile, classic sounding amp and I would highly recommend it to cover just about any type music.

I wish I would have bought this amp years ago. ! I always dream of a Mesa Boogie. Played thru a few But owning this amp Is the best thing ever. !!! It does everything. My acoustic my electric and jazz my rock everything the cab out feed my play t c helicon petals and our Bose sound system. U believable!!!!!!!!!!!! Only thing I wish I got a Mesa Boogie bumper sticker. Proud owner!!!! I'll send picture and video later

I received my Mesa Triple Crown last Tuesday. That Saturday I was in the studio recording guitar solos for my bands 2nd album. The engineer asked me to re-track rhythm tracks using the Mesa because it sounded so good. The clean channel can get all the "Twang" I need. The drive mode on the clean channel is perfect. The 2 gain channels are both awesome as well. I can not wait to use this awesome amp live!!!!Thanks Mesa for this perfect amp and Sweetwater for the always excellent customer service

I received my 50 watt Triple Crown during recording sessions for my band's upcoming album. All 3 channels on this amp are awesome. The drive mode on the clean channel is really nice. After recording 2 guitar solos the engineer insisted that a re-track a couple of rhythm parts with the Mesa because it sounded so good. The spring reverb on the amp is always worth mentioning as it sounds so good. I can not wait to use this amp live. Thanks Mesa Boogie for creating this awesome amp and Sweetwater for the excellent customer service.

I just finished a session in the studio for The Sweet Mercy Band with my new Mesa Teiple Crown combo. The engineer was blown away by the tonal options and ease of use. The clean channel give me all the Twang I need. The drive mode on the clean channel is perfect and the 2 gain channels roar!!!! The spring reverb is so lush. Thank you Mesa Boogie for creating this awesome amp. THANKS Sweetwater for the excellent customer service.

Bought this 3 years ago and love it as much as I did when I first bought it. Sparkle, Crunch and Destruction are your traditional three Mesa channels, but so many ways to get different great sounds out of each channel.

I have had this amp for a couple years now and was about ready to trade this one in or sell. The Vintage 30 that comes in it really does not do this amp justice at all, and way to bright with no depth. I bought a Celestion 65 Creamback from Sweetwater, gave the Creamback a little time to break in and Wow, this has become my favorite combo by far. Mesa Boogie! This is the Speaker that you need to be putting in a open back Triple Crown not a Vintage 30. If you get this amp, try the Creamback so you won't wanna be sending this amp back. Hope this helps.

If you are thinking about getting this amp, then just do it already. It is a fantastic little box with a huge sound! Every Chanel is great. The clean is brilliant, and the two gain channels I still can't pick a favorite. As always Sweetwater was great to work with. Toni is hands down the best rep. Keep her around.

I am a "hobby" guitarist, but I know quality when I see it. The Mesa Boogie Triple Crown is beautifully made with a myriad of tonal possibilities. I could not be more pleased!

Too much to say on what I like about this amp to make it short this amp just gets the job done and is easily my favorite amp right now. for a 1x12 it's very loud and can definitely play with a drummer and what is awesome about this amp is the volume it can go from low bedroom levels to jamming with a drummer with ease no need for the different watt options. this amp definitely breaks the bank but if you play a lot a guitar totally worth it! I've been blown away of the tone of this amp it is versatile and can play anything from clean to the most brutal metal thanks to mesa for another great product and to Sweetwater for the great customer service!

Well you eventually come to expect nothing but greatness from Mesa. The Triple crown combo is probably the best combo I've played through. Perfect cleans and floor rumbling overdrive. Very versatile.

I have had a lot of amps thru out the years. But this amp by far the Swiss Army knife of amps. Chanel 1 fender clean and Chanel 2 every rock sound you could want. Chanel 3 just sl shreds. And a solo boost for each Chanel and you got rock star in a box. Strat HSS into amp no pearleds needed.

I've had this amp for a fee months now and I am absolutely blown away every single day! This amp can be used for any style of music for sure! I play everything from jazz to heavy metal and this amp handles everything I throw at it. This amp is also great with pedals or without. If you have been on the fence about buying this amp in fear that mesas are only for high gain, go and get it and see thay this thing is a versatile as a digital modeling amp, bit with that incredible all tube sound.

If there is such a thing as perfection in an amp - this is it! I now have no need for any other amp. This thing is amp Nirvana. All three channels are amazing, even though I don't use the clean channel very often. It's great loud, it's great at bedroom levels, it's awesome for direct recording, has a terrific reverb and effects loop. If I could, I'd give it 6 stars. Have only used it with the installed EL-34s, but got an extra set of 6V6s that I'm going to try soon. Some people don't care for the Vintage 30s, but they sound great in this box. Mesa obviously knows something they don't. Bottom line: whatever sound you're looking for, this amp can provide it, and then some. I can't say enough good things about it.

Also, Scott Augustyniak was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and attentive. Customer service at Sweetwater has no parallels.

I've owned many Mesa's along with the best boutique amps money can buy and this beast is my absolute favorite! It will do anything you want it to with force and seemingly endless quality. Can't recommend highly enough!

I'm still in the breaking in process, but I will say that I love the gain structure on the Triple Crown,
It has a better tonality than the Dual Rectifiers ever had, smoother,
I haven't been a big fan of Vintage 30's but sounds good in this amp,
And the footswitchable effects loop is great,
So far I've only put a Carbon Copy in the loop, but it really sounds great....

Great amp I would say this amp is every thing a Mark 5 should've been simplistic easy and fun to play with. First Channel has mark cleans and third channel is between a duel rectifier and a Mark heavey distortion. Channel 2 is a very versatile channel that could use an over drive pedal if wish to play heavey on it and to top it off the triple crown loves pedal's

Let's face it - amps are important. Amps really change the way a player attacks the guitar, because the response that the player hears (and feels) creates an energy that influences and inspires how the player will continue playing whatever it is that they are playing. Got that? What's great about a really, really good amp is that it will let your guitar sound like your guitar, and your playing sound like your playing. It won't mask things like the guitar's unique tone, or the nuances of your intricate and highly individualized playing style. Another great quality that a good amp has is the ability to take different kinds of guitars very well - not just humbuckers versus single coil, but high-output versus low output. Some amps do these things very well, but maybe just on a single channel - for instance - great clean sound, but not as inspiring when you get to the high gain channel...or the other way around. Sure, pedals are great - and I have some - but I don't want to cover up a lousy sounding amp with pedals. And I don[t want to bury a great sounding guitar with a bad sounding amp. Okay, now that all of that is out of the way, I will make it easy: This amp sounds great on 3 channels.

The clean is gorgeous. The 2nd channel is great. The 3rd channel is great. The reverb is great. The build is solid. The casters are a nice touch. Works great with MIDI. Takes pedals nicely through the front EXCEPT time-based pedals, which go into the loop. The effects loop sounds great. Everything is foot switchable. It weights 56 pounds. It is simple to change out the tubes. These are my new favorite amps. I can't say enough good things about them. Hope that helps. I am having fun with mine.

I have played a bunch of vox, fender, marshall, mesa boogie, plus a bunch of other brands over the last 30 years. This is finally "it" for me. It's not a Marshall or Vox replacement, but it definitely sounds like it has some British in its genes. It's not a Fender or even what I would expect from a MB, but it definitely has some American thing going on, too. It doesn't try to be anything but what it is, and what it is is just wonderful. My only criticism is this thing is going to cost me a fortune in new underwear because the tone is THAT good. :-) It's like fellas over in Petaluma scanned by dreams for the perfect amp...and here it is. Great clean channel that absolutely adores pedals. The cleans are not really Fender, but they are really quite musical in their own right, and can fill the same sonic space with a slightly different flavor. Notice I said different, not lesser... But if you want pure exact Fender sound, then that's great and go get one. This has its own thing going on and it is very musical.

Wonderful crunchy goodness on channel 2 - sort of like Marshall and a Vox and MB Rectifier had a 3-way. Sooth saturation on channel 3, which is the most like what I would call a more "Mesa" sound, but still ventures a bit more across the Atlantic than one would expect. Throw in the reverb and solo pedal and one really doesn't need much more, but good pedals give it even more expression. All in a great, portable, well-built package that looks great with typical mesa toughness.

My Tele loves it. My hollowbody loves it. My LP loves it. And the sound and personality of each guitar really shows through in such a pleasing way, even at high gain. Can't say enough good about it. My quest for my "go to" amp is finally over.

I love this amp, I speak with authority having played guitar for 40 years this year and playing in a working band. I have over a dozen high-end guitar amps and this is my sixth Mesa amp. As I get older I just don't like hauling heavy gear--so I purchased this 56 lb. combo and the light weight is only out done by the sound! I like the three channels -perfect for rock and roll, this amp sounds really great crystal clean too. Also, I love the cab clone feature--no more screwing around with the mic in front of the amp--now--just direct into the PA. Hats off to Sweetwater and the Bob Mondok team for being so easy to work with. Sweetwater is my "GO TO" music provider! Couldn't be happier! Lastly--just like all Mesa's--the quality is over-the-top--very well built amp, foot switch, cable---and nice cover--can't forget the casters that are removable that come with it too. If you can't get a good sound from this amp, guitar isn't for you---switch to piano or a saxophone!

Awesome amp!

Killer Amp

Incredible. Best Mesa amp so far. I have owned 14 throughout the years.

1st and foremost! James Shilliday My sales rep Ext 1754 I will rate as one of the most caring about his customer and goes many many steps and beyond I am sure of what his job requires to completely satisfy customer needs. I highly rate James and thank you. Now about the Mesa Boogie Triple Crown 112 Combo. The Triple Crown handles everything from country to heavy rock with ease. The Clean Channel sounds almost acoustic clean that has a ton of headroom. Channel 2 reminds me of a Plexi but with more gain that can be dialed in with a warmth of blues tone to crunch rhythm and lead. Channel 3 has a great amount of gain and will pull off any hi gain styles for your heavy rock needs. This amp also has a very decent amount of bottom end for a 112 combo with great features. Sweetwater has the best customer service that I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with and great to to business with.

First I would like to thank my sales rep,Robby Resnick. Over the years he has been my rep ,he has been extremely helpful. This is the third Boogie that I have own. I went from a F100 to A Stiletto Duce,both half stacks. Now since I"m older I was looking for a smaller amp. The TC50 is perfect. The clean channel is SWEET. It is sparkeling and the best clean channel I have played through on a tube amp. The lo channel (not low in volume) I"m still finding my way around but I see no problem with finding my sweet spot. The hi channel is where this amp excell. Gain for days. I"m a blues , r&b, and fusion guy and l can use this amp for all three styles. I will say the combo may not be for everyone. It"s open back so it may not be beefy enough for some. But I"m a Boogie guy so lm comfortable with being able to get my sound out of them. Plus it"s easy enough to change the power tubes. I"m putting in 6L6"s to replace the stock EL34 "s. All in all this is a pretty good amp and I only had it for less than 24 hours.

I picked this amp up at the 2017 GearFest after looking at Mesa for a long time and deciding to bite the bullet and spring for this magnificent piece of equipment after a excellent demo by the Mesa rep in the amp tent. This amp can absolutely roar but what surprised me was how well it handled the cleans, but more on that in a moment. It definitely has an English pedigree, but can also get a plexi-sound with the right pedals.

The build quality is some of the best I've seen. It's really built to withstand the rigors of normal gigging. There is nothing loose and the speaker is soldered in, sort of a downside if you were interested in changing it out. However, the Vintage 30 puts out great tones and I have no problem with it.

The quirkiest part of the amp is the sweep of the tone controls. Except for the clean channel, you don't get a lot of bass out of channels 2 and 3, even though on mine I keep the bass knob to 10. Honestly, they should have made this a closed back with a port to enhance the low end of the spectrum. You will also find yourself turning down the bright and presence knobs to keep it from sounding piercing, and the amp does not find its voice until the gain is at noon or more. Oddly enough, the clean channel runs bassy and I have to keep it down to 2 or 3 to keep the sound balanced.

I run a compressor most of the time and I find that with it, you can get a beautiful singing sustain without the need for any other distortion pedals although a light boost can really put this thing over the top in the drive channels. It takes pedals well without destroying your sound.

The clean channel produce the tightest, funkiest cleans I've ever heard, perfect for soul and funk. They're not Fender cleans, but just great rhythm producing tones. Turning up the bass puts the cleans into Wes Montgomery jazz territory.

I like the fact that you can run any EL34 based tube, along with 6L6 and 6V6 to get a bluesier side with early breakup. Very cool.

I do at times use it with a Mesa 5 band EQ to bring up the bottom end a bit more. I personally would like to hear what it would sound like through a EVM12L or an Eminence EM12 speaker to give it a rounder bottom end with smoother mids and highs. Another option might be to get a 1x12 closed back cab to run on the floor as part of a mini-stack.

Other pluses include the full-function pedalboard, a great sounding effects loop and an excellent cab emulated out which is about the best I've heard through a PA. Much, much better than a Fender Bassbreaker that I also own.

4.5 stars from me, only because I wish the tone stacks were more standard. Great job, Mesa.

I love this amp, I tend to play on the 2nd channel a lot, ride the volume on the guitar, I really think though with a open back combo they should've used the black shadow speaker, vintage 30's sound better in closed back, too bright in open

I have read so many reviews, yet this is the first I have felt compelled to write. I received my triple crown today. Like so many of us new gear is a big deal and a new amp, well... it can be the end of a personal musical era. Or the beginning of a new on depending on your perspective.

I toyed around with the TC-50 all day. The first hour was hard on my ears as I dialed in each of the three channels. Like the video stated it just sounds better to bring the presence and treble down on a couple of channels especially if you are a strat player like me.

ONCE I GOT IT DIALED IN, I WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY. I have three pedal boards so I am a pedal and effects guy. I have probably owned a 50 different OD / Distortion pedals. My rig with the TC 50 has none of that. Just the amp and a Boss DD500 in the effects loop. I may add a chorus. that's it.

That's all you need. Every sound that comes out of this amp seems to be good. Every song I play sounds great. People who hear me practice every day told me how much better everything sounded today. I can assure you it was the tone of the amp. Its just awesome, and it just does everything.

It makes playing fun and effortless.

Tonight I used the headphones for silent practice. Sounded great. Had to turn the presence up a bit from the speaker setting but was great and easy.

The reverb is beautiful. The best non pedal reverb I have ever used. I plugged a chorus in it as well for a minute and it really sounded incredible; rich and lush and liquid. Its an outstanding clean channel.

I cant say enough. This would be my third purchase of an amp at this general price point. They are all good. But this one has the fewest overall weaknesses. If it had a built in tremolo circuit it would be literally the perfect amplifier.

If you are on the fence on this unit, don't be. If you think that mesa has a "sound" that you are not enamored with I would urge you to open your mind. It's a game changing amplifier. To get this much at this price point and to be so much better than the majority of the competition, it has to have some boutique amp builders concerned.

If they came out with a 25 watt version that was a 1x10 and was a bit lighter, I would buy it too. And of course three cheers for Sweetwater for always being great at fulfilling the order and getting the amp to your door damage free for free!

I'd give it 5 stars but the reviews are correct, the reverb and effects loop change the tone of the amp. Not just by a little either, by a lot. I don't know how it wasn't obvious to Mesa because it's not subtle at all. But I don't really use FX loops or amp reverb most of the time and that's not why I got the amp. The sound of the 3 channels is definitely 5 star to me. Cleans up amazing like a fender amp and dirtys up like a Marshall or even heavier if you so choose. Tons of gain and a huge foot switch with a solo button (and the crappy FX loop and reverb which I won't be using anyway.) Maybe you could keep the reverb on all the time and change up the tone control to balance the sound you want back to how it was but it just shouldn't be like that for a pricey amp. Anyway Killer product. I highly recommend if you want a badass amp and don't care about the FX loop or reverb.

clean sound was suprisingly good. reverb was lush and wet. controls taper well. gain for days on ch 2 and 3. only wish they would make a 100 watt combo. 1 x 12 not quite loud enough for playing with a good rock drummer and not all of us wanna carry a head and a cabinet everywhere. otherwise great as advertised

I was downsizing from a Peavey JSX + 4x12 cab and always wanted to try a boogie. It was shipped quickly and arrived in great condition. Playing by myself I was very pleased with the features and tone. Its definitely a great sounding amp built with excellent quality! But when I brought the amp to my band practice it was very noticeable that I was now playing through a 1x12 open back instead of a 4x12. The amp sounded really small and I struggled to get a good "big" sound I was used to with the 4x12. For others replacing a 4x12 setup you may consider going with the head version + a cab and not go with the combo format. Because I am trying to downsize I will stick with the combo format and add a closed back extension cab. Hopefully this will bring back the bigger sound I was used to with the 4x12.

First of all, you can disregard my star rating because I think those are a bit silly for amps in this price range. All Mesas are well built, and it's simply a matter of whether the amp works with your other gear to produce the sounds you want to hear. I have owned/gigged two different Mesa amps (Roadster and Express Plus 5:50) and both have been really good at what they do. I'm well versed in dialing in Mesa amps.

I play mostly classic rock with vintage pickups in Gibson guitars (Les Paul and SG), although I do like to rock to 80's hair stuff for fun. I was hoping this amp would cover both. There are no dealers near me, so I bought this amp based primarily on the Mesa classic rock video which featured Gibson guitars. Unfortunately, I was not really able to dial in those types of sounds with my gear, even with the same guitars/cabs/settings as the video.

In my opinion the high end bite of my Gibsons just didn't agree with the voicing of this amp at moderate gain settings (noon - 1 o'clock on the dial). This amp has an enormous amount of presence in the dials, which I believe is there to keep the high gain settings on the amp from getting too mushy. I could never really get this dialed out without the sound going flat. With my equipment, the cleans were OK but couldn't touch the Express 5:50 Plus (which I believe is similar to the Lonestar clean circuit). I tried it through the internal speaker, a well broken-in Mesa 2x12 rectifier cab, and a Mesa Widebody C90 cab.

My guess is that this amp would pair much better with a modern voiced guitar with a smoother high end, maybe something like a PRS. And it would probably be better for someone that wants a more modern, higher gain, compressed sound.

The nice thing about buying from Sweetwater is that they will bend over backwards to make sure you are satisfied with your purchase. I was eventually able to find the sound I was looking for, and thanks to Adam and everyone else at Sweetwater for making that happen.

I loved playing my marshall dsl 50 for years. Came to a point im not playing gigs and playing in my jam cave. Anyone knows you have to turn up a marshall to get the sweet spot. I have a mini rectifier and the el 84's just doesn't sound the same as the el 34's. plus totally different amp. I finally decided to buy the tc 50 combo after youtube and reviews. WOW!! This amp is amazing. It has the el 34's and vintage 30 like the dsl half stack.This amp has its own personality though.It has a sonic dimension almost like 3-d for your ears.I also love the output for bedroom playing. This thing screams paired with my 1x12 c-90 widebody closed back cab.I now have the perfect 2x2 half stack.I recently sold the half stack.BUT... to a good friend.No sellers remorse.Its still in the family and cant wait to hear them side by side. Sweet baby sweet!!

Mesa boogie days it"s there highest gain amp well it does not come close the cleans are great but as far as gain goes this amp does not cut it and for the price you can get something better