Triple Crown TC-100 - 100-watt Rackmount Tube Head Review

Versatile Amp With Many Features And The Sound To Back It Up.

As many of you I am on the hunt for the "perfect amp", well for me at least. I had many amps, such as the B-52 At-100, Laney IRT studio, Prs mt-15, EVH 5150 III 50w ,Mesa Boogie Mark V 25 and so on. All have been good but were missing something, the EVH sounded ice picky with a meh clean, Mark v 25 was great but not the most friendly to use, also the gain didn't quiet get there… read more for modern metal. The PRS MT-15 was actually very good but had a horrible fx loop, you get the point. The Triple Crown does not get ice picky, the loop is solid, each channel sound goods and it's very easy to use. It has any features and sound great at low volume. Read more in depth below. Clean: The cleans are the best out of all the amps I listed, with the PRS MT-15 and Mark V right behind.They are clear, sparkly, not harsh, not mushy and have some compression. Plenty of low end and control over everything. Great headroom, if you want to get grit just turn up the gain and flick the drive switch. Takes my Ventris Reverb well, but the spring reverb tank included sounds great. Very good quality reverb. No complaints on this channel, it's very good. Lo Gain: This is my least used channel of them all. Since I am more of a metal guy, this doesn't have as much gain/saturation as I would like. Perfect for rock though, more of a Mesa/Marshall blend. However, I plan on trying with a boost in the future and I think it would then make a great metal rhythm channel. I personally would keep the tight switch on(unless boosted) it sounds much better in my opinion. It's more of a dry gain structure with great clarity, not much saturation. EQ is responsive, although it could use a little more low end. Other than that it's great, sounds good with the reverb tank as well. Hi Gain : This channel does get the gain and saturation I like for metal. Great clarity, with maybe slight more compression then the Lo channel. More forgiving then a Mark Series amp would be, but still natural sounding. Stays clean and unfizzy until around 3:00 then some fizz comes in(but has plenty gain by then). This channel works well for leads and rhythm. Not ice picky like the 5150 can be on leads. Once again only thing missing is a some more low end. I think an eq pedal would fix that though. No boost needed and sounds great with my 6 and 7 string. I do think it would sound even better with a boost though(like most amps). Overall Usability: This is where this amps beats everything else. It's easy to use, easy to dial in and get a good sound. The power soak is easy, but I find myself using a low output volume, that way I can crank the channel volume. This gives great saturation and great sound at bedroom volumes. Even better than the lower wattage amps I mentioned. It doesn't go from 0 to destroy your ears, it has good tapering. Reverb,Channel, Solo, FX loop, are all foot switchable, and Midi compatible. Wish I LOVE. Midi is the hardest thing to set up, but with the Midi Commander pedal I use, it's very easy. Cab Clone is simple to use, just make sure you turn speaker off in the back. Not the best sounding but okay in a pinch. Pros: Sounds great on each channel Versatile sound range Many features *Reverb, CabClone, Power Soak, Midi, output volume(master), Solo* Easy to dial in No shared settings Great at low volume Great volume taper(not touchy) Not too big Rack Mountable Very easy for tube swaps Cons: Lacking some low end in LO and Hi mode. CabClone is handy but sounds meh. Cleans are good, but makes distortion weak. Fan noise. Just like the Mark v 25, it has a fan. It can be pretty noisy in quiet room, not an issue when you play. Reverb Tank sounds good but has no where to really go.(only issue in rack unit) Transformers and Tubes show(some may like that) Overall: If Mesa made a version ii of this amp, not too much would need changing. Maybe they can look into improving their cabclone designs(for ALL their amps). Find a way were is does NOT need the fan or at least use a quieter one. A little more gain would be always nice too...(maybe a built in midi controllable boost). Also a built in Midi controllable noise gate would be nice. Most importantly , work in some more low end. I don't think these changes would take much work but would make a huge difference. Overall very good amp.

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