Mesa Triple Crown 50 vs Badlander 50

[Tzinskis]

Looking to buy one of these amps and I’m not going to be able to play them side by side. Which one should I go with? I play metal, punk, stoner, ambient/shoe gaze, etc. I use 6 and 7 string guitars tuned from standard to drop A. A good clean channel is a must. Current amps are a 5150iii 6l6 50w and a Randall Thrasher 50. Might sell the Randall after the new purchase.

Which one would you choose and why?

Thanks!

 

[TedEH]

I know someone who just got a Badlander 50 and it sounds good to me. Kinda like taking a recto and tightening it up a whole lot, a little more in the vein of a Mark series but without the same barky midrange. I didn't get to hear the clean channel, but IMO Mesa has been doing good things with clean channels for a while so I wouldn't be worried about it personally. Never heard a Triple Crown in person though, so I can't make that comparison.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Might want the Triple Crown in this case. The Badlander is tweaked to be tight 24/7 while the TC can be a bit more versatile in that regard

 

[sakeido]

TC50 for having three meaningfully different channels, and no money wasted on a feature you may not use (cabclone w/IR loader).

 

[Choop]

The Triple Crown has midi control too, which is pretty nice (and weirdly uncommon on Mesa amps). I think both are cool, but I'd go Triple Crown as well for having more potential versatility.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

My vote is on the Badlander. Both being EL34 based amps, the Badlander just sounds bigger, rawer, and clearer than the Triple Crown. Badlander is quieter as well, the TC has annoying hiss the more you dump more preamp gain. Badlander also has a bigger low end. Too tight? You can loosen the amp with the Bold/Variac switch.

The TC has the inferior analog Cabclone. The IR Cabclone on the Badlander is infinitely better.

 

[Seabeast2000]

I have nothing to add but appreciation of this info shared here.

 

[Emperoff]

 

[cmpxchg]

I've got the 100W of both. If you're going to play live, TC for sure due to better footswitch, more flexibility, and MIDI. If not, either works; Badlander is more modern for sure (not necessarily always tight though), but they're not a universe apart.

 

[Tzinskis]

Thanks for this. I somehow overlooked this video.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

TC50. It will absolutely do what you need ime. I almost walked out of guitar center with one because it was so damn fun to play. It's very tight and responsive when you need it to be. Clean channel is quite good too.

 

[cmpxchg]

TC50. It will absolutely do what you need ime. I almost walked out of guitar center with one because it was so damn fun to play. It's very tight and responsive when you need it to be. Clean channel is quite good too.

weirdly enough I find the clean channel on the Badlander way easier to dial in than the TC. TC is so clean that I find myself wanting a limiter/compressor somewhere, and even after several years I'm still not really into the alternate switch setting on the clean channel. (that said, add a compressor or a barely there OD, and the TC clean rules)

 

[sevenfoxes]

I couldn’t get rid of my tc-50 fast enough. I really liked the clean and crunch channels, but the low end on the lead channel was so lacking, especially compared to my recto (it’s a common complaint, actually).

I eventually upgraded to the tc-100, which was a massive improvement, but i couldn’t get over the fan noise (@Deadpool_25 i still feel bad for returning it).

Zero experience with the Badlander. I went to a local music shop once to play one, but they wanted me to commit to buying it before i could even plug my guitar in lol

 

[DC23]

TC-50 is my jam. I adored that amp (had to sell due to a big move). I haven't tried the badlander but assume it could be a bit more unrefined.

 

[Tzinskis]

Just realized that both the TC-50 and Badlander don’t have 16 ohm cab inputs. I have 2 orange PPC212 cabs. I know I can run them parallel into the 8 ohm Jack, but what if I just wanted to use one cab?

 

[sevenfoxes]

Just realized that both the TC-50 and Badlander don’t have 16 ohm cab inputs. I have 2 orange PPC212 cabs. I know I can run them parallel into the 8 ohm Jack, but what if I just wanted to use one cab?

It’s fine if there’s a mismatch as long as the amp is at a lower ohm than the cab.

 

[cmpxchg]

It’s fine if there’s a mismatch as long as the amp is at a lower ohm than the cab.

yeah, I've used a 16 ohm 4x12 with the TC100 many times no problem.