I own a Fillmore 50 and agree with your assessment completely!I haven't played either but have heard quite a bit of both. I can't tell you about feel, but the Triple Crown is a clean/mid-gain/high-gain amp that kind of straddles "American" and "British" gain sounds, depending on how you dial it in, and like most Mesa "clean" channels, you can dial that clean all the way up to a pretty crunchy bark, use channel 2 for a high gain rhythm sound, and channel 3 for a boosted screaming lead ... or do exactly the opposite, and run 1 clean, 2 just a little crunchy, and 3 in more Dumbly/modded Fender territory.
The Fillmore is very, very different. It's kind of an alternate-history amp that reimagines the very first 1970 Boogie if it had been based on a tweed Fender, rather than a blackface, so you're talking mid-gain territory here ("high-gain" for 1970, certainly), and the general tone of it is going to be thicker, more midrangy, and have that extremely direct smack of the tweed Fenders, rather than the spongier scooped feel of a Deluxe Reverb, say. And the channels aren't preassigned: it's got 2, but each can be set to 3 different levels of gain (I think they're called Lo, Drive, and Hi), so it can be as "clean" or as mid-gain singing as you want. From what I've heard, the Drive mode in particular has, as the guys from That Pedal Show would say, a lot of SHWANG, that open metallic clangy thing you get running a Tele into most vintage Fenders.
Short version:
Triple Crown can do a ton but is designed for very high-gain use and tonally sits somewhere between a Recto and a Mark; certainly enough gain for metal, and quite a bit of top-end sizzle, but not really voiced for chugga-chug. If you want an amp that can give you a sparkly clean, a huge rhythm crunch, and a laser-beam sustaining lead tone, definitely the TC over the Fillmore.
Fillmore is also very versatile but in a much more vintage way, has enough gain to get your leads singing but nothing like modern "high gain," will tend to work very well in roots-rock/classic rock/bluesy-jazzy-R&Bish territory, and it has that tweed midrange, which some people find "congested" or "honky" and others consider rich and thick. If you want that big, springy, juicy, super-clean Twin Reverb sort of thing, this is not the amp.
Yes, they do both offer excellent clean tones! I actually preferred the cleans in the TC50 and loved the variety of great sounds between the "Normal and Drive Modes" in Channel 1. When I played it recently, I spent most of my time in Ch1 because it sounded so good! LolBoth amps have amazing clean tones, the TC-50 I find to be more 'hi-fi' and crisp where I feel the Fillmore is more round and glassy all though both amps cleans change a lot as you tweak the gain and other knobs so this is really just a general description. For me personally I prefer the Fillmore cleans as I like the more scooped Fender clean sound, especially with single coils.. but they are both really good clean channels.
This is always the right answer, on TGP.The simplest way to put it is vintage vs modern. Fillmore has old school grease to it. TC more refined, tighter and exact. Having both would make a lot of sense - they are that different.
They truly are very different! I am considering adding the TC50. LolHaving both would make a lot of sense - they are that different.
I used to own the 90w Mark V and it is absolutely the most versatile of all Mesa amps IMO because it is really like having 9 different amps (3 Channels each with 3 Modes); 3 different power choices per channel (90w, 45w, 10w), and the 5 band GEQ! Now with this many options.....one can spend a lifetime to explore all possibilities of this amp! Some say it is hard to dial in? I didn't think so, but it did take me some time to decide on my preferred modes for each channel for playing with my band.Not to derail but how does the Mark V fit in to the type of tones we are discussing here?
I know it has some aspects that functionally make it completely different - but how does the nature and quality of similarly dialed in tones compare to the Fillmore and TC?
^To add to this, it's been said that the mode switches on the TC-50 channels are like engaging a built-in Grid Slammer pedal (which is said to be a modified Tube Screamer).I will only give my comparison of the Big Mark V to the TC50 because they are both 3 channel amplifiers:
The TC50 offers two different voicings of each channel (Normal and Drive or Tight), but these modes are really just an adjustment on that channel.
thanks for this - i have heard come complaints of having essentially 9 different amps vs being able to effectively channel switch (which you can only do across the 3 channels in one fixed mode for each channel vs being able to footswitch modes within a channel, correct?)?I used to own the 90w Mark V and it is absolutely the most versatile of all Mesa amps IMO because it is really like having 9 different amps (3 Channels each with 3 Modes); 3 different power choices per channel (90w, 45w, 10w), and the 5 band GEQ! Now with this many options.....one can spend a lifetime to explore all possibilities of this amp! Some say it is hard to dial in? I didn't think so, but it did take me some time to decide on my preferred modes for each channel for playing with my band.
I will only give my comparison of the Big Mark V to the TC50 because they are both 3 channel amplifiers:
The TC50 offers two different voicings of each channel (Normal and Drive or Tight), but these modes are really just an adjustment on that channel. Now, they change it enough to want to experiment with the preamp settings, but it isn't like going from Edge Mode to Mark I mode in Channel 2 of the 90w Mark V. Those two modes are polar opposites and require completely different settings in Channel 2 and even the 5 band GEQ! Oh, and speaking of the GEQ, it is a very powerful tone shaping tool and can either enhance your tone or destroy it!! Lol At least that was my experience.
Don't get me wrong, I gigged with my 90w Mark V and it's a great amp, but it truly is like owning 9 different amps in one package.....
meaning that is what is said to be the difference between Normal and Tight?^To add to this, it's been said that the mode switches on the TC-50 channels are like engaging a built-in Grid Slammer pedal (which is said to be a modified Tube Screamer).
I hadn't heard this, but it makes sense. When I engaged Tight on Ch2 and Ch3, I noticed an increase in mids and a bit more gain (much like a Tube Screamer in front of amp), and it also tightens the bass response for more focus.^To add to this, it's been said that the mode switches on the TC-50 channels are like engaging a built-in Grid Slammer pedal (which is said to be a modified Tube Screamer).
It's really 3 different amp groupings (modes) for each of the 3 channels; and yes the footswitch can't switch between the 3 modes in a given channel. It wouldn't even be effective if you could footswitch between the modes of each channel because each one requires it's own settings IMO. But yes, you select your preferred mode in each channel and the footswitch engages those specific mode selected from Ch1, Ch2 & Ch3.thanks for this - i have heard come complaints of having essentially 9 different amps vs being able to effectively channel switch (which you can only do across the 3 channels in one fixed mode for each channel vs being able to footswitch modes within a channel, correct?)?
ABSOLUTELY!! The 90w Mark V is an excellent gigging amp once you decide on which specific mode you wish to dial in on each channel! I usually used Clean or Tweed mode in Ch1, Crunch Mode in Ch2 and IIC+ Mode in Channel 3 for awesome footswichable Clean, Crunch and Overdrive Solo Lead sounds.regardless of modes, would you say it is possible to dial in some combination of a great clean, mid gain, high gain across 3 footswitchable channels at the same time - it doesnt have to be fender, marshall, mesa across the 3 per se....but a compelling mesa version of clean, mid gain, high gain footswitchable at the same time.
Yes, that is what he meant.meaning that is what is said to be the difference between Normal and Tight?
Whole, whole different beast, as others have said, and really runs the gamut of Mesa's Fender-based sounds, from 1970 all the way up through the late ’90s. I own the V:25 version, which is 2 channels and doesn't have the Edge, Tweed, or Mark I modes, but I honestly don't think I'd miss them, because there's so much to do among the 6 modes in 2 channels. You're correct that you can't footswitch between modes, but you should have no problem dialing in the right kind of palette between 2 or 3 channels.Not to derail but how does the Mark V fit in to the type of tones we are discussing here?
I know it has some aspects that functionally make it completely different - but how does the nature and quality of similarly dialed in tones compare to the Fillmore and TC?
^To add to this, it's been said that the mode switches on the TC-50 channels are like engaging a built-in Grid Slammer pedal (which is said to be a modified Tube Screamer).
meaning that is what is said to be the difference between Normal and Tight?
Yes, flipping the switch to Drive/Tight is very much like engaging a TS-type pedal in front of the amp. I don't know if that's exactly the circuitry inside, or even if it's the same or different per channel, but I can pretty well replicate the drive/tight switch effect by using a TS (red dirt mini in my case). I rarely bother of course, because it's built in, but every now and again if I want footswitch control of that feature I can use the TS. It sounds close enough to my ears.I hadn't heard this, but it makes sense. When I engaged Tight on Ch2 and Ch3, I noticed an increase in mids and a bit more gain (much like a Tube Screamer in front of amp), and it also tightens the bass response for more focus.