Anyone own or tried the Stiletto Ace yet???

[smallcrap]

My local GC has yet to get any of these. There are only 2 reviews on Harmony Central(both excellent) and I've read only one other pretty glowing review on another forum.

I'm dying to try one. Anyone had any experience with them yet or know anything more than what Mesa's site says about it?

 

[gonziak]

Hi I'm new on board cause I've got my first mesa stiletto ace 212. I change from marshall super lead from 68 to that combo. I've got it few days and I played one gig. I could write that I need cab for open'er gigs but I don't know what speakers. I played with marshall 1960 Vintage, 1960 greenbacks but it's not the right sound to me to much highs with strat, I've never played with c90 I have to check it . Alone Combo sounds something like matchless and orange but not to belly strat sound. I could make samples from that gig maybe it could help but not good quality -all band from mixer stereo out. send me pm

 

[scottkahn]

On August 1 we'll be publishing our in-depth review of the Stiletto Ace on MusicPlayers.com. It's just a few days away

 

[jackieTHEjokeman]

I have a small review/comparison a few threads down. Regarding a Series I Stiletto w/Hollywood Mod and the Stiletto II (ACE).

 

[vibeman]

The 90 watt speakers would be a better match for the ace for my tastes. I hate v-30s which it comes with. I also think the amp is a bit bright but it can dialed out so thats not a fair thing to say its bright when you can eq it to just about anything

 

[Guitarzan]

Readthis thread!

 

[scottkahn]

The Stiletto Ace review is live:
http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/guitars/2006/0806_MesaBoogieStilettoAce.php

And this month's feature artist/interview is with Eric Johnson, too!

 

[smallcrap]

This all sounds pretty good guys. I've found a dealer(a bit of a drive...) that has one of the 2x12's and I'll hopefully trying one out myself soon.

Thanks for the help and comments.

 

[cvansickle]

That's a great review, Scott. I have played the 212 combo myself, and I like it. I really don't want another combo though, so I may hold out for the head and use my own 412. I would have to trade my Nomad 100 though, and I've alrady got a lot invested in a midi switching system that includes controls for the Nomad's functions. It's an Axess Electronics CFX4, and it would be almost useless with the Ace unless until I reprogram it for the channel switching and boost functions.

 

[scottkahn]

Hi Cvansickle.

Yeah -- Matt Pinson (our senior editor) knows tone, tubes, amps better than the average mortal. He also plays better than the average mortal too . He'll be consulting with me on the Road King V2 review that I'm working on for next month.

I kow a lot of players didn't respond to the Nomad, but I really liked my Nomad 55 a lot. It lived in my rig for two years in between my first and second triaxis rigs. It's a classic soap-opera story:

Boy meets rack system and falls in love. Later decides he needs to uncomplicate his life, sells the rack, gets a Nomad combo. Then a few pedals morph into a Line 6 pedalboard. Then back to a G-Major and MIDI foot controller. Then the Nomad has to leave so boy can get back into a Triaxis system. It's a classic tale of stupidity that many players can relate to .

 

[cvansickle]

That's where my reservations about switching to the Ace come in to play.

My Nomad is interfacing with the rack gear just fine, but I'm really only using the orange channel on Modern. I set up a few patches to use the red channel, but I hardly ever use them. For cleans, I like my Blue Angel much more than Nomad's green channel.

If I were to get the Ace, I would keep channel one at Crunch, leaning toward the clean side. I use a TON of pedals, so I'm sure I'll get the gain I need when I need it on that side. Channel two would be Tight Gain, no doubt about it. That setting gets in the territory of my favorite Nomad sounds, but with the EL34 flavor instead of 6L6. Yes, I tried the Nomad with EL34s a couple times - not bad but the 6L6s sound better to me. YMMV

I'll keep the Blue Angel, since I use a midi switching system to select the amps. I'll be able to go from Clean and Spanky to Clean with Muscle to Big and Crunchy!

 

[scottkahn]

well there is definitely more gain (and more usable gain) to be found in the stiletto ace than in your nomad.

in testing out the Roak King V2, I still find that most of the time, I prefer the sound of 6L6 tubes, which is probably part of why I switched from Marshall to M/B years ago, but there are some EL34 sounds in the RK that make me go "holy cow!" -- I almost feel like a traitor favoring an el34 sound in my boogie! But hey, they're encouraging the behavior by designing amps with these tubes now, so I guess it's alright .

 

[benlink]

so...from what I read...and the review on musicplayers.com.the stiletto is much more versatile than a rectifier...
it has better cleans, a better crunch so for old school things it's a masterpiece...three modes en each channel....and it is said in the review that it can do even nu-metal......so it can do everything without any pedal...
ok the recto is also a master piece but still....it is great for metal and everything but even if it seems as versatile as the stiletto....in terms of quality the recto seems behind(from what I read, the reviews annd all this..)
after ok it's a matter of taste concerning the voicing...but for someone who likes both el34 et 6l6 sound...the stiletto seems better....
by the way I would like to know how much a single rectifier would have got on musicplayers.com......(cause the stiletto has 3,4...almost the WIHO award!)

 

[scottkahn]

Benlink,

Great analysis of the information!

But...

The Stiletto is just an EL-34 amp -- not 6L6. As Matt states in the review, "Although equal in aggression, the Ace’s high gain assault is sonically an ocean apart from its Recto cousins."

So while the Stiletto will make great sounds to sooth your metal beast, they will be significantly different tone-wise from the sound of a Rectifier.

In some ways, this amp finally enables two guitar players in a band to hapilly co-exist with both of them playing Mesa/Boogie. I know a lot of bands, my own included, where one of us plays Boogie and the other one plays Marshall or another brand in part so that we have very different tones that aren't going to blend into each other so easily.

Now, one of you can be a Boogie 6L6 player and the other can be an EL-34 guy. Of course you can swap tube types on some amps -- the Road King certainly throws a wrench in this scheme -- but in general, this amp will rock hard and not sound like a Rectifier.

Also, the Stiletto is only two channels, which may not be enough for some people, and it lacks built-in Reverb. If you're happy with two channels and use outboard reverb pedals or rack gear, the Stiletto may be a killer amp for your needs if its tone is what you're after. But if you're in love with the Recto sound, this won't be the right Boogie for you.

As for the ratings, I can't speculate on what a single rectifier would get. We have a very specific review process with rating values that is used to calculate the scores for each product. Later this week I'll try to publish a detailed article that explains the review process/criteria. In the meantime, if you go back to the scorecard at the end of the review and click on the headings for Value and Rating, you'll get the short answer:

Each category in our review gets rated from 1-4 stars, with half-stars allowed. Then, each of those categories has been assigned a weighted value. For example, Sound is worth 25% of the overall score. We list the percentages in the table so that you can decide for yourself how the ratings should be to suit your own needs. If you didn't agree with our weighted values, you could create your own calulations in a spreadsheet.


Next month we'll be publishing our review of the Road King Version 2. We're working on getting other amps in for review from some great boutique companies as well as from some other big names -- it just happened that we were able to get a variety of Boogie amps for review all at once.

If you want more details comparing the Stiletto with a Rectifier, post stuff in the MusicPlayers.com forums and Matt will be happy to talk about this with you (he doesn't hang here -- we try to participate in different forums so we see what lots of different players have to say about gear).

 

[benlink]

ok thanks for such a complete answer....I'll try to make a comparison between a single recto and a stiletto...and the two lack reverb....and in fact
I love the rectifier sound especially for the metal...
but..lol I also love old school style...and somme zz top stuff etc..much more british in fact....
So I know the amp I will buy will be between those two.....
I've got to admit that I haven't for the moment a real point of view concerning the tubes...I do love some 6L6 sounds(mark IV, recto, fender cleans etc...) but I also like a lot EL34(even in a recto I think they sound real good, and marshall plexi etc....)
so....I will try to give a grade to the single rectifier and kee you informed how I evaluated it......

 

[scottkahn]

I'm in the midst of my Road King V2 review and talk about a challenging amp to review! It has both 6L6 and EL34, and you can mix-and-match their use on each of four channels.

There are 7 difference voicings for the channels, five tube choice selections, and diode or tube rectification on each channel. That's 70 different sonic possibilities before you even consider adjusting gain and EQ!

After finally dialing in my favorite tones in the amp so far, only one of the three channels is using EL34 tubes... I find for myself, I mostly favor 6L6.

Be curious to see what you end up loving.

 

[benlink]

I've done ....from what I know of the recto and as I've already played once on a dual recto....
so the grades are:
Single Rectifier
-Features: 3 : it lacks reverb, and compared to a stiletto, lacks also the choice concerning the rectification plus the modes spongy/bold. but still a complete amp with 5 modes and solo. and the possibility of swapping 6L6 for EL34...this won't change completely the amp but it sounds a bit different. interesting option.
-Usability: 3: clear panel ...nothing to say much about this...of course, a great reverb such as the LS one would have be great but I've already said that concerning the features...
-Sound: 3,5: The RECTO sound! just unique! but even if it is extremely versatile, the clean which isn't bad at all but could have been better.....perhaps a better clean with el34.....
-Documentaion: 4: it's a mesa......and the manuals are more than complete....
-Price: difficult to grade that but according to the grade that has the stiletto...its has a bit less features but it's a bit less expensive..so 3.
so which makes a total(taking the same value for each grade that musicplayer): so the value of the single rectifier is
3,325!
...the conclusion for me is: the two amps in terms of quality and features are quite similar.....the features on the stiletto such as the rectification and the modes bold and spongy tend to make me think that the stiletto is more versatile.
in fact, the only thing I think that the stiletto lacks in termes of sound(cause yes concerning the features, it lacks a good reverb) is the modern high gain mode of the recto....
from what I know, the stiletto would get close to the vintage high gain mode of the recto....
that's it....it is just my opinion based on what I read, heard, and from my little experience with a dual rectifier(I know I've grade here a single but the tone is similar between these amps...)
So, I would say that the Stiletto Ace is a british dual recto in 50watts so that can be pushed quite easily:
same features than the DR but a different voicing...and for a better price
than the DR....
so for the guy who hesitate between the stiletto ace and the single rectifier and who doesn't have any preference concerning 6L6 or EL34(like me for example who like the two styles when it comes to great amps), the stiletto MIGHT be more complete.....
so afterall......lol I've got to decide but it's not easy between the two..lol

 

[scottkahn]

Well if you throw the bold/spongy thing into the equation then make it 140 possibilities with the Road King...

If only we could do our reviews in ten minutes! There is of course a lot that goes into our decisions evaluating usability/features/etc. -- we spent a lot of time developing our product review style guide that is used by all of our reviewers to ensure consistency from one review to the next regardless of which writer is doing it.

I'm glad that our method of evaluation helped you see for yourself how two products lined up for your own needs. The great thing about calculated scores is that numbers don't lie -- they help you see through the haze. You may think in your head that one amp is more amazing than the other, but when you actually calculate the numeric values for what you were feeling, sometimes you find out that you actually believe something a little bit different. I think our system provides the best way to combine subjective feelings (about sound quality, for example) with objective testing methodologies.

Otherwise, we'd give things WIHO awards based on our mood! Some magazines we read seem to give out far too many awards without any standardization to the process of actually testing the gear. At least we can back up our awards with specifically quantified test results. How many other music magazines can say they do that?

 

[benlink]

lol.....thiis why I'ved said my grade was purely subjective...lol
I'd love the Road King..but it's really really too expensive..
by the way ...a good compromise could be the EH 6CA7 power tubes,couldnt they?
they seem to be a sort of EL34 but voiced between EL34 and 6L6(even if it is a em34, it has more headroom....etc..and it could be a good compromise)...
imagine these tubes in a stiletto......could be great!(and if you don't have enough gain, a tung sol 12ax7 in V1 and BOOOMMM! lol) :twisted:

 

[scottkahn]

The RK is expensive, but not when compared to:
Mesa/Boogie Triaxis plus 2:Fifty or 2:Ninety power amp (either of which cost more new, plus you still need a foot controller)
or some of the hand-wired boutique amps.

You could get a Dual Rectifier for $200 more than a Stiletto Ace if you prefer its sound.