Electra Dyne or Stiletto

[kramerxxx]

To those who own an Electra Dyne and have played Stiletto, (*or own both):

How close do these amps sound?

I like having 2 EQs and the Solo boost.

I really like the ED clean.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[creekhed]

It's a No Brainer.

 

[primal]

They sound nothing alike to me. I own an ED and have played it side by side a Stilletto.

Where the Stiletto shines for me was in the crunch. It has a very pronounced EL34 tone. Does ACDC very well. The ED can not do this tone as well as the Stiletto does. If that is your main tone, the Stiletto will suit you well.I didn't like the tight gain or fluid drive. Neither was as tight as the ED.

The ED is More JCM 800ish, with a tighter gain, and loads more low end then the Stiletto. The ED has huge low end and remains tight even when you turn it up.

Many have complained about having to turn the treble and presence almost all the way off on the Stilletto.

But in the end, the Stiletto crunch and clean tone make that amp worth the money to me. I just couldn't afford both.

There were things about the Stiletto I loved, and things I wasn't crazy about. I loved every tone I heard coming out ot the ED

 

[kramerxxx]

Primal,
thanks.

I own a 3ch Rec and a Mark III so I've got most Boogie sounds covered. The ED has the best Clean I've heard from a Mesa and, yes, I've owned a Lonestar Classic also. I really like the Hi gain on the ED but I didn't have much time with it. I wanted to try a Deuce with it but the store I test drove the ED at didn't have one in stock. I also like the fact you can run either EL34s or 6L6s in it. I don't undestand why Mesa left that off of Stiletto series.

I've been wanting a Marshall sounding amp for a while so that is my interest.

I went through a Splawn, a Cornford and a Bad Cat to get that sound and I am now considering buying either the Stiletto or the ED.

 

[theweatherman]

I use to own the stiletto, and now have the ED. both amps have that marshall sound, the stiletto probably more so. but the stiletto is way too bright. brighter than an actual marshall. it bothered the crap out of me. no matter what i did i could not get that ear piercing high end out of the equation. i was even using dark guitars like les pauls.

here are my thoughts on both amps:

Stiletto

Pros: great crunch, ok clean, 2 channels, easy to EQ
cons: brightness cant be EQed out. not very versatile.

ED

pros: great crunch, but different than the stiletto. More low end. awesome clean, awesome reverb. more versatile than the stiletto.
Cons: have to compromise a little. the amp can be set up to have a sick low end heavy marshall crunch, but the cleans will just be okay, or it can be set up to have amazing cleans and an awesome crunch. its hard to get a heavy drive sound and a perfect, warm, clean sound at the same time, but like everyone says, the beauty of this amp is its simplicity and its ease of use.

for me, the ED is much better than the stiletto. its impossible to get a bad sound out of it, or even a less than okay sound. every tone from this amp is usable and sounds wonderful, no matter how its EQd or what speakers/guitars used.

 

[Jmango]

I too owned a Stiletto and just about every other Mesa amp (some more than once) and now having owned the ED for over a month, I can say that the honeymoon is nowhere near over with this thing.

This amp has given me everything I have always been looking for in am amp.

 

[ronmail65]

Primal,
thanks.

I own a 3ch Rec and a Mark III so I've got most Boogie sounds covered. The ED has the best Clean I've heard from a Mesa and, yes, I've owned a Lonestar Classic also. I really like the Hi gain on the ED but I didn't have much time with it. I wanted to try a Deuce with it but the store I test drove the ED at didn't have one in stock. I also like the fact you can run either EL34s or 6L6s in it. I don't undestand why Mesa left that off of Stiletto series.

I've been wanting a Marshall sounding amp for a while so that is my interest.

I went through a Splawn, a Cornford and a Bad Cat to get that sound and I am now considering buying either the Stiletto or the ED.

I see that you have owned a Splawn. The Splawn ProMod is my favorite amp, but it's too big and loud for some applications. How does the ED 1x12 combo compare in terms of tone and features?

 

[kramerxxx]

The reason I sold my ProMod is for the exact point you make. To get it to the sweet spot the amp was massively LOUD. I think it was the best 'Marshall styled' amp I have ever owned. It was one of the originals that Scott made with the Mercury Magnetics iron, a lousy clean channel and not much variety in the tone choices but Man oh Man, what a great lead sound. A guy offered me more than I paid for it so I sold it. I had toyed with changing it from KT88s to EL34s to lower the volume but feared that some of the magic would be lost doing so. I had called Splawn for the resistor change and I would have only needed to cut one of the resistors out to get it there, but I never did do it. I may pick one up in the future. I think if you start making too many major changes to amp, you probably have the wrong amp.

 

[jetdriver]

I think if you start making too many major changes to amp, you probably have the wrong amp.

That's a very good point.

I've been really into Splawns as well. Really awesome amps. However, I got the chance to play one not long ago and was not as impressed as I'd thought I'd be simply for the sheer power of the amp. As you said, to get the the sweet spot you had to have it extremely loud. No doubt, for a studio amp where you can isolate the cab, a Splawn would rip some serious Marshall tones. But for a working musician playing small bars, it's a little harder to work with. The band I saw, the guitarist was running the master it about .5 - basically just cracked open enough to get sound.

 

[Birdy]

I tried them both. I liked them both.
One of the big plusses with the ED is being able to switch
6L6s to EL34s and vise versa.
Problem is....it sounds so **** good with the 6Ls, I dunno
when (or if) I'll ever get around to swapping tubes !

 

[fox5150]

I can't wait to get my hands on an ED. They've got one in the music shop just round the corner from where i live (2mins walk!). It calls to me! From the two main demos on YouTube, this amp seems perfect to me. I'm blown away by the musicradar video and mick's playing with that strat is exactly what I'm looking for.

I've also got a LSS which is great, but I'm still looking for a 6l6 based amp. I was toying with getting the LSC, but I think the Electra Dyne is the amp for me.

If I last to the New Year it will be a miracle!

 

[tubby_cosmos]

The two amps have pretty different sounds. I personally just didn't care for a lot of the sounds that the Stiletto produced, although I must say it's probably got a more diverse range of tones and is more flexible than the ED. Obviously that was the main factor in making my decision, but I have to say the real benefit of the ED for anybody who's got one is that you just can't get a bad sound out of it. No need to spend all day finding your favourite setting again or tweaking this and that to get the tone perfect. Just flick it on and go. IMO as long as the treble and mids are past 10:30, you can just turn it on, set the gain, and go.

 

[ronmail65]

Back to the Splawn comments... Scott just introduced a 40W 1x12 combo (switchable to 1/2 power and it has a volume knob in the loop). It's called the StreetRod and is based on the Quickrod -- it is identical to the QuickRod in every feature and control except for the "Gain" knob on the clean channel. This is the combo I'm gunning for!

 

[jetdriver]

Back to the Splawn comments... Scott just introduced a 40W 1x12 combo (switchable to 1/2 power and it has a volume knob in the loop). It's called the StreetRod and is based on the Quickrod -- it is identical to the QuickRod in every feature and control except for the "Gain" knob on the clean channel. This is the combo I'm gunning for!

That is a great sound! That is the cornerstone Splawn/Marshall sound, and I love it. But I wonder what else it can do. If you watch a lot of Splawn clips you'll see a lot of teh same style riffing & shredding and everybody seems to be stuck on that one great 80's VH, Dokken style tone. I'm not knocking Splawns, or the great talent of the people posting clips - I'm just saying that it would be easy to get stuck on that sound.

If I can get close to that with the Electra Dyne I'd be happy - because it offers so much in the way of versatility.

This clip sounds pretty Marshally - and its a low quality YouTube vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BFAaKgLyqY

 

[ronmail65]

That is a great sound! That is the cornerstone Splawn/Marshall sound, and I love it. But I wonder what else it can do. If you watch a lot of Splawn clips you'll see a lot of teh same style riffing & shredding and everybody seems to be stuck on that one great 80's VH, Dokken style tone. I'm not knocking Splawns, or the great talent of the people posting clips - I'm just saying that it would be easy to get stuck on that sound.

If I can get close to that with the Electra Dyne I'd be happy - because it offers so much in the way of versatility.

This clip sounds pretty Marshally - and its a low quality YouTube vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BFAaKgLyqY

That ED clip sounds great! If that's typical of the ED tone, then I would love it. For my use it's still lacking some features that I've come to rely on.

Re: the Splawn clips and Splawn players... there are lots of shredders and hi-gain '80's style players that use Splawn amps, which seems to be typical of most of the online clips. And, while the amps are definitely in that JMP / JCM800 tonal range, then can be reigned in and are more versatile than you might think. I dial in classic rock and low break-up sounds from my Splawn. It's a very pick sensitive amp and reacts well to guitar volume knobs too. I'd say they're definitely rock amps, but not exclusively limited to hard rock and metal.

 

[skunizzi]

I owned a Stiletto Ace 212 combo. I recently sold it after hearing what the Electra Dyne can do. As many others have said. The ED is plug and play. Very nice tones. Great clean powerfull thick dirty in one small package. I've always been tweaking with my Stiletto to try and dial out the highs but I was fed up with tweaking.

I've always been searching for an amp that can give me the Fender cleans with the Marshall attitude. I think the ED comes pretty darn close!

I'm heading down to the music shop at the end of the week to pick one up!

 

[theweatherman]

I owned a Stiletto Ace 212 combo. I recently sold it after hearing what the Electra Dyne can do. As many others have said. The ED is plug and play. Very nice tones. Great clean powerfull thick dirty in one small package. I've always been tweaking with my Stiletto to try and dial out the highs but I was fed up with tweaking.

I've always been searching for an amp that can give me the Fender cleans with the Marshall attitude. I think the ED comes pretty darn close!

I'm heading down to the music shop at the end of the week to pick one up!

you wont regret it. the ace is a cool amp, but those highs...the ED is gonna blow your mind