Fellow Stiletto Owners

[Bill Warner]

Hi there. I've been playing for over 20 years and I recently bought the Stiletto Duece about a month ago. When I first played it at the local dealer I loved it! It's got a killer tone and although it seemed to have a good bit of bite/cut I thought I could fine tune it once I got it home. I've been playing with it on and off for about a month now and though the base tone is killer I just cant seem to get past a couple things...

1) I cant seem to tame the amount of bite this thing has. I think it's great that it cuts through so well but after 10 minutes my ears are ringing (not because of the volume though). If I cut it too much then the overall good tone that I like is sacrificed. It almost as though this is the cleanest/clearest distorted amp I've ever played

2) I play a lot of rock covers so palm muting is a must. I'm having trouble finding a setting that gives good palm muting response. It's more of a click than a chunk.

I'm just wondering how some of you fellow Stiletto owners are running your rig and what your impressions are so far. I really like this amp but I'm not ready to gig with it yet. Actually I suppose thats another part of my problem because I'm still using my old rig which I've played for over a decade and know exactly how it sounds/reacts. I dont use alot of effects as a rule. As a matter of fact I haven't tried any yet with the Stiletto because it sounded so good with them.

I want to get this baby on the road! If you have any suggestions or just want to share you thoughts/experiences please chime in!
Thanks

 

[dylan7620]

hey there. welcome to the forum. though i dont own a stiletto. but i have been playin around with them quite a bit latly. i know what you mean.... it really does have a "bite" type of sound.

when i was speaking to the guy at the store he told me to be careful with the mids on it because they become harsh very quickly. i like to crank up my mids usualy because for me because IMO an amp can really sing or scream if you got good mids.

maybe try lowering them just a hair more than you are used to and messing with the presence to get a good mix of cut and smoothness.

also what settings are ur switches on. i had no problem getting a good chug when i set it to tite gain and bold.

and just to rave about this amp... im in LOVE with the "fluid drive" setting.

hope some of this helps :wink:

 

[Bill Warner]

Hi and thanks for the input. Just to give a little more info, I am using the following....

Stiletto Duece Head
Standard 4-12 rectifier slant can (c30's)
Peavey Wolfgangs mainly but also play a lot of strats
Boss GT8 (haven't played with this too much on the Stiletto but plan to)

I am mainly dialing in a decent dirty tone. The setting I typically come back too are..

Channel 2
Bold
Output 9-10 o-clock
Presence aroung 9-10 o-clock

 

[Bill Warner]

Oooops, hit the submit button a little too soon.

Anyway, here's a little more info..

Stiletto Duece Head
Standard 4-12 rectifier slant cabinet (vintage c30's)
Peavey Wolfgangs mainly but also play a lot of strats
Boss GT8 (haven't played with this too much on the Stiletto but plan to)

I am mainly dialing in a decent dirty tone. The settings I typically come back too are..

Channel 2
Bold
Output 9-10 o-clock
Master around 11-12 o-clock
Presence aroung 9-10 o-clock
Bass between 1-3 o-clock
Mid around 12-1 o-clock
Treble around 12-1 o-clock
Gain around 3 o-clock
Fluid Drive
Silicone Diode (back panel switch)

I'm pretty happy with these settings but like I said there is a lot of Bite! My right ear is still ringing after playing around last night for a couple hours. Switching to spongy helps take the bite out but loosens up the tone too much for my liking. Same with switching to tube rectifier on the back but I must admit that I haven't play extensively with these settings. I'm thinking I'm going to start playing with the GT8 in 4CM to see if I cant tame the beast a little with some eq and or a little pre-distortion to warm it up a bit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Surfcaster]

I've not played a Stiletto, but looking at your cab I'm thinking you might do well to try the amp with other cabs. The V30 has a lot of midrange bite...I have one in a 1x12 home built recto style cab and to be honest, I prefer the Custom 90 for the most part. Recently I've paired it up with a G12H30 in a home built 2x12 and find the two speakers together work pretty well. Anyway, the speaker plays a large part in your overall sound. If I were you, I'd take my Stiletto head to a retailer who has a number of cabs to try and just see how it responds with different speakers. Besides, it sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

 

[memberzonly]

Bill,

Don't know if this will help but the first thing I did was yank out the Mesa pre tubes on mine. Mine had 12ax7 R2 which are Sovtek LPS. I replaced with RFTECC83 and 12ax7 Silver Special (original 80's Chinese). The RFT's work great and you may prefer a darker tube in those positions like a JJ.


I am using mine with 2 Pacific Woodworks 1x12 with EV's. I run the spongy switch, tube rec and the following for the channel 2 crunch:
Treble - noon
Mid - 10 pm
Bass - between 1 and 4pm
Pres - 9 to noon

I can get away with the heavy bass setting since the EV's are SO clean.

Hope this helps.

-j-

 

[Bill Warner]

Hmmmmmm, some good suggestions! I'll definately look into trying out some different pre-tubes. I'll also have to go back and see what other cabinets my local guy has.

Actually I have two EVM12L's in another rig of mine (Line 6 AX2) and love 'em! They made a huge improvement on that amp (open back combo). I'm wondering what two of those would sound like together with two of the c30's in the slant cabinet. Of course adding those speakers also adds a lot of weight! My AX2 sounds awesome but is tough on the back!

I agree the cabinet and speakers will have a definate impact but I really think the "bite" is coming from the way the Stiletto was designed to sound. I'm definately curious about a slightly darker sounding tube.

Thanks Again!

 

[greggmetal]

Hey Guys, I also got my Stiletto a less than a month ago, and I'm loving it just the way it is.

One of my favorites sounds are more or less in the same range as described above by you Bill. Give it a try to put the switch at the back of the amp on Loop IN, and start with the send control at 12:00, the adjust it from there.

I'm not sure if I'm saying something really simple or obvius, but it's worth a try. Hope it works for you too.