Lovin' my Stiletto Ace!

[SoCalSteve]

I had a Jan. 9th ETA but I got a call Monday Dec. 5th saying "Good news, the amp's here!". Picked 'er up Tuesday and am absolutely thrilled with the tones coming out of it. It's the 1x12 combo and, like the Mesa advertising says, it sounds huge. My only other experience with a Vintage 30 was with an open back and I didn't care for it but in this closed back cab it is just perfect. Deep lows and cutting highs. The top panel of the speaker cabinet is angled up and really projects well.

As for the tones, well the clean channel is just gorgeous. I've never been much of a clean player but that must be because I never had an amp that sounded so rich and full. The fat clean is amazing. And the gain channel? I really don't think I could find a better sounding EL34 amp. I know this is the honeymoon period but I've had enough amps the last couple of years that I can confidently say this is the one I've been searching for!

Well done, Mesa!

 

[cvansickle]

Welcome to the Aces!

 

[Platypus]

Indeed, welcome to the Aces, the amp just stuns with every note.

 

[MesaENGR412]

I loved that call, i was sitting in class when it came in so I got a message on the voice mail to call them back(i figured it was the store calling to tell me of a delay), he answered the phone and said..."well, i've got some news on your amp....it's sitting right here in front of me" and I about went crazy. I had him tell me again because I thought he was kidding with me :lol: ... It's always good when it comes early haha. Congrats on the new amp bud!

-AJH

 

[inkwachemis]

congrats man! good to see the Aces players are growing!

 

[eliot323]

Welcome to the club - I've had mine a few weeks now and it just gets better and better!

 

[ursinus]

I just tried one. Now I've got the gas..... God help me!

 

[cvansickle]

Don't fight it, ursinus! Give in to it, you won't regret it. I have to say, it's the best amp I've ever owned.

 

[eliot323]

Yeah - to paraphrase Oscar Wilde - " I can resist everything except temptation".

 

[SoCalSteve]

Update: Picked up a Strat this week and she sounds gorgeous through the clean channel. I can't believe how friggin' great the 'fat clean' mode sounds. My humbucker equipped guitar is a Wolfgang and it just kills on the dirt channel. Looks like this amp will be with me 'til I give up guitar playing - or die!

 

[SoCalSteve]

3 weeks and smilin' everytime I play 'er. With the hot humbucker in my Wolfgang I've discovered some great vintage type tones on Fat Clean with the gain turned all the way up. This amp is extremely versatile with so many tone variations inside.

I'll tell ya, the Splawn I had that this amp replaced wishes it would have sounded this good!

 

[David.W]

Hi guys, a quick question...

Whats the difference between all the Stilletto's? Is it just ace=50w duece=100w and Trident=150w?

The buzz in hear is killing me :wink:

cheers!

 

[inkwachemis]

3 weeks and smilin' everytime I play 'er. With the hot humbucker in my Wolfgang I've discovered some great vintage type tones on Fat Clean with the gain turned all the way up. This amp is extremely versatile with so many tone variations inside.

I'll tell ya, the Splawn I had that this amp replaced wishes it would have sounded this good!

whoa! what splawn did u have?/ that says ALOT

 

[SoCalSteve]

I had the Competition. No clean channel on it. It had a harshness that I couldn't dial out, even after throwing more good money after bad into a second speaker change. Plus an abrupt volume jump that made it almost unuseable at low volumes. The Ace has a smoothness to it but still has that nice EL34 grind we all love, plus perfectly working tapered volume controls - wait a minute I'm preaching to the choir!

P.S. David as far as I know, the power is the only difference. But the Deuce and Trident have the capability to cut the power to 50 watts where the Ace doesn't have any power cutting capability although the Spongy (Variac) switch does cut it slightly.

 

[David.W]

snip*

P.S. David as far as I know, the power is the only difference. But the Deuce and Trident have the capability to cut the power to 50 watts where the Ace doesn't have any power cutting capability although the Spongy (Variac) switch does cut it slightly.

Thats it? No major tone changes?

Ive been hearing from friends that the only way to go is the Stilletto series as they really partner up nicely with Gibson. Im getting curious...

 

[Platypus]

snip*

P.S. David as far as I know, the power is the only difference. But the Deuce and Trident have the capability to cut the power to 50 watts where the Ace doesn't have any power cutting capability although the Spongy (Variac) switch does cut it slightly.

Thats it? No major tone changes?

Ive been hearing from friends that the only way to go is the Stilletto series as they really partner up nicely with Gibson. Im getting curious...

I'll agree with that, no other Mesa sounds as good with my 58 LP R8 than the Ace/Deuce.

 

[David.W]

Well thats that then! When dropped to 50w say using the Trident or Deuce are the tones still as good as the Ace?

I have a chance to try out a Trident next week at jam to replace my Triple Rec, I think im gonna like this as I was brought up on a silver Jubilee marshall, I'd better act fast though I have a feeliing new 2007 prices will be in effect soon, ??


**** you Platypus... my accounted, wife and unborn kids who will never go to collage, **** you. I thank you!

 

[Platypus]

Well thats that then! When dropped to 50w say using the Trident or Deuce are the tones still as good as the Ace?

I have a chance to try out a Trident next week at jam to replace my Triple Rec, I think im gonna like this as I was brought up on a silver Jubilee marshall, I'd better act fast though I have a feeliing new 2007 prices will be in effect soon, ??


**** you Platypus... my accounted, wife and unborn kids who will never go to collage, **** you. I thank you!

That's a tough question and will be subjective I think. There are those that argue that the Ace sounds better at 50W because it's a 50W OT versus a 100W capable OT in the Deuce but electronically on paper it should have no effect on the tone.. I noticed a difference between the Deuce and Ace but I only played the Ace combo and Deuce head so that could alter the sound significantly, much preferred the ace.

Every amp I've played that scales down or that I've scaled down myself never sounds as good as an amp at that wattage by default but that's my opinion so please don't take it as fact

Personally I think the Ace is a no brainer if you were brought up on the jubilee.

 

[cvansickle]

Stiletto Ace + Fralin-equipped Gibson guitars = Sonic Heaven!

I agree with Mr. P. up there - an amp that is used the way it's designed to be used is always going to sound better than an amp that is providing some add-on function. Before my Ace, I had a Mesa Nomad 100 that sounded great at the full 100 watts, but knocked down to its 50 watt setting it sounded like crap.

 

[inkwachemis]

Well thats that then! When dropped to 50w say using the Trident or Deuce are the tones still as good as the Ace?

I have a chance to try out a Trident next week at jam to replace my Triple Rec, I think im gonna like this as I was brought up on a silver Jubilee marshall, I'd better act fast though I have a feeliing new 2007 prices will be in effect soon, ??


**** you Platypus... my accounted, wife and unborn kids who will never go to collage, **** you. I thank you!

That's a tough question and will be subjective I think. There are those that argue that the Ace sounds better at 50W because it's a 50W OT versus a 100W capable OT in the Deuce but electronically on paper it should have no effect on the tone.. I noticed a difference between the Deuce and Ace but I only played the Ace combo and Deuce head so that could alter the sound significantly, much preferred the ace.

Every amp I've played that scales down or that I've scaled down myself never sounds as good as an amp at that wattage by default but that's my opinion so please don't take it as fact

Personally I think the Ace is a no brainer if you were brought up on the jubilee.

i agree here. unless your playing huge arenas, teh 50 watt ace head should be plenty enough with decent headroom too. if your already considering playin the amp in 50w mode, you might as well get the 50w ace!