Mesa Stiletto or Electra Dyne or Marshall JVM ?

[metallica86]

Hi all

I'm looking to buy a Real Tube amp for me. I'm in cover band and we do almost everything, some classic rock, some latin song, and sometimes a little bit metal ( Neil Young, U2, GNR, Led Zeppelin, Radio Head,....)

At home I play Metallica, Satriani, some Andy Timmons, Pink Floyd GNR but not metal core and death at all.....

I've occasion to checked a Marshall JVM 100 head and a Mesa Boogie Electra Dyne at L&M Toronto, for me ED is GREAT HUGE tone and have reverb on it, but JVM is nice also, and I've read somewhere that you can make every tone with JVM. How about Stiletto ? Anyone owned it ?

And how about the FX Loop of these amps ? I want to put a Line 6 M9, my Wah 535Q and Xotic BB Preamp on the loop. My band play gig every month and how about the 50w and 90w enough for 200 people ?

Also for the budget,JVM head is great for 1200$ but I can spent more to get a right amp for me and not looking to trade or sell every year

Yeah I know a lot of questions out there but there are a lot of people here had experience with amp, fx, and can help me on this.

Thank you so much

 

[Laskyman]

IMHO- the Stiletto owns the JVM, and the Dyne owns the Stiletto (unless you play primarily metal, then I would lean towards the Stiletto). I haven't owned the JVM, but I have owned a stage 2 Deuce- great amp. The Dyne however is Bigger, Thicker, and can hit you with low-end like no other- best clean channel on the planet, amazing reverb, simple interface, low gain channel that is more dynamic than most Boutique drive pedals, just a great, great amp. The gain voicing on the amp is very much like the Xotic BB- if u like that box- u will like this amp. I have a BB+ for sale because the amp sounds so similar to me that I don't need it....the only advantage the stiletto has is a solo button and more gain...but there are other ways to get more gain- just my opinion...

 

[Geiri]

Lasky please stop this

You've got me gassing my a$$ off for a dyne now, and I promised the wife that the mk4 was the last one :roll:

 

[metallica86]

IMHO- the Stiletto owns the JVM, and the Dyne owns the Stiletto (unless you play primarily metal, then I would lean towards the Stiletto). I haven't owned the JVM, but I have owned a stage 2 Deuce- great amp. The Dyne however is Bigger, Thicker, and can hit you with low-end like no other- best clean channel on the planet, amazing reverb, simple interface, low gain channel that is more dynamic than most Boutique drive pedals, just a great, great amp. The gain voicing on the amp is very much like the Xotic BB- if u like that box- u will like this amp. I have a BB+ for sale because the amp sounds so similar to me that I don't need it....the only advantage the stiletto has is a solo button and more gain...but there are other ways to get more gain- just my opinion...

thanks for the post. You better work for Mesa at Marketing Department haha. Yeah I really really love Dyne amp, the easiest amp to dial, I don't want too many knob and tweak all day to get my tone. Just another question, do you think a Line6 M9 in the loop is good to get a metal sound ? Or which distortion pedal you use for Dyne to get more gain ? I have a DS1 and a Wah 535Q, I really like to get Satch tone..., some time a little Metallica should be fun :lol:
by the way I love Xotic BB preamp and have one, and I dont want to sell it because of the Dyne :|

 

[Laskyman]

The key to more gain with a Dyne is adding a *layer* of gain with volume- you could accomplish this with the BB, but for *me*, the gain is too similar- that doesn't mean you won't love it..... I use a maxon OD808 set as a boost- and it makes the Dyne pretty Heavy- KILLER lead tones- I am not familiar withthe m9- but the dyne plays nice with quality outboard gear, so you should be set.
When it comes to any amp- I feel it is only as good as the clean channel, because there are SO many great drive pedals to be had, and this is where the Dyne is peerless IMHO...

 

[metallica86]

thanks lasky for the idea of pedal. What do you think about the combo or the Head, which one is sound better ? I must take with me to practice with my band every week. And if I take the head which cabinet is perfectly for Dyne ?

 

[Laskyman]

I have owned both a 112 and 212- I currently have the 212- and it is a monster. Both sound phenomenal- EASILY the loudest, best sounding combos I have ever played.
I have never played a head/cab version, but I would stick with a matching electra dyne cab as most Mesas are excellently matched with cabs by design- no need to fix what isn't broken. If $$$ is limited, I would go with a closed-back V30 loaded 212 cab or a 112 C90 loaded cab to recapture the magic. Hope that helps

 

[jetdriver]

I would choose the ED as well.

Also, I would run the M9 in the loop. Put the BB (or other booster/drive pedal of your choice) out front. You may find that you don't need to boost it at all.

I have a Creation Audio Labs MK 4.23 boost pedal that I use in the loop of my current amp (as volume boost only). I plan on running it out front of the ED when I get it. You could set the M9 up to provide your solo boost 'lead tone' as well.

I have Recto 412, so I'm planning on getting the head. I've played the ED 112 combo, and it sounds MASSIVE!

I think you could go for the 112 or 212 ED combo and not be compromising sonically at all. It just sounds great, with a nice big punch. I think it could compete with many 412 cabs.

Play one first to be sure. Good luck.

 

[boogieboy]

Can't speak to the stil, but I had a JVM. Doesn't even come close. Certainly gets that marshall tone, but the clean channel didnt do it for me. To me, mesa and marshall are like polar opposites in regard to tone stacks. Whatever I tweak on the road king changes a ton...sometimes too much. The JVM knobs didnt seem to do much at all, like marshalls I had in the past. Nice amp...but I sold it, then got an orange thunderverb(currently the home practice amp-attenuator built in), elmwood 60 (currently the backup amp) and then finally the ED.

The ED sounds nothing like the road king V1 that I have and never play. It sounds the way I wanted to sound. I play classic rock for the most part but we cover anything from clean to near metal. I spend 90% of my time in LO and use my volume knobs. The clean is nice, but I prefer a clean with a little attitude-or I get lost in the mix. The volume knob does that for me in LO.

Current setup is guitar->wahzoo->M9->rockbox/catalyst-ED. I don't use the loop, since i only use effects as slight coloration on rare occasions. The M9 is small compared to the dozens of pedals it replaces(choralflange, minideja, pitchblack tuner, MXR delay in my case).

 

[metallica86]

thanks for all your reply, I really appreciate. Boogieboy you have a M9 so how it sound with ED ? For my conclusion I will go for a ED, I want to invest money for the right amp and I'm really tired of buy sell trade and buy again. Also one thing I love from ED is it doesn't have many knob, just 5 or 6, that's be great. I tried many amp in store, jam space, and when I plug in my guitar, it take me 15-30 minutes tweaking..... gonna be crazy

But I don't know for practice at home, at low volume how it sound, is ED combo is too heavy for my small apartment ? and how it sound with lowest volume..

Again thank you all and happy new year, enjoy holiday :mrgreen:

 

[gplex]

I have the ED 1-12 combo. It is heavy. But it is the biggest sounding 1-12 I have ever played. This is a very loud amp. It does sound very good at lower volumes as well. If you play clean or slightly overdriven it sounds excellent at low volumes. If higher gain stuff is what you crave it sounds better turned up, like every tube amp does.... but its sounds pretty good low.

The JVM is a good sounding amp ( I will be slayed here for saying so ), but it is made very cheaply. Dont take my word for it. Go to a store and grab any of the 26 knobs and wiggle it a little. They are spongy, they push in and out and seem loose. They are only attached to the board. . I see this being a problem down the road. Mesa amps are made much, much better.I had a JVM and it squealed badly with even moderate gain on the od channels, I tried replacing all the tubes.

The ED will do excellent clean, great mid driven rock and hard rock. It will also do 80's metal stuff and with a Tubescreamer in front it will do almost everything.

I detuned my lespaul to c and blasted out ZakkWylde squeals no problem. But the in between stuff is where it really excells.

As far as combo or head, up to you. But the combo is no joke.

Hope that helps a little. Peace