NAD: Stiletto Deuce

[Typhon]

Hi everyone, new member here, this is my 1st post, now let's cut all the introduction.

I've just received a Stiletto, possibly one of the last ones that were made since it's going the way of the buffalo.

It sounds much better than I expected. My TriAxis is the one going to follow the buffalo soon.

But how worthless is this thread with pictures?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leandro8670

In case it's required 10 or 20 posts in order to post links, just go to Flickr dot com slash leandro8670

Life's good again!

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Very nice. Congrabs...

 

[Danimal]

Better than the TriAxis? Please, do elaborate as I am a current TriAxis user with one eye always on the Stiletto.

 

[Typhon]

Thanks everyone!

Yes, it sounds a lot better to me.

I started using the TriAxis with very high Dynamic Voice settings (6.0), always on LD2 yellow, and I kept lowering it until it finally reached 0. It sounded very scooped even at 1.0 and mids at 7.0 for crunch and 7.5 for soloing, while the Deep switch would add 8 dB on the bass side, which is way too much.

It was a matter of choosing between dark but good when cranked up, or not so dark but compressed.

The TriAxis was very dark sounding and it couldn't really process every frequency coming from my guitars. It's like as if worked mixing up narrow spectrums of bass, mid and treble frequencies, while leaving empty gaps everywhere. Imagine a rainbow with missing colors.

For soloint, the Stiletto is not as fluid as LD2 Yellow; it's more like LD2 Red, so I'm in the process of finding a good mid boost to make it more IIC+'ish.

The clean channel on the Stiletto sits right between RHY Yellow and Green. It's not as modern as RHY Yellow, and it's not as fat and vintage as RHY Green either.

 

[Danimal]

Thanks for the comparison. That Stiletto sounds better by the day...

 

[Typhon]

Just let me know in case you want me to compare something more specific.

I'll see what happens when using the TriAxis into the FX return of the Stiletto.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Just let me know in case you want me to compare something more specific.

I'll see what happens when using the TriAxis into the FX return of the Stiletto.

Honestly, I think that won't turn out too well...

 

[Typhon]

:mrgreen:

It's just a little experiment before the rack is sold.

I'd like to find out the difference between

1 - Simul-Class and 6L6, Class AB and EL34, and finally Class AB with EL34 and Rectifier tracking engaged.
2 - A real power amp and a head working as a power amp.

 

[tonefordays]

Interesting your thoughts on the Triaxis. I have a PRS with Dragon I pickups, and I have had a devil of a time coaxing a usable range of sounds through the Triaxis/2:90. As you say, it's as if something is missing. However, all I have to do is plug in my mahogany Parker Nightfly that is equipped with Suhr SSV/SSV+ pickups and suddenly it's like somebody flicked on a switch that activates all the missing pieces. Truly a night and day difference. With only the controls on the guitar, the Parker can span almost any genre and any preset on the Triaxis, whereas the PRS struggles to do Jazz or even cleaner Blues.

 

[Danimal]

Just let me know in case you want me to compare something more specific.

How about usable gain? The TriAxis can get prtty insane, which I like to do sometimes just for fun. And certainly I know that the Lead1Red would not compare at all to the Stiletto as I have a non-fat recto board in mine.

I've really just recently found that I only use about 5 sounds in my TriAxis, and interestingly my favorite lead tone is in the Lead2Red mode, so your description sounds like it would really be what I want. And perhaps the TriAxis is darker than I ever really thought about as I have the Presence dimed on my 395 to make it sound bright enough. I always just thought I personally liked really bright sounds though.

Be interested to hear your comparison, most notably the SimulClass vs. EL34 Class AB.

 

[Typhon]

Danimal and KH,

Comparing both units is like how loud and audible John Petrucci demonstrates his Mark V compared to his song Animate Inanimate at 7:44. It's dark and sounds far away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ePuL5E-eZM4#t=340s

Believe it or not, the TriAxis plugged into the Stiletto sounded more natural than the basic Tri/2:90 rig. My clean tone (factory preset 5, 15, 25, 35 and so on, with more mids, 4.0 instead of 3.0) was less crystal sounding and more balanced, but still thin, while Lead 2 Yellow sounded bassier and seemed to distort more. My mids on the TriAxis are pretty high (7.0) and that didn't sound good but it's just a matter of lowering to 5 or 6. Switching between silicon diodes and tube retification didn't change much.

I used to play through a Lead 1 Red patch with Dynamic Voice at 6.0, it was insane, but at the same time it was fizzy and thin around certain frequencies. I couldn't get rid of the fizziness even after lowering the DV feature to zero, just like preset 1, 21, 41... The Stiletto on Fluid Drive with gain at noon smokes it. My TriAxis also has the non phat TX4 board, it's almost # 3900. It's not just a matter of gain, but the Stiletto is incredibly immediate. Sometimes it feels like it responds before you actually hit a note.

But don't trust me yet. Read this first:

http://www.petrucciforum.com/forums/showthread.php?57894-My-Stiletto-kills-my-Triaxis!&highlight=stiletto

Edit: unlike the very last reply there, I can't afford to keep it "in z closet", so it has to go.

I'm editing this post for the second time because I've found a perfect way to compare both amps! One is like a high output ceramic pickup. The other is a medium output alnico pickup. :mrgreen:




Listen to this at the exact time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fTkreeEImZ8#t=435s

That's a TriAxis on LD2 Yellow. It feels like someone is pulling you backwards and you're doing an extra effort to stay where you are while you're playing. Can you feel that effort to sound immediate while the notes are being dragged down?





Tonefordays,

I had to install an Evo 2 in my Ibanez JC for that reason. It has a mahogany body, the Tone Zone in the bridge was just too much. My RG920 (basswood body) is a lot more balanced and now it's my main guitar.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

The Triaxis and Stiletto are great amps indeed, each with its own great voicings. I was referring to the fact that I would not have thought running a Triaxis into the loop of a Stiletto would yield excellent results. However, seems like works for you. Good on you... 8)

 

[Typhon]

The Triaxis and Stiletto are great amps indeed, each with its own great voicings. I was referring to the fact that I would not have thought running a Triaxis into the loop of a Stiletto would yield excellent results. However, seems like works for you. Good on you... 8)

Hey, I saw a comment you left for a bald guy playing a white Explorer through a Deuce II and Sparkle Drive on Youtube!

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

The Triaxis and Stiletto are great amps indeed, each with its own great voicings. I was referring to the fact that I would not have thought running a Triaxis into the loop of a Stiletto would yield excellent results. However, seems like works for you. Good on you... 8)

Hey, I saw a comment you left for a bald guy playing a white Explorer through a Deuce II and Sparkle Drive on Youtube!

Ah yes. Why? That was a long time ago... :lol:

 

[58boogie]

The deuce is the most bad *** looking amp in the world. I think they will be lusted after once they are gone.

 

[tonefordays]

I had to install an Evo 2 in my Ibanez JC for that reason. It has a mahogany body, the Tone Zone in the bridge was just too much. My RG920 (basswood body) is a lot more balanced and now it's my main guitar.

Well, I spent some time on my PRS the other evening. The Dragon 1 Bass pickup was relatively recent (for a Dragon 1), but was paired with the original HFS, which was also a recent replacement of the original '97 version of that pickup. I know this because I did the pickup changes myself a few years ago. I have had a pair of much older Dragon 1s sitting around for a long time now that came from the same guitar. Just for fun, I opened up the CE24 and swapped pickups for these. Wow!, What a difference. I can't explain why 2 pickups that are supposed to be the same sound so different. Just using the bass pickup, I get a completely different and much more complex sound than the Dragon 1 bass I took out. The treble pickup is now perfectly paired, and I find myself spending much more time on the middle switch position. It's now the way I envisioned a PRS should be.

On a note related to the thread itself, is it my imagination, or does Mesa discontinue very good products after a remarkably short production run? Is it intentional to keep resale values high?

 

[Typhon]

On a note related to the thread itself, is it my imagination, or does Mesa discontinue very good products after a remarkably short production run? Is it intentional to keep resale values high?

Apparently the Stiletto is out of production because it didn't sell as much as they thought. There's a last one at Mesa Hollywood for $1600. :evil:

 

[leadtone]

The deuce is the most bad *** looking amp in the world. I think they will be lusted after once they are gone.

Got mine yesterday.......... So far so good. It s a hottie....

 

[Typhon]

Congrats!

I'm working on a IIC+'ish setting for Ch 2 - Tite Gain.

Try 100W, Spongy, 5U4, presence and bass at 9h30, middle halfway up (extremely important), treble at 8h30 and gain around 2-3h.