New Stiletto Ace Head & Recto 2x12 cab in the house! +++

[robstar]

A zillion thanks to everyone who helped me narrow down and select my new amp / cab purchase.

I picked up my Stiletto Ace Head (black) and Recto 2x12 cab tonight that GCMgr transfered into the new Vegas store for me. I couldn't resist adding a G-Major while I was there as well.

First off, the amp and cab sounds absolutely incredible with my 69' Gold Top Deluxe w/small humbuckers. I'm simply blown away with the tone; even with the few "quick start" settings in the manual I was grinning ear to ear. Basically, all I did was plug it in, dial in the settings and it rocked. Sweet, thick, chimey and exceptional sustain. There is absolutely no sense of a "tinny / harsh / brittle" sound to it that a few others have reported. I think the Recto cab was a great choice.

The plain black style of the head is very clean and retro, somewhat "plexi-esque" I'll post a photo when I get it all set up.

As for the G-Major, it's still in the box for now.

Thanks again to everyone for welcoming me to the Forum and your support.

Robert

69' Gold Top Les Paul Deluxe
Stiletto Ace Head w/ 2x12 Recto Cab
G-Major
Shrinking bank account.....

 

[jab]

sounds like you made a great choice - rock on!

 

[dodger916]

That's a beautiful thing!

Oh, and thanks for being a Donating Member.

 

[insideout]

Yep, that's really cool that it all worked out for you. I agree, the Ace has some magical tones in it.

The G Major takes some getting used to (the manual is one step up from useless) but aside from being a little quirky, it really has fantastic effects. I also like that with a midi board, the gmajor can control channel and a solo boost eliminating the need for the footswitch that came with the Ace (heard a lot of complaints recently about the cheap stereo cable that comes with the Stilettos).

 

[clutch71]

How would you compare the Ace to older Marshalls you played through and how does it sound at low volume?

I'm glad you took your time and found something that fits your playing situation and style.

Welcome to the fold!

 

[robstar]

How would you compare the Ace to older Marshalls you played through and how does it sound at low volume?
.........
Welcome to the fold!

Thanks again for your help. I've been playing for the last two hours, just sat down to check email and my ears are ringing but for today that's a good thing!

Obviously I've got a lot to work out on this amp and haven't even started tweaking but at this point it cranks and kicks A$$ with the first set of factory suggested settings. My chops are still rough though but it felt really good to my ears, head and heart to hear my guitar cranked through an amp after a ten year hiatus.

No doubt this head is on-par so far with my old Marshall 50w from the early 70's era even with just the 2x12 cab instead of the Marshall half stack. It even looks nice. I tried to work a bit toward the old Sound City 120w with full stack tone but got bored quickly and decided to just jam today. It's like a Ferrari compared to my old Mesa .50 cal which was a great amp but never good at low volume for me.

I'm still experimenting with the various switches, channels, spongy, diode-vs-tube rect but can definitely see this is the most versatile amp I've ever owned. It'll take months to nail it all down. I think I'm just going to leave the G-Major in the box for a few days, else I have knob-overload and my brain begins to sound like a DR with a blown cab.

As for low volume, there's been none of that today! Last night my wife sat and listened to me play for about an hour at a very modest volume; low enough that I could still sing over it. When she went to bed I basically sat my iPhone on the top of the head and played with the Stiletto all the way down and the built-in iPhone speaker all the way up. I guess that was asking a little much of both devices but I could almost do it. The opening threshold of a 2x12 cab versus 1/16" iPhone speaker is no match. Otherwise, it was very good with the rock / crunch tones that I could sing over at reasonable volume. Thankfully my wife can and does have the ability to sleep pretty much at-will regardless of surroundings. She was glad to see me playing again too and it's great to have her support.

Once I got that cab pushing some air today it was of course opened up enough to make a huge sonic difference in the tonality but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine with it at lower volumes when needed... but the iPhone levels ain't going to cut it!

_______________________
69' Gold Top Les Paul Deluxe
Stiletto Ace Head w/ 2x12 Recto Cab
G-Major
Shrinking bank account.....

 

[Platypus]

Another happy Ace owner 8)

It does sound kickass through the recto 2x12 too! I run my 2x12 ace along with it sometimes for some extra girth

 

[srf399]

Glad to see you got your Stiletto and liking it. Now you've got me wondering if I should try out the Recto 2x12 again! Somebody stop the GAS! I'd like to pick up a G -Major as well....

 

[robstar]

... Now you've got me wondering if I should try out the Recto 2x12 again! Somebody stop the GAS! I'd like to pick up a G -Major as well....

Pedal to the metal my man! Thirty days ago I was trying to stay around $1k! Like clutch71 told me "you deserve it" ! He was right!

What you really need is a second Stiletto with the Recto 2x12 cab so you can run a stereo rig... that's what you need...

 

[Charlie]

Pics!

 

[srf399]

Don't even go there LMAO My wife is already putting up a fuss

 

[insideout]

My wife is already putting up a fuss

That's man code for "she beat the ever living crap out of me" :shock: :lol: . I can empathize

 

[srf399]

LOL You have one of those as well I see

 

[robstar]

My wife is already putting up a fuss

That's man code for "she beat the ever living crap out of me" :shock: :lol: . I can empathize

Guys... if your guitar wouldn't stay in tune or your amp was giving you too much unwanted feedback, what would you do??? You'd unload it and get new one right? Either trade up or get a spare!

It took me three times but I finally found a good one (wife that is). After 13 years together, she still loves to hear me play, even as sucky as I am right now. She sat here while I played tonight and ordered us RUSH tickets for their Vegas show on May 10th. She'll stomp your butt on a mountain bike too. Geez I'm off topic....

 

[cvansickle]

Welcome to the Aces!

 

[srf399]

LMAO Oh mine is a good one.... When I went in to buy my first amp in 20 years.... I had a $1850.00 wad of cash in my pocket.... I looked at the boogies within my range and took one home for a few weeks...then another... then saw the MKIV and she just said to me "you'll never be happy with your amp unless you get the one you really want" I got the MKIV at a price tag in Canada at that time of $2499.00 !!!!!!! Our dollar was low in 2005. She bought me my multi effect pedal B-day 2004, New fret job B-day 2006, 1x12 Thiele cabinet B-day 2007 (I later traded it in).... So I'm not trading her in.... I would like a nice Lonestar Classic head to sit on top of my Stiletto head though

 

[insideout]

:lol: I agree. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. Sure, she's the voice of reason in our relationship, and sure, she clubs me over the head with a meat cleaver when I want to buy something, but if it wasn't for her, we'd have a gigantic monster rig, and no money for electricity to turn it on 8)

 

[robstar]

Pics!

Here's my new Stiletto Ace Head w/ 2x12 Recto cab and the 69' LP Gold Top. For those who care I still have the original stock bridge and tuners but I put these on in the 80's. Also, I thought there was a thread for Stiletto / gear shots but I can't find it? It's not so impressive as what most of you have but I've been out of the loop for a while and there's some " GASSIN' " to catch up on!

 

[srf399]

Here's the link....

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19799&start=0

Get your rig posted there

Looks great btw!

 

[clutch71]

Sweet Rig! I really have to try out one of those Aces. Does that head box remind you of anything from the 70's? I just noticed that they look like the old JMP boxes!

That axe is sick and I bet it plays like better. I'm curious to see what you think of the G-Major when you get the chance. Looks to tweak heavy for me. I run some pedals but I pretty much set and forget.