Stiletto Ace/Deuce/Trident Differences

[ferrara]

haha, you were right about l&m in the pm. I was looking there first and the guy almost talked me out of a stiletto. The problem with L&M is that they're all very opinionated, the same guy even tried to talk my buddy out of buying an american strat because he didn't like them. Literally we walked out of there and swore we'd never buy anything from them. Luckily we stopped at a place called The Guitar Shop right by the lake in Mississauga, and they were amazing, showed him the brand new Fender American strat sample (the one that'll be announced at namm) and he ultimately ordered one on the spot. They also have my business for the Stiletto after I decide which one I want.

It's funny, I've never tried an MKIV but I can see how it would be hard to do much with it, just looking at it in person (they had a used combo at l&m mississauga) made me run for the hills. Like you said, it has great tones but too many knobs and switches make me nervous for sure. I don't know how the pros can use it night after night. I guess that's what roadies are for

 

[srf399]

Don't get me wrong.... The MKIV is a great amp and others may prefer it. I had mine for two years and never had it sound consistent. I wanted a great sounding amp that was the same every time I played out with a band. I found that every time I turned the amp on it sounded different and I was always fiddling with it trying to get there. The Lone Stars... Stilettos are a lot more plug & play. And since I am more of a player then a techie I'd rather have something that sounds good even if someone screws with your settings when you're not looking. Also the new power amp tone options to my ears have a lot more effect on feel and tone than the old MK series power amp options. (ie. Tube rectification has more effect than Simul Class & pentode/triode ever did. Also channel assignment is so nice... to be able to adjust your power amp for a specific channel is heaven to me. I just wish the Stilettos had a more versatile foot switch with more options.

 

[ferrara]

Yeah, it seemed as soon as I turned on the ace I could flip everything around and get a nice tone (minus the clean on channel 1, I had to make sure to turn down the presence and treble). But it didn't matter if i was in fluid drive or in tight, or crunch or whatever, I could flip stuff around and have a good sound, then turn the knobs to the sound that I myself like. Very reliable for sure. I know what you mean with the footswitch though, it'd be nice to be able to flip around from clean to crunch and fluid drive and etc. I also would've been a little more happy with a built in reverb because i tend to not like stomp box reverbs and even effects loop ones (unless it's one of those nice fragile spring ones).

 

[ferrara]

So I have lead on a like new used trident, and he's retubed it with the following tubes:
Preamp
1 Tung-Sol 12AX7
1 GT 12AX7
2 JJ ECC83S
1 JJ ECC83
Poweramp
6 JJ KT77

Just looking for a little enlightenment as to sound characteristics/quality of the tubes. (I've never owned a tube amp before so don't know a hell of a lot about different tubes). How do these tubes compare to the original boogie tubes.