Stiletto Ace To Bright For Some?

[surferdeac]

I hear a lot of people comparing the ace and the stage II deuces contending then ace is overall more bright and not as warm. Well if you are comparing a 1X12 ace combo amp to a deuce II head with a 4x12 extension cab what would do you expect? Its not really a fair comparison in my opinion. If you were comparing an ace head to a deuce head through a 4x12 cab, the comparison would be fair. Another thing, I know a guy who sold his trident because to really get a supersaturated tone with 150watts coming out of a 4x12 rectifier cab, he literally Blew everyones eardrums out he played with. If you are playing small to medium size gigs or in a studio or with your buddies in a garage a 50 watt Ace head with a good 2x12 extension cab would most likely be plenty. With regards to brightness and warmth, I think an ace Head could be just about as warm and maybe just a little more bright but still sound great if you take time to tweak your amps eq. you could get rid of a lot of the brightness people were taking about when comparing the ace and deuce especially when playing through a good 2x12 or 4x12 extension cab.

Any thoughts on this topic would be appreciated

 

[srf399]

The Ace and the Deuce II/Trident II have different transformers. The Ace is brighter then the Deuce or the Trident when all other things are equal. I'm finding even the Deuce II too bright for my taste right now.

 

[surferdeac]

with that being said do you think that substituting mesa el34str447's with the 450's and the 12ax7's with spax7a's would help out with the overall tone of a stiletto ace?? maybe take some of the so called harshness out of the top end and help out with the brightness just a tad? Does anybody know if these substitute stock mesa boogie tubes help out with the overall tone of the ace or other stiletto's for that matter???????

 

[halfnote]

I replaced the stock mesa tubes in my Ace combo with a pair of GT EL34 R 7 and it made a noticable difference in overall brightness. I however don't think the amp is too bright I just wanted a little more bottom. I have also noticed that using the tube rectifier and spongy setting add alot of overall warmth to the tone. You do sacrifice a little volume and attack in these settings but I prefer the feel of the amp set up this way, and it increases tube life in spongy setting. Using the 4 ohm out instead of the 8 can also achieve similar tones.
A little off topic but I got to really fire up my Ace last night at practice and I cannot believe how much I like the crunch on channel 2 vs. the trident stage 1 I had. It is like the Marshall that Marshall could only dream of being, IMO.

 

[Silverwulf]

I don't think the ACE is too bright at all. I hear a lot of complaints about them being bright, but I've owned Series I, had that Series I Hollywood Modded, Series II, and the ACE (also a Series II obviously). I never thought they were too bright, and I had different tubes in both ACE's I owned.

As far as being less warm, it's a bunch of garbage IMO. I love the ACE. There's just something magical about a 50W EL34 amp. It's not the same mismatching speaker connections, pulling tubes, running at 50W, etc. I always enjoyed my Marshall JCM 800 2204's more than my 2203's.

With all that said, I own the Series II Deuce right now, but only because of loud *** drummers and headroom. I ran straight JJ's in my first ACE and it tamed the brightness quite notably. I used JJ EL34L's and JJ ECC83's in the preamp with at least a high gain in input of the mode you use most (Tite Gain for me).

 

[surferdeac]

Silverwulf Its good to hear people like you saying positive things about the ACE. I Don't need 100 watts for studio application and if i do get a chance to gig with this amp I'll most likely have access to a decent pa system for a little bit more head room if need be.

"Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance"

 

[count_chocolat]

I have a head with a 2 x 12 Avatar cab and my ace smokes in a band setting. Would not change it for any other amp, unless made a 3 channel ACE!!!
Channel 1 Clean
Channel 2 Crunch
Channel 3 Fluid Drive

 

[srf399]

Actually... I don't even need a 50 watt amp. I have used a 22 watt amp for many years and mic'ed through a PA it was huge. It's all about sound and it you're happy great. I like a lot about my Stiletto but I want a warmer/fuller sound now.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I owned an Ace combo and in the end it's inherent brightness drove me nuts. Even with the presence and treble turned down it sounded like it was muffled and would rather be bright. I sold my Ace and bought a DC-3 shorthead and two Recto 1x12 cabs instead. Love it!

 

[scott7d]

I've owned an Ace combo as well, and found it to be somewhat harsh. However, Vintage 30's that haven't been broken in yet could have contributed to that. In general, the tone of the amp was great, and easily the best cleans of any amp I've owned, but the gain was pretty raspy. If I could have afforded it, I would have experimented with different speakers, or paired a V-30 with something a little darker.

And I have to add....Visually, I think the green/tan Stiletto Ace combo is one of the nicest, classiest looking amps on the planet. I REALLY miss the compliments from people who do not even play guitar, about how the amp looked.

 

[jglover51]

I'm having the same problem with my Ace 1x12. I'm thinking it may be the Vintage 30, which have a reputation of being "ice-picky" if not broken in. I think I'm going to replace it with a G12T-75, as it's supposed to be more of a "scooped" sound. I think that's a good choice since the EL34's provide a ton of midrange.

I'm also switching to JJ's- hopefully that will help as well.

 

[HolyRose]

Hi There,

All Stilettos are Bright. They were built to be Bright.
I´ve played with Deuce , Trident and now i have an Ace.
The Ace is more Warm than his Big Brothers.
I use mine with 2x12 Black Shadow speakers and the tone is Warm.
I use it with my PRS custom 22 (DragonII PU´s) and its EXACTLY the sound i was looking for.
Anyway , I have to cut almost ALL the treble and presence on the Ace , and some Treble (10K) with the Tc Electronics G-System.

Like this the Ace ROCKS !!!

Cheers

 

[Silverwulf]

I'm having the same problem with my Ace 1x12. I'm thinking it may be the Vintage 30, which have a reputation of being "ice-picky" if not broken in. I think I'm going to replace it with a G12T-75, as it's supposed to be more of a "scooped" sound. I think that's a good choice since the EL34's provide a ton of midrange.

I'm also switching to JJ's- hopefully that will help as well.

JJ's are a perfect match for the ACE IMO. They help tame the brightness and give you a little more headroom. The 75's work great with the ACE, but I love my V30 with them too. V30's do need to be broken in nicely though. My current V30 cab has been with me for about 5 years of constant practice and gigging, so they've been well broken in and sound great.

 

[goestoeleven]

I'm having the same problem with my Ace 1x12. I'm thinking it may be the Vintage 30, which have a reputation of being "ice-picky" if not broken in. I think I'm going to replace it with a G12T-75, as it's supposed to be more of a "scooped" sound. I think that's a good choice since the EL34's provide a ton of midrange.

I'm also switching to JJ's- hopefully that will help as well.

Having owned a Marshall JVM recently and switching over to the Stiletto (Stage I), I would agree that it's a "cutting", bright amp. (hello: "STILETTO :!: :lol: ). That said.. I think that BY FAR the biggest problem for those of you complaining about this is SPEAKER-related. Speaker selection with the Stiletto IMO is WAY more critical to establishing a love or hate relationship. Personally, I have found the recent crop of Celestion V-30s to be harsh and "ice-picky" in the high mids; especially before they're broken-in. With my Marshall JVM, which was a less bright amp, it was a factor, but couldn't imagine liking the Stiletto much at all without warmer, thicker speakers.

I run my Stiletto thru a Marshall 1960AHW cabinet- handwired with Celestion G12H 30s, and it sounds perfect. Bright enought to cut thru the mix but not harsh or "too bright". And it looks good too:

They aren't cheap, but they're an integral part of my tone and sound incredible:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Celestion-G12H-Heritage-Guitar-Speaker?sku=660259


Just my $.02

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

IME, I prefer the Stiletto II over the Stiletto I, one of the reason cause it's brighter IMHO...

Just my onions...

 

[rocksalt7]

I'm good w/ your onions KH!!!!
My ACE combo is getting better every time I crank it up . IMHO the speaker is finally getting well broken-in and everything is finally settling out. For me, bright is good....I can make anything "muddy" it seems like; so I'll take the bright flavor whenever I can get it! :mrgreen:

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I'm good w/ your onions KH!!!!
My ACE combo is getting better every time I crank it up . IMHO the speaker is finally getting well broken-in and everything is finally settling out. For me, bright is good....I can make anything "muddy" it seems like; so I'll take the bright flavor whenever I can get it! :mrgreen:

In a band mix, the brightness makes perfect sense...

 

[flieger67]

The ACE combo can be very bright in my experience. However, I just dialed back the treble and presence a pretty fair amount and find it nicely balanced. If you're using a new speaker, that could be contributing to shrill highs until the speaker breaks in.

 

[secretsoundz]

I owned an Ace combo and in the end it's inherent brightness drove me nuts. Even with the presence and treble turned down it sounded like it was muffled and would rather be bright.

Same here. I sold it and haven't missed it once.

 

[angus1959]

I own both an Ace head and Deuce stage 1 head and bright they are. The answers are low treble and presence settings AND speakers. After some research and experimenting, I am very happy mixing broken in Vintage 30's and G-12H's. One of each in a 2x12, or 1 of each in 2- 1x12's. Beam Blockers are also helpful. I have them in 2 different 2x12 cabs, as well as in 2 of 4- 1x12 cabs. The Beam Blockers not only tame the spikiness, you can actually wind up the amp a little more as the sound is diffused somewhat. Hope this helps. Angus1959