Stiletto Deuce help, need more low end chunk and boom

[Guitarz_18]

Ok, I've been lurking around on this forum looking for some help
with my Stiletto Deuce head, hopefully other owners can help.

I know the manual says that the bass response is voiced an
octave higher, but I really miss that low end. How can I get
the low end back? Do I need to modify the amp or would a
graphic eq in the loop work?

I play original hard rock music down tuned like the nu-metal
crowd.

Since this is my first post here, a little about what I own:
I have a Mesa Duel Recto(my main gigging amp), Marshall 1987 Silver Jubilee,
Marshall 1978 Super Lead, Peavey Classic 30, Line 6 Flextone II,
and some practice combo amps. I have a Marshall 4x12 with vintage
30's, Peavey 5150 4x12, Marshall 2x12 with G12T75s, Marshall
2x12 with Eminence Governor and Red Ryder, 2 Carvin Legacy 2x12s
with Vintage 30s, and 2 1x12s loaded with a Celestion G12T75 and one with an Eminence Wizard. I own 17 electric guitars (Fender, Gibson, Carvin, Kramer (80's original ones) and Peavey) a couple of acoustics and a couple of basses.

So, from that you can gather I'm not a newby to tone and I've used a Mesa Duel Recto for 3 years gigging a lot, I've owned the Stiletto for
about 6 months and its been a love/hate relationship ever since. Sometimes I love the tones and sometimes I can't stand them but I've
always hated the lack of low end chunk and boom that all of my other
amps provide. I'm not talking about huge earth shaking chunk like my
recto, but seriously even my 1978 Marshall Super Lead has a ton
more bowel loosening low end than the Stiletto. By the way, I bought
the Stiletto brand new, still in the shipping box from Mesa and sealed.
I'm the only one that has ever played this amp since it shipped from
Mesa, so I don't think there's something wrong with it.

This is my single biggest complaint about this amp (yes,
there are some others) and it will be the deciding point on if I keep it or
take a huge loss and sell it.

So, please any comments, suggestions or HELP?
Thanks and sorry for the huge first post. :wink:

 

[mesaian]

buy the rec back, put el34s in it, run through marshall cab

 

[mesaian]

" I'm not talking about huge earth shaking chunk like my
recto, but seriously even my 1978 Marshall Super Lead has a ton
more bowel loosening low end than the Stiletto"........... :?: :?: :?: :?: i own a 78 and 69 and the q for bass on both is around 150hz, it has not loosened my bowels.

 

[xnfx]

Only thing I can think of is Rectifier Standard cab. Maybe a power tube with more low end, like the JJ E34L. I did'nt notice any lack in low end from mine. The EQ might work out great for you though. Good luck.

 

[mesaian]

I did'nt notice any lack in low end from mine.

..... did you take an involentary **** while playing :?: if not, it was'nt bowl loosening :wink:

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

:lol: Haha! That's good.....

Try a larger cab, like the recto stadard. A tube swap might also do it. Remember that el-34'S and 6L6's have difference characteristics.

 

[Guitarz_18]

Just to clear up a couple of things...

no, I didn't crap my pants :roll:

I'm well aware of the difference in 6l6, EL34,EL84, tubes
I'm comparing the low end to 2 other EL34 loaded amps
and one EL84 loaded amp, hell even my Line 6 has more
low end.

I still own all the amps I mentioned
I just sold a Mesa oversized 4x12 recto cab, it
didn't help the low end

So, other Stiletto owners haven't noticed a lack
of low end?

What tubes would you recommend to increasse low end?

I think my problem could just be the freq that the bass
is tuned to, I don't know, I think I'll contact Mesa

Thanks for the replies anyways

 

[jbird]

I don't see the Stilettos as a tool for de-tuned instruments, albeit, the Trident would've gotten you closer!

 

[cpepper]

Unfortunately you may have purchased the wrong amp for the music you play but this may help (settings from Kirk Hammets stiletto - he owns many amps so no he is not a stilleto man now) Gain 2:30, Bass 5:00, Mid
11:30, Treble 10:00, Presence 9:00 and Master 11:30, tite gain. Now when I tried the fallowing setting it was indeed dark and smokey sounding so I figure this was used for lead work which it did sound great with. It may not be the cure for you're nu detuned tone but on a standard tuned or 1/2 a step down it sounds awsome. ( and for gods sake stick with a mesa a cab)

 

[Bobbypols]

I get tooo much low end and girth from my stiletto. What i found is if you want low end, get JJ pre amp tubes and e 34l power amp tubes. The problem is at low volumes it hides. When you get it up to operating temperatures....watch out its hugh. Use a hot plate to do that. If its still not enough theres a deep switch. But get those tubes pumping then tell me.... Actually, i dont use e34l's anymore i went back to the mesa stock tubes to give less bass and more grit. JJ's tend to me smoother. BUT the amp suffers baddd from the stock preamps. The power amp tubes less so. Before you get discourage, just crank the volume to about 75% on the drive, gain where u prefer and at least 12-1 on the master volume and let me know if you dont feel that bass. Also im using a traditional mesa recto cab and i feel it. Actually i have a lower gain preamp in v2 to add less compression to the tite clean all the way to tite gain and i like it a lot. I think its rated at 70 % the gain of a 12atx7. Let me know where you at after you tried that. But i do find the biggest problem is pre amp tubes.


Also i did have that problem of lack of bass so i ran out to the store and got a eq. When put into the fx loop theres all the bass you ever need...you can really beef it up. I got a mxr 6 band.

But like i said...the volume levels play a big part.

 

[Guitarz_18]

I get tooo much low end and girth from my stiletto. What i found is if you want low end, get JJ pre amp tubes and e 34l power amp tubes. The problem is at low volumes it hides. When you get it up to operating temperatures....watch out its hugh. Use a hot plate to do that. If its still not enough theres a deep switch. But get those tubes pumping then tell me.... Actually, i dont use e34l's anymore i went back to the mesa stock tubes to give less bass and more grit. JJ's tend to me smoother. BUT the amp suffers baddd from the stock preamps. The power amp tubes less so. Before you get discourage, just crank the volume to about 75% on the drive, gain where u prefer and at least 12-1 on the master volume and let me know if you dont feel that bass. Also im using a traditional mesa recto cab and i feel it. Actually i have a lower gain preamp in v2 to add less compression to the tite clean all the way to tite gain and i like it a lot. I think its rated at 70 % the gain of a 12atx7. Let me know where you at after you tried that. But i do find the biggest problem is pre amp tubes.


Also i did have that problem of lack of bass so i ran out to the store and got a eq. When put into the fx loop theres all the bass you ever need...you can really beef it up. I got a mxr 6 band.

But like i said...the volume levels play a big part.

Ok, so you have too much low end now? Is it because of the tubes
or the MXR EQ? How well does the EQ work in the effects loop?

I've run my Stiletto at every volume it's cabable of and I also used
it with a Mesa over sized recto cab. I feel the low end, but not like
any of my other amps. I think it must be what the freq is that the
bass knob is tuned to.

Also, I don't play nu-metal, that's just the tuning my band uses just
to help the singer and to sound a little more modern. Also keep in mind
I didn't buy the amp to replace my Duel Recto, I still use that live and
with the band, I kind of ended up with it because I bought a Lonestar and after a couple of days I realized that I'm not a classic rock kind of
player, so I took it back, had to trade it for something else or I'd lose like $400, so I bought the Stiletto instead, its at least usable for what I want.

I mainly use the Stiletto at home although I have gigged with it several times. I tried to get a A/B/Y pedal so I could use both the recto and the stiletto together but there was too much bleed from one amp to the other.
Ultimately, that's what I'd like to do, use it with the recto or an A/B
setup.

 

[cpepper]

Actually it would be cool to a/b with it. The Stilleto like the lonestar is a unique tool and cudos to mesa for coming out with amps to suite all players. The amp I find is victum of bad marketing. Alot of people thought when it came out to be the next dual rec and were sverly disapointed by the eq and gain structure of the amp. detuning with a stiletto is like detuning with a marshall jt45 it can work for certain applications but you will not get that chugga chugga rhythem. Another thing is if you get the mesa mod posted on previous threads it will tighten up you're fluid channel which could be an application that would you're music.

 

[Bobbypols]

The low end is from the tubes and also the eq in the fx loop. My recommendations before returning it, try jj e34l's, if you dont like them then u can keep em to use in your recto if ever the situation arises. Also preamp tubes suck...if you can swap em with others then give it a go. A eq pedal will add a lot more bass...more so then the tubes, but thats what a eq does. So there both good means of increases bass i say he eq is more effective..but it can have its donefalls like increase noise...increase cluter in signal chain, and a good tube can clean up a bit more overall sound.

If your not a classic rock kinda of player then that maybe where the problem lies. It also has to be the most finiky amp to get "right". I think if you could properaly a/b/y it, with a recto you would have quite a sound going....

 

[Guitarz_18]

Ok, I switched out the stock Mesa tubes with some Svetlana
El-34s that I had. WOW, what a difference. A ton more low end.
It pretty much changed the whole tone of the amp for the better.
That is so weird that power tubes could have that large of an effect
on the amp.

This really makes me wonder now how much changing the preamp
tubes would do for the tone. Anyone have suggestions of what to get?

 

[cpepper]

Personally I like the groove tubes 12ax7 c's they were the origanal chinese preamp tubes that mesa used during the acclaimed mark 2-c + and early 90's dual rec days that helped produce that fabled mesa tone. They are a lot warmer in tone but don't compress you're sound in as you turn you're gain up which gives you a more wide open tone. Buuut a lot of other people like the JJ high gain kit on this forum which has another way of revitalizeing you're front end.

 

[xnfx]

Ok, I switched out the stock Mesa tubes with some Svetlana
El-34s that I had. WOW, what a difference. A ton more low end.
It pretty much changed the whole tone of the amp for the better.
That is so weird that power tubes could have that large of an effect
on the amp.

This really makes me wonder now how much changing the preamp
tubes would do for the tone. Anyone have suggestions of what to get?

Maybe your stock tubes were bad? I know I had loss of low end when my tubes were going down in a dual rec once.