Stiletto Deuce Stage II

[Barry]

Acquired a Deuce stage II yesterday . Do any of you remember the contest giveaway on the Mesa and Andy Timmons sites last year ? This is the Deuce from the contest . They guy sold everything . The LSC head, Deuce head, 4X12 recto cab and is now selling the A. Timmons Ibanez signature guitar . My Deuce was still in the box . Brand spanking new ! I'll be tweaking it this week and determining the exact differences between stage I & II . Anyone else that has made the move from I to II please chime in .

 

[bonchie]

Did you get it off ebay? I saw a guy on there saying he was selling one from a "contest". But that was 3 weeks ago.

 

[Barry]

Did you get it off ebay? I saw a guy on there saying he was selling one from a "contest". But that was 3 weeks ago.

Thats the one . Still in the box . Brand spanking new .

 

[Platypus]

The biggest difference I noted between my Duece I and my Ace II, more gain on the fluid drive mode, less flubby bass on the fluid drive mode.

The Deuce sounded more 'open' on the tight mode but you can get that same open sound by dropping the gain lower and I can get almost identical to that sound on the II.

My biggest complaints about the I were solved in the II though I've read people say the original series are more 'marshally'.... ymmv.

 

[Barry]

The biggest difference I noted between my Duece I and my Ace II, more gain on the fluid drive mode, less flubby bass on the fluid drive mode.

The Deuce sounded more 'open' on the tight mode but you can get that same open sound by dropping the gain lower and I can get almost identical to that sound on the II.

My biggest complaints about the I were solved in the II though I've read people say the original series are more 'marshally'.... ymmv.

I agree wit that but also its a "faster or quicker" amp if you will . It responds to your pick attack quicker. Feels like it almost anticipates your next move . Much less sag feel to it . Toying with the idea of keeping my stage I as well but may sell it and get a LSC head . Love the stage II . Will be fun to get it on the gig where i can really open it up with the 4X12 Trad. cab and the LP .

 

[Platypus]

The biggest difference I noted between my Duece I and my Ace II, more gain on the fluid drive mode, less flubby bass on the fluid drive mode.

The Deuce sounded more 'open' on the tight mode but you can get that same open sound by dropping the gain lower and I can get almost identical to that sound on the II.

My biggest complaints about the I were solved in the II though I've read people say the original series are more 'marshally'.... ymmv.

I agree wit that but also its a "faster or quicker" amp if you will . It responds to your pick attack quicker. Feels like it almost anticipates your next move . Much less sag feel to it . Toying with the idea of keeping my stage I as well but may sell it and get a LSC head . Love the stage II . Will be fun to get it on the gig where i can really open it up with the 4X12 Trad. cab and the LP .

100% agree with the pick attack comments, first thing I noticed when I demoed the Ace the first time. If I had both, I'd sell the Stage I and get something new, the two are similar enough that you should be able to get all the sounds from the Stage I + way better tone on the fluid drive mode for Stage II.

Pics!!

 

[Barry]

The biggest difference I noted between my Duece I and my Ace II, more gain on the fluid drive mode, less flubby bass on the fluid drive mode.

The Deuce sounded more 'open' on the tight mode but you can get that same open sound by dropping the gain lower and I can get almost identical to that sound on the II.

My biggest complaints about the I were solved in the II though I've read people say the original series are more 'marshally'.... ymmv.

I agree wit that but also its a "faster or quicker" amp if you will . It responds to your pick attack quicker. Feels like it almost anticipates your next move . Much less sag feel to it . Toying with the idea of keeping my stage I as well but may sell it and get a LSC head . Love the stage II . Will be fun to get it on the gig where i can really open it up with the 4X12 Trad. cab and the LP .

100% agree with the pick attack comments, first thing I noticed when I demoed the Ace the first time. If I had both, I'd sell the Stage I and get something new, the two are similar enough that you should be able to get all the sounds from the Stage I + way better tone on the fluid drive mode for Stage II.

Pics!!

Thats very likely the path i will take . May get the LSC head and use my headbone to switch between it and the Deuce II . The Andy Timmons rig ! Who knows. I f i like that enough the RK may go the the selling blocks . The beauty of gigging is i can really open the amp up .

 

[stash49]

I am really glad to see this issue come up again. I have a Trident Stage I and I almost love it-with a boss Metal Zone it is fantastic through my traditional 4x12 recto. GC will trade it back as soon as they get the stage II trident I ordered... in MAY! I have an ACE too, which I love, but sounds small compared to the 150 watt beast. And then there is the $250 Fluid Drive Mod(kit now available from Mesa.) If the only diffrence is the fluid drive, I save $500 getting the FD Mod over the Stage II.

 

[Barry]

I am really glad to see this issue come up again. I have a Trident Stage I and I almost love it-with a boss Metal Zone it is fantastic through my traditional 4x12 recto. GC will trade it back as soon as they get the stage II trident I ordered... in MAY! I have an ACE too, which I love, but sounds small compared to the 150 watt beast. And then there is the $250 Fluid Drive Mod(kit now available from Mesa.) If the only diffrence is the fluid drive, I save $500 getting the FD Mod over the Stage II.

I dont think thats the only differnce . I think one of my friends at mesa mentioned a different transformer as well in the Stage II . All the modes except tite gain were revoiced as well .

 

[Barry]

It would be cool if hard-core Marshall dudes like Page, Slash, etc. started using Stilettos.

Any top pros using this amp? series 1 or 2?

Stiletto users - Andy Timmons, Al Dimeola, you & me :lol:

 

[Barry]

It would be cool if hard-core Marshall dudes like Page, Slash, etc. started using Stilettos.

Any top pros using this amp? series 1 or 2?

Stiletto users - Andy Timmons, Al Dimeola, you & me :lol:

Al Dimeola is a major jazz artist from what I've heard. That's interesting that he uses that amp. Does he use clean & dirty?

Im sure he utilizes all the sounds of the amp .

 

[stash49]

I've seen him pose with a stiletto, but my research indicates he uses a Mark I reissue, along with his RAT pedal, and assorted delays, etc.

 

[Lt_Core]

Since it's an EL-34 amp, I'm guessing it's light years away from my F-50 regarding tone. The F-50 is the only Mesa amp I've owned or played through.

Would owning a Stiletto and an F-50 cover a lot of ground, tone-wise?

 

[Barry]

I have no clue what an F-50 sounds like. Haven't heard of a pro that uses that and they're out of production I think too.

Best bet to cover a lot of ground, tone-wise, is a Mark IV. Mark III's are great too but 3 channels share one EQ section.

You are correct . they were replaced by the new Express series .

 

[siggy14]

Here is another
Lee Ritenour

And such other artists as.
Ben Mauro from Lionel Richie
Mario Guini from Marc Anthony

I've seen him pose with a stiletto, but my research indicates he uses a Mark I reissue, along with his RAT pedal, and assorted delays, etc.

similar to John Scofield. I was surprised to hear a jazz guy using a Stiletto. I've never heard of jazz guys using Recto or Stiletto...

 

[Barry]

Here is another
Lee Ritenour

And such other artists as.
Ben Mauro from Lionel Richie
Mario Guini from Marc Anthony

I've seen him pose with a stiletto, but my research indicates he uses a Mark I reissue, along with his RAT pedal, and assorted delays, etc.

similar to John Scofield. I was surprised to hear a jazz guy using a Stiletto. I've never heard of jazz guys using Recto or Stiletto...

Dont know Mario Guini but I do know Suriel Zayas that plays with Marc Anthony . Ive traded some messages with him on the Tom Anderson site . Super nice guy .

 

[bgroup]

Lt_Core, I own both an F50 combo and a Stiletto Deuce Stage I (& a Mark IIc+ for all the Mesa geeks out there!). I also own 13 other amps including all the usual suspects like Marshall, Fender, Vox, Orange, Ampeg, Gibson...

FWIW, my favourite of all of them is my Stiletto. It's the coolest sounding of all of them. My "desert island" amp would be my F50 because of all the territory that's covered in one amp. If I had BOTH on my desert island, I would be confident that I could do ANYTHING I needed to do. UNBELIEVABLE versatility between the two.

Hope this helps. Brent

 

[Whammyless]

I've seen him pose with a stiletto, but my research indicates he uses a Mark I reissue, along with his RAT pedal, and assorted delays, etc.

similar to John Scofield. I was surprised to hear a jazz guy using a Stiletto. I've never heard of jazz guys using Recto or Stiletto...

-Allan Holdsworth used Mesa stuff a long time ago. One of his fav amps was an original Dual Rec and he even used .50Cals and a Mark III on some albums. His tone is very smooth, not they typical Recto sound you hear. He's fusion but close enough for jazz Al Di Meola is also more fusion and he used Marshalls and Mesa back in the day. Some of his old tones are pretty heavy from that time frame standards. I can see him using the Stiletto in all its modes with his Les Pauls. I'm hoping to play a Stage II soon. Heard one at NAMM but hard to get a real gist when it's at low volume and I wasn't playing it. A friend has a Stage I that he really likes, almost there but not quite there for me.

 

[Barry]

I've seen him pose with a stiletto, but my research indicates he uses a Mark I reissue, along with his RAT pedal, and assorted delays, etc.

similar to John Scofield. I was surprised to hear a jazz guy using a Stiletto. I've never heard of jazz guys using Recto or Stiletto...

-Allan Holdsworth used Mesa stuff a long time ago. One of his fav amps was an original Dual Rec and he even used .50Cals and a Mark III on some albums. His tone is very smooth, not they typical Recto sound you hear. He's fusion but close enough for jazz Al Di Meola is also more fusion and he used Marshalls and Mesa back in the day. Some of his old tones are pretty heavy from that time frame standards. I can see him using the Stiletto in all its modes with his Les Pauls. I'm hoping to play a Stage II soon. Heard one at NAMM but hard to get a real gist when it's at low volume and I wasn't playing it. A friend has a Stage I that he really likes, almost there but not quite there for me.

The Satge II is a great amp . Much quicker/faster/tighter . Revoiced . I still feel that the stage I got alot of undeserving feedback . Its really a great amp . I feel the stilettos really shine with mahogany based humbucker guitars . LP's fit like a glove .