Stiletto l - Hollywood Modded and Mansfield Guitar bias mod

[Sevenstringer]

WOW - It sounds like a completely different amp!!!!

I was going to get rid of it as I like a hi gain crunchy tone but I don't need to now
I love what the Hollywood/Fluid Drive Mod did and it is amazing
then
I had Mr. Mansfield perform the bias mod to the amp and it opened it up even more!

If you have a Stiletto l you NEED to do this - you will not be disappointed - and you will get the same tones and MORE out of the amp
The mod is a bit of a pain in the ***, but worth it. I told Tien at Mesa customer service that I wanted to do it to both of my Stiletto's but he chuckled - He said "Do it to the first one and then really see if you want to do it to the 2nd." I agree 100%. It has a slightly higher bit of difficulty and you need to remove a lot of components to get to the ones that need to be replaced. Overall I would say 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10. If you do decide to do it.....Leave the afternoon or spread it out over 2 days. And I will leave the other stock, just to have a wide range of tones at my disposal
In my opinion it sounds like a $3000 or a $4000 amp now
Another note John Mansfield is a great guy, very knowledgable and helpful - If you are looking to do the bias mod, I suggest going thru him for it.
Thanks again john

 

[Riff Blister]

I love that story!
Hopefully by the end of next week I'll get my Deuce back with MAB mod. (Mansfield Adjustable Bias mod)
The results are just starting to trickle in but they all sound promising so far.

Hmmm will my Budda have some competition? I'd love that!!!

Mark

 

[Sevenstringer]

Awesome!
Who is doing it for you?

 

[Riff Blister]

I'm having it installed by a friend who has his own amp repair shop here in the Twin Cities.
Like you said about John, he's a great guy too and has done work for a lot of popular guitar players.
After that I'll learn how to tweak it myself which I'm looking forward to.
I'm not sure about your $3000.00 to $4000.00 amp comparison but I do understand your enthusiasm. Regardless, I really like my Stiletto but have always thought it should be something more. If the MAB mod takes it to a new level then I'll be happy as hell.

Rock on Sevenstringer!
Now get out there and melt some faces :!: :lol:

 

[Sevenstringer]

I dunno dude
I have had a Herbert, MK V, HK Triamp, Bogner and this rivals them all
I have been playing 20yrs and I am pretty good with tones lol
Needless to say you will like the MAB - enjoy

 

[Riff Blister]

No way was I trying to rip on your credibility. That's not my way. It's more like I'm trying to keep my own lofty expectations in check.
I'll be happy to share my take on all of this when I get my chance to sink my teeth into my Deuce.

Mark

 

[mikey383]

The Hollywood Mod is pretty in depth. If you think it's bad doing the mod, try reversing it :lol: It's much worse.

I've been contemplating the bias mod. Might get around to doing that in a week or two.

 

[Sevenstringer]

The Hollywood Mod is pretty in depth. If you think it's bad doing the mod, try reversing it :lol: It's much worse.

I've been contemplating the bias mod. Might get around to doing that in a week or two.

I can imagine it would be a bear to reverse. The bias mod is definitely "the next step". From a tube wear/maintenance standpoint I understand why Mesa/Peavey/etc use fixed bias, but in my opinion they are set way too cold from the factory. I am a tweaker and a gear ***** by nature and I love being able to set it a little hotter/colder to see what tones I can get out of an amp

 

[Charles Reeder]

Hey guys:

I like the advise you got from Mesa; do the Hollywood Mods on one Stiletto; and leave the other as is. Well I can't do that 'cause I only have one Stiletto. So, now I've got an excuse to buy another one!
Hoorah!

To anybody 'sitting-on-the-fence'. Get the 'bias-mod'! The Stiletto enters into a whole new category of toneful usefulness with it.

Charles

 

[mojosteve]

Hey, I had the hollywood mod done to my Stiletto and loved the tight bottom end but the tone was even brighter than before the mod now I have the presence and treble completely off! The tech that did it is a Boogie tech here in Scotland so he has done the mod and others many times, there is a strange part of the mod where it said to remove a treble cap allowing the amp to be more bright, I had this cap put back in after the mod and it was still bright! However the sub lows are fantastic! Would love to hear if anyone has any tips to maybe remove some of the highs in channel 2?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Chester]

Hey, I had the hollywood mod done to my Stiletto and loved the tight bottom end but the tone was even brighter than before the mod now I have the presence and treble completely off! The tech that did it is a Boogie tech here in Scotland so he has done the mod and others many times, there is a strange part of the mod where it said to remove a treble cap allowing the amp to be more bright, I had this cap put back in after the mod and it was still bright! However the sub lows are fantastic! Would love to hear if anyone has any tips to maybe remove some of the highs in channel 2?

Cheers
Steve

Hey Steve

Glad to see you are personalising the Stiletto already! Bias mod next then?

I never had an issue with highs to the same extent on that head (guitar pup's / speaker choice etc make a huge difference), but try swapping V1 & V2 preamp tubes with something like a Harma Retro from Watford Valves. Apparently, you need to leave V3 stock (Chinese) otherwise the output on CH1 cleans drops unacceptably low. Unless the mod has altered things further, those highs should be tamed nicely

Very pleased with the Lonestar BTW!

 

[mojosteve]

Hey glad your enjoying the Lonestar, the Stiletto is great I had Dennis Marshall do the Hollywood mod but to be honest the amps channel two tone is suits me better stock although I can see metal guitarists enjoying this mod it seems to take all the mids out the amp. You were right about pedals in the clean channel I run my Suhr Riot in the clean and it sounds fantastic hopefully I'll get to try the Fulldrive also!!

http://www.dennismarshall.co.uk/

Thats the link for Dennis the Boogie tech, this guy is fantastic he modded my Studio Preamp to a mk2c+. One stop shop for all your Boogie needs!!

Cheers
Steve

 

[Chester]

Hey glad your enjoying the Lonestar, the Stiletto is great I had Dennis Marshall do the Hollywood mod but to be honest the amps channel two tone is suits me better stock although I can see metal guitarists enjoying this mod it seems to take all the mids out the amp. You were right about pedals in the clean channel I run my Suhr Riot in the clean and it sounds fantastic hopefully I'll get to try the Fulldrive also!!

http://www.dennismarshall.co.uk/

Thats the link for Dennis the Boogie tech, this guy is fantastic he modded my Studio Preamp to a mk2c+. One stop shop for all your Boogie needs!!

Cheers
Steve

Agreed - the holywood mod was not for me either, so never had it done. Ditto the V shaped EQ on my MKV sliders that others seem to love - too scooped and buzzy for my tastes, but then we were brought up on mid rich EL34 rock in Europe!

Try the preamp tube cure to your trebble issues and see if you get the base sound closer to where you want it. Like it's love of pedals, the Stiletto is very responsve to re-tubing V1 & 2 positions

Cheers