stiletto vs electradyne

[sadowsky13]

Just curious, have not played an electradyne. Based on what they say about it it seems to be based on british amps as well. How does it compare to the stiletto and why would mesa introduce another british based amp. or would the stiletto be marshall and eletradyne voxy???

 

[Laskyman]

The ED is nothing like a Stiletto- to me it is more of a "vintage" vibed amp. There is plenty of gain on tap (not metal or modern) but it is a great fluid and thick tone (at least through the combo...). The low gain mode is amazing, and
the clean is probably the best I have heard from Mesa- the reverb is the lushest I have ever heard.
I am thinking seriously that the ED may be my next amp. For all the hype about the Mark V, I think the ED kills it for overall pure tonal bliss.
If you have a gig, and can only bring one small combo with no outboard gear- this thing will have you covered. A real "desert island" amp if you will. At least in my opinion...

 

[sadowsky13]

The ED is nothing like a Stiletto- to me it is more of a "vintage" vibed amp. There is plenty of gain on tap (not metal or modern) but it is a great fluid and thick tone (at least through the combo...). The low gain mode is amazing, and
the clean is probably the best I have heard from Mesa- the reverb is the lushest I have ever heard.
I am thinking seriously that the ED may be my next amp. For all the hype about the Mark V, I think the ED kills it for overall pure tonal bliss.
If you have a gig, and can only bring one small combo with no outboard gear- this thing will have you covered. A real "desert island" amp if you will. At least in my opinion...

By Vintage are we talking plexi like or otherwise? How would you compare the two?

Thanks

 

[primal]

I have played both and in the end bought the Electra Dyne, but that is just my preference. I was strongly considering the Stilletto, if for nothing else then the crunch tone which is awesome.

The Stilletto is a much brighter amp then the ED. I think the Stiletto will get you closer to AC/DC then the ED will.

The ED is much thicker and has a lot more low end. It does the 80's Metal perfectly. Sounds a lot like a boosted JCM 800 The clean is amazing (clean on the Stiletto is excellent as well).

Stiletto has more gain on tap. But the ED has plenty. It is the first Mesa I have ever played on were you can max the gain and still have a usable articulate tone.

While I think it ventures into metal teritory and have no doubt it could do modern metal easily with a pedal, I think it is geared more towards hard rock. I play Metallica on mine, but my Mark IV sounds better playing Metallica (Go figure since they used Mark series amps). I would tend to agree with the other poster about it not doing metal if you are speaking strictly modern metal and no pedal. Definately more of a vintage vibe. But it will definately do modern hard rock

I think the Stiletto in crunch actually does the old Marshall sound better then the ED does.

For me I was just giddy after a few notes of first playing on the ED. Every other amp I tried, I may have liked a lot of things but there was always one thing that would annoy me.

Not so with the ED. It just blew me away. I was floored by it. Nice thick tight distortion. The low gain setting was awesome for your regular rock stuff ala Tom Petty.

The clean, you could setup for chimey cleans, or could push it and get sweet breakup.

 

[Jmango]

I have played both and in the end bought the Electra Dyne, but that is just my preference. I was strongly considering the Stilletto, if for nothing else then the crunch tone which is awesome.

The Stilletto is a much brighter amp then the ED. I think the Stiletto will get you closer to AC/DC then the ED will.

The ED is much thicker and has a lot more low end. It does the 80's Metal perfectly. Sounds a lot like a boosted JCM 800 The clean is amazing (clean on the Stiletto is excellent as well).

Stiletto has more gain on tap. But the ED has plenty. It is the first Mesa I have ever played on were you can max the gain and still have a usable articulate tone.

While I think it ventures into metal teritory and have no doubt it could do modern metal easily with a pedal, I think it is geared more towards hard rock. I play Metallica on mine, but my Mark IV sounds better playing Metallica (Go figure since they used Mark series amps). I would tend to agree with the other poster about it not doing metal if you are speaking strictly modern metal and no pedal. Definately more of a vintage vibe. But it will definately do modern hard rock

I think the Stiletto in crunch actually does the old Marshall sound better then the ED does.

For me I was just giddy after a few notes of first playing on the ED. Every other amp I tried, I may have liked a lot of things but there was always one thing that would annoy me.

Not so with the ED. It just blew me away. I was floored by it. Nice thick tight distortion. The low gain setting was awesome for your regular rock stuff ala Tom Petty.

The clean, you could setup for chimey cleans, or could push it and get sweet breakup.

Wow man. When I read the OP's inquiry, I thought about how I would respond. Then when I read your post, it is obvious that I need not add anything. Well said. This is my exact impression as well.

 

[sadowsky13]

I love that ac/dc crunch thing about the stiletto. That is the classic rock sound I have in my head and the stiletto does it perfectly. I was curious if the ED could pull that off well. I could live on channel one crunch alone. I usually use Channel two for more modern rock or for solos that I want more drive/sustain to.

 

[primal]

I have played both and in the end bought the Electra Dyne, but that is just my preference. I was strongly considering the Stilletto, if for nothing else then the crunch tone which is awesome.

The Stilletto is a much brighter amp then the ED. I think the Stiletto will get you closer to AC/DC then the ED will.

The ED is much thicker and has a lot more low end. It does the 80's Metal perfectly. Sounds a lot like a boosted JCM 800 The clean is amazing (clean on the Stiletto is excellent as well).

Stiletto has more gain on tap. But the ED has plenty. It is the first Mesa I have ever played on were you can max the gain and still have a usable articulate tone.

While I think it ventures into metal teritory and have no doubt it could do modern metal easily with a pedal, I think it is geared more towards hard rock. I play Metallica on mine, but my Mark IV sounds better playing Metallica (Go figure since they used Mark series amps). I would tend to agree with the other poster about it not doing metal if you are speaking strictly modern metal and no pedal. Definately more of a vintage vibe. But it will definately do modern hard rock

I think the Stiletto in crunch actually does the old Marshall sound better then the ED does.

For me I was just giddy after a few notes of first playing on the ED. Every other amp I tried, I may have liked a lot of things but there was always one thing that would annoy me.

Not so with the ED. It just blew me away. I was floored by it. Nice thick tight distortion. The low gain setting was awesome for your regular rock stuff ala Tom Petty.

The clean, you could setup for chimey cleans, or could push it and get sweet breakup.

Wow man. When I read the OP's inquiry, I thought about how I would respond. Then when I read your post, it is obvious that I need not add anything. Well said. This is my exact impression as well.

Thanks

 

[primal]

I love that ac/dc crunch thing about the stiletto. That is the classic rock sound I have in my head and the stiletto does it perfectly. I was curious if the ED could pull that off well. I could live on channel one crunch alone. I usually use Channel two for more modern rock or for solos that I want more drive/sustain to.

The ED, does the AC/DC Tone very well.

The Stiletto does it better! Does it perfectly IMO.

If that is the main tone you are after, then you have the best amp for it.

I guess technically an old Marshall would be better, but the Stiletto does it at bearable volumes.

I agree about the Stilletto crunch. I truly believe they built the amp around this sound. I think the Stiletto is worth the price tag if all it had was the crunch and clean.

For my style, the ED was a better fit though. I like the 80's metal and hard rock sound, and the ED does it in spades.

 

[ziehmrd]

I just played an ED today. I haven't played a Stiletto yet so I can't compare the two but The ED is a very cool amp. The cleans are very nice and the lo/high gain modes are great. You can get a nice mid gain grind in lo and some sweet sustain in the high mode. AC/DC no problem. Definitely any classic rock is happening here. And this amp is crazy easy to dial up good tones. I agree with other posts that I don't think you can get a bad sound out of it. Interestingly enough, it is equipped with 6L6 tubes so I think its a little darker than your usual British voiced amps. Sounds good with either single coils or humbuckers. The gain trim control also works well with evening out the volume between modes. I'm in the market for a new MESA and it's between a Lonestar, a Stiletto ( Hopefully can find one to demo soon) and the ED. This thing is a real contender.

 

[jab]

they are really nothing alike. Stiletto does have that tell tale thinner sound which is a little annoying (an eq in the loop helps), but it is much more versatile with the 3 modes across 2 channels, and it has perfectly serviceable cleans. I a/b'd the Ace a lot with a Marshall DSL50 and they are rather similar. ED actually has a superior clean, and the bigger/thick distortion in a completely different voice. You toss versatility out the window with ED though in a live situation. On ED you can pick out a great clean tone, and the great distortion tone, but for me they weren't the same volume/master settings, or 45W/90W modes, so switching back and forth didn't work. Both amps could cure your GAS for some time, but are they the last amps you'll ever buy, probably not. But that's because...

When I stop searching for better tone I'll be taking a dirt nap.

 

[rocksalt7]

Yep!!! +1 on the dirt nap thing :shock:
Even though I'm completely infatuated w/ my Ace right now, it's a never ending quest for PERFECTION!! :mrgreen: