stiletto vs marshall

[KH Guitar Freak]

thanks for all your help and advice guys.

after i posted yesterday and got that description about the 800 is more fogiving than the stiletto with its range ( great to know thanks to stephen sawall) i went down to my band room and really spent some time with it. and im pretty sure i have figured it out. it turns out it was the difference between spongy and bold. being a metalhead and wanting that kickass metal sound my brain seems to have looked at the word spongy and think "how gay that must sound, i want my tone to be BOLD!!!!" ha ha ha. anyway after flicking the switch down to spongy, wow what a difference! that harsh ear peircing edge and fluff went away and the amp became totally smooth and easy to work with and now sounds great!

however! i have yet to hear it along side the recto or mark. so i will be sure to log back in and report my findings after i have band prac tomorrow...

as for the jcm800 not being considered a metal amp i have to dissagree. well IMO i think the 800 is one of the best just listen to zakk and slayer. i tend to prefer tones with alot of tone if you know what i mean? i like my tone to be thick and warm and but alto have that scooped metal quality to it. ( i dont scoop the mids ) since my mark died ive been trying out some of my older amps just to remember them y'know. i plugged my 5150 yesteday and fark did it sound horrible!

i have seen all them vids on youtube and i was impressed with how good the stiletto sounds and thats why i brought one. but no i havn't been able to get mine to sound like any of the heavier tones..like i said tho when i get it back down to band prac and crank the ******* we shal see how it goes.

G'day felow ozzie, im in victoria down frankston way. how bout yourself?

Far west in Perth mate. If all goes to plan, I'm heading over to Melbourne though...

 

[stephen sawall]

I remember what I was doing then ..... I was lifting the ground from one amp. Since then I have learned this can kill you or cause a lot of damage to you or the gear.

..... So what did you think after more time with it at volume ? Love it / Hate it ? No amp is for everyone.

If I was going to use the IV and Stiletto .... I would use it like I said I use my rig with the IV being the wet rig.

..... I have been thinking about selling almost all my amps and just keep the vintage, THD and Sig X. Because it has been months since I have used anything else.

 

[ozthrasher]

would havin the Stiletto plugged into a stepdown transofmer have any impact on the tone?

when drinkalot and myself tried to compare our Mark IV's his sounded alot better, louder and clearer.
I was runnin a stepdown transformer whereas his was fitted with a original 240v mark IV tranny
Our power tubes were both mesa str440's and all premamp tubes mesa 12ax7, except drinkalot's mark had 1 tung sol

cheers fellas

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

^It's possible if your stepdown transformer isn't very good and transparent...

 

[siggy14]

First thing you need to know about zakk, is all his amps up on stage are dummies, you want to see what he truly uses you will see it is the same old beat up JCM800 2204 that is heavy modded with extra gain stages. I believe Lee Jackson did all the mods.

I think you well find Zakk was using a Boss OD-1 and the guys in Slayer were using a EQ with the 800. Both got great sounds this way. The 800 by it's self it is similar to the crunch voices on the Stiletto as I stated before. With Pedals and EQ you can make just about any amp do metal. Maybe not good .... but metal all the same.

It well be interesting to see what you think of it once you spend more time with the band. Thick crunchy upper mid / cutting in the mix sounds the Stiletto can do.

I know I got some huge sounds when using my Tremoverb and Trident at the same time. 4x12 each. Concentrating on the lower midrange of the DR and getting the upper mid cut from the Stiletto.

Remember how long it took to learn how to get control of the Mark IV. The Stiletto may take the same.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

The Stiletto can do the blackest and deathest of death metal with an EQ in the loop. Not that I play that tyoe of music, but sometimes I toy around with my Boss EQ just for different sounds and you can do anything with this amp. Oh, and there is plenty of distortion to go around.

 

[droptrd]

Yeah an EQ is a must with the stilettos. I wish mesa would add a GEQ to the amp itself - like the marks and DCs. That would be the ****!

 

[stephen sawall]

when drinkalot and myself tried to compare our Mark IV's his sounded alot better, louder and clearer. cheers fellas

"Better" is only a matter of taste. The rest ..... to be honest that is what everyone finds in the sounds. The IV is a very focused sound. They are very different amps and comparing them is like comparing apples with a car alternator or a fuzz box with a phase shifter. They have very different uses. One can not do what the other does.

The Mark amps are based on Fender amps and the Stiletto is based on English crunch amps.

I like the IV better myself.

 

[ozthrasher]

you misunderstood me mate

we both have the same MARK IV series I
with the same power tubes except dinkalot has a tungsol in one of the preamp stages
His is runnign a 240v tranny, mine is running a 110v with a stepdown transformer as we get 240v in Australia.

they sounded very different at the exact same settings

cheers

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Yeah an EQ is a must with the stilettos. I wish mesa would add a GEQ to the amp itself - like the marks and DCs. That would be the sh!t!

I would disagree that it is a MUST. However, you can expand your tonal palette many times more by running one in the loop...

 

[drikalot]

sorry ive taken ages to get back to the tread. its been a long few days.

yeah with the stilettos new sound i have found it does sound good in the mix. it sounds great with the dual rec running along side, it adds another dimention to the sound if you know what i mean. but when the recto stops and the stiletto is by itself hmmmm the amp with the most balls is apparant and it aint the stiletto. but it is sounding good and thats the main thing.

i have run the stiletto with an eq i the loop and yeah it can get insanely heavy. but like i said earlier on i think what the eq gives, it takes away in feel. ill keep experimenting tho.

 

[stephen sawall]

I have had mixed feels about some tube amps myself. ...... But I have yet too find one that I did not like at all. They all have some flavors I like .....

I have found amps that have more bass or gain than a DR ..... but none I felt was more aggressive. Still looking for that amp.

 

[drikalot]

i have found that aswell well 90% of the time anyway, like you say they all have a flavoure that makes each amp unique and likeable.

here is something interesting, the stiletto did sound better with the G12T-75 cab!!!! for the high gain sound anyway. it was smoother and darker, and a tad bigger sounding. im gonna get a recto cab for it soon and maybe ill put v30 and g12ts in an x pattern in it...

 

[stephen sawall]

Have you ever tried the 85 or any of the 100's .... they have some similarity to the 75 .... but I like them better. The 85 is my favorite in that family.

I do not like X pattern myself. But all my cabs have 2 or more kinds of speakers in them. You may not need a other cab ..... just do some speaker swaps.

I had seven 4x12's once. Sold all but one. I found I wanted more .... now I have two 4x12 and a 2x12.

 

[BMarchant]

I play in an AC/DC cover band. www.theroyalpains.com I'm using a version 1 Stiletto..... Best sounding AC/DC sound ever. I've had 70s Marshalls, JCM800s when they were new, Marshalls reworked by Paul Rivera... they all lacked bottom end. The Stiletto is the balls. It has the same feel and sound, plus more bottom.....

Here is Longway to the Top,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9uZES2Sprk

I'm on the left, using a Stiletto with a marshall 4X12 cab.

Without getting anyone upset...... Guitar players tend to use too much preamp gain and not enough powertube gain..... Here is my point. Put on AC/DCs Girls got rhythm and listen to how LITTLE gain there is. Its all tone and gain from the power tubes. Now listen to how your setting up your amp, I bet you have way too much pre amp gain. It makes a big difference.

Here are the settings I'm using.

channel 1
crunch
treble - 10 oclock
mid - 2 oclock (midrange is where the guitar lives, dont scoop them)
bass - 5 oclock
presence- 10 oclock
master - 10 oclock
gain - 12 oclock

100watt setting........

 

[stephen sawall]

BMarchant ..... I agree ... this amp is more about power amp distortion. I also use my tone controls kind of like you do. If you set up the amp in the way many do with more preamp distortion you really miss out on some great sounds from the amp.

.... enjoyed the clip.

 

[dag]

Hi,

To be honest my choice is simple! Play through both and you got the perfect match.
The stiletto is awsome and it can really copy the sound of my old marshall plexi. It has
a little more grit to it and does sounds a little more agressive.
The marshall, wel nothing can beat it for leadwork!

if you wanna hear how my combination sounds listen to some of my bands songs:
http://www.myspace.com/rebelyellmusic

I really don't want to pick one.
Live I mostely leave the job to the Stiletto just because of the boost. But it really depends
on the mood i'm in.

Greets
Dag

 

[droptrd]

Live I mostely leave the job to the Stiletto just because of the boost.

Greets
Dag

Yeah the Stiletto deffinately has the marshall beat when it comes to features and bells & whistles. Many of which can be very handy.

 

[shogun]

ive heard alot from reviews and alot of ppl say the stiletto deuce II is a marshall killer! i have a marshall DSL100 and its metal distortion destroys the stiletto's. the stilettos clean and crunch sounds are amazing but when you try and get some good heavy sounds out of it, it sounds like ***.

how can it be a marshall killer when marshalls make great metal amps aswell as bluesy, rock amps?

i have tried many many settings and i dont believe that is the problem.

what are your thoughts, maybe there is an issue with my stiletto?

you best be trollin!

DSL 50's aren't in the same class as the stiletto. IMO, they aren't even an amp that you can enjoy on its own.. they have to be in the mix of a band to sound decent.. too buzzy for my likings!

 

[JamesHealey]

Zakk has Lee Jackson Modded JCM800s, Metaltronix 100w and a Roccaforte 100w.. the JCM800's he has on stage aren't his first choice.

First thing you need to know about zakk, is all his amps up on stage are dummies, you want to see what he truly uses you will see it is the same old beat up JCM800 2204 that is heavy modded with extra gain stages. I believe Lee Jackson did all the mods.

I think you well find Zakk was using a Boss OD-1 and the guys in Slayer were using a EQ with the 800. Both got great sounds this way. The 800 by it's self it is similar to the crunch voices on the Stiletto as I stated before. With Pedals and EQ you can make just about any amp do metal. Maybe not good .... but metal all the same.

It well be interesting to see what you think of it once you spend more time with the band. Thick crunchy upper mid / cutting in the mix sounds the Stiletto can do.

I know I got some huge sounds when using my Tremoverb and Trident at the same time. 4x12 each. Concentrating on the lower midrange of the DR and getting the upper mid cut from the Stiletto.

Remember how long it took to learn how to get control of the Mark IV. The Stiletto may take the same.