Stiletto vs. MKIV: AGAIN
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Purple_Castle
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I have compered stiletto ace to roadster and lonestar today and I love it, I still want to compere it to Mark IV but for now it`s my favortie boogie. It was ace head on 2x12 stiletto cabinet. I`m in love 
Purple_Castle
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Can someone tell me how ace compare to deuce stage 2? I haven`t tryed and deuce and I don`t have a chance know cause they are not avialable at the moment I can only bought them via internet without testing. Ace is awsome but I was looking at mesa artist page and more people are using Deauces. Can somebody tell me why? It`s not a matter of volume and price(I think) I don`t know should I go deuce or ace if I would be buying stiletto?
Sincerly
Sincerly
Tre4J
Active member
I bought the Stiletto Duece Stage II about a month ago after having had the chance to "rent" the Mark IV and the duece each for a seperate weekend.
First I brought home the Mark IV, and I was able to get some great heavy tones and with some tweaking, some very nice lead tones. I absolutely loved it. I thought it was the cats ***, and I loved the brilliant on board EQ that was footswitchable from the well thought out floorboard.
Then I brought home the duece and got some really tight heavy sludgy types of heavy metal rythems out of it. I loved it as well. I found the crunch channel, the lowest gain of the overdrive channels to sound really heavy and tight with my maxon OD-9 with the solo function engaged. With fluid drive, or even tight gain I was getting some really smooth lead tones. Mind you they weren't everything I was hoping for, but each day I had the amp I got a little better at tweaking it and figured if I were to buy it, I'd be able to dial in exactly what I was after.
After having tried both I decided to go with the Stiletto. My plan was to set up my heavy rythem on with the crunch channel and then my soloing tone with one of the high gain channels. Leaving the OD on at all times, as well as the solo function, but obviously having the master volume higher on my soloing channel.
So I bought the duece and brought it home and fucked with it extensively for about 2 weeks every day after work at low volumes, high volumes, 50 watt/100 watt, bold spongy etc., etc. I brought it to my friends to turn it up in his studio and I was finding with the FX loop on, there was a whole bunch of different levels to set it at to get differnt output levels from the amp. I couldn't seem to get the same smoothness and enjoyment out of the lead channel on the duece at higher volumes, regardless of the FX loop output.
I used a few different guitars with the amp without any success, esepcially the bridge pick-up, it was essentially just really harsh and biting. Most of the time, I felt there was just too much "cut" when the mids or treble were anywhere above 8:00. So you'll have an amp where two of your tone shaping controls can't be turned about 8:00 for leads, namely at high volumes. I tried most of the amp settings in the manual but also found them to be really bright and biting. Definately not how i want to describe my $2500 CDN lead tone.
I was able to dial in great tones at low volume, very smooth and warm...but essentially I found myself trying to dial in mark type of lead tones. The other problems with it sounding to biting at high volumes, I just stopped fiddling with it and asked myself "What am I doing...30 day exchange policy....I'm going to get the mark iv."
And that was the end of it. I kind of went with the stiletto at first because it looked cooler and was less popular...I wanted to make it MY amp and not jump onto the mark iv bandwagon...but then I realized there is a reason the mark iv has such a massive following.
Don't misunderstand, if you're playing heavy metal and want a really heavy amp the stiletto is a great alternative to the recto, and will compliment rectos very nice in a band or recording. I still liked the duece better than my friends Marshall DSL and TSL.
I felt I gave the duece a really fair shot, but in the end...me being primarily a lead player the mark iv was a better fit for me. Stiletto really does have some great features like the bold and spongy, and the heavy tones were very good. I'm sure for recording you'll get some great lead tones and everything, but the real test for the amp was loud volume and it didn't pass in my book.
When I brought home the Mark IV, I actually found it easier to dial in something closer to my tone I was after, despite its complicated layout. To top it off, the heavy riffing tones weren't bad either once you kick on the graphic EQ. =)
First I brought home the Mark IV, and I was able to get some great heavy tones and with some tweaking, some very nice lead tones. I absolutely loved it. I thought it was the cats ***, and I loved the brilliant on board EQ that was footswitchable from the well thought out floorboard.
Then I brought home the duece and got some really tight heavy sludgy types of heavy metal rythems out of it. I loved it as well. I found the crunch channel, the lowest gain of the overdrive channels to sound really heavy and tight with my maxon OD-9 with the solo function engaged. With fluid drive, or even tight gain I was getting some really smooth lead tones. Mind you they weren't everything I was hoping for, but each day I had the amp I got a little better at tweaking it and figured if I were to buy it, I'd be able to dial in exactly what I was after.
After having tried both I decided to go with the Stiletto. My plan was to set up my heavy rythem on with the crunch channel and then my soloing tone with one of the high gain channels. Leaving the OD on at all times, as well as the solo function, but obviously having the master volume higher on my soloing channel.
So I bought the duece and brought it home and fucked with it extensively for about 2 weeks every day after work at low volumes, high volumes, 50 watt/100 watt, bold spongy etc., etc. I brought it to my friends to turn it up in his studio and I was finding with the FX loop on, there was a whole bunch of different levels to set it at to get differnt output levels from the amp. I couldn't seem to get the same smoothness and enjoyment out of the lead channel on the duece at higher volumes, regardless of the FX loop output.
I used a few different guitars with the amp without any success, esepcially the bridge pick-up, it was essentially just really harsh and biting. Most of the time, I felt there was just too much "cut" when the mids or treble were anywhere above 8:00. So you'll have an amp where two of your tone shaping controls can't be turned about 8:00 for leads, namely at high volumes. I tried most of the amp settings in the manual but also found them to be really bright and biting. Definately not how i want to describe my $2500 CDN lead tone.
I was able to dial in great tones at low volume, very smooth and warm...but essentially I found myself trying to dial in mark type of lead tones. The other problems with it sounding to biting at high volumes, I just stopped fiddling with it and asked myself "What am I doing...30 day exchange policy....I'm going to get the mark iv."
And that was the end of it. I kind of went with the stiletto at first because it looked cooler and was less popular...I wanted to make it MY amp and not jump onto the mark iv bandwagon...but then I realized there is a reason the mark iv has such a massive following.
Don't misunderstand, if you're playing heavy metal and want a really heavy amp the stiletto is a great alternative to the recto, and will compliment rectos very nice in a band or recording. I still liked the duece better than my friends Marshall DSL and TSL.
I felt I gave the duece a really fair shot, but in the end...me being primarily a lead player the mark iv was a better fit for me. Stiletto really does have some great features like the bold and spongy, and the heavy tones were very good. I'm sure for recording you'll get some great lead tones and everything, but the real test for the amp was loud volume and it didn't pass in my book.
When I brought home the Mark IV, I actually found it easier to dial in something closer to my tone I was after, despite its complicated layout. To top it off, the heavy riffing tones weren't bad either once you kick on the graphic EQ. =)
lockbody
Well-known member
Ha! I have almost the opposite opinions on the Stiletto vs. MK IV.
I think that my Stiletto Deuce II sounds better the louder I turn it up. I always thought my MK IV made a great "bedroom" amp as most of its' magic is happening in the pre-amp.
Stiletto too bright with treble above 8:00? I keep my trebles between 1:00 and 2:00, and my presences around 10:00 - 11:00, and for my Boogie cab with g12-65s/MS-12s it's just right. I like "cut". I don't like competing with the bass or the drums.
I would almost call the IV more of a metal amp than the Stiletto. I've found I actually like more of the "tween" sounds more than the all-out "Death Ray ON" settings.
I don't get leaving the Solo on all the time.
Also, in a band environment with another guitar player, I find the Stileeto works better then my MK IV ever did. My IV always seemed to get lost in the mix at eq settings that worked best in my band where I was the only guitar player. That left two choices, either turn up and get in a volume war with the rest of the band, or increase the mids until I wasn't happy with the overall tone of the amp anymore.
Mind you I owned that IV for three years, so it's not like I didn't know how to tweak it. In fact, it got used a lot by other bands with crappy amps in my little home studio because of the wide range of tones I could get out of it.
Just not mine.
+1,000,000 to Mesa for making amps that appeal to a wide range of players.
I think that my Stiletto Deuce II sounds better the louder I turn it up. I always thought my MK IV made a great "bedroom" amp as most of its' magic is happening in the pre-amp.
Stiletto too bright with treble above 8:00? I keep my trebles between 1:00 and 2:00, and my presences around 10:00 - 11:00, and for my Boogie cab with g12-65s/MS-12s it's just right. I like "cut". I don't like competing with the bass or the drums.
I would almost call the IV more of a metal amp than the Stiletto. I've found I actually like more of the "tween" sounds more than the all-out "Death Ray ON" settings.
I don't get leaving the Solo on all the time.
Also, in a band environment with another guitar player, I find the Stileeto works better then my MK IV ever did. My IV always seemed to get lost in the mix at eq settings that worked best in my band where I was the only guitar player. That left two choices, either turn up and get in a volume war with the rest of the band, or increase the mids until I wasn't happy with the overall tone of the amp anymore.
Mind you I owned that IV for three years, so it's not like I didn't know how to tweak it. In fact, it got used a lot by other bands with crappy amps in my little home studio because of the wide range of tones I could get out of it.
Just not mine.
+1,000,000 to Mesa for making amps that appeal to a wide range of players.
Tre4J
Active member
lockbody said:
About leaving the solo on all the time...
I mentioned I was using the maxon OD on the crunch channel, but to get more push out of the channel to the point where I was getting a satisfactory level of saturation I put the solo on and left it on.
Since the high gain channels I was using for my lead tone, I would put the master a bit higher so it would come through with more volume for soloing over the other instruments. And the solo left on all the time, so I only have to hit one footswitch button to go from riffing to soloing.
