Stilleto Duece Stage I

[Steve@Russo]

$650 for a stage one, is the stage 2 that much better?

 

[Steve@Russo]

delette

 

[Steve@Russo]

delete

 

[Steve@Russo]

should be picking up tonight, any recommendations on tube upgrades to warm up the sound a little maybe a little more gain? I was thinking about just picking up the highest gain el34 mesas I have at work, but I am lost as far as pre tubes

 

[ifailedshapes]

I'm pretty sure the Stage I can be modded to Stage II specs.

 

[Steve@Russo]

I dont think I want to do the transformer swap, just fatten it up a bit

 

[Guitarmiester]

is the stage 2 that much better?

No. All of the talk about Stage II sounding more modern and better is bs. People will throw the, "Stage II is improved and way better!" I finally found someone who had a Stage II that I could A/B with my Stage I with the same cab and the same settings. They sounded nearly identical. The only difference I noticed was with Fluid Drive. The low end is a bit easier to tame for a tighter sound.

Stage I's can be had for a steal. Glad I jumped on mine before someone else.

 

[Steve@Russo]

Just picked mine up, mint for 650, I have my brother coming over with a cab tomorrow. I think I may go stiletto cab also.

 

[Guitarmiester]

That's a great price and well worth it. I've been using my Stiletto with a Peavey JSX 4x12. Been using that same cab with my Triple Recto for the past 2 years with no complaints. From what I hear, the Stiletto cabs are great and are all around tighter than the Recto cabs. I'm not currently playing for any bands, so replacing and/or getting another cab isn't much of a priority right now, but down the road I'd most likely go for a Stiletto cab if I don't downsize to a 2x12. Let me know how that works out for you if you get the cab. What are you currently using?

 

[Steve@Russo]

My brother has a custom made cabinet that my old guitar player made. It is really high quality, I would put it on the level of a Mills. It is loaded with Greenbacks, I do not own anything now. I did play the stage 2 through a recto cab at work today and it seemed to work against the head a little, when I plugged into the stilleto cab it seemed to sweeten it up.

 

[Steve@Russo]

just played through a cab with greenbacks, def need speakers with more headroom, I like the head though, I do have some ruby tubes coming for power section, sounds like the mansfield mod is a must..thoughts?

 

[Guitarmiester]

I didn't think Greenbacks would be a good match with the Stiletto. They definitely weren't a match with my Recto either. Is there a Stiletto 2x12 cab? I'm almost certain there's only the 4x12, but can't hurt to ask/look. I don't need another 4x12 and would prefer to go for two 1x12's or a 2x12.

I'm not too familiar with the mansfield mod, but from what I've heard the amp runs a lot hotter and the clean modes break up a lot sooner. I have no complaints with my Stage I and hear no reason to have the amp modded anytime soon. I guess it really depends on what you're expecting from the amp.

 

[Steve@Russo]

yeah the GB's are breaking up way too soon, looking for something with cl80's maybe, however I switched the v1-v5 tubes went with
v1 tung sol
v2-v5 JJ
way darker, fluid drive sounds awesopme actually

 

[Steve@Russo]

Ruby's now in it, another HUGE difference, I love this amp. I turned the loop off and that made a real big difference in tone and harshness.

 

[droptrd]

I'm pretty sure the Stage I can be modded to Stage II specs.

No the stage I cant be made to stage II specs. Its alot more that a component change. Its a different circiut. The Hollywood Mod(AKA fluid drive mod) is the way to go. Kinda gets you inbetween the I and the II. Its like a Stage 1.5. It rocks for sure.

 

[Steve@Russo]

I dont know why anyone would want to change this thing, a retube made this my favorite amp I have ever played, it sounds great at practice tonight

 

[droptrd]

The Hollywood mod is worth a peek. It really improves the amp. Only messes with the TG and FD modes.

 

[Silverwulf]

Only messes with the TG and FD modes.

Actually, it also makes the Channel 1 and Channel 2 Crunch Modes identical to one another. I like Series I in it's stock form. It's much more vintage sounding, a lot more of a Plexi vibe than Series II.

 

[Steve@Russo]

yeah i like the more vintage sound, with my ampeg v4 cab it is killer, still wouldnt mind a dual wattage rec

 

[Silverwulf]

Channel 1 Crunch on a Series I Stiletto is one of Mesa's best kept secrets. It's a shame everyone expected uber modern gain from the Stiletto and it was tweaked. They could package up that mode as a one channel amp and it would probably appeal to the Plexi enthusiasts.