Stilleto series II, Stage II same thing? Or even B2?

[MichiganboySB]

I'm being cautious and prudent with buying my first Mesa and trying to learn as much as I can. And My choices really came down between a Stilleto and Triple Rectifier. Now of course if I'm going to go for the Stilleto then I'll get the series 2 since Mesa told me yesterday they will NOT mod an $850 series 1 that I can get from GC right now. Then I called up this local guitar/music store near me to see if they got a Stilleto in stock. They do but want a whopping $1699 for it... hmm thats odd since GC is selling there series 1's for only 850. Could it be the series 2's have already come out? Mesa told me there will be a 2 on the front of the amp I guess. I had the guy see if there was a "2" on the front... "nope", he replied. But, on the tag it says "B-2". Oh yea and Mesa also told me it is possible they have a series 2 for promotional purposes. I just can't understand why they want $1699 when Guitar Center is charging $850. If its a series 1 and they are overcharging then I won't go through them to buy my first head and cab.
MB

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[Silverwulf]

I'm not sure about local dealers, to be honest. When I purchased my Stiletto, I called the local Mesa dealer here (about 35 minutes away) and was quoted at regular price. So, I ended up going to the nearest GC (1.5 hours away) instead to buy mine for $850. If this was a national thing, you'd think that Mesa would have notified all of their authorized dealers. Since a lot of local dealers have still been selling them for regular price, it makes me think that this may have been an arrangement worked out solely with GC. Again, this is all speculation since we have limited info. It would make sense for GC to try and remove the stock they have by liquidating the Series I before Series II is released. Because GC is a huge chain, most of their stores probably carried 3-4 or more from the start, where as local dealers most likely carried 1-2 at best.

For that head that has B-2 on the tag...ask the store what the serial number is. All of the Series I models have had a serial of "ST-XXXXX" or the like. They may just continue the same format like they did with the Recto's, but it's possible they could change the format for the new series. If it is anything different from the norm, maybe it can provide some insight for you.

 

[MichiganboySB]

Yea this family store is my local Mesa dealer, you're probably right about the GC thing. I forgot to mention that he ( local mesa dealer) told me his Stilleto is a stage 2... but that probably only means its a 2 channel amp. I'll just assume, but I'm probably right, that its a series 1 and GC is getting rid of them for half the cost of my local mesa dealer. Thanks for your replies... now wonder if my first amp should be a Triple or hold out to try out a STilleto series 2.
MB

 

[Silverwulf]

Unless you're in a real hurry to buy an amp, I say just wait it out for the release of the Series II Stiletto's and then try both it and the Triple Recto to see which you like better. That would at least save you from buying a Recto now, then trying a Series II in a couple months and wishing you would have bought it instead. You might end up liking the Triple Recto better anyway, but at least you'll know for sure this way.

 

[Mark Fore]

Guitar Center is the only dealer that sold the Stilettos for $850. The local shop here had to haggle with Boogie to even get them to credit them the $1,300 for the Series 1's they still had in the box to send back.

I did pick up one for $850 yesterday because you really can't pass up that deal. After hours of tweaking with it and playing through several cabs (recto 2x12 horizontal and vertical and recto 1x12) I could not get a decent tone (for me) out of it. I had the treble at 9 o'clock and the presence almost off and it was still on the shrill side.

I came to the conclusion that my Mark IV combo (w/ EVM 12L) on top of a recto 1x12 w/ V30 is the greatest tone there is for me. It has everything there is to want (great clean, Marshall rhythm, killer lead, reverb, and all those other features built into the amp). It sounds great at bedroom levels and even better when set louder. I've never gotten the thing past 2 on the master in a large club.

 

[MichiganboySB]

Have you tried out a Triple rectifier? Whats the common scoop on them?

 

[Mark Fore]

For me personally, a triple anything is usually way more power than I need especially if you have to crank it a bit. The headroom I guess is useful, but I never understood the need for the extra power. Some people go for the cranked amp breakup thing while others go for the extra watts for God knows what. People have said it before, try it out and see if you like it. The Mark IV is something that I don't think Mesa will ever top.

 

[Platypus]

Guitar Center is the only dealer that sold the Stilettos for $850. The local shop here had to haggle with Boogie to even get them to credit them the $1,300 for the Series 1's they still had in the box to send back.

I did pick up one for $850 yesterday because you really can't pass up that deal. After hours of tweaking with it and playing through several cabs (recto 2x12 horizontal and vertical and recto 1x12) I could not get a decent tone (for me) out of it. I had the treble at 9 o'clock and the presence almost off and it was still on the shrill side.

I came to the conclusion that my Mark IV combo (w/ EVM 12L) on top of a recto 1x12 w/ V30 is the greatest tone there is for me. It has everything there is to want (great clean, Marshall rhythm, killer lead, reverb, and all those other features built into the amp). It sounds great at bedroom levels and even better when set louder. I've never gotten the thing past 2 on the master in a large club.

Same here, I ended up returning mine. Hope someone else was happy with the deal