Stilleto Sound 'Issue'

[Thundercross]

Hi. o/
First post here.

I have a Stiletto Deuce Head (Stage I).
Clean tones are brutal. Distortion does not fulfill my expectations.
The best distortion-type tone I can get is pretty vintagy, really fatty blues/Jazz type, which is great, but limits my sound spectrum.
With Crunch, I cannot get that Thick, compressed ENGL type distortion no matter how I tune it.

Any possible solutions beside:
1-Getting a Valve Pre-amp and use its distortion
2-Getting another Amp

All input is welcome. Thanks.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Try changing V1 to a RFT 12ax7...it will cost you $50, but it will fatten up and amp you put it in. AMAZING preamp tube.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Stage I has less gain than Stage II so you are dealing with the amp's inherent amount of gain. Step up to Stage II if you want more gain or possibly a Recto for even more...

 

[xnatex]

I thought the same thing about my stage 1 until I got a MXR M-108 10-band EQ.

 

[aarona]

don't know if this would work for you or not, but some people like putting a tube screamer in front of their lead channel. Not to be used as a distortion pedal really, but more of a boost. The gain stacking might be enough to put it over the top.

Try it to see if you like it. I've heard of many pro level players who do this.

Don't skimp either. Get something decent; at least a TS9 if not a Keeley or a Barber, HBE Power Screamer etc.

 

[MusicManJP6]

don't know if this would work for you or not, but some people like putting a tube screamer in front of their lead channel. Not to be used as a distortion pedal really, but more of a boost. The gain stacking might be enough to put it over the top.

Try it to see if you like it. I've heard of many pro level players who do this.

Don't skimp either. Get something decent; at least a TS9 if not a Keeley or a Barber, HBE Power Screamer etc.

that could work. It would almost be like a 3rd channel.

 

[Jedro]

I also HAD a Stiletto with similar issues.

I felt I could only get one sound that I really liked. For an amp that retailed for $1700, that just isn't good enough. I wasn't able to get the "sustain-for-days" liquid tone that I know from Boogie. I tried a couple of things, but for the price tag I should be able to get a great lead sound from just the amp. I came to the conclusion that either my amp was a lemon, or this amp functioned this way by design. Not to sound cocky or arrogant, but I know tone and my Stiletto didn't cut it.

After a few minutes on the phone with a very knowledgeable fellow at Eurotubes who tole me that a retubing wouldn't change the amp as much as I wanted it to, the amp went back to the store. I tried out a Roadster and it was much more to my liking.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Charlie]

My Stiletto 1 has gobs of gain - I'd try switching some preamp tubes around for sure. I know mine aren't stock.

 

[BMarchant]

hey Thundercross,
I have a Deuce Stage I, here is what I did, and the amp is awesome! Amps can be fine tuned by using different brand or makes of tubes. As in, all EL-34 are not the same, and the same with pre amp tubes.

Take a Deuce Stage I, change the power tubes to GT E-34LS #7s. Change the preamp tubes to GT 12AX7M (Mullard copies). You will have a killer sounding amp. If you want more gain, use the GT 12X7-C (chinese) instead of the GT 12AX7-Ms.

Boogie amps are biased cold. using #7 Groove tubes bring the amp closer to where the bias should be. The GT E-34LSs tighten up the bottom and adds chunk....

The GT 12AX7Ms remove the nasty high end and allows you to actually add high and presence instead of trying to remove it. The GT-12AX7-C (chinese) also sound great, will have a little more gain, and have less high end then the russian pre-amp tubes that come stock. Don't get me wrong, the russian tubes are good when used in the right amp. I use the russian tubes in the LoneStar.



The Tite gain and Fluid gain in Channel 2 are now usable and sounds good.
The changes made to the Stiletto Deuce II improved channel two but killed the best sound in the amp, Channel one Crunch.

My rig is a Stiletto Deuce (l), a Dual Recto ,and a Lone Star Classic, into two 4 X 12 Marshall cabs. Redzone A/B/C/Y SPLITZO to change between amps. This gives me from super clean to high gain.

Matching the right tubes to the amp makes all the difference. The Deuce will give you that raw AC/DC sound with more bottom end. Perfect for Classic Rock guitar, and with the Chinese pre-amp tubes you can get close to heavier stuff.


Bill M.