Tell me about the Stiletto

[yngzaklynch]

If you've got to play one tell me your thoughts? Clips?

 

[eaeolian]

I spent about three hours with one, and I didn't like it one bit. I wasn't expecting that in the slightest. It didn't seem to me to do anything well - it's touted by many as being "Marshall-y", but doesn't really sound that way to me. I just thought it was, well, toneless. The cleans were uninspiring, high gain isn't really and option, and the mid-gain sounds were, um, lacking.

 

[yngzaklynch]

I heard with a boost it's supposed to be pretty rockin.

 

[stevestrat]

I’ve played a Stiletto two different times for about an hour each time with my Les Paul and I really wanted that amp to just kick butt but it never did. Here’s what I found.

The cleans were good, about as good as a dual Recto and better than a single Recto.

The lead channel was VERY bright and I even like bright sounding amps. But I had to roll the Presence to zero and then set the Treble on about 9 0’clock to get the thing to sound balanced against the mid and bass controls both set at noon.

The name Stiletto and the ads Mesa has are very true. It’s a very sharp cutting amp and tone. VERY different than any Recto or any other Mesa I have played


Steve

 

[Guitarzan]

I had mixed feelings about the amp when I first played it. I initially played the Deuce, I found it to be very lack luster and not what they claimed it to be as far as a solo machine. However I was joking around with at friend one day at a local music shop and plugged in the Trident... I don't know what happened but I guess the extra headroom of the 150W did something. :shock: I loved the Trident, it has a great "Rock" tone. I can only assume, as with most Mesa's, that swapping the tubes would only allow the amp to reach its full potential. I haven't had that opportunity to do that yet to a Trident. Perhaps a set of KT88's may do the trick? My feelings are that you can achieve the same effect by swapping tubes in a DR and have a more versatile amp.

 

[jackieTHEjokeman]

Owners should be the only ones to comment on this bad boy. My review is the one at the top.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Mesa_Boogie/Stiletto_Deuce_Head-1.html