Underrated Stiletto

[srf399]

I like the chrome on the Deuce And the leather smells cool too!

 

[srf399]

What gets me though is the amount of bashing the Stilettos get in other forums and around the internet. You rarely see glowing reviews on the Stilettos when they are being compared to other amps. I just go by my ear and maybe I haven't played a lot of these other amps but I know that playing the one's I have... they were not to my liking. I'm talking about forums. The professional reviews were all good. However most of the forum stuff is old and posted when they stage 1's we out. These generally were not good. However since the Stage II's there are very few reviews on them. I don't know of one magazine review on the stage II's other than the Ace's. I've never seen a review against another brand where the Stiletto has been favored. I think there is a bias against a Mesa due to the love/hate guitarists have with the Recto amps. Recto lovers play rectos... Marshall lovers play Marshall.... If Marshall lovers get bored they go for a Splawn or something... and never consider a Mesa.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I, for one, love the solo feature so I don't know why he had them mod it like he did...

Anyway, I went down to the local music store to play the Deuce again (for the second time) and I just LOVE this amp! It sounds better every time I play it. I simply cannot find settings that sound bad! It's very versatile for sure and the articulation is perfect. I'm GASing big time! If I can get my RoV sold I will be on the lookout for either a Deuce head and 2x12 cab or the Ace combo...

 

[Moot]

I was lucky enough to have both the Ace 2x12 combo and an Ace head plus 4x12 cab. I found them to be similar, but there were differences between the two. I suspect it's just the cabs, really. I ran them both through each other's cabs, and I ran them both through a friend's 2x12 recto cab, and I found I preferred the smaller 2x12 cab of the combo.

It's probably just me, but I really liked the focus of the combo's sound. I'm not one of those guys who digs full-frequency sounds - I appreciate the reduction of bass the combo has.

So I sold the stack.

 

[SBG200]

it's more important to have an FX loop switch (so you don't do the effects box "dance") than a solo boost switch.

this is the downfall of this series of amp...

I guess that's up for debate. I live in my fx loop, with a volume pedal, chorus and delay in there. The chorus and delay are on maybe 10% of a gig so there's no real pedal dance going on, but the volume pedal is being used 100% of the time, which I find essential in a 2-guitar band. It's great in the loop so the preamp gain isn't affected. I also use the lead boost for an instant, on-the-fly volume boost, which is hard to do accurately w/a vol pedal.

BTW, do the Deuce and Trident have wattage reduction switches?

 

[srf399]

I have my volume pedal, delay & reverb through my loop and it's on 100% of the time. I couldn't live without the loop on.

 

[srf399]

Both the Deuce and the Trident reduce down to 50 watts.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I have my volume pedal, delay & reverb through my loop and it's on 100% of the time. I couldn't live without the loop on.

That's what I was thinking too. I run my GT-8 using the 4 cable method so the loop is definitely a necessity and needs to remain on.

 

[Octavarius]

That's all true, but often, in a minimalistic setup, where you don't have MIDI controllers, or even a pedalboard, when you have a smaller gig with only a delay pedal in the loop, for instance, it's really so much nicer to just be able to turn that loop on and off from the footswitch itself, instead of having to have the pedal(s) on the floor with lots of additional cables. You'd have everything in one place/box, with only one DIN-cable to the amp.

It's just a very convenient feature to have the loop footswitchable. Absolutely not a necessity, but hey, the footswitchable Solo isn't actually a necessity for many people either. There are numerous other ways to get a volume boost (as well as gain boost) with larger setups.

Ideally, they'd make a three-button footswitch with a DIN connector. Hell, even a DIN connector isn't really necessary! The minijack that connects to my iPhone from the headset (stereo with the clicker), is a TRRS-jack (yes, that's right, a TRRS, two rings, tip=left, ring 1=right, ring 2=clicker, sleeve=ground). Never seen those before, so I was a little puzzled at first when I noticed it. But if they'd use one of these (in 1/4" jack form, obviously) on the front panel instead of the TRS-jack, there would be no problem having all the three functions footswitchable.

This argument also goes for the Lonestar series.


All that said, I'm very eager to try out a Stiletto too after all of this talk! Unfortunately, some wacko stole all of the fuses/fuse-holders on every Mesa at a local store, so none of them will turn on. So I'll have to wait until the manager orders the spare parts. Sick... I mean, who does that? :?

 

[MusicManJP6]

All that said, I'm very eager to try out a Stiletto too after all of this talk! Unfortunately, some wacko stole all of the fuses/fuse-holders on every Mesa at a local store, so none of them will turn on. So I'll have to wait until the manager orders the spare parts. Sick... I mean, who does that? :?

Sounds like an inside job... :lol:

 

[dodger916]

All that said, I'm very eager to try out a Stiletto too after all of this talk! Unfortunately, some wacko stole all of the fuses/fuse-holders on every Mesa at a local store, so none of them will turn on. So I'll have to wait until the manager orders the spare parts. Sick... I mean, who does that? :?

Sounds like an inside job... :lol:

...or an angry DR-drowning girlfriend! Any traces of water on the floor?? :wink:

 

[Octavarius]

All that said, I'm very eager to try out a Stiletto too after all of this talk! Unfortunately, some wacko stole all of the fuses/fuse-holders on every Mesa at a local store, so none of them will turn on. So I'll have to wait until the manager orders the spare parts. Sick... I mean, who does that? :?

Sounds like an inside job... :lol:

Haha... yeah. They're terrible in the sales department then, if that's the case. :lol:

Worst is that five of six heads are placed very high up on a shelf, just under the ceiling. And the guy that was checking them when I was there (to get them up running for me) was having real trouble even accessing the back! ****... :shock:

I called them today, and the manager was like; "So... do you want like, a heavy tones and stuff like that? Cause if you do, this head is not for you. It's really more like an old Marshall in terms of tone. Not a typical Mesa." Lazy *******. :roll:

So, I see you're selling your Rect-o-Verb! :shock: Finally decided on the new amp, then? Ace or Deuce? ****, I want to try one!

 

[MusicManJP6]

I'm TRYING to sell off the RoV but to no avail yet. I'm interested in any Stage II Stiletto I can get my hands on really!

On a side note, I had just been listening to some Andy Timmons stuff (he plays Lonestar and Stiletto) and thought i'd mess with my settings on my RoV and see if I could get close to his tone. I ended up using some wacky settings but got very close!

I used these settings:

Modern mode
gain: 6 (1:00)
treble: 0 (none)
mids: 10 (max)
bass: 10
presence: 10

Believe it or not it actually sounded VERY similar! Organic with thick mids and more articulation than normal (for a RoV). I tried to use my ears and not my eyes when adjusting the knobs and that is where I ended up. Interesting!

As you can see i'm gassing for a new sound so i'm doing all I can to make my RoV work since it's not selling and I can't just buy a Stiletto - Imagine Stiletto and RoV tones blended! :shock:

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I spondered going stereo on my recto and Stiletto, but the tap-dance between clean and dirty would be a nightmare. And lemme tell you something, throw an EQ into the loop of the Stiletto, scoop the mids and boost the lows a bit, and you can do chunky modern metal with no problem whatsoever. My band was working on Tool's Stinkfist this weekend and I ended up using the EQ on it, it sounded good. Now, take it, I'm sure it would have sounded fine without the EQ, but the cranked bass added just enough mud to give it that murky Tool sound. Don't listen to a salesman, probably from GC. You have to try it for yourself to know whether the amp is right for you. I will say this about the Stiletto: it's versatile. I can play anything I want with this amp, from 70's to today's modern stuff. An EQ expands its capabilities even further. When I got home the first day with the amp, I broke into Mr. Scary, and knew right away this was THE amp. By the way, I got done playing that cheesefest Neil Diamond tune this weekend, and I was getting even more compliments from the other players on the sound coming from the amp.