? Which is better... Stelletto Deuce I or series II ?

[dennq45]

Which does everyone like better Deuce series I of II.

 

[Barry]

Which does everyone like better Deuce series I of II.

This thread has gone around numerous times , here we go again . I have Stiletto Deuce series I and I think its a great amp . You will be hearing just the opposite from loads of people . You can hear mine at www.toyzzband.com . Click on Feel like makin love and doctor doctor to hear a sample of my Deuce I

 

[jackieTHEjokeman]

Ahhh, this never ending question. I get suckered into this every time. I sure wish I could speak directly to you all regarding this, I'm sick of typing it out. You can read my entire thread at the top of the page. All right here we go:

PART ONE
I am CONVINCED that the series I had two batches of manufacturing to them. When I first tried out the Stiletto (almost two years ago) at my guitar shop, I thought it was the greatest sound ever! It was Rectoish, it was Marshally, it was fantastic. Then I bought one brand new. I took it home and could not get anywhere near that sound. Even with the same guitar. I was getting ear fatigue from it and the FLUID DRIVE mode was FLUBBY DRIVE mode IMO. I was just about to sell it when I heard there was a MOD to it. I took it to MB in Hollywood and for $60 they added, yes ADDED gain to the TIGHT GAIN channel. They also added gain and removed the flubbiness to the FLUID DRIVE mode. It sounded even better than the very first Stiletto I tried. So why was mine so much different than the one I sampled? I don't know but I'm convinced they made some changes to some of them off the assembly line.

PART TWO
The standard tubes that come with the MESA amps suck! That's no secret. They do themselves a disservice by putting them in. Whatever, I won't debate it. I swapped the tubes with the hi-gain JJ's from Eurotubes. It sounded WAAAY better than before. I still wasn't 100% happy with the sound.

PART THREE
I just re-tubed it again last night with GROOVE TUBES SAG-Marshall high gain kit. PERFECTION!! That's what I was looking for all along. The amp is now ALIVE!

Some on this board know that I've had a love/hate relationship with my HW Mod Stiletto. I am IN LOVE with it again....for the time being....j/k I found what I was looking for this time.

NOW, on the topic of the SERIES TWO. I have not owned one, but I have spent a grand total of 90 minutes with an ACE at my guitar shop. I liked it a lot! However, I think the HW mod Stiletto is more up my alley. I seriously feel that it is more JCM/Plexi-like to me. The ACE has it's own unique sound. Which is great! But I wanted a Marshally sound to begin with and that's what I have now. The Series II is kicking butt with something MESA-ish.

I talked to an engineer at Mesa when the ACE was almost out in stores. I asked him if the Series two was the same as the HW mod. He said no. BUT in HIS opinion the HW mod Stiletto one sounded better than the series two. This was the engineer saying this. I have to agree.

I can't type anymore....

 

[Barry]

Ahhh, this never ending question. I get suckered into this every time. I sure wish I could speak directly to you all regarding this, I'm sick of typing it out. You can read my entire thread at the top of the page. All right here we go:

PART ONE
I am CONVINCED that the series I had two batches of manufacturing to them. When I first tried out the Stiletto (almost two years ago) at my guitar shop, I thought it was the greatest sound ever! It was Rectoish, it was Marshally, it was fantastic. Then I bought one brand new. I took it home and could not get anywhere near that sound. Even with the same guitar. I was getting ear fatigue from it and the FLUID DRIVE mode was FLUBBY DRIVE mode IMO. I was just about to sell it when I heard there was a MOD to it. I took it to MB in Hollywood and for $60 they added, yes ADDED gain to the TIGHT GAIN channel. They also added gain and removed the flubbiness to the FLUID DRIVE mode. It sounded even better than the very first Stiletto I tried. So why was mine so much different than the one I sampled? I don't know but I'm convinced they made some changes to some of them off the assembly line.

PART TWO
The standard tubes that come with the MESA amps suck! That's no secret. They do themselves a disservice by putting them in. Whatever, I won't debate it. I swapped the tubes with the hi-gain JJ's from Eurotubes. It sounded WAAAY better than before. I still wasn't 100% happy with the sound.

PART THREE
I just re-tubed it again last night with GROOVE TUBES SAG-Marshall high gain kit. PERFECTION!! That's what I was looking for all along. The amp is now ALIVE!

Some on this board know that I've had a love/hate relationship with my HW Mod Stiletto. I am IN LOVE with it again....for the time being....j/k I found what I was looking for this time.

NOW, on the topic of the SERIES TWO. I have not owned one, but I have spent a grand total of 90 minutes with an ACE at my guitar shop. I liked it a lot! However, I think the HW mod Stiletto is more up my alley. I seriously feel that it is more JCM/Plexi-like to me. The ACE has it's own unique sound. Which is great! But I wanted a Marshally sound to begin with and that's what I have now. The Series II is kicking butt with something MESA-ish.

I talked to an engineer at Mesa when the ACE was almost out in stores. I asked him if the Series two was the same as the HW mod. He said no. BUT in HIS opinion the HW mod Stiletto one sounded better than the series two. This was the engineer saying this. I have to agree.

I can't type anymore....

I have series 1 and i didnt do any mod to it . I only use crunch mode in channel 1 and tite gain mode in channel 2 . I will say it seems to be best suited to mahogany based humbuckers type guitars . My Les paul sounds huge through it . The 4X12 traditional cab is also an important to the rig as well . I get agreat sound out of it . This debate will go on forever . Im warn out by it . Im going to get a beer .

 

[MetalMatt]

Im going to get a beer .

Best thing I read all day!

Skål!!!

 

[hacker]

hi this my first post
i have a series 1. when i first heard it in the shop sounded good. When i got it home though it sounded average liked my mates series 2 better. Gave it a run for a couple of months still didnt like it so i retubed it with jj ecc83s in the preamp & groove tube el34m. now what a difference. love it now

 

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

I played both and was really disappointed both times. That was the thinnest sounding amp I have ever heard..... even after 20 minutes of tweeking trying to fatten up the tone. I changed guitars and cabs .... same thing :evil: ..... I finally plugged a DR into the cab and waa-laa !! instant TONE again !! ..... so it wasn't the cab or guitar.

It is one of the coolest looking amps on the Planet!! I want so badly to like it I would like to take one home, re tube it, play it through my cab with my guitar and see if I couldn't get a better sound. I can't imagine Randall would let something that poor sounding go out the door :shock:

 

[ashjn]

For me, the Stiletto took an unusual amount of time to dial in how I wanted. At first, I thought it was very thin sounding too. I also discovered that it REALLY needs to be ran through a 4x12...

 

[Barry]

For me, the Stiletto took an unusual amount of time to dial in how I wanted. At first, I thought it was very thin sounding too. I also discovered that it REALLY needs to be ran through a 4x12...

I agree on the 4X12 . I want to touch on something about the stiletto and similar amps such as marshalls . Some of the great classic rock songs were done Marshall, etc. To my ears if you isolate those amps by themselves they dont actually sound marvelous but in the context of a band they tend to really shine and come alive . That is probably somewhat true with the Stiletto . The Stiletto to my ears needs a 4X12 tarditional size cab and a mahogany based humbucker equipped guitar to really come alive .

 

[mr.shiney1]

Well.... my ears are still ringing form a little fun with my Stiletto I. Turn the gain down a bit and floor the master and the output and then get back to me. And I agree to the isolation factor. A good friend of mine who does alot of local recording won't let you listen to your guitar sound solo cause he says you'll hate it, but everybody goes to him for killer mixes. You got a listen to guitars in context with the rest of the band. And what ever you do, do not put a Wylde OD in front of your stiletto cause you may never be heard form again Is there a fire alarm ringing somewhere? What ?are you talkin to me?

 

[mr.shiney1]

Well.... my ears are still ringing form a little fun with my Stiletto I. Turn the gain down a bit and floor the master and the output and then get back to me. And I agree to the isolation factor. A good friend of mine who does alot of local recording won't let you listen to your guitar sound solo cause he says you'll hate it, but everybody goes to him for killer mixes. You got a listen to guitars in context with the rest of the band. And what ever you do, do not put a Wylde OD in front of your stiletto cause you may never be heard form again Is there a fire alarm ringing somewhere? What ?are you talkin to me?

 

[demoking]

Well.... my ears are still ringing form a little fun with my Stiletto I. Turn the gain down a bit and floor the master and the output and then get back to me. And I agree to the isolation factor. A good friend of mine who does alot of local recording won't let you listen to your guitar sound solo cause he says you'll hate it, but everybody goes to him for killer mixes. You got a listen to guitars in context with the rest of the band. And what ever you do, do not put a Wylde OD in front of your stiletto cause you may never be heard form again Is there a fire alarm ringing somewhere? What ?are you talkin to me?

Smartest thing ever. I have a song that I had tracked the guitars on my Dual Rec and never could get it quite right. I just tracked my first stuff last night with the Stiletto Trident I, and it sits WAY better in the same song. I deleted the other tracks and this one already hit the radio this evening. I'll try to get around to getting it online. Soloed it sounds kinda funny. In the mix... perfect. Of course I was using a ribbon mic and an API preamp on the cab though. Big difference.