Why? Is it the brightness thing? I think once you learn how to dial it in, the brightness isnt an issue. I just dont get why there seems to be no love or respect for IMO, some of the best sounding amps mersa has made. Ive played rectos for years and I still dig em. But I would take a stiletto over them any day. Just my feelings on the matter.
Why do you think the Stilettos get a bad rap?
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UltraGary
Well-known member
Bad rap?... I've only heard good things about them.
emperor_black
Well-known member
yeah, I saw some pro's backline and I recall seeing some stiletto heads. Dont remember who it was.
Dont get me wrong, my Trident is the best amp ive ever owned. The people I talk to (not counting peeps on the boogie board) always seem to treat the stilettos like the red headed ******* stepchild of the mesa family. Always losing attention from the mark and recto series. I know the marks have logged tons of miles on gazillions of legendary performances and recordings, and the rectos were instrumental in 2 huge musical movements in the 90's...Stilettos need lovin too :wink:
rockstarplumber
Member
I heart my Trident. WIth the pedals, and channel selections, there aint a sound i CANT get out of this beast.
KH Guitar Freak
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I want a Mesa Stiletto Deuce II head, to go with my Roadster head... 8)
rocksalt7
Well-known member
I hear a lot of folks here and elswhere too, that really don't like the tone of the Stiletto because of the brightness; so they say. :? As for me, I'm all in with my Ace!!! and yes it is bright...and it can be tamed! It just takes some time is all, and I think some players want "instant gratification" and this amp just isn't that way...at all!!!
These amps may be bright, but when I'm jammin' out with this thing and nail a good chord....even my too loud drummer smiles!!
The tone of these Stilettos is just like their namesake...they cut...and they cut right thru all the mud and get right out front when you ask them to - every time. These green Mesa's ROCK!!!! :mrgreen:
These amps may be bright, but when I'm jammin' out with this thing and nail a good chord....even my too loud drummer smiles!!
The tone of these Stilettos is just like their namesake...they cut...and they cut right thru all the mud and get right out front when you ask them to - every time. These green Mesa's ROCK!!!! :mrgreen:
Old BF Shred
Well-known member
Before I bought mine, I called Mesa and asked about it. The rep (I won't repeat his name so as not to "put him on the spot" but if you've ever called them, you know him) told me "it is the best sounding amp we ever built". :shock:
And, for my tastes, I must agree. I have many friends and acquaintances that own Mesa's but so far none but me have a Stiletto, and I think they are a little envious. :mrgreen:
How else can you get the classic "Marshall/High Watt British" power chord crunch with a cutting, Boogie lead tone?
Yes, they are bright; like any Mesa they need to be dialed in, but that brightness LOVES a 4x12 cab (but hey, who doesn't?).
Granted, they are not for everyone (Mesa makes many different models to acknowledge that fact), but they are for me! :wink:
Take care!
And, for my tastes, I must agree. I have many friends and acquaintances that own Mesa's but so far none but me have a Stiletto, and I think they are a little envious. :mrgreen:
How else can you get the classic "Marshall/High Watt British" power chord crunch with a cutting, Boogie lead tone?
Yes, they are bright; like any Mesa they need to be dialed in, but that brightness LOVES a 4x12 cab (but hey, who doesn't?).
Granted, they are not for everyone (Mesa makes many different models to acknowledge that fact), but they are for me! :wink:
Take care!
surferdeac
Well-known member
Old BF Shred said:
As well as me!!!!!
In fact my good friend and fellow guitar player went through about 4 or 5 different amps last year. buying one on either e bay or musicians friend using them for a while then turning them on ebay or in one instance returning one of these that he bought from american musical supply or musicians friend i can't remember saying he wasn't satisfied with the product. a crate/fender/rivera/randal to name a few.
he would bring these amps over to my house to jam and record with.
Last year i was using my Carvin legacy solely because that was the only tube amp i owned at the time (used it for the last 8 years or so).
Then i got my stiletto ACE HEad along with a rec cab this past year and my friend when he came over for the first time to my place was like "dude I think that thing has killer tone man!!!, i need to get one of those"
I then responded with " man come on!!! " :mrgreen: :lol:
rocksalt7
Well-known member
Thanks BF....you described perfectly what I've been trying to put into words for a long time!!! My Ace really reminds me of the old Hiwatt amps and the tone from The Who!! :shock: That's the way I've set mine up for at least for now!! I don't know why this didn't come to me before now :wink:....The tones on Who's Next just kill me - I almost can't listen to it anymore...but I do!!! :mrgreen:
Didn't mean to be so long winded, but I do like this amp...a LOT!!
Didn't mean to be so long winded, but I do like this amp...a LOT!!
BMarchant
Well-known member
Guys,
I wouldn't trade these amps for anything. I've been using the Stiletto and the LoneStar with the AC/DC-Aerosmith cover band I'm recently in "The Royal Pains", with great success. The amps sound killer. Check out the sound clips at the bottom of our page. www.theroyalpains.com . On Long way to the top, I'm doing the second guitar part. Amps tone is very AC/DC old school Marshall. In fact, our other guitar player is using a Marshall 50watt 1966 Plexi, if you want to compair the two.
I wouldn't trade these amps for anything. I've been using the Stiletto and the LoneStar with the AC/DC-Aerosmith cover band I'm recently in "The Royal Pains", with great success. The amps sound killer. Check out the sound clips at the bottom of our page. www.theroyalpains.com . On Long way to the top, I'm doing the second guitar part. Amps tone is very AC/DC old school Marshall. In fact, our other guitar player is using a Marshall 50watt 1966 Plexi, if you want to compair the two.
Bradmeister
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Get a bad rap? Are you serious? I just bought mine a couple of months ago. It was down to a Dual Rectifier or the Stiletto, and I just liked the Stiletto tone better. Goes great with my Les Paul. Now I have the classic combination of EL34's and Les Paul! Rectifiers are cool, too, but just liked Stiletto better. However, I also bought the Rectifier 4x12 and 2x12 cabs to help tame those highs.
-Brad
Rectifiers are cool, too, but just liked Stiletto better. However, I also bought the Rectifier 4x12 and 2x12 cabs to help tame those highs. -Brad
anyone have any sound clips, that of the amp recorded with a mic, and little effects .. no studio magic? no youtube style clips.. i find that most amps start to sound the same through those camera mics. im sure clips would help any bad rap.. but it may also be the fact that its only 2 channels and has no reverb.
BMarchant
Well-known member
dmcguitar said:
I know you said no youtube clips, but its what the amp sounds like. You can hear it compaired to an old 66 marshall plexi. Its as live as you can get. No studio magic at all.
www.theroyalpains.com ..... Go to the bottom of the page and click on the clips.
surferdeac
Well-known member
i recently posted the following info on another thread but also wanted to share it here as well because i felt that many people have been complaining and or have been having problems with regards to getting good tones out of there amp when utilizing the amps effects loop. about how stiletto's don't sound as good in the effects loop
Bradmeister wrote:
I definitely like the tones better with the effects loop turned off
This is a real important statement that i felt compelled to share with people out in mesa land about using your amps effect loop. MY biggest problem that I recently "SOLVED" with regards to my effects loop was this
MY dirty channel with the loop engaged always seemed to sound more brittle sounding than my dirty channel with the loop hard bypassed. .
when initially using my effects loop with my g major i did what Mesa recommended you do set you levels hard bypassed without effects engaged so that it would be easier to
unity gain levels between the two channels.
i said before to do as mesa suggests --- set the Amps send fx level in the back to match the Ace's output level in the front. so straight up noon straight up noon. by doing this with the the amp's output settings discussed above,
This is fine to do, but mesa suggests that you set your levels hard bypassed. What i assumed was wrong. and that was this ____
I assumed that i should set the levels of my amp between the clean and the dirty channel so that my clean channel and dirty channel were similar in Loudness so to speak.
what happened when I did this is that I ended up fidgeting the clean master knob around 2/3 oclockish while keeping gain on same channel around noonish. I was trying to get as much headroom out of the amp as possible while at the same time adjusting my dirty channel to similar levels in terms of how loud it was. my dirty channel's master was at a mere 9 oclockish or so. ya know it sounded good hard bypassed, but when I engaged my effects loop and adjusted my g major's input to get my led's up where they were suppose to be your dirty channels leds are way to cold/low. (your clean channel all things being equal will clip before your dirty channel)
IF YOUR LEDS ARE NOT UP TO WHERE THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE WITH YOUR EFFECTS LOOP ENGAGED YOUR '''''''TONE"""" WILL SUFFER BIG TIME ESPECIALLY IN YOUR DIRTY CHANNEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT STILETTO'S BEING BRIGHT AND BRITTLE SOUNDING I BELIEVE THIS IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THIS
So what i did was bring up my master on my dirty channel to about 2 oclockish (mind you my g majors input is now set at 50%).
When your amp is bypassed from your effects loop the difference in sound is extreme between the two channels, but if have your effects loop engaged and you go into the "levels all" feature (which mind you doesn't detract from how hot the signal is)on the g major and drop the preset output level of the given dirty channel 5-10 decibles you can get a hot signal to your g major at a lower volume that of which is closer to that of the clean channel.
it will also make your amp's effects loop with the dirty channel usable at stage Volumes without it sounding ear peircing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bradmeister wrote:
I definitely like the tones better with the effects loop turned off
This is a real important statement that i felt compelled to share with people out in mesa land about using your amps effect loop. MY biggest problem that I recently "SOLVED" with regards to my effects loop was this
MY dirty channel with the loop engaged always seemed to sound more brittle sounding than my dirty channel with the loop hard bypassed. .
when initially using my effects loop with my g major i did what Mesa recommended you do set you levels hard bypassed without effects engaged so that it would be easier to
unity gain levels between the two channels.
i said before to do as mesa suggests --- set the Amps send fx level in the back to match the Ace's output level in the front. so straight up noon straight up noon. by doing this with the the amp's output settings discussed above,
This is fine to do, but mesa suggests that you set your levels hard bypassed. What i assumed was wrong. and that was this ____
I assumed that i should set the levels of my amp between the clean and the dirty channel so that my clean channel and dirty channel were similar in Loudness so to speak.
what happened when I did this is that I ended up fidgeting the clean master knob around 2/3 oclockish while keeping gain on same channel around noonish. I was trying to get as much headroom out of the amp as possible while at the same time adjusting my dirty channel to similar levels in terms of how loud it was. my dirty channel's master was at a mere 9 oclockish or so. ya know it sounded good hard bypassed, but when I engaged my effects loop and adjusted my g major's input to get my led's up where they were suppose to be your dirty channels leds are way to cold/low. (your clean channel all things being equal will clip before your dirty channel)
IF YOUR LEDS ARE NOT UP TO WHERE THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE WITH YOUR EFFECTS LOOP ENGAGED YOUR '''''''TONE"""" WILL SUFFER BIG TIME ESPECIALLY IN YOUR DIRTY CHANNEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT STILETTO'S BEING BRIGHT AND BRITTLE SOUNDING I BELIEVE THIS IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THIS
So what i did was bring up my master on my dirty channel to about 2 oclockish (mind you my g majors input is now set at 50%).
When your amp is bypassed from your effects loop the difference in sound is extreme between the two channels, but if have your effects loop engaged and you go into the "levels all" feature (which mind you doesn't detract from how hot the signal is)on the g major and drop the preset output level of the given dirty channel 5-10 decibles you can get a hot signal to your g major at a lower volume that of which is closer to that of the clean channel.
it will also make your amp's effects loop with the dirty channel usable at stage Volumes without it sounding ear peircing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
I can understand why the Stilettos get a bad rap - They are completely unforgiving and ungodly tweakable. All the things I could slop through and have sound amazing on my DR's, Marks, and ETC, sound sloppy through the Stilettos. Not the amp for unseasoned players or players that aren't comfortable hearing every nuance and screwup. Once dialed in though, they have the juiciest sweet spots, nice and full with tons of definition.
ToneAddictJon said:
Yep, I think this is the case with nearly all Mesas. They force you to pay more attention to technique and can bring out the worst in you if you are not careful. Could also be why lots of people say things like "I tried a Mesa - couldn't stand it". But I've never heard a quality player make a Mesa sound anything but fabulous.
BMarchant said:
Those clips are great! Wow, I had been feeling a little blase' about the whole gigging thing but that woke me up! I even like the slogan!
I went to try the MK V and tested a Stiletto Ace while I was there, too. I was taken aback a bit by how bright the Stiletto Ace was. I think it may be a bit much with my PRS guitar, which is already brighter than a Gibson to start. But I loved something about the way it did that old-school British "jangle". It's almost like an idealized modern interpretation of classic old-school British rock--if that makes any sense.
In fact, I warmed up to the Stiletto quicker than I warmed up to the MK V. The Stiletto seems easier to dial in than the MK V. So once my ears were calibrated to the nice tone of the Stiletto, I tried futzing with the MK V again. I was basically trying to see if the Stiletto sound could be had from the MK V.
Ultimately, I think I'll be going with a MK V because I want the 3 channels and reverb. But that Stiletto Ace was sweet. If only I had more room and more funds... 8)
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