I just got my Stiletto back from being repaired and modified. David Sarge from Engineered Sound did such a good job clamping and gluing the cabinet I can barely tell it was cracked. I guess it was a good thing that it cracked at the bottom seam.
Well... on to the review.
I had the Hollywood Mod done to the amp.
This is a 2 channel head with a dedicated solo boost. Each channel has 3 modes. The Hollywood mod affects only 2 modes on channel 2. What it does exactly is it adds a bit if low end and drive to the Tite Gain Mode and it reduces the bass and adds gain to the Fluid Drive mode.
Some people complained when the Deuce and the Trident first came out because the the Tite Gain mode was not heavy enough for old school metal like Priest, Maiden, Accept etc.... and the Fluid Drive mode had too much bass, it was a little fuzzy and it needed a dose of Rectifier gain.
Well... mission accomplished.
Channel 1 has always been stellar. It has a fat clean, a tite clean and a cloned crunch which also appears in Channel 2. No problems with this channel at all for any type of music.
Channel 2 REALLY HONESTLY and TRULY can give you:
Mode 1... CRUNCH This is anything from light rock all the way up to Back in Black. It all depends on how much gain you dial in.
Mode 2... TITE GAIN This is modern heavy and crushing. NO sag at all. There is enough gain to do just about anything. The bottom end is thundering. Its an extremely aggressive high gain Cameron modded Marshall 2203 tone. You would swear you were playing a modded 2203. Its that “sounds clean and super heavy at the same time” type sound. It really makes this amp sound like it has E34L’s in it. I retubed a Carvin MTS3200 once with E34L’s and high gain preamp tubes and it sounded very similar to this amp. It also reminds me alot of the Carvin Legacy.
Mode 3...FLUID DRIVE This channel sounds VERY much like a Rectifier to my ears. If you retubed a Rectifier with EL34’s it would sound very much like this mode. You can scoop it out for death metal, you can boost it up for power metal... this channel is ALL METAL. It sizzles like a rectifier. Here is another thing. The bass doesn’t start coming on strong until you start turning it up. Just like a Rectifier. You can literally make your guitar sound like a frikkin chainsaw. You actually have to turn the treble down a little. Its a modern metal tone with plenty of gain for the heaviest of tones.
I think the amp sounds the best with both channels set on Tube Rectifier Tracking instead of Silicon Diodes. I also like Channel 1 set at 50w and Channel 2 set at 100w. I also have the switch on the front set to Bold.
Is it a winner?? Yep. I actually liked it stock too but it was broken and it needed to be fixed anyway. Apparently, there are very few Stage 1 Stiletto’s with this mod because Mesa offered it for a very short time.
Supposedly.. the Stage 2 (identified by a II on the front panel near the input jacks) has this mod built in. They also upgraded the power supply to a new lightening fast one that tightens the low end, increases overall authority & mid punch of the entire amp.
So... in a nutshell. What do I think?
If you were looking for a Rectifier and a modded high gain Marshall all in 1 amp and you didn’t want to buy the Randall RM100 with modules I would suggest you take a look at a Stage 2 Stiletto Deuce or Trident.
It doesn’t nail the Rectifier tone although its extremely close. Close enough for most ears.
It doesn’t nail the modded high gain 2203 tone although its again.. extremely close. Close enough for most ears.
Best of all.. both tones are in 1 amp thats built extremely well, looks awesome cosmetically, is loud as heck, has a dedicated solo boost (just like the later model Rectifers), has a fantastic clean channel that can be cloned as a second rhythm crunch channel and the ability to choose between 50w and 100w on each channel.
Thanks to David Sarge at Engineered Sound in PA for the repair and the modification. Thanks Mesa for making another fine amp.
Well... on to the review.
I had the Hollywood Mod done to the amp.
This is a 2 channel head with a dedicated solo boost. Each channel has 3 modes. The Hollywood mod affects only 2 modes on channel 2. What it does exactly is it adds a bit if low end and drive to the Tite Gain Mode and it reduces the bass and adds gain to the Fluid Drive mode.
Some people complained when the Deuce and the Trident first came out because the the Tite Gain mode was not heavy enough for old school metal like Priest, Maiden, Accept etc.... and the Fluid Drive mode had too much bass, it was a little fuzzy and it needed a dose of Rectifier gain.
Well... mission accomplished.
Channel 1 has always been stellar. It has a fat clean, a tite clean and a cloned crunch which also appears in Channel 2. No problems with this channel at all for any type of music.
Channel 2 REALLY HONESTLY and TRULY can give you:
Mode 1... CRUNCH This is anything from light rock all the way up to Back in Black. It all depends on how much gain you dial in.
Mode 2... TITE GAIN This is modern heavy and crushing. NO sag at all. There is enough gain to do just about anything. The bottom end is thundering. Its an extremely aggressive high gain Cameron modded Marshall 2203 tone. You would swear you were playing a modded 2203. Its that “sounds clean and super heavy at the same time” type sound. It really makes this amp sound like it has E34L’s in it. I retubed a Carvin MTS3200 once with E34L’s and high gain preamp tubes and it sounded very similar to this amp. It also reminds me alot of the Carvin Legacy.
Mode 3...FLUID DRIVE This channel sounds VERY much like a Rectifier to my ears. If you retubed a Rectifier with EL34’s it would sound very much like this mode. You can scoop it out for death metal, you can boost it up for power metal... this channel is ALL METAL. It sizzles like a rectifier. Here is another thing. The bass doesn’t start coming on strong until you start turning it up. Just like a Rectifier. You can literally make your guitar sound like a frikkin chainsaw. You actually have to turn the treble down a little. Its a modern metal tone with plenty of gain for the heaviest of tones.
I think the amp sounds the best with both channels set on Tube Rectifier Tracking instead of Silicon Diodes. I also like Channel 1 set at 50w and Channel 2 set at 100w. I also have the switch on the front set to Bold.
Is it a winner?? Yep. I actually liked it stock too but it was broken and it needed to be fixed anyway. Apparently, there are very few Stage 1 Stiletto’s with this mod because Mesa offered it for a very short time.
Supposedly.. the Stage 2 (identified by a II on the front panel near the input jacks) has this mod built in. They also upgraded the power supply to a new lightening fast one that tightens the low end, increases overall authority & mid punch of the entire amp.
So... in a nutshell. What do I think?
If you were looking for a Rectifier and a modded high gain Marshall all in 1 amp and you didn’t want to buy the Randall RM100 with modules I would suggest you take a look at a Stage 2 Stiletto Deuce or Trident.
It doesn’t nail the Rectifier tone although its extremely close. Close enough for most ears.
It doesn’t nail the modded high gain 2203 tone although its again.. extremely close. Close enough for most ears.
Best of all.. both tones are in 1 amp thats built extremely well, looks awesome cosmetically, is loud as heck, has a dedicated solo boost (just like the later model Rectifers), has a fantastic clean channel that can be cloned as a second rhythm crunch channel and the ability to choose between 50w and 100w on each channel.
Thanks to David Sarge at Engineered Sound in PA for the repair and the modification. Thanks Mesa for making another fine amp.
