Stiletto Ace & Gain Pedals

[progholio]

Hello,
I am curious if any Stiletto Ace owners out there are using overdrive pedals in the gain channel with any success. What i am trying to achieve is having my gain channel set for a good rockin' classic overdrive tone (mode in "tite" position, solid state recto, preamp volume at about high noon) then using an overdrive pedal to add an extra gain stage with a touch more sustain.

So far i have used:

Keeley moded TS-9
Aramat Green Machine
Barber LTD Silver
Xotic BB Preamp
Throbak StrangeMaster
Fulltone Soul Bender (what the hell)

all with verying degrees of success, main complaint being that these pedals add lots of external noise and seem to overcompress the tone, making it artificial.
I notice this amp is very pickey about gain pedals (through gain or clean channel), some sound like absolute crap and yet sound stunning through a garden variety tube Marshall or Fender Deville.
I could give a laundry list of fuzz pedals i've tried in this amp that just don't get along well.
Anything out there i'm missing out on?

 

[surferdeac]

i haven't had the opportunity to use any overdrive pedals with my ace head yet but am very satisfied with my tone. i predominantly use tight gain/diode gain at one/twoish treb at nine pres at nine mid bass at noon give or take a couple hours here and there depending on mood. i usually have my rack in the loop and what i have personally found is that when engaging the loop i find personally that it seems as though i loose a little bit of the amps presence, but it is corrected by simply turning the presence up a couple hours or so. I have my amps output vol at around noonish and my master vol on my dirty channel around 2ish and set my g major levels accordingly that is to get a hot signal pumpin. I am ALSO curious as to experimenting with various pedals, but more so for more of a NOVELTY effect seeing that i am satisfied with the gain/sustain levels i can achieve with this amp set up the way i got her :mrgreen:

 

[cvansickle]

I find that a little light OD from my HBE Power Screamer, or the bite of my HBE Germania, are the only pedals I ever need for extra gain. The amp sounds great straight.

 

[jab]

I had a ton of success with Xotic AC+ in the clean channel (so I could go from clean-crunch). I didn't use it much on the gain channel but it's something to consider. It's less compressed / gainy than the BB, but there is plenty gain on tap and with Stiletto I found it sounded very much like the Stiletto itself. The tones I got on Tite Gain vs. Fat Clean with AC were almost interchangeable, but Fat Clean with AC was bigger/darker sounding so I liked it better. With gain at 0 and volume up, it's like a clean boost, then by noon you really start getting a lot of gain. I typically used it b/w 8:00 and 10:00 depending on the situation. One thing to consider is getting your classic rock distortion tone off of AC in the clean channel, then using the dirty channel for a bit more 'over the top' type of tones. Worked for Andy Timmons, worked for me. I believe Timmons used his AC in Tite Clean, I used it in Fat Clean. Good thing Stiletto is so versatile. Spent some time bar-hopping in Nashville last year and it seemed most of those guys had an AC pedal on their board for gain/solos.

 

[angus1959]

I have had good results using a Bixonic Expandora set to Overdrive, with level high and gain low. Also get nice results with a Boss EQ pedal with a slight hump in the middle and very little gain boost. Happy Hunting...

 

[jetdriver]

What about trying a clean boost, like a Creation Audio Labs MK 4.23 boost? Just gives you more... YOU.

 

[droptrd]

I currently hooked on the Barber DD. Iuse it on the tite gain mode with the ch gain at 1:00. I set the DD level at 3:30, tone at 11:00 and the gain at 8:00. big low mids.

 

[fuzzgod]

That's kinda what I do (solid crunch and pedal for extra sustain)...i LOVE the Way Huge Pork Loin set mostly as a clean boost (with some OD). I think it sounds like an out of control, Jimmy Page on steroids OD

 

[Platano]

Hey Progholio: You might demo the Fulltone Full-Drive 2 with your setup. You can set it from a rather tasty bite to more gain on the OD side, and you also have the Boost side to play with for soloing.

 

[progholio]

Thanks for the tip. I acutually tried this once at a local shop who is both a Boogie and Fulltone dealer so i got to demo it right into the Ace. I found the Full-Drive to be a little too much in the gain dept and a little off color with the tone. I also tried the Fat-Boost (red version) and that seemed to add a little extra edge that i was looking for while staying transparant, might have to consider that one. Currently i have the chasis at fellow list member 'monstatone' shop to receive some tone mods which i'm really looking forward to. Will probably start a new thread once i get it back, will keep you posted.
Something worth noting, I've alway respected Mesa for their build quality and reliability, this is the first time i've pulled the chasis apart on this amp and it was a breeze, very well thought out, built like a tank, easy to get inside for maintenance. Nice.

Hey Progholio: You might demo the Fulltone Full-Drive 2 with your setup. You can set it from a rather tasty bite to more gain on the OD side, and you also have the Boost side to play with for soloing.

 

[surferdeac]

Maxon od808 review ---- Great sounding pedal especially at its price range

well so far the ONLY gain pedal i have tried so far is the Maxon od808 pedal (friend let me borrow it) and i actually really enjoyed the way it sounded in the fat clean and tite clean modes on the clean channel. On the crunch mode of my clean channel i could actually almost recreate a tone similar to that of my tight gain mode of my dirty channel. I think that the stiletto's are so versatile for the mere fact that their clean channels work so well with gain pedals. i didn't care for it so much in my tight gain mode of my dirty channel, but really dig it in the fat clean especially. That Brings me to another question. I liked the blue/creamy voicing that this pedal gave me in my fat clean and tight clean modes, but the only thing thing and one question to anyone out there that i was wondering is are there any pedals that anyone has EXPERIMENTED WITH that has a similar voicing to a maxon od808, but that just has a tad more distortion/gain on hand. in my head what i was wanting to hear after playing this pedal was one that sounded similar to the maxon808 but with just a TAD more gain/distortion on hand. Don't get me wrong this pedal is great, but was wanting to experiment with one that could add just a tad of sharpness to my screech harmonics but still retain that bluesy/creamy sound.

Pedals that i have considered are
Bk butler tube driver
chandler tube screamer
ibanez tube screamer
xotic bb pre

balls to the walls voiced blues pedal on STEROIDS is what i am actually trying to find

a pedal thats not entirely blues but thats sort of a hybrid between blues and hardrock/old school metal so to speak if that makes any sense at all 8)

 

[droptrd]

Maxon od808 review ---- Great sounding pedal especially at its price range

well so far the ONLY gain pedal i have tried so far is the Maxon od808 pedal (friend let me borrow it) and i actually really enjoyed the way it sounded in the fat clean and tite clean modes on the clean channel. On the crunch mode of my clean channel i could actually almost recreate a tone similar to that of my tight gain mode of my dirty channel. I think that the stiletto's are so versatile for the mere fact that their clean channels work so well with gain pedals. i didn't care for it so much in my tight gain mode of my dirty channel, but really dig it in the fat clean especially. That Brings me to another question. I liked the blue/creamy voicing that this pedal gave me in my fat clean and tight clean modes, but the only thing thing and one question to anyone out there that i was wondering is are there any pedals that anyone has EXPERIMENTED WITH that has a similar voicing to a maxon od808, but that just has a tad more distortion/gain on hand. in my head what i was wanting to hear after playing this pedal was one that sounded similar to the maxon808 but with just a TAD more gain/distortion on hand. Don't get me wrong this pedal is great, but was wanting to experiment with one that could add just a tad of sharpness to my screech harmonics but still retain that bluesy/creamy sound

I love my OD808. While currently dont use it, It is one pedal I will keep forever. I keep going back to all the time. Its just a classic sounding OD. Nails SRV tone

 

[progholio]

I have to say i'm not real crazy about TS808 pedals in this amp, but everyone's different. If you like it but want more gain a couple suggestions would be:

Aramat Green Machine - a fantastic 808 clone, rather obscure and unfortunately the builder passed away recently so they will be pretty tough to find, i'm keeping mine.
-or-
Send your Maxon off to Analog Man, if i'm not mistaking it's virtually the same pedal as the Ibanez Tube Screamer which this guy is the origianal and best modder of this pedal. Had it not been for the non-true bypass function of my old AM modded TS-9 i would have kept it, it was a screamer alright.
http://www.analogman.com/ts9.htm

Maxon od808 review ---- Great sounding pedal especially at its price range

well so far the ONLY gain pedal i have tried so far is the Maxon od808 pedal (friend let me borrow it) and i actually really enjoyed the way it sounded in the fat clean and tite clean modes on the clean channel. On the crunch mode of my clean channel i could actually almost recreate a tone similar to that of my tight gain mode of my dirty channel. I think that the stiletto's are so versatile for the mere fact that their clean channels work so well with gain pedals. i didn't care for it so much in my tight gain mode of my dirty channel, but really dig it in the fat clean especially. That Brings me to another question. I liked the blue/creamy voicing that this pedal gave me in my fat clean and tight clean modes, but the only thing thing and one question to anyone out there that i was wondering is are there any pedals that anyone has EXPERIMENTED WITH that has a similar voicing to a maxon od808, but that just has a tad more distortion/gain on hand. in my head what i was wanting to hear after playing this pedal was one that sounded similar to the maxon808 but with just a TAD more gain/distortion on hand. Don't get me wrong this pedal is great, but was wanting to experiment with one that could add just a tad of sharpness to my screech harmonics but still retain that bluesy/creamy sound.

Pedals that i have considered are
Bk butler tube driver
chandler tube screamer
ibanez tube screamer
xotic bb pre

balls to the walls voiced blues pedal on STEROIDS is what i am actually trying to find

a pedal thats not entirely blues but thats sort of a hybrid between blues and hardrock/old school metal so to speak if that makes any sense at all 8)

 

[progholio]

I forgot to mention that i currently use the xotic BB Preamp with my Ace, i absolutely love this thing in the clean channel, definitely a heavily tweaked TS-9 sound but less artificial sounding. It booted the TS-9/808 clones right off of my board.
Still looking for what works best in the gain channel.

I have to say i'm not real crazy about TS808 pedals in this amp, but everyone's different. If you like it but want more gain a couple suggestions would be:

Aramat Green Machine - a fantastic 808 clone, rather obscure and unfortunately the builder passed away recently so they will be pretty tough to find, i'm keeping mine.
-or-
Send your Maxon off to Analog Man, if i'm not mistaking it's virtually the same pedal as the Ibanez Tube Screamer which this guy is the origianal and best modder of this pedal. Had it not been for the non-true bypass function of my old AM modded TS-9 i would have kept it, it was a screamer alright.
http://www.analogman.com/ts9.htm

Maxon od808 review ---- Great sounding pedal especially at its price range

well so far the ONLY gain pedal i have tried so far is the Maxon od808 pedal (friend let me borrow it) and i actually really enjoyed the way it sounded in the fat clean and tite clean modes on the clean channel. On the crunch mode of my clean channel i could actually almost recreate a tone similar to that of my tight gain mode of my dirty channel. I think that the stiletto's are so versatile for the mere fact that their clean channels work so well with gain pedals. i didn't care for it so much in my tight gain mode of my dirty channel, but really dig it in the fat clean especially. That Brings me to another question. I liked the blue/creamy voicing that this pedal gave me in my fat clean and tight clean modes, but the only thing thing and one question to anyone out there that i was wondering is are there any pedals that anyone has EXPERIMENTED WITH that has a similar voicing to a maxon od808, but that just has a tad more distortion/gain on hand. in my head what i was wanting to hear after playing this pedal was one that sounded similar to the maxon808 but with just a TAD more gain/distortion on hand. Don't get me wrong this pedal is great, but was wanting to experiment with one that could add just a tad of sharpness to my screech harmonics but still retain that bluesy/creamy sound.

Pedals that i have considered are
Bk butler tube driver
chandler tube screamer
ibanez tube screamer
xotic bb pre

balls to the walls voiced blues pedal on STEROIDS is what i am actually trying to find

a pedal thats not entirely blues but thats sort of a hybrid between blues and hardrock/old school metal so to speak if that makes any sense at all 8)

 

[jetdriver]

I use this and really, really like it.

http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/mk423

 

[cvansickle]

I use this and really, really like it.

http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/mk423

I like that pedal, and it's made by some cool guys too. The boost doesn't change your tone, and the pedal is as quiet as they come.