Stiletto stage 2 observations

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rabies

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cheeny meeny happy face
so i've had my new purple deuce head for a few weeks. i've recently done a full retube (minus rectifier tubes) by JJ (E34L and balanced PI). It definitely has more balls with the new power tubes in terms of low end heaviness.

1) not enough bass on tap; my Rivera or a recto kills this in terms of bass
2) great for leads and cuts through well (I usually jam thru very loud PA in studio)
3) great cleans for EL34 amp
4) rhythms for hard rock crunch sucks
5) the crunch mode in both channels sucks and needs to be optimized as mimicking JCM800 or similar
6) loud as hell in 50 watt mode

I was getting a lot of unwanted feedback in fluid drive with output and master @ 10 o'clock, gain at 2 o'clock and treble and mids around noon.

sounds great and responds well with GMajor #27 patch.

i like this amp when played loud and for leads. it's good for tight, fast galloping metallica rhythm parts and other metal stuff. easy to pull off pinched harmonics with the setup I have.

not good for home use, very uninspiring. the crunch mode sucks. shall i say that again?

i also tried the radial bigshot (aby pedal) and didn't like it. tried different settings with the rivera simultaneously and it sounds like it's sucking tone or weakening the signal so I can crank up to noon and it's not satanic loud. which is strange.

i just remembered a bought a tascam recording device, maybe I'll take that out on sunday so you guys can check out my crappy chops and how stuck i am on dorian, mixolydian and blues!
 
When I had my Stiletto I remember liking the crunch mode on channel 1 better than 2 and the amp sounds much better turned up. Not a very friendly bedroom player IMO.
 
MJ Slaughter said:
When I had my Stiletto I remember liking the crunch mode on channel 1 better than 2 and the amp sounds much better turned up. Not a very friendly bedroom player IMO.

exactly, you can play in house/bedroom in clean modes only basically, otherwise tone sucks.
 
The crunch mode is great. Not sure why it isn't working for you. A very versatile mode. Also, it's not suppose to have heavy low end. That's the job of other Mesas in the line, especially the Recto. A lot of vintage Marshall aren't low end heavy either...
 
I am in music for a full-time living and this is my only amp (not including a solid state spare). I have to cover everything from jazz to heavy rock and all points in between and I am happy with the Stiletto.

I cant agree about the low end. I find it good as I don't want to get into the bass guitars territory anyway. I use pedals to get the differing sounds I want and I use the tight gain for lead or rhythm only where that sound fits the bill - but to me thats what pedals are for, the amp's overdrive is just one part of the toolkit.

As for bedroom volume, well this is the wrong amp for the bedroom player. Its a get-out and go-loud kind of weapon for gigs that require a flexible, responsive amp that plays nicely with pedals. True, at low volume it just isn't the same, but then it is not really designed for that purpose. I use a GT8 in the studio for practice, saves tube hours and it sounds acceptable at low volume, perhaps its a case of horses for courses?
:)
 
I actually find the stilletto easy to use as a bedroom amp if you like to play with some gain. I have it paired with a 1-12 3/4 back mesa cabinet, and use humbuckers.

Use 50 watt, spongy mode, and tube recifiers. Run a delay or reverb pedal through the effects loop and then use the loop level knob on the back to bring it down to bedroom level. Mine sounds great used this way, nice and thick.

I set the gains around 2 o'clock, and sometimes kick in a OCD or Chorus up front for more flavor. Other settings are bass at 4 o'clock, treble at noon or 11, presence at 9 o'clock. mids to taste below noon. Channel 1 crunch, Channel 2 tite gain.


Give it a try.
 
58boogie said:
I actually find the stilletto easy to use as a bedroom amp if you like to play with some gain. I have it paired with a 1-12 3/4 back mesa cabinet, and use humbuckers.

Use 50 watt, spongy mode, and tube recifiers. Run a delay or reverb pedal through the effects loop and then use the loop level knob on the back to bring it down to bedroom level. Mine sounds great used this way, nice and thick.

I set the gains around 2 o'clock, and sometimes kick in a OCD or Chorus up front for more flavor. Other settings are bass at 4 o'clock, treble at noon or 11, presence at 9 o'clock. mids to taste below noon. Channel 1 crunch, Channel 2 tite gain.


Give it a try.

thx for the tip, i didn't think about that efx limiter, i do the same with my rivera. gotta try that next time (before it sells?) purple is a sick color.

I retubed all the tubes except recto so it's not the tubes. i wonder if it's the efx loop and g major that's causing the crunch to suck?
 
channel 1 crunch should not suck....I think it is one of the best sounds on the head and I can get it to match my Marshall DSL,on channel 1, but the Marshall has more available bass. I do need to boost it a bit with an OCD or similar quality pedal up front (not in the effects loop) to get some extra gain. I find on most mesas I can't use an overdrive or similar pedals through the loop. The only pedal that works well through the loop for me is delay or reverb.

With regard to my eariler post, the 100 watt settings can make the gain sound even better, you just need to set the effects loop volume a bit lower.

...and yes, purple is sick. :wink:
 
58boogie said:
channel 1 crunch should not suck....

ok, please post some links to MP3's, etc. I don't recall if the other stage 2 I owned (briefly) had a good crunch or not...

it's definitely a good amp and i've played it thru 3 different cabs: gflex 212 (V30s), marshall 412, mesa 412 (old halfback).

could use a bass boost of course. but it's a great lead amp in that fluid drive mode.
 
58boogie said:
I actually find the stilletto easy to use as a bedroom amp if you like to play with some gain. I have it paired with a 1-12 3/4 back mesa cabinet, and use humbuckers.

Use 50 watt, spongy mode, and tube recifiers. Run a delay or reverb pedal through the effects loop and then use the loop level knob on the back to bring it down to bedroom level. Mine sounds great used this way, nice and thick.

I set the gains around 2 o'clock, and sometimes kick in a OCD or Chorus up front for more flavor. Other settings are bass at 4 o'clock, treble at noon or 11, presence at 9 o'clock. mids to taste below noon. Channel 1 crunch, Channel 2 tite gain.


Give it a try.

That loop level tip is an such an obvious answer to the bedroom volume question and a great idea.
Thank you, I will give it a try!

:)
 
i tried that tonite and it sounded pretty good. i need to try the tite gain mode more, i usually get stuck in fluid drive. i'm getting either more gain or easier pinched harmonics out of the stiletto vs. the M5.
 

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