Stiletto II - the magic one

The Boogie Board

Help Support The Boogie Board:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

fdesalvo

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
730
Reaction score
6
Location
New Orleans to Los Angeles
I had a Stage II Deuce a couple of years ago but reluctantly sold it to fund a Splawn QuickRod (we picked up a sponsorship and I wanted in). Having missed the transparent FX loop and amazing clean tone of the Stiletto, I decided to get back into the Mesa fold and picked up a Mark V, but grew tired of it after a week. The first rehearsal with it was amazing, but the second was terrible. I found myself constantly having to tweak the settings and couldn't find that tone I had the week prior - even with the controls set the same. During live shows with the Mark IV, I had the same issues; it needed to be tweaked for every room and you couldn't just turn up the treble without effecting the balance of the other channels. I never had this issue with the Splawn or the Stiletto, as the tone controls were very easy to adjust on the fly. I returned it to Guitar Center.

While there, I saw this dusty Deuce II sitting neglected in the corner. It was beautiful in it's Wine Tuarus Skin, but it looked really sad. I turned the head about and saw that the chassis was covered with a thick layer of dust. Even the tubes were blanketed. The salesman approached and tried selling it to me, but I told him it wasn't the one I wanted because I "hated the color" :wink:.

I came back the next day and told him that I was concerned about how long the amp was on the floor (and that the tubes are likely on their last legs because I noticed that people leave these amps on and off standby for hours or days at a time). I said I'd take the amp if they threw in a new quad of matched EL34s. They agreed and as the salesman went in the back to find the Tuki cover, manual, footswitch, and cables, I grabbed a PRS from the walll and plugged in.

I noticed immediately that this one was special - different from my other, but I have no idea why. It made me wonder if my other Deuce was defective - I haven't even heard a demo of this amp on YouTube that soudned this great. The gain on this one is tighter and more saturated, but very clear. I can't explain why this is when these amps are produced to such tight tolerences, but I know that components themselves can be off by as much as 20%, so maybe this one has the magical combination of resistor values. Whatever the reason, this one is AMAZING! My other was really nice sounding and I was hesitant to sell it, but the lead channel of the Splawn quickly erased my anxiety. After the honeymood period with the Splawn ended, I realized the FX loop and clean channel were mediocre - still, I was reluctant to sell it because the lead channel was the best I have ever heard in any amp. This Stiletto has erased the seller's remorse I carried from unloading the Splawn.

I took her home and removed the tubes and dusted the chassis, tolex, and as a preventive measure, cleaned the jacks. She cleaned up well~

amp11.jpg


amp12.jpg
 
Gigged her last night - so easy to dial in on the fly. Definitely made the right choice by moving away from the MkV. I just ordered a new set of preamp tubes, she was microphonic at any gain level above 9 o'clock - but honestly, with my guitar's volume rolled back, there were no microphonics, so I suspect I need to play with pickup height. She sounded monstrous and beautiful at the same time. What a great series of amps!
 
That is a nice looking Stiletto and a good story about finding it.
I came to the Stiletto after gigging with a Nomad for several years. I had the same issues with that amp as you did with your Mark V. My Nomad was never the same from gig to gig and it became quite maddening constantly fussing with it when I should have been focused on playing.
I had my first gig with the Stiletto only a week after I brought it home. I never even got to take it to a rehearsal. That night at the gig, I was so pleased when I just fired it up and took off. Our other guitar player looked over at me and just said "Whoa!" Good memories of that night.
Strange gig too. It was a private gig, a reunion party for an old youth gang of some sorts from the late 60s. They called themselves "The Morgue" back then. :?
 
Sure, first let me state that I can't ever remember being unhappy with the amp in a live band environment prior to the mod. My hopes were that by having the adj. bias installed I could set it to run hotter and get a little more "warmth / beef ?" from it. The kit was relatively cheap and easy to install so I went for it. It seamed like DIYS project but I have a friend who does this stuff for a living so I went to him for the install.
I must say I am beyond happy with the results. I got everything I was looking for. It took some of the edge off of the top end and to my ears made for some nice thick mids.
I have talked about this maybe to the point of ad nauseam here but the adj. bias mod and the Scumbacks in place of the V30s nailed it for me.

Another thing I tried a while back was sticking a NOS RFT 12AX7 in V1. It sounded sooo good but that old brittle glass did not hold up in the amps socket. I went through three of them in only a few weeks before I had to give up on them. The glass kept cracking! :evil: I'm still not sure what was happening but if I could figure it out I would try one again.

That's all I know my friend.

Great band video on your web page BTW. :D
 
Oh, man, our webage hasn't been updated in ages hahah. Embarassed lol!

I'm def happy with the tone as is, but it would be cool to tweak the bias to warm the amp up a bit. Definitely interested in hearing the difference.
 
Man, this is making me GAS for a Stiletto really bad. I've wanted one since they released... I'm currently in a similar situation that you were in. I currently own a Mark V and I love it, but things with the band I'm in are kind of up in the air, so I've flirted with the idea of selling my V getting a Stiletto (or F-100 or RA if I can find one used) and using the profit to get other gear. I've also been a huge fan of the hard rock/core rhythm tones from the Splawn Quickrod, can the Stiletto really compare? I live not too far from the Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney TX so I really just need to go check them all out side by side. But any advice would be more than helpful. I don't know if I'm having un-needed GAS or of I would be happier in the long run.
 
The Splawn is the fattest and most massive sounding modded marshall amp out there. There are gobs of gain and the saturation is very smooth. It also cuts through the mix and can get as woofy as a recto if that's what you want. It's also not very picky when it comes to cabs or speakers.

The trouble is it won't do a good clean or medium gain crunch and the fx loop isn't all that refined. If those things don't matter to you, then I'd jump on one. I kinda miss mine, but the Stiletto is so satisfying I'm not really feeling the sting I thought I would. I just installed new tubes and we have two outdoor gigs this weekend (if we don't get rained out) and I'm eager to run her wide open!

photo2-1.jpg


photo1-1.jpg


Older "Russian 2" and JJ preamp tubes were in the mix. Replaced these with factory preamp tubes.
photo3-1.jpg


New factory tubes installed - leaving older rectifier tubes alone for now.
photo4-1.jpg
 
The Splawn is the fattest and most massive sounding modded marshall amp out there. There are gobs of gain and the saturation is very smooth. It also cuts through the mix and can get as woofy as a recto if that's what you want. It's also not very picky when it comes to cabs or speakers.

The trouble is it won't do a good clean or medium gain crunch and the fx loop isn't all that refined. If those things don't matter to you, then I'd jump on one. I kinda miss mine, but the Stiletto is so satisfying I'm not really feeling the sting I thought I would. I just installed new tubes and we have two outdoor gigs this weekend (if we don't get rained out) and I'm eager to run her wide open!

How would you say the RA compares to the Splawn? I just have a hard time splitting away from Mesa because of the amazing customer service and I just love the company. I've talk to Splawn before about endorsements and they were willing to provide artist pricing. The crunch and clean tones are definitely secondary to me for sure. I may end up biting the built and doing it, but every time I'm not playing on a Mesa it just feels wrong. I had a Bogner Uberschall for a while and couldn't keep it because I had a hard time bonding with it.
 
DWAKO said:
The Splawn is the fattest and most massive sounding modded marshall amp out there. There are gobs of gain and the saturation is very smooth. It also cuts through the mix and can get as woofy as a recto if that's what you want. It's also not very picky when it comes to cabs or speakers.

The trouble is it won't do a good clean or medium gain crunch and the fx loop isn't all that refined. If those things don't matter to you, then I'd jump on one. I kinda miss mine, but the Stiletto is so satisfying I'm not really feeling the sting I thought I would. I just installed new tubes and we have two outdoor gigs this weekend (if we don't get rained out) and I'm eager to run her wide open!

How would you say the RA compares to the Splawn? I just have a hard time splitting away from Mesa because of the amazing customer service and I just love the company. I've talk to Splawn before about endorsements and they were willing to provide artist pricing. The crunch and clean tones are definitely secondary to me for sure. I may end up biting the built and doing it, but every time I'm not playing on a Mesa it just feels wrong. I had a Bogner Uberschall for a while and couldn't keep it because I had a hard time bonding with it.

Nothing Mesa has is even close it's just a different flavor of amp that doesn't cross over - I am a HUGE Mesa fanboy, as well - and their service keeps me coming back, too.

The RA is a realllly nice soudning amp - the cleans are outstanding - the crunch is outstanding - but, I was disapponted because I couldn't get the two overdrive modes to sound disctinct enough to make the investment worthwhile. The amount of gain on tap from the RA is about 25% of what the Splawn has to offer, or about 50% of what the Stiletto can produce. The RA would squal uncontrollably at any gain level above 2 o'clock, while the Splawn could go to 5:30 all day while remaining clear and saturated.

I've learned that every amp comes designed around limitations and each has it's own set of compromises. You have to find the one that works best for your needs. I will say that the Splawn's tone turned heads every time ~ very consistent from stage to stage, needing only a tweak of the treble to bring it where you needed it to go. Very similar to the Deuce in both aspects.

We had and endorsement through Splawn, as well. Scott and Dai are awesome dudes no doubt and their amps are the best at what they do.
 
Well, I may try a Splawn out, the first record I ever heard the Quickrod on was from Brad Noah of the band Disciple, I was only 17 at the time and the first time I heard the thickness of that amp I could tell it was something distinctively different and awesome. I pretty much live in the high gain territory with cleans here and there. I think the Mark V has gotten me the closest to whee I want to be, especially the Extreme mode, I also find the IIC+ to get me in that Splawnish territory with some tweaking. I'm really happy with it, but I've never had that "Ah ha!" moment if that makes any since. I can put up with an average clean and crunch to have an awesome hi gain sound. But understand that I like gain and not saturation, I like a powerful "punchy" sound not so much a hi gain sound covered with a bunch of over tones.
 
I think you'll love the QR, but it gets very saturated quickly lol. But it's not fizzy like a recto or 5150. Just a diff thing going on. I also recommend giving the deuce a shot, too. Two fine amps IMHO.
 
Yeah... I hate any fizziness, definitely not my thing. I've thought about the KT88s as well, do you think they would give the quick rod even more modern tone? I've always been a fan of headroom, I've liked the Triple over the Dual Rectifier, so I'm thinking I might like the Trident over the Deuce, I'll definitely try both. But based on what you've said I'll probably happiest with the Splawn.
 
DWAKO said:
Yeah... I hate any fizziness, definitely not my thing. I've thought about the KT88s as well, do you think they would give the quick rod even more modern tone? I've always been a fan of headroom, I've liked the Triple over the Dual Rectifier, so I'm thinking I might like the Trident over the Deuce, I'll definitely try both. But based on what you've said I'll probably happiest with the Splawn.

The QR has zero problems sounding modern haha. It also doesn't suffer from lack of headroom. I haven't played Trident, but can't imagine needing more oomph than the Deuce has to offer.
 
I played one recently that also took me by surprise compared to others I've tried but I didn't find the loop transparent. It sounded a little fuller and warmer if I bypassed the loop. NO matter how I set the channel and Master volumes this was the case and it wasn't something you could EQ. Kind of bummed me out because I would like to use the loop but the amp only sounded OK with it in but great with it out.
 
fdesalvo said:
Oh hell no man! That's like turning the master down. I keep mine at 85% and it preserves tone.

I'll definitely give that a try next time I get to play it.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top