Seconds and Thirds

The Boogie Board

Help Support The Boogie Board:

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

afu

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Messages
668
Reaction score
6
Location
Tucson, AZ
Within 6 months, I'll have a small windfall and I want to buy 1 or 2 more amps to run together with my Recto, and also by themselves. I use midi for channel switching, since I have an effects processor; so channels and options need 1/4 jacks or a 5 pin. While I want to get some amps that can be switched to lower power, that isn't a deal breaker for 1 I might get. Could anyone give me their opinion about the following:

Stiletto Deuce : For EL34, British tones.
RA100: It fulfills 90% of my wants from a new amp.
H&K Grandmeister: This thing is awesome in sound and features.
Peavey VK II: For low gain sounds, this thing is neat and the features are good.
Marshall JVM or DSL: It has the M on the front.

I really like the Grandmeister, so it's very likely gonna end up being one I buy, but the others are competing for dominance, like bull seals. Any helpful advice from your own experiences with any of these would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. Has anyone tried the new Kustom Class A amps?
 
screamingdaisy said:
If you want Marshall tone, you should get a Marshall.

I agree with this.

Isn't the Stiletto Deuce stage 2 very similar to a Marshall? I'm pretty sure that I saw a video of a Marshall next to a Stiletto and the similarity was shocking.
 
YellowJacket said:
screamingdaisy said:
If you want Marshall tone, you should get a Marshall.

I agree with this.

Isn't the Stiletto Deuce stage 2 very similar to a Marshall? I'm pretty sure that I saw a video of a Marshall next to a Stiletto and the similarity was shocking.

The Plexi sound is literally, the only Marshall-type sound I use, because of my love for that era of British bands. JCM sounds... I could go either way with that.

The Stiletto literally nails Plexi on Crunch. I just find it odd that for how much I love that sound (and the JTM45), I've never owned a Marshall and don't really appreciate their modern tones. Boogie does modern better, imo.
 
Don't bother with the JVM. The JTM sound on the clean channel ain't bad. The rest of it is fizzy though. The high gain is noisy noisy. Unusable unless you use the Chinese red label preamp valve that comes with the amp in V1.
The switching on it is mega though.
 
If the windfall allows, I would check out the amps Bogner is putting out right now. They have always made greats amps but now they are making a larger variety of great amps. The used market is also your friend when it comes to Bogner. :D
 
The reason I listed a wide variety of price points and build quality is because I have a lot of things that are going to come first, like remodeling my home for a power wheelchair and fixing things I've hit with it, exterior paint, divorcing my slut-wife, life as a single Dad, hiring a helper, etc.. I'd love to spend all my money on amps and guitars, but I have to figure out a way to get as many different options for the least cost (hence a PV, since that VK is cool, even being cheap).

I'm going to need a couple of light guitars so I can play more easily and that's another expense. I also want a couple 2x12s so I can put the big monster 4x12 away. I want one more piece for midi switching to complete my setup for that, as well. Then I can do everything on the fly without a lot of hassle or changes.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting the H&K. The Stiletto is really looking good, since it's a modded Plexi and a modded 2203, plus 3 other tones and is under $1000 right now. The RA is tied with the Stiletto.

I play a lot of Classic Rock, Blues, and Stoner Rock, plus Grunge, Metal, and 80s-90s Alternative. I keep veering toward model 1959 Marshall sounds for a lot of that. The H&K and Stiletto would both do it, plus more, but the H&K can plug right into my USB box to record and has a ton of midi options.
 
why spent 1500usd on a RA if you can get a very good stiletto for 800usd??

im not a Marshall guy by any means, but i love the sound im getting on the stiletto. no only the wonderfull tones you can get on crunch mode 1, but surprisingly, the clean tones are also wonderfull, since you get it on. warm, full and punchy, not a fender or even an AC clean, but very useful, plus it takes pedals VERY well . . . plus you are also left with a nice channel 2 to explore . . .

my 0.02
 
Vigo1999 said:
why spent 1500usd on a RA if you can get a very good stiletto for 800usd??

im not a Marshall guy by any means, but i love the sound im getting on the stiletto. no only the wonderfull tones you can get on crunch mode 1, but surprisingly, the clean tones are also wonderfull, since you get it on. warm, full and punchy, not a fender or even an AC clean, but very useful, plus it takes pedals VERY well . . . plus you are also left with a nice channel 2 to explore . . .

my 0.02

Best 2 cents in awhile. I still have some time, but it's looking more and more like the best deal and it's covered in Croc. I'm gonna need a cab clone.
 
afu said:
Vigo1999 said:
why spent 1500usd on a RA if you can get a very good stiletto for 800usd??

im not a Marshall guy by any means, but i love the sound im getting on the stiletto. no only the wonderfull tones you can get on crunch mode 1, but surprisingly, the clean tones are also wonderfull, since you get it on. warm, full and punchy, not a fender or even an AC clean, but very useful, plus it takes pedals VERY well . . . plus you are also left with a nice channel 2 to explore . . .

my 0.02

Best 2 cents in awhile. I still have some time, but it's looking more and more like the best deal and it's covered in Croc. I'm gonna need a cab clone.
+1. Stilettos are really fine amps that can cover A LOT of ground.
 
I'm considering foregoing another amp to get a G-System. Lately, I've been experimenting with my DR, a Boss EQ, and my Nova System. I'm getting so many types of sounds, another amp isn't actually necessary. In Raw mode, I can use an dual EQ settings to adjust the front and loop for a pushed, late 60s sound, a boosted Marshall sound, and an old school thrash sound. I can get Modern to sound like Hendrix or Cannibal Corpse, just by using the EQ. I've found so many settings, I don't know what to do with them or which to use at the moment.

A G-System would just enable better flexibility.... though blasting two amps at once, in stereo, all wet and sloppy, would be nice.

I wish Mesa had fully integrated midi control for their amps. Being able to patch it all together and make changes on the fly would be SO awesome.

Tangent #250,568: I now get why people boost the DR, but I still think it's optional. Using EQ, I did a massive mid boost with the level maxed into Modern, with the amp Gain at 2:30, and it was clearer and more resonant than when dry. It was singing and using vowels.
 
Afu, the G-Sys is nice. It does a lot. The only thing that irks me about it is the need for the Amp Gizmo to integrate the midi switching into a Mesa amp. And the ridiculous amount of flexibility over input/output and loop in/out volume controls. It still seems unnecessarily confusing to me. The manual is a waste of time too. The effects parameters could be labelled better within the editor. So you can actually understand what they do. And for some reason the tuner and noisegate both end up in the loop if you do the 4 cable hook up.

That said, the effects and amount of editing possible is truly stunning. I've even taken to using the parametric eq rather than the sliders on my MkV. As I can have a different eq for each setting.
Really it's a double edged sword.

Here's the JVM I gave away. No amount of Midi switching could swing me into owning another. And I've been a Marshall user for more years than I can remember. I think I got a better sound through the first generation valvestate amps than the JVM. Not a flash in the pan decision there either. I gigged the thing for a year before I ditched it. Luckily I got it as a direct swap for a Blackstar HT100. Which was a bit worse an amp.

image_zpsc3b19be1.jpg
 
I already have the Voodoo Control Switcher for the Recto. After I got the Nova System, I wanted to integrate it. The Nova has an odd setup for switching so I bought the G-Switch. It does the same **** thing. If a patch switch is held down for more than 1 second, it starts scrolling through banks. A patch change occurs when the switch is released (not when pressed), which means you have less than 1 second to remove your foot and you can't just set it there to get ready for the change. Seeing as how I use a fricking power wheelchair, my feet aren't exactly quick and I'd like to kick TC Electronic in the face for doing dual duty like that.

My fix would be a midi pedal like the ones from Behringer or Rocktron, or a loop switching pedal with midi, which has been my plan, or a combination of both. While those options are cheaper, by buying a G-System, I could stop buying things and have two FX units with nearly identical effects (plus a few more on the G), with generally the same kind of menus and parameters.

Plus, if I did end up with a H&K amp, it would completely integrate with the setup.

If I grabbed a Stiletto, it only really needs one cable to hit the relay for the channel switch. On the Recto, I could take the channel 2 cable out and have all the switches turn off to make it come on, because it's the default channel. I imagine the Stiletto does something similar.
 
I ended up at Guitar Center with my brother and tried the Orange or15 with a LPX, a SG, and a Satch model guitars. I liked it, but the first two guitars had issues related to setup and the SG was damaged. I was very disappointed by the LP. I've played several Epiphones which I would rather own.

All in all, this reminded me of why I hate going to GC.
 
Playing Gibsons at guitar center makes me wonder how anybody buys them. They are always out of wack and their fingerboards usually look and feel like absolute crap. I even played a 59 reissue a few months ago at a GC and it had so many problems I couldn't belive it. Those guitars get no TLC whatsoever. Well, they get plenty of T, just no LC. :lol:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top