Stiletto

[jgcable]

I decided to keep my Mesa Stiletto Deuce Series 1 with the Hollywood mod done by Dave Bunker.
I had it in the classifieds for a while hoping that nobody would want it.
Nobody did.. and thats a good thing.

You know.. Mesa really isn't feeling the love regarding the Deuce, Trident and the Ace. I guess not many people want a Mesa that thinks its a high gain Marshall.

Personally... I think that many of you are missing the boat when it comes to the Stiletto Series. So many of you are looking for the Mesa chunk but with the midrange of a Marshall. So many times I said how great a Rectifier would sound if I could put EL34's in it. For me.. a Rectifier is a great amp but it lacks midrange and it is a little flabby in the lower end unless you have the perfect speaker enclosures for it. Also.. its a little too "sizzly' to my ears and because it is so popular, its turned into a very generic sounding amp. The Stiletto on the other hand is a breath of fresh air for Mesa. Its high gain Marshall but with chunk, bottom end, tightness and an outstanding clean channel. To my ears its everything you ever wanted your JCM800 2203/4 to sound like. Send your 2203/4 to Splawn or Voodoo to have it modded and it will come back sounding like a Stiletto. The difference is the Stiletto has so many great features:

50/100 watts swichable on each channel!!!
Built in variac (it sags the voltage, even the lights dim on the amp)
3 modes for each of its 2 channels including channel cloning on the crunch channel
Separate adjustable solo boost
Silicone diode or 5u4 rectifier tubes for each channel
adjustable loop
hard bypass for the effects loop

It really is a killer amp.
You guys should go to the local store and check out the new Series 2 Stiletto's. You will be very surprised.

[Chad]

Maybe they don't get much love here, but I would think they are doing okay overall, aren't they? I hung out at the M/B forum for awhile and those amps were defiinitely popular over there.

[jgcable]

Maybe they don't get much love here, but I would think they are doing okay overall, aren't they? I hung out at the M/B forum for awhile and those amps were defiinitely popular over there.

Yea, you are right. At the Boogie Forum it is very popular. I am thinking that the stock Series 1 might have put a blemish on the great Stiletto Series. The Fluid Drive channel was a little mushy and muffled and the tight gain channel just didn't have enough gain. They fixed those issues with the Series 2 amps. That is why GC was blowing out the Series 1's around a year ago.

The current rage around the JCF seems to be the JSX. I think the Stiletto shits all over a stock JSX.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

"So many times I said how great a Rectifier would sound if I could put EL34's in it."


Hey dude, you CAN put EL34s in a Rectifier, and it sounds awesome!

[Cleveland Metal]

It actually "sounds" like I'd like it. Even tho I'm far from an EL34 guy at this point in time. What you describe sounds good.

[eaeolian]

The Series II is a huge improvement. I didn't like the Series I much, but the new ones really do sound like a bigger, badder Marshall.

[toejam]

It actually "sounds" like I'd like it. Even tho I'm far from an EL34 guy at this point in time. What you describe sounds good.

Just get KT77s in place of the regular EL34s.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

wait till you hear it mixed with the pod on our new album.

[jgcable]

wait till you hear it mixed with the pod on our new album.

I want to use the Stiletto on our next album.
Our current album "UNDONE" is arriving today!! It should be available to purchase online soon. CD Now, CD Baby, I-Tunes and a bunch of other outlets. I think we are even going to have ring tones available. We used a 5150, DSL100, Soldano SP77, POD 2.0, Vetta for the guitar tracks. Some of the songs have many layers of guitars on them.

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

a guy i work with just bought a Series 2 Stiletto. you are right in every aspect, plus the look cool to boot!

The JSX vs. Stiletto question is bound to come soon....

[jgcable]

a guy i work with just bought a Series 2 Stiletto. you are right in every aspect, plus the look cool to boot!

The JSX vs. Stiletto question is bound to come soon....

JSX vs Stiletto Series 2 (or Hollywood modded Series 1)

The Stiletto would shit all over the JSX in every repect.
Take that... all you recent JSX lovers.

[bibz]

Played a stiletto on the weekend and it farted all over me! JSX thanks!

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i'd like to hear the series 1 with a mesa traditional cab with cel 90's
so far i like it best with a marshall cab. it still sounds good with the standard recto cab. just to "modern" sounding for my taste.

[Thrust]

I've been through several amps in the past couple years--5150, XXX, Engl Fireball, Stiletto, RG100ES, VHT Deliverance, etc. and, although I sold it, my Stiletto Deuce (boosted w/ a Bad Monkey) was near the "perfect" amp for the **majority** of things I play. I sold it thinking I wanted something smaller (Deliverance) and I REALLY miss it somehting awful. BTW, I believe it's Dave Sarge (not Bunker) who does the Mesa mods in the State College area. He's apparently one of the top Mesa techs in the world and is also a professor of electrical engineering (I think) here at Penn State.

Bottom line. I will pick-up another Stiletto down the road and I'll probably look for a Series 1 Deuce.

[jgcable]

I've been through several amps in the past couple years--5150, XXX, Engl Fireball, Stiletto, RG100ES, VHT Deliverance, etc. and, although I sold it, my Stiletto Deuce (boosted w/ a Bad Monkey) was near the "perfect" amp for the **majority** of things I play. I sold it thinking I wanted something smaller (Deliverance) and I REALLY miss it somehting awful. BTW, I believe it's Dave Sarge (not Bunker) who does the Mesa mods in the State College area. He's apparently one of the top Mesa techs in the world and is also a professor of electrical engineering (I think) here at Penn State.

Bottom line. I will pick-up another Stiletto down the road and I'll probably look for a Series 1 Deuce.

You are correct. He is Dave Sarge. I mixed his name up with the guy who used to do the custom Ibanez guitars in Bensalem PA.
He is one of the top Mesa techs in the world. He personally modded my amp. It is an incredible sounding amp that doesn't know the word fart.