NAD: Mesa Boogie Stiletto Ace

[robthemac]

Hows its clean for Mayer-esque toans?

You don't want to know how good.

DAMN YOU!!!!!!

Its ok though, its way more expensive than my talents deserve, have been getting a bit of wood for the secondhand 50W 6L6 St James in my local Rockshop though...

I love my Mike-built Deluxe Reverb for the classic Fender tones, but the Filmore into a closed 2x12 with V30 and Creamback is the sound of Continuum. Super round, bouncy, edge of breakup tones.

[jeremyb]

You don't want to know how good.

DAMN YOU!!!!!!

Its ok though, its way more expensive than my talents deserve, have been getting a bit of wood for the secondhand 50W 6L6 St James in my local Rockshop though...

I love my Mike-built Deluxe Reverb for the classic Fender tones, but the Filmore into a closed 2x12 with V30 and Creamback is the sound of Continuum. Super round, bouncy, edge of breakup tones.

Stop it now, you're gonna make me toan!

[The Scarecrow]

I had the 2x12 version about 5 years ago. Best combo-that-sounds-like-a-stack sound I've had. Agree with all your comments re: tone/build/quality.

Only sold it as it was far too heavy to move around to practice 2x weekly.

[NippleWrestler]

I had the 2x12 version about 5 years ago. Best combo-that-sounds-like-a-stack sound I've had. Agree with all your comments re: tone/build/quality.

Only sold it as it was far too heavy to move around to practice 2x weekly.

It is definitely a unit. The wheels help, but not when you're lifting it in and out of a car boot. But then again, you can't fake having giant transformers I guess, if you want the big iron you're gonna have the weight. Not much good for your back though.

Agreed they sound way bigger than other combos. I'm really enjoying this one. After spending a lot of time jamming it I don't think it's overly bright at all, you just have to understand how everything interacts. It's a very good amp.

I have a Noctua fan coming to replace the stock one that's started to whine a little bit. If anyone is interested the Noctua A6x25 is a direct replacement, just splice the 12v (yellow) and ground (black) on the existing wires, ignore the others, and you're good to go.

[robthemac]

I have a Noctua fan coming to replace the stock one that's started to whine a little bit. If anyone is interested the Noctua A6x25 is a direct replacement, just splice the 12v (yellow) and ground (black) on the existing wires, ignore the others, and you're good to go.

And now if the amp ever needs refinishing, you can go for the classy beige/brown colour scheme.

[NippleWrestler]

IG SIZE-1.jpg (418.73 KiB) Viewed 3469 times

Done. Nice new silent fan. The stock one sounded like a jet engine in comparison.

[Slowy]

Just saw the photo of your dog. I assumed you'd just hit a power chord.

[werdna]

Hows its clean for Mayer-esque toans?

You don't want to know how good.

DAMN YOU!!!!!!

Its ok though, its way more expensive than my talents deserve, have been getting a bit of wood for the secondhand 50W 6L6 St James in my local Rockshop though...

The St James is a clever piece of kit. I'd love one.

[NippleWrestler]

For posterity and future people googling mods for this amp here's what I've done to reduce the hardness of the high end, make the lows fuller, and add more body and aggression to the tones available. I used the amp at a jam session last night. It's a monster. Hugely versatile, quiet, well behaved in terms of noise, definitely loud enough, will do great cleans and will now do very pleasing chugs.

C3= 500pf to 2n2 (affects all channels)

This is the first treble peaker. The 2n2 cap adds some thickness to the lower mids. You find this in the Soldano SLO, it's an easy win for thicker tone.

C13 = 2n2 to 6n8 (affects CH2)

This is a coupling cap from v1a and is responsible for determining how much bass enters the next stage. 2n2 is very small. Marshall et al use a 22n, but this was too flubby. A 6n8 gets a good amount of low end at all ranges on the gain pot.

R25 = 39k to 27k (affects CH2)

More gain on Tite and Fluid drive. This is the cathode resistor off v2b. This is the fabled cold clipper circuit, more designed for wave shaping but it's an easy target for more gain (although the asymmetry of the gain is part of the design intention). Note it's in parallel with the 220k when fluid drive is selected (along with a 2u2 bypass cap on v3a) so be careful with the value. Too low and it's crazy and gets blatty. I wanted just a smidge more gain and liked the sound of the 27k. It definitely wakes it up. FYI, a 91k resistor soldered over r25 will result in 27.3k total.

R38 = 39k to 47k (affects CH2)

Slope resistor in the tone stack of channel 2. Makes the mids deeper, allows more upper mid content. This isn't a huge change (8k). Soldano use a 56k here. I went with Dual Rec values and the 47k was good to my ears.

Treble pot on CH2 = 330pf in parallel.

This knocks off some of the high end, making it bearable. Just solder a 330pf cap between the outer legs on this pot. Easy.

[NZTone.e]

For posterity and future people googling mods for this amp here's what I've done to reduce the hardness of the high end, make the lows fuller, and add more body and aggression to the tones available. I used the amp at a jam session last night. It's a monster. Hugely versatile, quiet, well behaved in terms of noise, definitely loud enough, will do great cleans and will now do very pleasing chugs.

C3= 500pf to 2n2 (affects all channels)

This is the first treble peaker. The 2n2 cap adds some thickness to the lower mids. You find this in the Soldano SLO, it's an easy win for thicker tone.

C13 = 2n2 to 6n8 (affects CH2)

This is a coupling cap from v1a and is responsible for determining how much bass enters the next stage. 2n2 is very small. Marshall et al use a 22n, but this was too flubby. A 6n8 gets a good amount of low end at all ranges on the gain pot.

R25 = 39k to 27k (affects CH2)

More gain on Tite and Fluid drive. This is the cathode resistor off v2b. This is the fabled cold clipper circuit, more designed for wave shaping but it's an easy target for more gain (although the asymmetry of the gain is part of the design intention). Note it's in parallel with the 220k when fluid drive is selected (along with a 2u2 bypass cap on v3a) so be careful with the value. Too low and it's crazy and gets blatty. I wanted just a smidge more gain and liked the sound of the 27k. It definitely wakes it up. FYI, a 91k resistor soldered over r25 will result in 27.3k total.

R38 = 39k to 47k (affects CH2)

Slope resistor in the tone stack of channel 2. Makes the mids deeper, allows more upper mid content. This isn't a huge change (8k). Soldano use a 56k here. I went with Dual Rec values and the 47k was good to my ears.

Treble pot on CH2 = 330pf in parallel.

This knocks off some of the high end, making it bearable. Just solder a 330pf cap between the outer legs on this pot. Easy.

Wicked, I don’t suppose you made some before, during and after clips?

[NippleWrestler]

For posterity and future people googling mods for this amp here's what I've done to reduce the hardness of the high end, make the lows fuller, and add more body and aggression to the tones available. I used the amp at a jam session last night. It's a monster. Hugely versatile, quiet, well behaved in terms of noise, definitely loud enough, will do great cleans and will now do very pleasing chugs.

C3= 500pf to 2n2 (affects all channels)

This is the first treble peaker. The 2n2 cap adds some thickness to the lower mids. You find this in the Soldano SLO, it's an easy win for thicker tone.

C13 = 2n2 to 6n8 (affects CH2)

This is a coupling cap from v1a and is responsible for determining how much bass enters the next stage. 2n2 is very small. Marshall et al use a 22n, but this was too flubby. A 6n8 gets a good amount of low end at all ranges on the gain pot.

R25 = 39k to 27k (affects CH2)

More gain on Tite and Fluid drive. This is the cathode resistor off v2b. This is the fabled cold clipper circuit, more designed for wave shaping but it's an easy target for more gain (although the asymmetry of the gain is part of the design intention). Note it's in parallel with the 220k when fluid drive is selected (along with a 2u2 bypass cap on v3a) so be careful with the value. Too low and it's crazy and gets blatty. I wanted just a smidge more gain and liked the sound of the 27k. It definitely wakes it up. FYI, a 91k resistor soldered over r25 will result in 27.3k total.

R38 = 39k to 47k (affects CH2)

Slope resistor in the tone stack of channel 2. Makes the mids deeper, allows more upper mid content. This isn't a huge change (8k). Soldano use a 56k here. I went with Dual Rec values and the 47k was good to my ears.

Treble pot on CH2 = 330pf in parallel.

This knocks off some of the high end, making it bearable. Just solder a 330pf cap between the outer legs on this pot. Easy.

Wicked, I don’t suppose you made some before, during and after clips?

Nope, I'm not doing it for YouTube, just my own ears and satisfaction, crocodile clipping as I go.