Mesa Boogie Stiletto Deuce Stage 2 & ACE (Heads)

[Kloppsta]

hi guys....

anyone have any opinions about or had any playing time with these 2 amps from the Mesa stable?
im a little perplexed as to what their differences are really? the Ace seems to be the exact same amp as the Deuce but 50W.....whereas the Deuce II seems to be 100W and switchable to 50W....so inessence would it be exactly the same as the ACE in 50W mode? hmmmm

price wise as far as the RS website goes they seem to the axactly the same? not really sure what sets them apart....from what i have read they seem to share the same circuitry/design....so whats the point of the 2 really?

Cheers!!

[sambrowne]

The stiletto is not one of the big hits of the Mesa stable. It's known for being bright and fizzy, and difficult to tame on the brightness side of things. The idea behind the stiletto is a Marshall-esque tone to match with a second guitarist on a recto, but in reality it was basically a recto with EL34s in it and didn't offer the fat mid-heavy roar of an actual Marshall. Some people seem to really dig them but compared with hits like the recto, the Mark series, the Lonestar and recently the electradyne, the stiletto really didn't hit the mark. The cabs, on the other hand, are awesome, and I'm thinking of getting one instead of my recto cab which is a bit heavy in the low end for my needs.

[sambrowne]

hi guys....

anyone have any opinions about or had any playing time with these 2 amps from the Mesa stable?
im a little perplexed as to what their differences are really? the Ace seems to be the exact same amp as the Deuce but 50W.....whereas the Deuce II seems to be 100W and switchable to 50W....so inessence would it be exactly the same as the ACE in 50W mode? hmmmm

price wise as far as the RS website goes they seem to the axactly the same? not really sure what sets them apart....from what i have read they seem to share the same circuitry/design....so whats the point of the 2 really?

Cheers!!

Just re-read your post...I think this is something Mesa is embracing across the board so it may just be the new technology superceding the old. For example the new Rectos have adjustable wattage so there is no longer a single recto - there's a dual that drops from 100w to 50w (i.e. Single) and a Triple which drops from 150 to 50 as well.

[the_haunted]

Stage 2 has a revised preamp. It's similar, but probably less of the things Sam is complaining of.
They do sound pretty good from what I've heared on YT, but they do seem to be lacking any serious low end, and the top is really fizzy. They'd need some modding...

[Kloppsta]

cheers guys. im gonna pop in to the RS on the weekend and have a jam.

interesting to see Andy Timmons uses a Lonestar and a Stiletto as his touring amps. They look good on paper and sound pretty deace on YT....reviews are all positive too.

[slash-ed]

I used to play in a band with "Zombie Eater" and he had a Stiletto (Ace?) combo for some time. I found it quite harsh which seems to go along with what Sam said. I think though that it belongs to Some Bozo now and he did a speaker swap which greatly improved things?

[Some Bozo]

Yup, the stock speaker in the Stiletto ace combo is a Vintage 30 which is an insane combination. Defintely designed for chucking razor blades at the ears of a bandmate with a recto it's still pretty trebly with treble and presence on zero. I put a Cannabis Rex in it and it's mellowed nicely towards the upper mids. But yeah, it's definitely more about marshally mid-and treble crunch than it is about marshally low-end squishy roar. I haven't tried it with a quad though. My 2x12 with G12-T 75s fattens it up nicely, I swap between that and the internal speaker depending what sound I'm going for.

[ZOMBIE EATER]

Yeah I had the Ace combo, which I ran through a recto 4x12 for about 8 months.

Any how, It was a bit ice picky but I think that was a combination of things, the speaker which is easily remedied, EMG 81's, maple and later on, trying to incorporate the GSP1101 into the rig. That and not enough high volume playing time ( or know how) to dial it in right.
Another thing to try could be some KT77 power tubes. But where do you draw the line and say this isnt working for me.

Im super happy with the Roadster combo and only use a Moon Phaser in the FX loop which is controlled via the amp footswitch. A mrk V would be better but more likely to be a Mrk VI at this rate.....

Try as many amps as you can. If you can, take the gear on APRO and use it at practice to get a feel of "real world" applications.

I think the Stiletto Deuce with a 4x12 and a simple signal path ( no silly digital processors) would be sweet.
Another option, EL34 in a Recto?

[Some Bozo]

I feel a strange desire to listen to "Mission from 'arry"

[ash]

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Off topic squabbling removed. Keep it to yourselves, guys.

[ZOMBIE EATER]

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Off topic squabbling removed. Keep it to yourselves, guys.

[Kloppsta]

Try as many amps as you can. If you can, take the gear on APRO and use it at practice to get a feel of "real world" applications.

excuse my ignorance but what is APRO?

[AmpShop]

Try as many amps as you can. If you can, take the gear on APRO and use it at practice to get a feel of "real world" applications.

excuse my ignorance but what is APRO?

Approval period - taking the amp away from the shop for a few days to trial it before buying.

[Kloppsta]

Try as many amps as you can. If you can, take the gear on APRO and use it at practice to get a feel of "real world" applications.

excuse my ignorance but what is APRO?

Approval period - taking the amp away from the shop for a few days to trial it before buying.

oh ok....and places will allow you to do this for a $3.5k+ amp? do they usually want a deposit or some kind of security?

[AmpShop]

oh ok....and places will allow you to do this for a $3.5k+ amp? do they usually want a deposit or some kind of security?

Yes to all of the above