Honey, Can I Have This Amp For Christmas?
Written: Dec 24 '05 (Updated Sep 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superbly versatile Brit and High Gain sounds
Cons: It isn't cheap
The Bottom Line: Another professional quality offering from Mesa, the Stiletto is the first to be designed specifically for EL34 tubes. The sounds are powerful and versatile, esp in high gain settings.
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| buffoonery's Full Review: Mesa Boogie Stiletto Deuce |
The (relatively) new Mesa Stiletto amp head combines Brit sounds with a wide range of modern tones. Available in 100W (Deuce) and 150W (Trident) variants, this is another terrific,versatile amp from Mesa that is a worthwhile if expensive addition to the serious guitarhead collection.
This is Mesa’s first offering that uses the EL34 (four in the Deuce, six in the Trident) power tubes that drive classic Brit amps like the Marshalls that are so essential for that 70’s Brit hard rock sound (think Bad Company, Zeppelin and the rest). The amp is equipped with two channels with Channel 1 for more classic Brit sounds while Channel 2 is used for some serious high gain madness.
Each channel is controlled by gain, bass, mids, treble, presence, and master volume controls. The manual contains extensive advice on how to best deploy these tone adjusters:
Gain: Saturates the signal, esp at the low ends, and tends to overwhelm the other tone controls. Mesa recommends using gain at the low to mid ranges for the best attack and strongly cautions not to combine high gain with high treble because of the chance of creating microphonic squealing.
Treble: Comes first in the signal path is most important next to gain for shaping sounds. Again, Mesa recommends a mid range use unless you are looking for serious crunch sounds.
Mids and Bass: Both are dependent on how much Treble is employed. Used to stiffen or soften sound.
Presence: Affects frequencies higher than Treble and used for sparkle in Channel 1 and aggressive crunch rhythms in Channel 2.
Master Volume: Allows you to match volumes in the different channels with different tone settings as well as, for example, using high gain at low volume and vice versa.
Output: Controls volume output for both channels.
Solo: Uses a footswitch to add a predetermined amount of boost for soloes.
These are all typical amp controls. What follows are some of the important tone shaping tools that the Stiletto offers:
1) Each channel permits the user to employ either 50W or 100W/150W for maximum headroom. Combined with the ability to choose either 4 ohms or 8 ohms of impedance, there is a multitude of tonal possibilities.
2) There are five channel modes available, three for each channel: Fat Clean, Tite Clean and Crunch in Channel 1, and Crunch, Tite Gain, and Fluid Drive in Channel 2. Fat Clean can produce a rather Black Face sound, Tite Clean is excellent for rhythm work as it cuts out the mids, and Crunch in Channel 1 for classic Brit crunch. In Channel 2, the Crunch sound is the same as 1 except the presence control tapers more slowly. Tite Gain adds additional, highly focused gain and is terrific for soloing. Finally, Fluid Drive is the ultimate in gain and will drive through the other instruments in the band.
3) In the Spongy position, the Bold/Spongy switch lets you reduce the internal voltage, extend tube life (estimated at six months steady usage), and create a classic brown sound while making it easier to overdrive the amp.
4) The Standby switch idles the tubes during breaks.
5) On the reverse of the amp is a Rectifier Select switch that permits use of either Silicon Diodes for high gain settings while Tube Tracking is useful for vintage tube sounds.
6) There are also a large number of features that one would expect from an amp of this nature, including FX Loop, Slave Control, Speaker Outputs for 4x12 cabs (4 and 8 ohm), and external switch ports.
The well-written and informative manual contains extensive advice on tonal settings and diagnostic issues as well as speaker wiring schemes.
I was amazed at the tonal capabilities of this amp. Playing a John Mayer Strat through a Deuce with 4x12 cab, I was able to produce extraordinary sounds from clean blues to crunch rhythm to screaming leads and overpowering gain. The amp is LOUD and I had to keep the volume down or I was going to blow out some windows. The amp responds quickly and cleanly. Fooling around with the switches is amazing. The Spongy control in particular adds some great sag to the cabs. Frankly, the amp has a lot more gain than a guy like me will ever need, but it’s still fun to play with.
In sum, the Stiletto is another professional quality, high gain amp with great dynamic response from your pals at Mesa. It’s terrific if you play heavy metal or need serious crunch. It’s not for everyone, and I wouldn’t buy it if I were a blues or jazz player, plus it’s expensive ($1,400 to $1,600, plus cabs), but its great construction and wonderful sounds will last a lifetime.
Here are my other amplifier reviews:
Marshall Super 100 JH
Peavey Classic 30 Combo
Crate Power Block
Roland Micro Cube
Mesa 5:25 Express
Mesa Stiletto Ace
Fender Cyber Twin
Line 6 Vetta II Combo
Mesa 5:50 Express
Line 6 Spider III 75
Mesa Lone Star Combo
Vox Valvetronix AD60VT
Mesa Stiletto Deuce
Mesa Triple Rectifier Head
Fender DSP 65
Peavey Triple XXX Head
Fender Super Sonic 1x12 Combo
Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 50 Combo
Fender MH 500 Metalhead
64 Fender Vibroverb Custom Blackface
Mesa Dual Rectifier Roadster
Peavey Penta Head
Peavey JSX Joe Satriani Signature Head
Line 6 Spider II Head
Crate Acoustic CA30
Line 6 Flextone III Plus
And you may also be interested in a few books such as:
Hugo Pinksterboer – Tipbook Amplifiers and Effects
Ritchie Fliegler – Amps: The Other Half of Rock and Roll
Michael Ross – Getting Great Guitar Sounds: A Non-Technical Approach to Shaping Your Personal Sound
Recommended:
Yes
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