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iamqman
Published on 06/27/11 at 12:09
I love this amp because it takes the best of what I enjoy in an amp. The sweet midrange of a good British amp and the heavy thickness of a solid built Mesa Boogie. My favorite amps from Mesa have to be the Recto's but this is an amazing amp. It does what Marshall has failed to do in getting a huge versatile amp. Everyone has to modify Marshall because they have a good starting point with the JCM 800's, JMP's, and Plexi's. However, you have to get them modified to sound like anything off of your favorite record.
This is a great little 1x12 combo that has the ability to go into a 4x12 cabinet. So you get a combo for small jamming and clubs and then the option of plugging it into a 4x12 or 2x12 cab for bigger gigs.
This amp is basically the standard of Mesa's British tone. It is an absolute stellar combo and heavy and pile bricks. You can't get a bad tone out of this amp. I'm sure someone will try but Mesa really has done their work to make it idiot proof.
What I like about this about also is that it takes pedals very well. Throwing a tube screamer of some like a clean boost and you will have this amp sizzling. This amps has many features that are prominent to Mesa such as the Recto or tube switching and the sponge/tight setting which changes the variac and loosens the amps or tightens the power section of the amp.
UTILIZATION
Stiletto ACE® Amplifier
FEATURES
Handbuilt in Petaluma, California
(as are all of our products)
50 Watts, Class A/B Power / 2xEL-34, 5x12AX7, 1x5U4
Fixed Bias for Consistent, Maintenance
Free Performance
2 Fully Independent Channels with 6 Modes (Channel 1 = Fat Clean, Tite Clean or Crunch (Cloning Channel 2), Channel 2 = Crunch, Tite Gain or Fluid Drive)
Channel Assignable Dual Rectification with Recto Tracking™ (Diode or Tube Tracking – Patents 5,168,438 & 7,193,458)
Independent Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence & Master Controls per Channe
Bold/Spongy “Variac” Switch (Patent 5,091,700)
Output Level Control (over all channels when activated)
Footswitchable
Solo Level Control – Patent 6,724,897 (over all channels when activated)
Fully Buffered FX Loop with Send Level Control (over all channels when activated)
True “Hard” Bypass
Switch that removes FX Loop, Output Level & Solo Level Controls from signal path
Slave Out with Level Control
Fan Cooled (combos only)
External Switching Jacks for Channels 1, 2 & Solo
Aluminum
Chassis
2 Button Footswitch (Channel 1/2 & Solo)
Slip Cover
SOUNDS
This is a rockers amp. You will blown the hinges off the doors when you crank this thing up. I have been on the wrong side of this amp a few times where it just lit me up and thump my chest. The best feeling I got with this amp is a Les Paul and clean boost like pedal in front of it. This amp gets that pounding feeling but a full bodied warm tone. I find this amp not to be much of a lead amp per se but rather a solid rhythm guitar player amp. It doesn't cut through as much as I would like if I was the only player in the band, but it does thicken the walls of the sound for the band quite well.
The tone will be smaller in the smaller cab. When ever you play through a 1x12 cab versus a 4x12 it will always feel smaller and compressed. It will open up if you run the output speaker to a bigger cabinet.
OVERALL OPINION
This amp is no slouch at all. You feel the pain of this amp when you get this thing cranking. I really like the deep thick tone that it has and being built by Mesa Boogie you know that it is going to knock over some heads.
If I were a rhythm guitar player in a band I would look to this amp. It is rather inexpensive to be hand built. At new they come in at around $1699, but you can find them fairly inexpensive on the used market right now. I would recommend some to try this amp out against other Mesa's if that is the tone you are going for. This amp may not be for you if you are used to the Rectos or the Mark series. It has the similar characteristics to Mesa but it is its own beats.
I love this amp because it takes the best of what I enjoy in an amp. The sweet midrange of a good British amp and the heavy thickness of a solid built Mesa Boogie. My favorite amps from Mesa have to be the Recto's but this is an amazing amp. It does what Marshall has failed to do in getting a huge versatile amp. Everyone has to modify Marshall because they have a good starting point with the JCM 800's, JMP's, and Plexi's. However, you have to get them modified to sound like anything off of your favorite record.
This is a great little 1x12 combo that has the ability to go into a 4x12 cabinet. So you get a combo for small jamming and clubs and then the option of plugging it into a 4x12 or 2x12 cab for bigger gigs.
This amp is basically the standard of Mesa's British tone. It is an absolute stellar combo and heavy and pile bricks. You can't get a bad tone out of this amp. I'm sure someone will try but Mesa really has done their work to make it idiot proof.
What I like about this about also is that it takes pedals very well. Throwing a tube screamer of some like a clean boost and you will have this amp sizzling. This amps has many features that are prominent to Mesa such as the Recto or tube switching and the sponge/tight setting which changes the variac and loosens the amps or tightens the power section of the amp.
UTILIZATION
Stiletto ACE® Amplifier
FEATURES
Handbuilt in Petaluma, California
(as are all of our products)
50 Watts, Class A/B Power / 2xEL-34, 5x12AX7, 1x5U4
Fixed Bias for Consistent, Maintenance
Free Performance
2 Fully Independent Channels with 6 Modes (Channel 1 = Fat Clean, Tite Clean or Crunch (Cloning Channel 2), Channel 2 = Crunch, Tite Gain or Fluid Drive)
Channel Assignable Dual Rectification with Recto Tracking™ (Diode or Tube Tracking – Patents 5,168,438 & 7,193,458)
Independent Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence & Master Controls per Channe
Bold/Spongy “Variac” Switch (Patent 5,091,700)
Output Level Control (over all channels when activated)
Footswitchable
Solo Level Control – Patent 6,724,897 (over all channels when activated)
Fully Buffered FX Loop with Send Level Control (over all channels when activated)
True “Hard” Bypass
Switch that removes FX Loop, Output Level & Solo Level Controls from signal path
Slave Out with Level Control
Fan Cooled (combos only)
External Switching Jacks for Channels 1, 2 & Solo
Aluminum
Chassis
2 Button Footswitch (Channel 1/2 & Solo)
Slip Cover
SOUNDS
This is a rockers amp. You will blown the hinges off the doors when you crank this thing up. I have been on the wrong side of this amp a few times where it just lit me up and thump my chest. The best feeling I got with this amp is a Les Paul and clean boost like pedal in front of it. This amp gets that pounding feeling but a full bodied warm tone. I find this amp not to be much of a lead amp per se but rather a solid rhythm guitar player amp. It doesn't cut through as much as I would like if I was the only player in the band, but it does thicken the walls of the sound for the band quite well.
The tone will be smaller in the smaller cab. When ever you play through a 1x12 cab versus a 4x12 it will always feel smaller and compressed. It will open up if you run the output speaker to a bigger cabinet.
OVERALL OPINION
This amp is no slouch at all. You feel the pain of this amp when you get this thing cranking. I really like the deep thick tone that it has and being built by Mesa Boogie you know that it is going to knock over some heads.
If I were a rhythm guitar player in a band I would look to this amp. It is rather inexpensive to be hand built. At new they come in at around $1699, but you can find them fairly inexpensive on the used market right now. I would recommend some to try this amp out against other Mesa's if that is the tone you are going for. This amp may not be for you if you are used to the Rectos or the Mark series. It has the similar characteristics to Mesa but it is its own beats.