Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

[Mr. B]

I've been playing on Marshall TSL 601 combos for years, and I want to upgrade. With the current price of the Marshall JVM 205C combo, I am also considering the Mesa Stiletto combo. Don't like the fact that the Mesa has no reverb, but then the Marshall doesn't have real spring reverb either.

I play everything from Surf to blues, southern rock to 60's psychedelic, radio-rock to jazz, hard rock to heavy metal. I quit way before a lot of modern metal, so I'm talking about something ranging from older stuff like Randy Rhoads and George Lynch and I leave off at more modern stuff like Disturbed and Nickelback. Anything heavier is too over the top for me.

Does anyone have some time in on these two amps and care to provide an opinion as to which would be worth my money.

Please don't tell me to go try them myself. I live in BFE, and no one around here carries anything better than a Fender Frontline or Marshall MG, so I have to judge from internet opinions and then take a risk.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I prefer the build quality of the Mesa over the new Marshall amps. The Stiletto does not have reverb, though the amp has a really good effects loop, ready for your favorite reverb/delay pedal. By the way, I love the clean sound of this amp--it would be right at home with your Gibson L-5 Wes Montgomery Signature in your jazz quartet.

Some other Mesas you might want to look at are the Lonestar Classic and Lonestar Special. Both have reverb and the same preamp--just pick the power format that best suits your gigs. The Classic with 6L6s ranges from 10-50-100 watts, while the Special's quartet of EL84s goes from 5-15-30-35 watts. You can use EL34s with the Classic, but where the Stiletto is a "British" voiced amp, the Lonestars are definitely American.

If you want a little more muscle and don't need a complete set of EQ for your lead tones, try the Electra-Dyne. I loved the 112 combo I tried out--there are a lot of great tones in this amp. Again, you have the EL34 option, but I really like the 6L6s. Really fat and punchy.

If you really want a more Brit-flavored amp, the new Transatlantic Series sound really good. The TA-15 reviewers claim that it's the best lunchbox amp on the market. The TA-30 adds another pair of EL-84s, reverb and Mesa's great effect loop. There's a lot of switches and tonal options, but I found it really easy to dial in.

And if you want to go all out, the new Royal Atlantic looks really interesting. I haven't tried one yet, and I can't wait. I understand that it has a power attenuator on each channel, so it could be the first 100 watt amp that is truly controllable at any volume.

I have several Mesas, including Mark IIIs, a Mark IV, Maverick 212, and a DC-3 combo. Don't really have anything "British" at the moment, so the Stiletto and the Royal Atlantic hold quite a bit of interest for me, though I'm pretty sure I don't need another amp at the moment. The amps I have work really well for my situation.

Two great resources about all things Mesa: The Boogie Board Forum at http://www.grailtone.com/forum/index.php and the Technical Reps at Mesa Boogie. Give them a call, and they can any of your questions about their amps.

I'm pretty sure there's something in the Mesa line that will work for you. Good luck!

Bill

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Let me ask this.. What about the TSL isnt doing it for you now? I'm not incredibly fond of the JVM and not certain how much of an upgrade it would be. Are you against buying used? Do you want to stay with the british vibe?

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

If you like the essence of the TSL, then go with the JVM. The Stellito is a sweet amp, but it's hit or miss with some players. I actually like the JVM. Lots of tone options, gives off that solid Marshall tone.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I prefer the build quality of the Mesa over the new Marshall amps. The Stiletto does not have reverb, though the amp has a really good effects loop, ready for your favorite reverb/delay pedal. By the way, I love the clean sound of this amp--it would be right at home with your Gibson L-5 Wes Montgomery Signature in your jazz quartet.

Some other Mesas you might want to look at are the Lonestar Classic and Lonestar Special. Both have reverb and the same preamp--just pick the power format that best suits your gigs. The Classic with 6L6s ranges from 10-50-100 watts, while the Special's quartet of EL84s goes from 5-15-30-35 watts. You can use EL34s with the Classic, but where the Stiletto is a "British" voiced amp, the Lonestars are definitely American.

If you want a little more muscle and don't need a complete set of EQ for your lead tones, try the Electra-Dyne. I loved the 112 combo I tried out--there are a lot of great tones in this amp. Again, you have the EL34 option, but I really like the 6L6s. Really fat and punchy.

If you really want a more Brit-flavored amp, the new Transatlantic Series sound really good. The TA-15 reviewers claim that it's the best lunchbox amp on the market. The TA-30 adds another pair of EL-84s, reverb and Mesa's great effect loop. There's a lot of switches and tonal options, but I found it really easy to dial in.

And if you want to go all out, the new Royal Atlantic looks really interesting. I haven't tried one yet, and I can't wait. I understand that it has a power attenuator on each channel, so it could be the first 100 watt amp that is truly controllable at any volume.

I have several Mesas, including Mark IIIs, a Mark IV, Maverick 212, and a DC-3 combo. Don't really have anything "British" at the moment, so the Stiletto and the Royal Atlantic hold quite a bit of interest for me, though I'm pretty sure I don't need another amp at the moment. The amps I have work really well for my situation.

Two great resources about all things Mesa: The Boogie Board Forum at http://www.grailtone.com/forum/index.php and the Technical Reps at Mesa Boogie. Give them a call, and they can any of your questions about their amps.

I'm pretty sure there's something in the Mesa line that will work for you. Good luck!

Bill

Thanks for all the info, but I am looking for a pallet of Marshall tones to use, not Mesa. The only Mesa I was remotely thinking about was the Stiletto.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Let me ask this.. What about the TSL isnt doing it for you now? I'm not incredibly fond of the JVM and not certain how much of an upgrade it would be. Are you against buying used? Do you want to stay with the british vibe?

The TSL has good cleans. The overdrive is mediocre and muffled, and the higher gain setting is pretty buzzy/unuseable at higher gain settings. I usually keep the gain very low on both overdrive channels and use pedals to push it into distortion. I was hoping that the JVM captured the JTM45 and JCM800 tones better than the TSL line. I don't have much room in my place, or I would have kept my DLS50 head and half stack I had at one time.

 

[Warheart]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

The TSL has good cleans. The overdrive is mediocre and muffled, and the higher gain setting is pretty buzzy/unuseable at higher gain settings. I usually keep the gain very low on both overdrive channels and use pedals to push it into distortion. I was hoping that the JVM captured the JTM45 and JCM800 tones better than the TSL line. I don't have much room in my place, or I would have kept my DLS50 head and half stack I had at one time.

Interesting, I felt that the JVM captured the JCM800 pretty well, Mostly the crunch channel, the OD 1 is close to that, but the OD 2 isn't IMO.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Interesting, I felt that the JVM captured the JCM800 pretty well, Mostly the crunch channel, the OD 1 is close to that, but the OD 2 isn't IMO.

Do you mean the DLS/TSL ?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Interesting, I felt that the JVM captured the JCM800 pretty well, Mostly the crunch channel, the OD 1 is close to that, but the OD 2 isn't IMO.

See and to me it didnt do that. Sure at low volume it sounds JCM800 ish but when you start to push it and the JCM800 really starts to thump the JVM seems to peter out. Ive always felt that from about the DSL on Marshalls were geared more towards bedroom players.

The stilletto is a very honest amp but i do agree that its not for everyone.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

but I am looking for a pallet of Marshall tones to use

You know this got me thinking about all the Marshalls I own and one thing they all seem to lack is versatility. Like there are some that you can get good clean crunch and distortion sounds out of but I dont really know of any that has like a good JTM45 tone and a good JCM800 tone in it. Maybe I just cant dial it in but it seems every time that Marshall tries to do this it all comes out a bit synthetic. I think their amps that they let just be their own thing work best.

 

[Warheart]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Do you mean the DLS/TSL ?

No, I mean JVM410H. Sounds like an JCM800 to me on the channels that are voiced that way.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

You know this got me thinking about all the Marshalls I own and one thing they all seem to lack is versatility. Like there are some that you can get good clean crunch and distortion sounds out of but I dont really know of any that has like a good JTM45 tone and a good JCM800 tone in it. Maybe I just cant dial it in but it seems every time that Marshall tries to do this it all comes out a bit synthetic. I think their amps that they let just be their own thing work best.

Those two tones are the ones I really want out of a marshall tube amp. That and a good warm organic clean channel. Eric Clapton's bluesbreaker tone and Georgle Lynch's older JCM800 tone are two of my favorite vintage Marshall tones. Well, that and Eddie's PLexi tones. I don't really care about modern super saturated extreme high gain stuff. I read up on the new modeling amp Marshall makes, but I've never heard a good tone from it on any sound clip, and I have heard some good ones with the JVM and Mesa Stiletto.

 

[speed2dirt]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

You know this got me thinking about all the Marshalls I own and one thing they all seem to lack is versatility. Like there are some that you can get good clean crunch and distortion sounds out of but I dont really know of any that has like a good JTM45 tone and a good JCM800 tone in it. Maybe I just cant dial it in but it seems every time that Marshall tries to do this it all comes out a bit synthetic. I think their amps that they let just be their own thing work best.

I've heard the TopHat Emplexador is an all-in-one Marshall. The last one I saw on eBay, the guy said "I like a lot of different Marshall tones, and had a JTM, a JMP, and a JCM. Then I discovered the Top Hat Emplexador, and found that I could have those great classic Marshall tones and more in a single 50 watt head." A link to the original listing is below. Personally, I have no experience with TopHat, but the Emplexador does interest me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120736911018&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Official website:
http://www.tophatamps.com/emplexador.htm

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I always thought the old JMP-1 preamp through a good EL34 based power amp did a pretty good job of what you're wanting. They discontinued the JMP-1 when the JVM series came out, and then came out with that JMD crap that sounds nothing like what they're claiming. The JVM series amps are cool, have a lot of good tones in them, and priced pretty fairly for what they are, but I still think the JMP-1 ran through the Marshall EL34 power amp still covers a lot of Marshall territory a lot better than what some of their newer stuff does.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I've heard the TopHat Emplexador is an all-in-one Marshall. The last one I saw on eBay, the guy said "I like a lot of different Marshall tones, and had a JTM, a JMP, and a JCM. Then I discovered the Top Hat Emplexador, and found that I could have those great classic Marshall tones and more in a single 50 watt head." A link to the original listing is below. Personally, I have no experience with TopHat, but the Emplexador does interest me.

I thought the JMP was essentially a JCM? ( or vice-versa)

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I really liked the Stiletto. The cleans are very nice. With two modes, you can get brighter, shimmery cleans or rich, fat cleans, just with the flip of a switch. The OD channel is nice too, going from a light clip crunch to a higher gain, ballsy crunch, to a harmonic-rich fat grind on the liquid drive mode.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I thought the JMP was essentially a JCM? ( or vice-versa)

In the very broad strokes the JMP MkII's and the JCM800's atleast for the models 2203,2204,1987,1959 are essentially the same. But if you look under the bonnet there are a lot of differences in terms of manufacturing and parts vendors. There were lots of little tweaks that added up to give the amps different character.

But I dig the idea of the Top Hat ill have to check one out if i get the chance.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

I prefer the build quality of the Mesa over the new Marshall amps.

+1. You definately get what you pay for with Mesa. Quality quality quality..... :approve: I don't think the Marshalls are worth their pricetag new though.

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Just watch Andy Timmons playing his Stilletto. You'll be sold

 

[brunogio]

Re: Mesa Stiletto or Marshall JVM 205C ?

Go Stilletto. There is some talk that the line might be discontinued due to the introduction of the Transatlantics and you might find a good deal on them. Everyone I've heard sounds great and Mesa quality can't be touched. They're kind of odd balls in that they are Mesa amps that are going the Marshall way and I think they don't connect with most Mesa buyers

Based on what you say a JMP (which I also own) seems to be the sound you're after so if you find an old one at a good price it might be worth getting because it's pretty much the amp of that genre if you get my drift.