mesa stiletto

[muttonchopsrule]

so i played through a stiletto trident head at GC and i just couldn't get the darn thing to sound good at all. i had the power switch set at 50 watts on both channels, and the only excuse i'm giving it is that it wasn't cranked up all that much.

i expected this amp to deliver a sweet, crunchy rock tone. i plugged an SG standard into it and began to fool around with the overdrive channel.
the "fluid drive" setting sounded like crap...it was very muddy and unfocused. when i had the bridge pickup selected, it sounded like what my neck pickup sounds like through my amp, and when i actually did have the neck pickup selected...ugggggh. tweaking the EQ didn't do anything to help the sound. and trust me, i'm not a bridge pickup junkie, i actually use my neck pickup alone in a lot of the parts i play.

then i tried the "tite gain" setting....again i was disappointed. it had a better crunch to it...it wasn't muddy and unclear but there was a really annoying upper-midrange thing that was going on that was quite obnoxious, and the EQ didn't do anything to help it.

i didn't really mess with the crunch setting enough to say anything about it. but i thought the cleans were pretty average. this amp does have some cool features like the 50/150 watt switch for each channel, but i didn't find it to be anything worth getting excited about, especially for that much money.

but needless to say, i wan't impressed. has anyone here gotten a decent sound out of one of these?

 

[Steve R.]

Re: mesa stiletto

I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard so many people that have tried it complain that it sounded terrible. So I guess you're in good company with your opinion.

-Steve

 

[RGN]

Re: mesa stiletto

I tried it at GC this weekend (amidst the head rattling chaos that makes it nearly intolerable) and my thought is that it isn’t something you quickly dial in a nice tone. There are so many buttons and switches on the thing I’d need to buy it, actually look over the manual, then spend a few hours trying it out before I could really pass judgment on it. I can’t spend 5 minutes with it at GC and say it sucks. It looks well made but all Boogie stuff is pretty solid. I may in fact buy this head and spend a week with it and decide if it can compete with my VHT and Marshall. It is a cool looking head! I can already see that the footswitch should have boost on/off versus just channel switching.

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: mesa stiletto

in my opinion all mesa amps are like that...their EQ knobs are not like any other manufacturer...the treble knob doesn't just control the treble frequencies, but controls how they mix with the mid and bass frequencies by regulating those as well, and the bass knob rarely needs to go over 12 o'clock! the mids are a very active lively control that have to be adjusted very finely....on a Mesa amp, there's a MAJOR difference between 5 and 6 on any given knob...you have to work very small increments to get the tone you're looking for with a Mesa/Boogie...their manuals are very helpful

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: mesa stiletto

Can I just come out and say it? I've owned maybe 6 Mesa's, and outside of their power amps, I've either sold it quickly, returned it, or held back from throwing it through a window! I F'in hate their amps! Over-engineered, toneless wastes of money! I'll give props to many of the products they've made that are good, like their bass amps, power amps, Triaxis, and cabs, but I dunno what it is.....they just fall short everytime! For the same money, you could buy other amps that blow them away. When I returned a Nomad 100 head, the Mesa store employee laughed and said "oh no, another Nomad coming right back!" What a POS!!!!!

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: mesa stiletto

Can I just come out and say it? I've owned maybe 6 Mesa's, and outside of their power amps, I've either sold it quickly, returned it, or held back from throwing it through a window! I F'in hate their amps! Over-engineered, toneless wastes of money! I'll give props to many of the products they've made that are good, like their bass amps, power amps, Triaxis, and cabs, but I dunno what it is.....they just fall short everytime! For the same money, you could buy other amps that blow them away. When I returned a Nomad 100 head, the Mesa store employee laughed and said "oh no, another Nomad coming right back!" What a POS!!!!!

:laugh2:

 

[Willis]

Re: mesa stiletto

All the Mesa whores say you have to spend a long time finding the right settings on a Mesa, and they won't come instantly. I've only played a Mark IV so I don't know how true this is, but it seems a bit odd that nearly everyone who tries them doesn't like the sound, and people who own them say it takes a while to get the right settings. Maybe it just takes a while to get used to the sound?

 

[RGN]

Re: mesa stiletto

The last time I bought a Mesa I returned it after 2 weeks. It was a 40 or 50 watt combo. I said "it is loud as f-ing hell for a 1x12, it is rock solid, it has loads of cool features, TOO BAD IT DOESN'T SOUND VERY GOOD." I already owned a DSL100 at the time so I swapped that combo out for a DSL50. One of the dudes at GC was laughing saying "I just love seeing someone smart returning a Boogie to get a Marshall :laugh2: "

 

[xnfx]

Re: mesa stiletto

I love my Stiletto!
A lot of the guys who say they did'nt like them when trying them out, tried them out at GC. Some guys found that their demo model was wrecked. Maybe yours was too? Maybe you just not a Mesa guy?

 

[RGN]

Re: mesa stiletto

I love my Stiletto!
A lot of the guys who say they did'nt like them when trying them out, tried them out at GC. Some guys found that their demo model was wrecked. Maybe yours was too? Maybe you just not a Mesa guy?

You got any clips? It is very nice looking head and with EL34s I should like it. I was thinking this may be an actual Mesa head I would consider. I'd like to hear you using the Stiletto. Glad you dig it!

 

[FretFire]

Re: mesa stiletto

All the Mesa whores say you have to spend a long time finding the right settings on a Mesa, and they won't come instantly. I've only played a Mark IV so I don't know how true this is, but it seems a bit odd that nearly everyone who tries them doesn't like the sound, and people who own them say it takes a while to get the right settings. Maybe it just takes a while to get used to the sound?

No, it takes a while to get the right settings, just like they say (especially the Mk IV, that's like the console in the space shuttle). They usually aren't amps that you can turn on, spin the knobs and go. As Capo said, all the knobs interact with one another, the mid knob will behave differently depending on where the bass, treble, and gain are set, etc. You definitely don't want to crank the knobs on a Mesa, you want to tap them with the tip of your pencil :laugh2:.

Now that I've had the Mesa for a while, I'm getting to the point that I can hear a tone in my head and dial it up rather quickly.

 

[philthis]

Re: mesa stiletto

You got any clips? It is very nice looking head and with EL34s I should like it. I was thinking this may be an actual Mesa head I would consider. I'd like to hear you using the Stiletto. Glad you dig it!

I never heard this thing eather. can someone post some clips please? -thnx :beerchug:

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: mesa stiletto

I liked it. Killer rock tone, but not enough gain for metal.

Cool amp, just not 1600 cool. I found that problem with the Mark IV's too.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: mesa stiletto

What you need is more volume and more patience.

 

[xnfx]

Re: mesa stiletto

You got any clips? It is very nice looking head and with EL34s I should like it. I was thinking this may be an actual Mesa head I would consider. I'd like to hear you using the Stiletto. Glad you dig it!

Hey RGN,
I don't have clips of mine personally, but I do have a link to someone elses clips. http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/VirtualStudios/Listen/usersong.php?userid=152371

Those are with the manuals sample settings. I think you will be surprised how it sounds with just the manuals settings. I was atleast, when deciding to get one, these clips helped me out a lot. It probably does'nt have the gain to do a death metal tone, but Rock, Hard Rock, Old school metal, it's all in there. Some people have said it's like a JCM 800 on steroids. I never tried an 800 so I can't say if there's any truth to that.

It IS a lot harder to dial in a tone you want that other brand amps for sure. You really have to read the manual and learn how each tone control works, where it's string is most useable, and what it does to other controls down the line. It also helps if you have an idea of what you would like to hear, instead of just trying to find something good. Saves a bunch of time. A lot of people thought that these were the successors to the Rectifiers, but it is actually nothing like it tonewise.

$1600 is a big chunk of cash for a head, but I like the Mesa quality, and the 5 year transferable warranty is a huge plus. Oh and it's black and chrome, so it was a no brainer for me.

 

[JeffB]

Re: mesa stiletto

I've played one 4 times now. The first 2 times I was not too impressed. 3rd time I had kinda gotten used to how a MESA works from owning my F50 and was able to dial in some decent tones. Not great, but decent. Some were good, some were not so good (I was actually able to get some really cool Vox-like tones out of it surprisingly enuff)

I played one a few days back and tweaked a bit more and got some incredible tones out of it. Very "modded" Marshall. It's not quite a Marshall sound (nothing is), but very cool nonetheless.

I also think they could benefit from some better tubes. They sound a little brittle with the stock tubes.

Perhaps it makes me a MESA "whore", but it's entirely true about how all the controls interact. Those sound sample settings they give you are a great place to start, and then learn how everything works. They don't work like any amplifier I've ever used. Yeah, that makes it a bit of a pain at times, but thats why you also see so many loyal MESA owners...once you "figure them out", the sheer variety of tones and the dynamics of the amps are hard to beat/get away from.

I wish they made a 3/4 back combo like the rectoverb...I'd buy it.

 

[sosomething]

Re: mesa stiletto

I had the opportunity to demo the Stiletto Deuce in a small, quiet store and got to crank it up pretty hot to see what it could do. I was uninspired. While I won't go on record saying it sounded bad (which it didn't), it was not at all what I expected. Everything I've read about the Stiletto from Mesa made it sound like it was the perfect EL34 equivelant to the Rectos - in fact I think a Mesa ad even stated that at one point. This made me think - ok, Mesa's take on the classic high-powered British design, but with Mesa's build quality and WAY more gain on tap.

Not so.

It definitely comes off sounding more like a Marshall than a Mesa - in fact I got some pretty decent Plexi-ish sounds out of it, but there's no way this amp could be used on it's own for anything more aggressive than bands like Weezer or Pearl Jam. Get what I'm saying? I love several of Mesa's other designs, but this one didn't really do for me what I thought it would.

 

[sosomething]

Re: mesa stiletto

Perhaps it makes me a MESA "whore", but it's entirely true about how all the controls interact. Those sound sample settings they give you are a great place to start, and then learn how everything works. They don't work like any amplifier I've ever used. Yeah, that makes it a bit of a pain at times, but thats why you also see so many loyal MESA owners...once you "figure them out", the sheer variety of tones and the dynamics of the amps are hard to beat/get away from.

(not trying to monopolize the thread - had to respond to this)

You're completely right, man. The way the Mesa controls interact is that they start with the gain knob, then treble, then mid, then lows, and then volume. Each knob in that order controls how much signal is sent to the next. When first trying a Mesa DO start with the sample settings and DO READ THE MANUAL.

Like JeffB said, once you understand Mesa's controls, the whole thing just opens up to you and you really begin to appreciate what great amps they are.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: mesa stiletto

My last post was pretty harsh. I have plugged into the Stilletto, and if I were to buy a Mesa, it'd be one of those. I also love all the power amps, Subways, Blue Angel, and several others. I've just never liked the tone of any of the Recto series or Mk series. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Dankerella]

Re: mesa stiletto

I tried one at a mom-and-pop store and I loved it. Great, full, tubey gain. Kind of stuff I dream about. Hell, I even liked its clean sound. However, it's totally out of my price range, and I can't even justify owning a head that much with my bedroom playing these days. So, I picked up a late-1980s hot-rodded Carvin X100B with EL34s. To me, it's got about the same sound - yes, including the gain. I'd love to A/B the two. I'm sure the Boogie is a tad hotter, but if I recall, the extra hotness would be more of a fuzzy sound rather than useful gain.

On another note - I tried a single rectifier 50-watt Mesa/Boogie in a band setting, and I was totally drowned out and muddy sounding when I tried to keep up with the bassist and drummer. I returned it the next day to GC.