some_dude
Raging BB Gunologist
I recently traded my Lone Star Special straight up for another dude's Stiletto Ace. The LSS was a cool amp that really excelled at a couple of tones I used it for, but overall it wasn't quite what I was looking for in an amp. With any luck he'll find more use for it than I did.
My first impressions of the Stiletto Ace are that I'm really impressed. I have very little prior experience with a Stiletto (Deuce, 1 time at low volume in a store) and was a little nervous due to the constant complaints that Stilettos are too bright (and that the Ace is even brighter than the Deuce)... particularly with V30s. All I can say is that I don't know what's up with people... within about 5 minutes I had a thick, chewy tone dialled in and was most impressed. Yeah, if you do the Mesa thing and set all the knobs to 12:00 crunch mode gives you a tone reminiscent of crushed glass, but if you dial it in like a Marshall it sounds kind of like a Marshall.
I was really taken by surprise by the liquid gain mode. For some reason I had "modded JCM800" stuck in my head and I didn't expect a Stiletto to produce the amount of gain/compression that it does. At 12:00 I was hitting near unusable levels of gain (for rhythm), although it produced a seriously sweet lead mode that I think I'll make a lot of use of.
Tite Gain mode was also kind of cool. It's kind of like crunch mode but with more gain (I like Crunch mode better). It has a chunky response on rhythm and a cool lead sound if you simply want "more" of what crunch mode was already offering rather than the compression offered by liquid gain mode.
I don't remember what the clean sounded like. I think I hit a couple of notes on it before switching to crunch mode, because in reality that's the mode I wanted the amp for. For cleans I used crunch mode with my guitar's volume backed of, which worked extremely well. Obviously a fatter, somewhat dirty way or producing a clean tone... but sweet nonetheless.
I don't know what the Deuce/Trident are like but the Ace produces just enough sag to make things interesting rather than stiff. Switching to the tube rectifier takes a bit of the edge off but doesn't really loosen the amp up.
Anyway, it's a sweet ass rock and roll amp. I can't believe it doesn't get more respect considering how sweet it sounds.
Through my Mesa 4x12 it sounds middy with a bit sharper edge to it and a dryer sound. Through my Orange 4x12 it sounds a little more hollow and a bit more boxy with a softer high end response... more like a Marshall. I normally prefer my Recto cab for everything but I feel the Stiletto pairs better with the Orange cab. I tried to get the Stiletto to karang... I think the sound is in there but it wouldn't quite come out. I kind of suspect the V30s had something to do with it and wonder how it would sound with G12M-25s
And as a bonus, it looks sweet as f*ck!
My first impressions of the Stiletto Ace are that I'm really impressed. I have very little prior experience with a Stiletto (Deuce, 1 time at low volume in a store) and was a little nervous due to the constant complaints that Stilettos are too bright (and that the Ace is even brighter than the Deuce)... particularly with V30s. All I can say is that I don't know what's up with people... within about 5 minutes I had a thick, chewy tone dialled in and was most impressed. Yeah, if you do the Mesa thing and set all the knobs to 12:00 crunch mode gives you a tone reminiscent of crushed glass, but if you dial it in like a Marshall it sounds kind of like a Marshall.
I was really taken by surprise by the liquid gain mode. For some reason I had "modded JCM800" stuck in my head and I didn't expect a Stiletto to produce the amount of gain/compression that it does. At 12:00 I was hitting near unusable levels of gain (for rhythm), although it produced a seriously sweet lead mode that I think I'll make a lot of use of.
Tite Gain mode was also kind of cool. It's kind of like crunch mode but with more gain (I like Crunch mode better). It has a chunky response on rhythm and a cool lead sound if you simply want "more" of what crunch mode was already offering rather than the compression offered by liquid gain mode.
I don't remember what the clean sounded like. I think I hit a couple of notes on it before switching to crunch mode, because in reality that's the mode I wanted the amp for. For cleans I used crunch mode with my guitar's volume backed of, which worked extremely well. Obviously a fatter, somewhat dirty way or producing a clean tone... but sweet nonetheless.
I don't know what the Deuce/Trident are like but the Ace produces just enough sag to make things interesting rather than stiff. Switching to the tube rectifier takes a bit of the edge off but doesn't really loosen the amp up.
Anyway, it's a sweet ass rock and roll amp. I can't believe it doesn't get more respect considering how sweet it sounds.
Through my Mesa 4x12 it sounds middy with a bit sharper edge to it and a dryer sound. Through my Orange 4x12 it sounds a little more hollow and a bit more boxy with a softer high end response... more like a Marshall. I normally prefer my Recto cab for everything but I feel the Stiletto pairs better with the Orange cab. I tried to get the Stiletto to karang... I think the sound is in there but it wouldn't quite come out. I kind of suspect the V30s had something to do with it and wonder how it would sound with G12M-25s
And as a bonus, it looks sweet as f*ck!
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