Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

Agileguy_101

Agileguy_101

Master of his Domain
So I walked into Guitar Center yesterday and plugged into a Lonestar. I was rather dissapointed - I've heard great things about that amp. Sure, I only played with it for about 15 minutes, and it sounded good, but not amazing.

I do remember when my local GC had a Stiletto Ace that I just LOVED. Now that I'm going to be playing in a band and probably gigging, I need something that doesn't feed back at bedroom levels like my Crate V32.

FYI, I love to listen to and play all kinds of music, so versatility is important to me, but my band is going for something between The Black Crowes and Them Crooked Vultures. Tell me why I should get this amp, and if not, what else should I consider. Price isn't as much of an object for me - I'm probably going to be working at Guitar Center, so I'll get a fatty discount on anything they sell.

Edit: My current guitars are a heavily modded Highway 1 strat with a JB Jr/SSL5/Lil '59 neck and a Parker Nightfly M with a Tone Zone/Fast Track 1/Air Norton S. However, I may be getting a new guitar that can would be better suited for blues rock - I've been considering a PRS Custom 24 pretty heavily.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

Agileguy_101 said:
I'm probably going to be working at Guitar Center, so I'll get a fatty discount on anything they sell.
Click to expand...

Not on Mesa stuff, I don't think. They have pretty strict price control on their stuff and no retailer is allowed to sell it for a penny less than the MSRP. For some reason I'm thinking that policy extends to retail employees as well.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

sosomething said:
Not on Mesa stuff, I don't think. They have pretty strict price control on their stuff and no retailer is allowed to sell it for a penny less than the MSRP. For some reason I'm thinking that policy extends to retail employees as well.
Click to expand...

Really? I was talking to one of the employees and he said that they get stuff at cost. Maybe not on everything, but I can hope, no?
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

I've been playing an Ace head into a 412 cab since 2006. It's loud and proud, but I use a Hot Plate for quieter settings.

The amp has three voices per channel, two channels. Lots of sounds in there. Go for it!
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

I had a Stiletto Deuce for 3 days before one of the transformers died. It was used when I bought it from Guitar Center but virtually new because the previous owner had it for a month and never used it. It was indistinguishable from a new one hang tags and all.

They did not have another Stiletto Deuce head anywhere and it was going to take a couple of weeks to get one in so I opted to use my credit to get a Hughes and Kettner mk ii triamp. Of all the things I sold and wished I could get back my biggest regret would be letting my Triamp go. The Stiletto is great but not on the same level as the triamp. There is also a huge price difference between them too so.

When I did have the Deuce I was loving it. It sounded warmer and less bright than the Stiletto ace. In my honest opinion if someone said they tried the Stiletto and did not think it was good I would say they dont know anything.

You opened your post with "So I walked into Guitar Center yesterday and plugged into a Lonestar. I was rather dissapointed" and I had the same suspicions I have every time I hear that line. I seriously dont know what went wrong because I cannot believe that someone would not like the Lonestar. So be it however at least you like the Stiletto.

If you dont like it then so be it. At least you like the Stiletto. You said you versatility is important to you. I have to ask versatile in what regard? If you mean versatile in that it has great cleans, crunch, and distortion that would describe it accurately. It will still always sound British like a Marshall. You will not dial in Fender or rectifier tones on a Stiletto so it is not versatile in the sense that you will get a variety of amp tones.

The clean channel reminds me of a Bogner shiva with el34's. It is virtually that good. No reverb on any Stiletto model. As a standard feature on all Mesas it has 1/2 power. Pretty great sounding at 1/2 power if you have the chance to turn the amp up loud.

I did not have mine long enough to tell you about the fx loop and all that but I know what it sounds like. I also know if you get the combo you may not like the speaker. I didnt. With my Deuce head plugged into a 1x12 v30 cab it sounded 10x better than the stock speaker. On my 2x12 with v30 and g12t75 it sounded even more great.

I wish I could remember more but that was more than a year ago. I have only been playing less than 3 years and the Deuce was my first semi-expensive all tube head.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

UberMetalDood said:
You opened your post with "So I walked into Guitar Center yesterday and plugged into a Lonestar. I was rather dissapointed" and I had the same suspicions I have every time I hear that line. I seriously dont know what went wrong because I cannot believe that someone would not like the Lonestar.
Click to expand...

Maybe it was the guitars I was using - I left mine in the car - but I just couldn't get MY tone out of that amp. I didn't say it was a bad amp - it's a great amp, no doubt - but it didn't do what I wanted it to do, and that's why I was disappointed.

I was thinking of going with the combo - I like the portability factor and I don't care for having a head and a cab. That's just me.

If I got the 2x12 combo, would you recommend switching the stock speakers to V30's?
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

Also keep in mind, it is after all GC. Not trashing the "walmart" of music stores, you have to take the good and bad with them. Which means it's good that you can walk in and plug into ANYTHING, but it's bad in the same sense that anyone else can. I remember countless times, seeing guitarist plug in to upper end equipment and not treating it properly (not allowing it to warm up, cab mismatch, etc). All things considered the amp my not being functioning optimal.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

mwalluk said:
Also keep in mind, it is after all GC. Not trashing the "walmart" of music stores, you have to take the good and bad with them. Which means it's good that you can walk in and plug into ANYTHING, but it's bad in the same sense that anyone else can. I remember countless times, seeing guitarist plug in to upper end equipment and not treating it properly (not allowing it to warm up, cab mismatch, etc). All things considered the amp my not being functioning optimal.
Click to expand...

Good point. I'll try the other lonestar they have there next time I go.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

I would def. recommend giving it another shot or going to another store that sells it. Always good to bring ur own axe or something similar for optimal tone. Mesa makes one hell of an amp. Lonestar is a solid amp. I would try it on different speaker cabs if you can.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

If you like versatility, I would recommend trying out the Randall RM100 series.....
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

The Stiletto Ace is the amp equivalent of the cute girl next door who turns out to be a total freak in bed.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

Agileguy_101 said:
So I walked into Guitar Center yesterday and plugged into a Lonestar. I was rather dissapointed - I've heard great things about that amp. Sure, I only played with it for about 15 minutes, and it sounded good, but not amazing.

I do remember when my local GC had a Stiletto Ace that I just LOVED. Now that I'm going to be playing in a band and probably gigging, I need something that doesn't feed back at bedroom levels like my Crate V32.

FYI, I love to listen to and play all kinds of music, so versatility is important to me, but my band is going for something between The Black Crowes and Them Crooked Vultures. Tell me why I should get this amp, and if not, what else should I consider. Price isn't as much of an object for me - I'm probably going to be working at Guitar Center, so I'll get a fatty discount on anything they sell.

Edit: My current guitars are a heavily modded Highway 1 strat with a JB Jr/SSL5/Lil '59 neck and a Parker Nightfly M with a Tone Zone/Fast Track 1/Air Norton S. However, I may be getting a new guitar that can would be better suited for blues rock - I've been considering a PRS Custom 24 pretty heavily.
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favour and try an Electra Dyne while you are at it. It does good cleans, blues, and pretty much all the way to 'vintage high gain'. Think of an overdriven plexi on steriods.
 
Re: Sell me on the Stiletto Ace

Agileguy_101 said:
Maybe it was the guitars I was using - I left mine in the car - but I just couldn't get MY tone out of that amp. I didn't say it was a bad amp - it's a great amp, no doubt - but it didn't do what I wanted it to do, and that's why I was disappointed.

I was thinking of going with the combo - I like the portability factor and I don't care for having a head and a cab. That's just me.

If I got the 2x12 combo, would you recommend switching the stock speakers to V30's?
Click to expand...

I am not an expert on Mesa speakers but it is my understanding that Mesa Black shadow speakers are based on the V30. It is basically a 90 watt v30. The end result is a stiffer sound, slight more mid dip, added bass. It doesnt sound bad but through my 1x12 open back with a v30 it sounded better than the cab. I have a friend who works at Guitar Center and he swears the Eminence Governor is the speaker for that amp. He has a Stiletto Trident and is the same guy that sold me the Deuce. I have not heard his rig but I knew he knows what he is talking about.
 
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