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Mesa Stiletto Owners - Time to Chat!

2K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  Silverwulf 
#1 ·
So for everyone here that has a Stiletto, let's chat. I'm finally trying one with the band again, as I do every so often, and may be doing a Priest tribute project on the side, so I figured the Stiletto would work perfect for it.

What modes are you finding that you use most on each channel?

Are you running any particular tubes other than stock?

Boost, or no boost?
 
#2 ·
So for everyone here that has a Stiletto, let's chat. I'm finally trying one with the band again, as I do every so often, and may be doing a Priest tribute project on the side, so I figured the Stiletto would work perfect for it.

What modes are you finding that you use most on each channel?

Are you running any particular tubes other than stock?

Boost, or no boost?
It's probably not much help, but I run the middle position on both channels the most so far; I think it's Tite Clean and Tite Gain. Fluid Drive is a bit more than I need.

I still have the stock Mesa tubes, and while it sounds good with my SD1, it really doesn't need a boost, IMO.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I honestly don't remember what I used to use, as it's been a couple years since I used one with the band. Now that I'm plugging back in...

Channel 1 I've been gravitating towards Tite Clean. The Fat Clean seems to be a bit much with humbuckers, especially since most of the clean stuff I do is single note type stuff, not chord strumming. I really dig Crunch on Channel 1, but it's my clean channel. I could just use it on Crunch I guess with no OD in front and pick lighter for a cleaner sound, but I prefer my cleans to be really clean.

Channel 2 I'm debating right now, and I'm actually deciding between Crunch and Tite Gain. They're very similar and have a big mid push to them, but Crunch is a little more stripped down in the gain and reminds of a lot of a 70's master volume JMP or a JCM 800, where as Tite Gain is like a JMP/JCM 800 with an extra stage of gain added. It's also a little fuller, but that extra "oomph" also causes it to be slightly less articulate and percussive than Crunch, so that's the trade off. In front of both, I'll use my Maxon OD808, but slightly tweaked. I'll dime the gain on Crunch and use the gain around 1:00 - 2:00 on Tite Gain, where as on the OD808 I'm running the gain around 12:00 for Crunch and either off or 9:00 at most on Tite Gain for just something a little extra. My amp EQ stays pretty much the same on either. I guess it depends on my mood right now. I think it's easier to nail those old Marshall tones and do that sound with Crunch + OD, where as Tite Gain introduces more of a Boogie flavor.

Fluid Drive I'm just not feeling right now. It's a great mode, and I like what it has to offer, but it bumps up the sub low's a good little bit, and it also drops the mids a little, making it even less Marshall-y, and that type of grind is why I wanted to plug into the Stiletto again to start with. It's almost like Fluid Drive is trying to get you in Recto territory and is a little less in line with what the rest of the modes of the amp are trying to achieve. It's kind of like the Orange Vintage Mode in a Recto if you ran the Recto with EL34's, only the Recto does that sound better. If feel like if I wanted that sound, I'd just plug some 34's into my Recto and run with it. It's not as boost friendly on this mode. The way it's structured just isn't liking being slammed as hard in front, so it can easily get noisy using a boost. You just have to back off the gain to around 11:00 - 12:00 at most on the amp and run the OD output around 12:00 so you're not juicing it too hard, then you'll be fine.

Maybe I'll have a change of heart after I play with the mode some more, but right now it's Crunch for something like the classic JMP/JCM 800 sound for me and what I'll likely use with the Priest project, and Tite Gain when I want a slightly more full or modern sound.

I've still got stock tubes in it right now. I stopped tube chasing a while back. I've just come to realize that most of what I'm trying to do with different tubes can be done with a few knob twists, so most of the time it isn't worth the extra money or hassle for me these days.
 
#4 ·
A 3-channel Stiletto would be cool, so you could run a clean, the crunch, and a high gain all at once without having to flip anything.

At this point I might just get a Lehle Lil Dual, and switch between the DC-5 for cleans and high gain with the GEQ, and then the Stiletto for crunch and Tite Gain. It would have been a pain in the ass if I had to haul it, but it sounds like at this point by buddy will be leaving one of his drumkits here anyway, so I don't have to move shit.
 
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