Mesa Stiletto Ace combo

[TubeStack]

There are a few deals on Mesa Stiletto Ace 1x12 combos near me. I have owned the Stiletto Deuce head in the past and liked it, but sold it because I preferred my Electra Dyne. Interested mainly out of curiosity regarding the closed-back aspect and the all-in-one factor for gigging. Yes, I know they're heavy (78 lbs), but to me that might get balanced out by the fact that that's all you need, no separate head and cab, which could be cool for smaller gigs. Also, it has wheels.

Anyone own one before? Thoughts or experiences?

 

[JiveTurkey]

HARD pass based on weight alone. 2 items over 1 item at 78lbs all day long. Always wanted to try one though?

 

[TubeStack]

Always wanted to try one though?

That's a big part of it, for sure. And I have nostalgia for combos in general, from my teen years, I guess, but as an adult playing in a loud rock band, I've never found one where the open back didn't kill the punch factor. Some of the ones I've tried: Royal Atlantic 100, Electra Dyne 23", Marshall JCM800 4010. So I've stuck with closed back 2x12s for gigs and 4x12s for practices.

But I've always been curious about the closed-back Ace combo with V30, supposedly it gives it a fair amount of bottom end and punch?

 

[spawnofthesith]

Sounds brutal to move around, but I dig that it is a closed back combos. I like a lot of combo amps, but when it comes to the palm muted chugs open backs tend to make everything falll apart. Closed back should fix that for sure

 

[JiveTurkey]

A combo is on my radar this year for tax season deduction purposes. It's going to be the 20lb Blackstar el34 turd I keep bringing up, though It'll be staying at the practice spot and get trotted out once in a great whiles where space/time constraints have me saying screw it.

I still keep my eye out for a used ElectraDyne

 

[TubeStack]

I still keep my eye out for a used ElectraDyne

Aw yeah!

Me, too. They don’t show up often around here, but I will definitely grab one when it does.

My only reservation about that combo is I don’t love the Dyne with a C90 and much prefer it with V30s.

However a single V30 isn’t enough wattage on its own. Would maybe look for a higher wattage V30-type?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Aw yeah!

Me, too. They don’t show up often around here, but I will definitely grab one when it does.

My only reservation about that combo is I don’t love the Dyne with a C90 and much prefer it with V30s.

However a single V30 isn’t enough wattage on its own. Would maybe look for a higher wattage V30-type?

I thought I wouldn't like that C90 with the Electra but when it was working; I was actually floored at how full and punchy it was?

 

[TubeStack]

I thought I wouldn't like that C90 with the Electra but when it was working; I was actually floored at how full and punchy it was?

Yes, super full and punchy, but I find it too dark with the Dyne. To my ears there's some kind of upper-mid notch in the C90 that works well with some amps but not so much the Dyne, which is a little dark in general and IMO really benefits from the V30 mid/upper-mid crunch.

I love the C90 with a JCM800 though, for example (I put one in the above-mentioned 4010 combo and it sounded amazing).

The ultimate Electra Dyne combo for me would be the 2x12 version that actually comes with two V30s, however it probably weighs as much as a small truck.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yes, super full and punchy, but I find it too dark with the Dyne. To my ears there's some kind of upper-mid notch in the C90 that works well with some amps but not so much the Dyne, which is a little dark in general and IMO really benefits from the V30 mid/upper-mid crunch.

I love the C90 with a JCM800 though, for example (I put one in the above-mentioned 4010 combo and it sounded amazing).

The ultimate Electra Dyne combo for me would be the 2x12 version that actually comes with two V30s, however it probably weighs as much as a small truck.

"Grab and Go (get a hernia)!"

 

[paisleywookiee]

I had one briefly, before it literally went up in smoke. Got one used from GC, and it sounded glorious; even better through a C90. Then it literally started smoking, and I saw that the back of the amp had taken a massive knock, as the transformer mounts were bent. God knows what else was wrong with that poor amp.

Definitely recommend though, if you don't mind the tank-like weight. Personally I'd go for a head though.









Or a Badlander combo.

 

[TubeStack]

I had one briefly, before it literally went up in smoke. Got one used from GC, and it sounded glorious; even better through a C90. Then it literally started smoking, and I saw that the back of the amp had taken a massive knock, as the transformer mounts were bent. God knows what else was wrong with that poor amp.

Oh man, that sucks!

Definitely recommend though, if you don't mind the tank-like weight. Personally I'd go for a head though.

Yes, I'm all good for heads + cabs though, with my Electra Dynes + 2x12/4x12. Kind of looking at combos out of curiosity.

Or a Badlander combo.

Haha, yes it's on my radar, for sure. However, I'm hesitant to repeat this here... but I actually bought a Badlander 100 head and returned it. Super cool amp but didn't love it for classic rock crunch stuff.

A used Badlander is also literally 3x the price of a used Stiletto combo

 

[paisleywookiee]

Badlander 100 head and returned it. Super cool amp but didn't love it for classic rock crunch stuff.

Heresy.

 

[la szum]

They are a tad bright to my ears, and not in a good way.

 

[Cirrus]

I had one and gigged + recorded with it loads 2014-2017.

They *are* very brightly voiced amps, but they also have beautiful tones on tap. I found the clean channel to be really great for that bold, glassy mesa punchy clean thing. The crunch option (available on channel 1 & 2) is frankly painfully bright. I found it sounded good if you started with bass to taste, with mid, treb and presence all the way down, then picked one to turn up to like 1/3rd and cracked the other two open to taste.

The tite gain and lead voicings on channel 2 were just glorious. Still bright, but the brightness was thickened up by the extra gain stages into a really crisp but thick distortion, and the tone controls could be more normally used in those modes.

The closed back 2x12 sounded punchy as fuck. I'm one of those twisted perverts who actually prefers 2x12s over 4x12s for the midrange sound, and this was just the best sounding physical combo box I ever heard. The V30s were great, but after 6 months I put in some old early '80s G12-65s, which are much smoother speakers, and that let me open up the tone controls more and have less of a time avoiding being way too bright

There's plenty of power on tap, it's a good old school 50 watts, big transformers, felt very well built.

I sold it when I went back into AC30 mode to help pay for a UK made one, I miss it sometimes.

 

[la szum]

Nice writeup, Cirrus.

If you love that ED, @TubeStack think of the Stilletto Ace as going in the opposite direction tonally.

Could be a decent amp in a band with multiple guitars, or keys, or horns, where you want to slice
through a dense mix. In a trio, my sense is it would not be nearly thick enough for ya.

 

[TubeStack]

Yes, I'm not concerned about the brightness; I had a Stiletto Deuce and got very warm sounds out of it. I just kept the treble at 10-11 o'clock, like an 800 head I used to have, and mids probably around the same.

I actually wouldn't mind some Marshall-y high end to contrast with the Dyne, bit more of that sizzle/kerrang.

 

[Frodebro]

I actually fired up my Deuce II the other day, after ignoring it for quite a long time (years). In 4CM with a processor with good onboard equalization it's a thing of beauty.

 

[FAKA!]

I have a Stiletto Trident head, its pretty cool and can do a lot of tones. I wish it had more bottom end for in the room jamming but an eq in the loop can cure that instantly. It sounds amazing in a mix.

 

[Cirrus]

Now I've slept on it, I think when I switched speakers I also took one of the bright caps out on the 2nd channel, but I can't for the life of me remember which one - my only memory of it is of hovering over the circuit board like a mad professor holding one of those little dark red mica caps.

Still. Solid amps once you've changed the speakers, modded them, and turned 3 of the 4 tone controls down to zero

I wish I still had mine.

They recorded beautifully - I remember always loving the way the mids just roared when you could get the volume up on them. There's lots I wish were different about the production of my last band's last album, but the guitars in this track were all the Stiletto ace on tight gain with the original V30s;

 

[EOengineer]

That's a big part of it, for sure. And I have nostalgia for combos in general, from my teen years, I guess, but as an adult playing in a loud rock band, I've never found one where the open back didn't kill the punch factor. Some of the ones I've tried: Royal Atlantic 100, Electra Dyne 23", Marshall JCM800 4010. So I've stuck with closed back 2x12s for gigs and 4x12s for practices.

But I've always been curious about the closed-back Ace combo with V30, supposedly it gives it a fair amount of bottom end and punch?

IIRC at least some of the ED combos I’ve seen might have been closed back, but generally I agree. Mesas in particular I always find to be VERY anemic in an open back 1x12, and that gets compounded if it’s a narrow cab.

My Mesas need sealed cabs.

A combo is on my radar this year for tax season deduction purposes. It's going to be the 20lb Blackstar el34 turd I keep bringing up, though It'll be staying at the practice spot and get trotted out once in a great whiles where space/time constraints have me saying screw it.

I still keep my eye out for a used ElectraDyne

FWIW I noticed a couple days ago SEVERAL sub $1k combos in GCs inventory.

They are a tad bright to my ears, and not in a good way.

The most common mistake I see with the Stiletto is people trying to pair them with V30s or something like it with a big upper midrange spike.

The Stiletto needs to be treated like a 1959 or 2203 - works best into something that trims off some top, like a greenback. Otherwise they will absolutely take your head off.