Mesa Stiletto Ace combo

EOengineer said:
IIRC at least some of the ED combos I’ve seen might have been closed back, but generally I agree.
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The 27" ED combo is mostly closed back, like 3/4, but the 23" one I had was mostly open (around 1/4 of the bottom is closed).

EOengineer said:
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.
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That's interesting, as the Ace combo has a V30. Seems like it'd work well with a C90, but I've read Mesa doesn't usually put those in closed back cabs.
 
TubeStack said:
That's interesting, as the Ace combo has a V30. Seems like it'd work well with a C90, but I've read Mesa doesn't usually put those in closed back cabs.
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Yeah I particularly attribute Mesa’s choice of V30 to the stiletto failing to catch on. It’s a GREAT amp if you know how to work with 4 hole or 800 series Marshalls. Everyone was totally confused by them because it’s just not what you expect when you plug into a Mesa.

I keep thinking about picking up a head because they still come up very affordable and IMO can cop some of those brown and 800 tones people love.
 
JiveTurkey said:
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 :bag:poop::love 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.
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That would be the plan for this Ace combo: keep it in my basement and then bring it out for the odd gig.

I currently have the larger Dyne head in the basement and then move my Recto 2x12 up/down for gigs, because I sold the Lone Star 2x12 I used to keep down there. Ideally I like to keep the Recto 2x12 by the front door - with the smaller Dyne head - and have a cab + head that just stays in the basement.

The other alternative would be to grab a Mesa Three Quarter Back 1x12 cab that is also available locally for the basement + odd gig. Only thing I don't love is that it doesn't have wheels and has a C90. It is, however, a great deal and about 1/4 the price of the Stiletto combo...
 
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TubeStack said:
That would be the plan for this Ace combo: keep it in my basement and then bring it out for the odd gig.

I currently have the larger Dyne head in the basement and then move my Recto 2x12 up/down for gigs, because I sold the Lone Star 2x12 I used to keep down there. Ideally I like to keep the Recto 2x12 by the front door and have a cab that just stays in the basement.

The other alternative would be to grab a Mesa Three Quarter Back 1x12 cab that is also available locally for the basement + odd gig. Only thing I don't love is that it doesn't have wheels and has a C90. It is, however, a great deal and about 1/4 the price of the Stiletto combo...
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I'm not carrying any 78lb thing up any set of stairs :LOL:
Strong Guy Muscles GIF by 60 Second Docs
 
JiveTurkey said:
I have not. I need to get out more :unsure: :rofl
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Well, apparently the 3/4s are pretty rare.

I may grab the Stiletto Ace this weekend. Still debating between grabbing it or just getting the 3/4 1x12 cab. The Ace is much further away, drive-wise, as well as more $, whereas the 3/4 is closer and way cheaper. However a new cab just isn't as much fun as a new amp, really...
 
Cirrus said:
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 f**k. 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.
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Thanks for the detailed descriptions. As mentioned, I had the Deuce Stage II head and liked it, and didn't find it overly bright as long as I kept the Treble in the 9-10 o'clock range.

Sounds like a great combo in general though! I can imagine the 2x12 version sounded fantastic.
 
TubeStack said:
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.
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In theory! :popcorn



:LOL:

I don't know many players who actually kept those amps. There's a reason for that. Can be a struggle
fest to get that upper midrange pleasing in the same way as a Marshall can be.

Not hating. Just saying.

Also, Mesa has tried to perfect that juiced up, British voiced Overdrive more times than I can count. :idk
 
I picked it up a couple days ago. It worked out that I had a family event near it, so the drive wasn't an issue anymore. Also got the guy to drop the price and it was a pretty good deal overall ($1000 Canadian, so about $750 US). So far I'm actually very happy with it, will post more at lunch today. Also I'll need to start some of this training if I'm going to be moving it around... :rofl

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Ok here goes:

The Good
- it's none more black (others were all green and tan, which I don't love)
- absolute mint condition
- has incredible punch and size to the sound; the closed back cab effect is quite remarkable; by far the biggest-sounding 1x12 combo I've ever heard
- it is a massively loud and big-sounding 50W, almost seems like 100, maybe it's the huge, heavy transformers
- I got a great crunch tone dialed in super quick; just need to not be afraid of extreme settings (for me it was treble at 11 o'clock, mids way down at 8, bass at 3 o'clock, and presence at 9:30
- full power (not Spongy) and tube rectification is awesome for crunch and is similar to feel of the Dyne, sweet and addictive sag
- very nice cleans that were easy to dial in; solid state rectification works well here
- a treat to have separate EQ for crunch/clean after working with Dyne so long
- also nice to have more of that Marshall upper-mid kerrang than the Dyne
- goes well with all my pedals except one (see below)
- effects loop sounds great
- channel switching works easily with my Stomp and Suhr Micro MIDI
- fan is super quiet
- it has wheels :grin

The Bad
- it is insanely heavy and doesn't have handles on sides, just one on top
- it doesn't gel at all with my beloved Keeley Fuzz Head, which is really unfortunate as that's my favourite and most-used boost
- that's about it

The Ugly
- I don't love the cheesy Stiletto knife logo/bad tattoo image, may cover that with a band sticker or something

I might just keep it in the basement as my main at-home amp, and leave the smaller Dyne head + Recto 2x12 by the door. However, my garage is actually just 4-5 steps up the stairs, so it's not too big a deal to get it up and out, if I want to gig with it, however it's not super easy to heave up and into the RAV4, so we'll see. Also won't be bringing it to a venue with a lot of stairs, I don't think. But most places we play right now have none, so it could work for that.

Overall I'm having a good time with it and it was a whole lotta Mesa for not a lot of money, all things considered.
 
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