Is the Stiletto more of a stock Marshall Plexi/800 amp or a modded Marshall?

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Matt300ZXT

Matt300ZXT

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I haven't had a Stiletto in forever but am considering picking another stage 1 amp up. It's been so long since I played it and never really got to crank it. You guys that have these, or have played them more recently, is it more of a stock Marshall amp w/o a bunch of gain, or does it really sing like the axeslingers' amps of yesteryear? I remember the fluid mode or whatever it was called being just utter garbage and totally unusable but that's about all I remember.
 
Modded Marshall for sure. Like way modded.

Honestly, I'd say kinda like a thinned out Recto with some slight Marshall DNA.
 
No idea I’ve never had one. Saw Dave wiener do a clinic with two stage one’s and it was not plexi or Jim 800 sounding. But he also had a gigantic rack as well. I would love to have one of either version.
 
Way, way more gain than a Plexi/800. There’s like….a hint of British in there….kinda….maybe with certain cabs? Two of my former guitarists used them and used ‘em with Mesa 4x12’s, they sound and feel like a Mesa. I guess if anything they didn’t seem to require a boost in front to tighten them up as much a Dual Rec, but I wouldn’t put them in the same area as tight like a Mark series.
 
Depends which mode and how you dial them in. Crunch mode is very JCM800 like. Tight gain is similar with more gain. Fluid gain is kinda like you stepped on an OD pedal. At least that’s how my Stilleto Ace is IMO.
 
One of my favourite amps. Wish I never sold. But although a similar maybe preamp sound to the 800 and definitely some similarities at lower gain, very different in the end.

Plus you have so many options like tube/silicone, etc. Can end up very different sounding.

The way I used to set it up (I only ever used crunch mode in channel 1), I actually heard it as JCM800 mixed with Mesa loose almost delayed low end, mixed with believe it or not a slight Vox jangle.
 
RevDrucifer said:
Way, way more gain than a Plexi/800. There’s like….a hint of British in there….kinda….maybe with certain cabs? Two of my former guitarists used them and used ‘em with Mesa 4x12’s, they sound and feel like a Mesa. I guess if anything they didn’t seem to require a boost in front to tighten them up as much a Dual Rec, but I wouldn’t put them in the same area as tight like a Mark series.
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They sound nothing like a Mark, and they definitely have some Marshall DNA in them. Of all the clips I heard you can really hear a british vibe in them. It's kinda like a modded Marshall 2203 IMO. I think Mastadon used them on one of their albums.
 
anomaly said:
Why so quiet? I can hear the guitar acoustically almost as loud as what's coming out of the amp.
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9pm in an apartment. Back in my short lived bachelor pad
 
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I had a stage 2 Stiletto Deuce back in 2010. Didn't last long, kept it maybe 4 months or so. There is definitely some 800 in there on the crunch setting. Overall, I didn't like the way the amp was voiced on its own; it had a really strident and I would say ice-pick like top end that just got worse the louder you played. When I had mine, I ran an eq in the loop to get it the way I wanted. Pros were I remember it feeling really good to play and it absolutely cut through a mix live. I think these can still be had for a decent price as well.
 
Couldn't get rid of my Trident mark 1 fast enough. Spongy, loose and way too many tubes.

Sounded ok, but I'm a metal guy at hearth, so it did not cut it. At all. Way too loose and saggy feeling. A big wet sponge.

Ended up trading for a JVM 800 studio 20 watts, whoahhh, now that thing was it.

Until i traded it for an actual 1985 800. Game over.
 
anomaly said:
They sound nothing like a Mark, and they definitely have some Marshall DNA in them. Of all the clips I heard you can really hear a british vibe in them. It's kinda like a modded Marshall 2203 IMO. I think Mastadon used them on one of their albums.
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Wasn’t talking about the sound, just the attack. All the years I spent in the room with them, playing through them and recording them I never caught a British vibe, but we weren’t really dialing them in to go for that sound either,
 
I’ve had 3 Deuce’s over the years—more gain than a 2203 definitely. I didn’t think it was a good ‘playing alone at home’ amp at all but turned up in a band mix it cuts great.
 
I've had a couple Deuce II's. They're fantastic for what they do. Definitely more Mesa than Marshall, but you do get a British flavor.

I wouldn't compare it to a JCM800, or Plexi. It is what it is, a Mesa Boogie with a British voice, but you'll know it's a Mesa. They are loud AF, and hit like a sledgehammer. Good tubes to warm up the bias, and some volume, and it's absolutely a killer amp, IMO. Another amp I really loved.
 
I tried a few of them...No Marshall resemblance to my recollection.
 
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