Mesa Stiletto Deuce II

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braintheory said:
Not sure what they go for now, but they at least were a great amp for the price (paid $800 for the stiletto trident stage II I used to have). There is like others said an inherent strident/harsh quality to the highs that imo cannot really be dialed out, just masked or subdued. It’s different than the mark iii high’s but also can be harsh in its own way. Like other boogies you gotta dial it in. If you have the means, I’d save up for a vintage jmp2203 or jcm800 instead unless you absolutely need an fx loop or clean channel. Much better amp imo for that kinda sound and better investment too probably. I still have a ‘79 JMP2203 for what it’s worth. It’s a keeper. I sold my stiletto because of when I AB’ed it with the Wizard MC I owned at the time
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I bought my first one for $899 brand new at GC when they were discontinued. Played it for a week, and it blew up! I was sad, indeed, I loved it. Getting it fixed turned into a clusterfuck, so I had to get a refund and bought a Laney GH50L. Excellent amp!

Fast forward, I bought my second one used in mint condition off Reverb for $750. Used be find them used all day long for $750-$800. Seems, (like everything else), they're going for $1200 and up. Seen a few cheaper, (beat up or molested)..
 
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Had one, kinda wish I still had it. I did find the high end hard to tame, was a little too bright. I'm sure i just used that as an excuse to GAS into another amp lol
 
Afaik it‘s the cold mesa bias that produces the harsh highs. So getting hotter tubes or a bias mod is going to help. 6ca7 instead of el34 can give you more bass response which is a good thing too.
 
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I’ve got an Ace and like it a lot. I have 6CA7 in it and play through a Bogner 412 with vintage Blackbacks. Definitely more Marshall than traditional Mesa. So if you are looking for a Marshall substitute I’d grab it. If you are looking for a Mesa sound you might be disappointed
 
I had a Trident with the Mesa Hollywood mod for minute back in the day.
 
PDC said:
This dude makes any/every amp sound like a ‘must have.’ I am nuts over this guys vid of the modded JVM. I do think he said he was using a subtle, transparent boost in this vid to tighten things up and smooth things out. But he definitely makes the Stiletto sound killer in this vid.
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Its Also loud as fuck which helps.
 
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Revi San said:
Afaik it‘s the cold mesa bias that produces the harsh highs. So getting hotter tubes or a bias mod is going to help. 6ca7 instead of el34 can give you more bass response which is a good thing too.
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This 100%. When I had mine I ran a pretty hot set of EL34's in it and it killed. I don't remember the details of the tubes but I posted it either here or the boogie board if someone was interested.
 
Revi San said:
Afaik it‘s the cold mesa bias that produces the harsh highs. So getting hotter tubes or a bias mod is going to help. 6ca7 instead of el34 can give you more bass response which is a good thing too.
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Exactly. In fact, the last one I had I did just that. I ordered a super hot quad from Eurotubes and had it running at 32mA vs. factory 19mA!! I think they were some of the hottest they had in the building and were rated near 60!

You're right on the money. That cold bias does, in fact, increase the high end. Also that low volume fizz that all Mesas have.
 
napalmdeath said:
Exactly. In fact, the last one I had I did just that. I ordered a super hot quad from Eurotubes and had it running at 32mA vs. factory 19mA!! I think they were some of the hottest they had in the building and were rated near 60!

You're right on the money. That cold bias does, in fact, increase the high end. Also that low volume fizz that all Mesas have.
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on recs you can zero the treble and use the presence to tame that. bet it would work on those as well.

SOMEONE WITH ONE OF THESE TRY IT AND LET US KNOW PLEASE!!!
 
JackBootedThug said:
on recs you can zero the treble and use the presence to tame that. bet it would work on those as well.

SOMEONE WITH ONE OF THESE TRY IT AND LET US KNOW PLEASE!!!
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Yep. I NEVER had issues with the Stiletto being bright. JJ's in the preamp work to tame it quite a bit, but still used a Tungsol in V1. It's like any Mesa, gotta take the time to dial it in.
 
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Love my Deuce. It’s not harsh if you turn it up. I never found it harsh initially. Just bright. At low volume the treble and presence controls don’t get much above 9-10 O’Clock. With the volume up top end EQ gets more towards noon and sometimes higher. I’ve used an attenuator with it for years. They’re a little bass light for heavy stuff but with my 10 band in the loop it’s so easily added. In the stage II, fluid drive is just an incredible plug and play high gain sound. With hums I don’t get the gain above 10 O’Clock and it’s just perfect saturation. The crunch settings take pedals extremely well. Great counterpoint to a recto.

FWIW I got the bias mod done a few years back (mainly just bored..lol) and don’t really notice much of a difference. I’ve had the same JJ E34L’s in it since I got it over 10 years ago. The bias in these amps will make some wild swings, depending on your setting. You’ll get the highest draw when in bold, silicone and clean. Once you engage crunch and fluid drive and also use tube rec and spongy you can get down into the lower teens on mA. The spongy setting can definitely sweeten up the top end in my experience.
 
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I have 5 dif Stilettos. One V1 Hollywood mod, 2 reg Deuce II and an Ace head and 112, They all have various tonal qualities and once you find the perfect power tube for each it is a beauty.
 
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They are definitely bright but at gigs I don’t find them harsh. At jam in the basement I find everything harsh. But on stage they sound fantastic to me. If I recall correctly I have everything somewhere around noon (gain at maybe 11:00 on tight gain), presence might be at 9:00/10:00
 
I have a ace head, playing in a band setting it is great. Can be a little bright for playing by yourself. Takes pedal great
 
went to a clinic once-Dave Weiner....he was using stiletto's. sounded great.
 
I had to get the right power tubes and bias to get the pickiness out of them as well as use different pres in V1 and V2 to tame them. I have one on the bench right now getting a bias mod added so it will be easier to manage. If it has a good outcome I will have it done on all of them. Very reliable amps.
 
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