Talk To Me About The Mesa Boogie Stiletto

Some say these are one of Mesa Boogie's least popular amps. I remember several years ago hearing something about their reliability. However, in my experience with the Stiletto Ace and Deuce, they are amazing sounding amps. The Ace particularly has a 3-dimensional, swirly sound. Jackson Ampworks Britain 30 has very similar qualities. I never really cared much for the Trident. I thought the Deuce was warmer sounding than the Ace, so the Deuce was kind of my favorite of the 3. Anyway, after all these years, I want to know what people make of them now. If a vote were held today for Mesa Boogie to bring them back, would you vote yes or no?

I'd vote no, simply because I wouldn't be interested and I don't think people would buy them. That being said, they're cool amps. I owned many of them...many. Never had any reliability issues, and I regularly gigged one for an entire summer back in the day.

They're extremely bright amps, and the EQ is very touch sensitive. It can get super bright or thin in a hurry if you dial it in "wrong". Clean channel is fantastic, dirty cleans up nicely rolling down the volume knob. Pretty versatile amp, honestly. Check out some old videos by Andy Timmons for some great tonal examples.

I really liked the Ace. It was really bright but could be tamed by adjusting the EQ. Oddly I didn't find it cleaned up good at all using the guitar volume (even at moderate gain settings). In fact my digitech RP500 cleaned up better.

Still loving my Deuce stage II. Never cared for the higher gain tones on the stage I. The brightness is resolved with volume. At band practice volumes the EQ normalizes and you'll be putting treble and presence up in more standard zones. At home I use an attenuator. Both the Stiletto and the MK V shine at volume.

love all stage 2 and aces