I Retubed My Stiletto

BeZo

BeZo

Billy Sheenan is my BITCH!
I finally ordered tubes for my Stiletto last week and popped them in over the weekend. It was down for a few months while I procrastinated. I was running the Verellen Skyhammer along with the Mesa Mark V in stereo and I was getting along just fine.

Last night we had loud rehearsal for the first time in weeks. We were set up to record drums and were practicing through IEMs to a click map to get comfortable for with the recording process. Everyone was direct and I had the cab shoved into pillows against the wall behind the gobos to minimize bleed. Now that the drums are tracked, we were loud for the first time in two month.

It was really weird to only run a half stack, especially when my rig is usually two full stacks. I hooked the Stiletto up and ripped it, and tried my best to fill the room. It sounded great. I can't wait to get the mics on it and record it. That amp is definitely going to be stage right again when we start gigging.
 
CDawg said:
What tubes did you get for your Stiletto and what have you tried in the past that you liked?
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I don't recall what was in my old Stiletto Trident Stage II. I flipped that long ago. This one came to me with rather reached Ruby tubes in it. I did the Eurotubes retube kit and just went with Matched JJs all around. Most of the pres were stock Mesa tubes still. I kinda wanna mess around with it, but the E34Ls kinda rock. It's the sound I'm after for right now, with a Mark V on the other side rocking 6L6s.
 
Fully paid up member of the stiletto fan club here. Massively underrated amps and a bit of a steal given what they can sell for. Is your Deuce a Stage I or II?
 
I had a Deuce II twice. The first one blew up, and had to be returned, (but it sounded great until things went south, and it wasn't tubes).
The second I bought used for $750. I put JJ 6CA7's in that one, and it was a total monster of an amp. Still one of my favorites I've ever owned.
 
Jimty said:
Fully paid up member of the stiletto fan club here. Massively underrated amps and a bit of a steal given what they can sell for. Is your Deuce a Stage I or II?
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This one is an early one.
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Mesa makes some amazing amps that don't achieve the recognition they should.
These are definitely one of them!

I am surprised at how many different sounds they are capable of.
 
I posted this on the Boogie Board back in 2011 when I was playing with tubes in my Stiletto Stage II. They are killer amps but with a fixed bias, set very cold which is why they have a reputation of being shrill.

With Mesa STR 447 stock tubes the highest reading I got was 19.5 ma. Thats with Bold Power,silicone diodes and 50 watt on channel 2. Spongy knocked that down to about 9. That's pretty darn cold for a tube amp.Just for fun I threw in some Electro Harmonix EL34. At the highest setting I got 24 Ma. A little better. So I had some JJ E34L's handy that had a '45' on the box. Those registered a warm and fuzzy 38.5 Ma. Kicked over to channel 1 crunch and it was about the same. Switched to fat clean and it went up to 44. (remember the 45 on the box 😉 )
So if you don't want to do the bias mod but want to open the amp up a little to where a tube amp should run get yourself some JJ E34L's and specify a grade of 45. You can get other brand tubes in various grades of course if you want to experiment. If your lazy just order these from someplace like Eurotubes and pop em in. I would recommend getting the bias probe they sell so you can see wht your actually running at for experimenting and making sure your not running to hot.
 
Chris6870 said:
I posted this on the Boogie Board back in 2011 when I was playing with tubes in my Stiletto Stage II. They are killer amps but with a fixed bias, set very cold which is why they have a reputation of being shrill.

With Mesa STR 447 stock tubes the highest reading I got was 19.5 ma. Thats with Bold Power,silicone diodes and 50 watt on channel 2. Spongy knocked that down to about 9. That's pretty darn cold for a tube amp.Just for fun I threw in some Electro Harmonix EL34. At the highest setting I got 24 Ma. A little better. So I had some JJ E34L's handy that had a '45' on the box. Those registered a warm and fuzzy 38.5 Ma. Kicked over to channel 1 crunch and it was about the same. Switched to fat clean and it went up to 44. (remember the 45 on the box 😉 )
So if you don't want to do the bias mod but want to open the amp up a little to where a tube amp should run get yourself some JJ E34L's and specify a grade of 45. You can get other brand tubes in various grades of course if you want to experiment. If your lazy just order these from someplace like Eurotubes and pop em in. I would recommend getting the bias probe they sell so you can see wht your actually running at for experimenting and making sure your not running to hot.
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I feel this way with all Mesa amps.
 
I briefly own an Ace head. I really wanted to like it, but just couldn't get it to sound right. Similar thing happened with the TC-50. I just always go back to the Mark Iv and it brings a smile on my face.
 
Jimty said:
Nice - Stage I owner here too 👍 I’m curious to try the Stage II, but it would hard for me to justify having two Stilettos and I wouldn’t want to part with my Stage I
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I saw a post by someone from Mesa saying the stage 1 and 2 were so different that they should be thought of as different amps.

I only have a stage 1 myself but am also curious.
 
I got a Trident Stage 2 last week. It's quickly becoming my favorite amp. Mine came with Russian 2 12ax7's and STR-447's. I loaded it with Square Getters and Sylvania 6ca7's.
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I traded my Stage II for a Mark 4 years ago and always missed it. Picked up another one a few months ago that looks brand new for 800 over on The gear page. They are great amps.
 
I've owned both, and having the early Stage I now I can say it doesn't have some of the heft that the Stage II had. I debated seeking out the "Hollywood Mod" for it to make it like a Stage II and tweak the high gain settings, but I kinda like the vintage tinge it has over the metal monster the Stage II can be. I feel like the original needs a boost a bit, so I boost it and it works.
 
BeZo said:
I've owned both, and having the early Stage I now I can say it doesn't have some of the heft that the Stage II had. I debated seeking out the "Hollywood Mod" for it to make it like a Stage II and tweak the high gain settings, but I kinda like the vintage tinge it has over the metal monster the Stage II can be. I feel like the original needs a boost a bit, so I boost it and it works.
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Yeah, I like the vintage flavour of the Stage I too. I’m running a Buxom Boost (bypassing EQ) into the front end to tighten things up (I use Fluid Drive) and an old Boss 10 band EQ in the loop to bring back some low end. It definitely needs a little help but a great sounding / feeling amp once you get it sorted. Might seek out a Stage II just to experience the difference
 
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