Mesa Boogie Stiletto's... good? bad? meh? or the shit? What do they sound like? Advice please ?️

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errrrrl

errrrrl

Well-known member
There is a small shop that buys n sells all kinds of crap including musical gear close by. Usually its filled with just crap that nobody wants.. but today I saw two Mesa Boogie Stiletto's and it got my attention. I know nothing about these amps other than I think Hetfield used one for playing the star spangled banner or something lol. The only Mesa I am sort of interested in right now is a recto of some type, but from what I googled the Stiletto doesn't do recto.

Anyway the orange looks cool to me and was surprised when my wife turned and asked me "do you want that for Christmas?" o_O She was telling me to hurry up and grab it before its gone lol... I told her I wanted to think about it a bit first lol.

Orange one is a Stiletto Trident II I think and the black says its a Deuce. Should I got back and grab one or better to hold out for a recto? Can't believe I got the free pass on another amp hahaha

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They’re not bad. I owned a Trident Stage II for a while. In the Marshall balllpark with a bit more gain on tap than a stock jcm800. Pretty raw sounding. Quite bright. Grindy. Not a ton of bottom end. Not particularly thick sounding. If it’s cheap enough could be ok to have, but if you can would recommend saving up for an old 2203/4 instead. It would be the complete opposite kinda sound of your Uberschall
 
errrrrl said:
There is a small shop that buys n sells all kinds of crap including musical gear close by. Usually its filled with just crap that nobody wants.. but today I saw two Mesa Boogie Stiletto's and it got my attention. I know nothing about these amps other than I think Hetfield used one for playing the star spangled banner or something lol. The only Mesa I am sort of interested in right now is a recto of some type, but from what I googled the Stiletto doesn't do recto.

Anyway the orange looks cool to me and was surprised when my wife turned and asked me "do you want that for Christmas?" o_O She was telling me to hurry up and grab it before its gone lol... I told her I wanted to think about it a bit first lol.

Orange one is a Stiletto Trident II I think and the black says its a Deuce. Should I got back and grab one or better to hold out for a recto? Can't believe I got the free pass on another amp hahaha

254717921_3104526526429231_88524111054193113_n.jpg


255355102_3104526769762540_8024551535905372382_n.jpg
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I’ve owned a stiletto 1 and 2. The 2 was better. The first one didn’t have a shit load of gain to my recollection and the second had more juice behind it and was just plain better. I see them sell sub 1000 regularly locally. These were voiced much more marshall (but not exactly the same) and do not sound like the traditional Mesa voicing as a heads up.
 
They are not bad but kinda of a flat Marshall. I was at a studio and the Marshall one out after battling . It still was good tone . It was smoother than the Marshall and not as agressive. So if you you’re going for that you may like more . But still a god amp overall . What’s the price ?
 
Techdeth said:
They are not bad but kinda of a flat Marshall. I was at a studio and the Marshall one out after battling . It still was good tone . It was smoother than the Marshall and not as agressive. So if you you’re going for that you may like more . But still a god amp overall . What’s the price ?
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The Trident was 1100 and the deuce 1k. Man I wish it did the recto thing a little lol. I like the look of it but definitely dont need more Marshal like tones right now.
 
braintheory said:
They’re not bad. I owned a Trident Stage II for a while. In the Marshall balllpark with a bit more gain on tap than a stock jcm800. Pretty raw sounding. Quite bright. Grindy. Not a ton of bottom end. Not particularly thick sounding. If it’s cheap enough could be ok to have, but if you can would recommend saving up for an old 2203/4 instead. It would be the complete opposite kinda sound of your Uberschall
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Ah man good to know... shit, was hoping for thick with bottom end hahaha. Damn glad I waited. My wife thinks I should get it cause I dont have any orange colored amps ?
 
itsgoodnow said:
I’ve owned a stiletto 1 and 2. The 2 was better. The first one didn’t have a shit load of gain to my recollection and the second had more juice behind it and was just plain better. I see them sell sub 1000 regularly locally. These were voiced much more marshall (but not exactly the same) and do not sound like the traditional Mesa voicing as a heads up.
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Thanks dude, bummer. After years of not going for the Mesa sound I kind of want a Mesa recto sound... I may get it still... my wife never says you should get that amp of you want it... ever lol
 
Never played a Stiletto, but man nothing else does the Recto thing. If you want that sound, which is one bad ass sound, just hold out for a Recto. The MW Dual is badass...I often miss that HUGE grinding thing the Recto does. What a sludgy grinding DM amp...not great for thrash, but with the right boost/guitar can do it with a unique flavor.
 
MetalHeadMike said:
Never played a Stiletto, but man nothing, including the other boogies I've owned, does the Recto thing. If you want that sound, which is one bad ass sound, just hold out for a Recto. The MW Dual is badass.
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I think you are right dude. Just pulled into guitar center now, have not been here in a year or so lol.. wish me luck!
 
I had one for a minute but exchanged it it pretty quickly and bought a Marshall JVM instead. I remember it being very bright and smooth and different than a Marshall. Plus much of the verstility it had were not things you could switch with a footswitch. You had use toggle switches on the amp and turn knobs. Kind of hard to do when playing live.
 
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MetalHeadMike said:
Never played a Stiletto, but man nothing else does the Recto thing. If you want that sound, which is one bad ass sound, just hold out for a Recto. The MW Dual is badass...I often miss that HUGE grinding thing the Recto does. What a sludgy grinding DM amp...not great for thrash, but with the right boost/guitar can do it with a unique flavor.
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Agreed, the Recto's, particularly my Rev D, has a growl that's my favorite type and unlike any other amps. That orange channel can make most other amps sound really smooth comparatively. They probably would be my first choice for DM
 
braintheory said:
Agreed, the Recto's, particularly my Rev D, has a growl that's my favorite type and unlike any other amps. That orange channel can make most other amps sound really smooth comparatively. They probably would be my first choice for DM
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Agreed Sam! They have a very menacing low mid growl/grind that just oozes old school DM. Makes me think Obituary :rock:
 
errrrrl said:
The Trident was 1100 and the deuce 1k. Man I wish it did the recto thing a little lol. I like the look of it but definitely dont need more Marshal like tones right now.
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Ya it’s very Marshall . That price is cool though for having no shipping. And tell him no taxes or do $100 off
 
MetalHeadMike said:
Never played a Stiletto, but man nothing else does the Recto thing. If you want that sound, which is one bad ass sound, just hold out for a Recto. The MW Dual is badass...I often miss that HUGE grinding thing the Recto does. What a sludgy grinding DM amp...not great for thrash, but with the right boost/guitar can do it with a unique flavor.
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Ya I keep one because of that one sound . I just jammed on mine for an hour . I been trying to blend it with Vh4. But both are boosted tight . Probably a lil too tight actually
 
Owned 3 Rectos ,Ractifier ,Quad pre ,Tri Axis, all the Marks .
Trident was pretty tame and lacked balls

Priced ok for what you get.
 
I collect them,, Im not a DR kinda guy so I like the bite of the stilettos.
They all sound a lil different.
If you are not going to grab it I would like to. :)
 
I decided to chance'em lol... I figured if my wife was on board why the fuck not lol... then later found out why she was ok with it.. she thought the price was for $100 only.. and she couldn't understand why I was buying it since it was only a hundred bucks... My kids and I were like.. .its $1,100... :ROFLMAO:

Anyway thanks everyone for chiming in. At least I knew what I was getting into. NGD post coming!
 
braintheory said:
Agreed, the Recto's, particularly my Rev D, has a growl that's my favorite type and unlike any other amps. That orange channel can make most other amps sound really smooth comparatively. They probably would be my first choice for DM
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I had a Dual Recto head that in bought new in 92 or 93. I think it was the first version and it always sounded great, but I sold when I needed the money in the early 2000's.
 
I still want a dual rec at some point... I keep hearing the new multi watt ones are the shit.
 
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