software

Mesa:
This amp had one of the best cleans I'd had the pleasure of playing. Those 3-notch voicing toggle switches really offer up a simple, but versatile spectrum of cleans. You can go from a really fat Bassman-esque clean to a crunchy, Jimmy Page-style natural OD, and of course, everything in between. Keep in mind I own a '70s Fender Bassman, so this Mesa's clean channel is truly impressive~! The EQ seems like it was built around the most useful frequencies for guitars, I could dial in settings I never really liked and it would sound good enough to be used for something. The bass-response on this amp is ridiculously nice, you can really feel it and it just has this very organic sort of punch to it. Lively is probably the best term to describe it; it makes you think the sound is coming from some all-engulfing sonic waterfall as opposed to a 4x12 cab.
As for the distortion channel...Biu is not satisfied But that doesn't mean it was bad or anything, just not my taste. I could see it being well adapted to rhythm playing situations, the tone is very bottom-heavy and tight, has plenty of gain stages, and is clear even under high-gain. My main gripe was that it seemed thin at times, especially for solo work. I tried cranking the bass and mids, but that didn't seem to do it. Then I turned down the presence knob. It got closer at that point, but still, not what I wanted. When I solo, I like a very dynamic, fluid, and organic sounding gain. This amp had more of a hard-edged, smash-you-in-the-face gain, maybe like a super-high-gain AC/DC sound or something. Basically, it was too agressive for my liking, but if you like audio warfare, I think this would be an exquisite weapon of choice.
Oh yeah, it's really fuggin LOUD~!!! I would probably pee my pants if I had the pleasure of owning one, I LOVE the cleans!!!Laney:
I had high hopes for this beast, but when I plugged it in, it was super-buzz distortion mania. What first peaked my interest was the fact that Andy Timmons uses it and the simple control layout. Unfortunately, it is more buzzy than a 5150 and overall sounds sterile and unnatural. It has a lot of gain though, so it might appeal to doom metal crank-distortion-to-max people. I was just disappointed; doing solos on it made me sad somehow, it seemed like I just wanted to play a little bit of guitar, but the amp kept fighting me by cutting my sustain short, making my tone artificial, and making me sound like I'd only been playing guitar for 2 weeks I do not like this amp whatsoever.

Well, fellow SD members, it seems I have NEVER found an amp distortion I've liked in a guitar store...but I always seem to find divine cleans. The search continues~! (By the way, I'm really really happy with my home distortion setup ...but it would be nice to enjoy playing some hot licks with serious OD/distortion in a guitar store sometime... )

Rivera

The VH100 demands the right set of speakers, and it wants to be played in a certain way to do its thing!
I had borrowed one for a week, and I used it with a 4x12 with G12H celestions
Loved it.
Never tried a Mesa or a Rivera that did not feel muffled and hard on my ears....wool amps I call them

head down there with an old SD-1 or one of john s' creations, EL84 and 6L6's never truly satisfy me for hi-gain, i always take a MIJ SD-1 and a spina DS-1 to practices, that way im never totally caught short..

and IIRC, the stiletto can take EL34's.. hows that for a nice thought

tom

Maybe you should try a Hughes amp; Kettner TriAmp MK2, it can produce many different tones.

you can listen to it here, if you don't understand german just press quot;hörenquot;, it means hear: from : localhost/www.planet-guitar.de/tests/hk...kettner_triamp

By the way the Laney can switch to EL-34's.
Hear Matthias Eklundh, he uses a VH100.

VHT Pittbull

i tried the laney too and found it really stale.. yea, that's the word. both the cleans and the gain sounds were really nothing special, given the price of the thing

Hmm makes one wonder what the hell you guys where playing it through??
I got spanking fat cleans and some very juicy screamin' leads out of it??

i played with a usa fender standard and through the laney cab (dont ask which one)

When I played through a Stiletto it struck me as a piece of gear you'd need to take home and mess with for a week before you could make any real judgement. It has so many bottons and knobs. I am sure there are some nice tones in there. That said, the ONLY head that ever really tore my head off in the first couple minutes was my VHT. I was playing it though an old Marshall 4X12 and it was just like WOW... this f-er is unbelievable. I have owned it for a couple years and still haven't heard everything yet. Last weekend I was running it like this...

- Low sensitivity Input (darker)
- Class A Mode
- 1/2 Power
- High Gain On
- Boost Off
- Edge On
- Shift Off

You can change everything I just mentioned there... amazing piece of gear.


Originally Posted by RidNever tried a Mesa or a Rivera that did not feel muffled and hard on my ears....wool amps I call them

I agree on the Mesa front ... I honestly think there must've been something wrong with the Rivera you played; old tubes, worn cabinet drivers, something. Though I do find the 50W Riveras to be a bit darker/woolier than the 100W. And if you put EH or Sovteks in there you are going to get pure mud!!!

I played an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis through both amps, and both amps had their matched cabs.

TO, funny you should mention Rivera, the whole guitar store was filled with them, but trying the Laney made me feel sick of checking out amps, so I left Next time I will check them out though.


Originally Posted by Impand IIRC, the stiletto can take EL34's.. hows that for a nice thought Actually it can ONLY take EL34s.

Well the Laney cabs are kinda awful sounding, I have tried it through a 4x12 G12H cab, and a 4x10 Jensen cab, and a 2x12 Weber cab, plus we also swapped in a pair of Tesla EL-34's.
And it is also very easy to mod by the way, every component is topnotch and the amps are very well made.
Try it again through something else, I am getting one soon I hope, loved the sound, sent me flying with some serious rocktone.
It was right there at my fingertips, very direct and responsive amp, one of the better I have tried.

I've been looking at the Stilettos and I had to say I'm very confused. Here's why:

1st try - Played it 5 minutes after it was let out of the box that it came from the MESA factory in. Sounded AWESOME. Like you wish your JCM2000 would but never does.

2nd try - Played a floor model that had been out a while. Sounded like total ass. Weak tone all around. No integrity and no strength.

3rd try - Better, but where the hell did all the bass go?

All three of these runs were with the same guitar through the same model cab, but different amps. Either these amps are really sensitive to tube health or the guys at GC just suck ass at maintaining their tube amps. Or both. :P


Originally Posted by FretFireActually it can ONLY take EL34s.

lol woops, total brain fart.. why did i think the stiletto used 6L6s?!

sorry guys

the stiletto is basically a duel/triple recto built w/ el34 instead of 6l6's. w/ some added switching features.

I really enjoyed my test run ..., I love that I could run the clean channel at full power for great headroom ... and at the same time run the dirty channel at 50 watts .. gives you ex distortion versatility .. I thought it blew doors on the marshall 2000 my bro owns and has never stopped turning the freaking knobs .. 2 yrs and he still hasnt been satisfied w/ it's tone.

I love that they went w/ only 2 channels ... I've always thought the 2 channel recto's sound better than the three channel model .. there's a high end quot;sizzlequot; that cant be squashed w/ the 3 channel version IMO.

a EL34 amp is all thats missing from my stable ... i was gonna go w/ a jcm 800 .. back to an amp I wish I never sold ... but now ... I'm sold on the stiletto ...

for the record ~~gt; les paul ~gt; trident and matching 4x12 cab w/ V30's. I would've preferred a cab w/ greenbacks to get a little speaker breakup ..

a friend owns a dual rectifier,1989 model and he uses a laney 4x12 cab.the clean sounds like crap with it.distorts on the clean channel,with no boost or gain function on. Even with his fender strat with vintage single coil pickups it happens.