Mesa Lonestar or Mesa Stiletto - what are they like?

I’ve ended up more and more intrigued by these two amps recently but I've never had chance to try either...
Has anyone tried a Mesa Lonestar or Mesa Stiletto? Any thoughts on either? I’ve had a few recto’s but always struggled to get a more ‘organic’ sound of em. They always sound too modern and aggressive for me (great in my younger days, not so much my thing now). I like my Fender cleans and Marshall JMP type drive but space and money means I need to condense to one amp!
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  • Let’s pop the Mesa Express amps on that list too, why not! Any thoughts?
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    I gigged a Stiletto Ace 2x12 combo for about 3 years & recorded it quite a bit.

    They have a propensity towards being quite bright, and take a while to dial in when you're unfamiliar with the controls. There's so much treble on tap that they could kill you, frankly.

    But dialled in, what an amp! It's the only closed-back combo I've ever played through, so much punch and thickness available, without being flabby or loose. Very loosely voiced like a JCM800, but with more of a Mesa midrange - so, more solid, holds together at higher gain levels. Unlike a Recto, it didn't need any kind of boost in front to tighten up - everything you needed was available from the gain & tone controls.

    The fx loop & master volume were a *little* frustrating insofar as they worked well, but I always felt like the tone was marginally better and more focused when they were switched out of the circuit. Not enough to stop me using them, but when recording I didn't use them unless I had to.

    The cleans were great, very fendery and rich & this channel took pedals well - one of my happiest memories of gigging was the end of a set, when I had a strat neck pickup going through a compressor & SD-1 into the clean channel. Such a touch sentitive, thick-bit clear tone.

    Ultimately I switched the V30s out for some old early '80s G12-65s, to get more low mids out of it and bring the overall volume down a little. There were times afterwards I missed the midrange and treble of the V30s, but I think the '65s were a bit more versatile and smoother on the ears at high volume.

    I can't comment on the Lonestar, but I think it's a very different amp, from what I've read and heard in demos - more compressed, very thick overdrive, lower gain.
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11495
    tFB Trader
    The Stilletto was devised to be a Mesa take on A marshall 
    They were finding that bands with 2 guitarists who both had Dual Recs needed more separation in sounds an a solution was one switching to a Marshall.
    Mesa wanted to keep everyone using Mesa Amps so the stiletto was born

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11495
    tFB Trader
    Cirrus said:
    I gigged a Stiletto Ace 2x12 combo for about 3 years & recorded it quite a bit.

    They have a propensity towards being quite bright, and take a while to dial in when you're unfamiliar with the controls. There's so much treble on tap that they could kill you, frankly.

    But dialled in, what an amp! It's the only closed-back combo I've ever played through, so much punch and thickness available, without being flabby or loose. Very loosely voiced like a JCM800, but with more of a Mesa midrange - so, more solid, holds together at higher gain levels. Unlike a Recto, it didn't need any kind of boost in front to tighten up - everything you needed was available from the gain & tone controls.

    The fx loop & master volume were a *little* frustrating insofar as they worked well, but I always felt like the tone was marginally better and more focused when they were switched out of the circuit. Not enough to stop me using them, but when recording I didn't use them unless I had to.

    The cleans were great, very fendery and rich & this channel took pedals well - one of my happiest memories of gigging was the end of a set, when I had a strat neck pickup going through a compressor & SD-1 into the clean channel. Such a touch sentitive, thick-bit clear tone.

    Ultimately I switched the V30s out for some old early '80s G12-65s, to get more low mids out of it and bring the overall volume down a little. There were times afterwards I missed the midrange and treble of the V30s, but I think the '65s were a bit more versatile and smoother on the ears at high volume.

    I can't comment on the Lonestar, but I think it's a very different amp, from what I've read and heard in demos - more compressed, very thick overdrive, lower gain.
    This was interesting  in terms of useful mods

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • I had the stiletto deuce and a recto 2x12 cab. 
    I thought it was great . Solid build , looked fantastic , dripped quality , and a fantastic feature set . 
    I didn’t find it too bright . I wish I still had it as it was a great amp. I got rid of it because I wanted something simpler . 
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  • I owned a Lonestar Special for a number of years.

    Cleans were excellent, in a Fender Blackface-type way. The reverb was outstanding.

    Drive sounds were less convincing and (as with most Mesa amps) hard to dial in. Lots of options - but not many that I actually liked.

    My view is that there are many better, cheaper alternatives - including Mesa’s Express series.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    I owned a Lonestar Special for a number of years.

    Cleans were excellent, in a Fender Blackface-type way. The reverb was outstanding.

    Drive sounds were less convincing and (as with most Mesa amps) hard to dial in. Lots of options - but not many that I actually liked.
    This is a bizarre characteristic of them which is caused by the choice of pot taper values for the gain and master controls on the overdrive channel. Amazingly, simply swapping them round makes the overdrive channel just like a higher-gain version of the clean. There’s a recognised ‘name’ for this mod, I forget what... but why it was clearly deliberately designed the way it was baffles me, once I’d heard the result of changing it - huge improvement.

    The Stiletto is another sufferer from this problem in my experience - although I don’t know if it’s the same exact cause, I haven’t looked into it. I found it difficult to get the high-gain channel to sound as good as the low-gain one, although not impossible with care, but only over a fairly narrow gain range. For me it’s not really Marshall-sounding even though the overall voicing is roughly the same - but it’s much grittier and harder-sounding than a Marshall. It really does cut through a mix, especially against a looser, more scooped amp like a Rectifier (which was the intention).

    The Express I’m less familiar with, but it seems to be a more versatile amp with less of a specific character, to me. Despite being the ‘cheap’ model I don’t think the build quality is any lower, and like richardhomer I think I’d probably pick one (probably the 25W 1x12”, which is the only one I’ve tried but seems the best value for money) over either of the other models unless I was specifically going for either an Americana or hard rock sound.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    Cirrus said:
    I gigged a Stiletto Ace 2x12 combo for about 3 years & recorded it quite a bit.

    They have a propensity towards being quite bright, and take a while to dial in when you're unfamiliar with the controls. There's so much treble on tap that they could kill you, frankly.

    But dialled in, what an amp! It's the only closed-back combo I've ever played through, so much punch and thickness available, without being flabby or loose. Very loosely voiced like a JCM800, but with more of a Mesa midrange - so, more solid, holds together at higher gain levels. Unlike a Recto, it didn't need any kind of boost in front to tighten up - everything you needed was available from the gain & tone controls.

    The fx loop & master volume were a *little* frustrating insofar as they worked well, but I always felt like the tone was marginally better and more focused when they were switched out of the circuit. Not enough to stop me using them, but when recording I didn't use them unless I had to.

    The cleans were great, very fendery and rich & this channel took pedals well - one of my happiest memories of gigging was the end of a set, when I had a strat neck pickup going through a compressor & SD-1 into the clean channel. Such a touch sentitive, thick-bit clear tone.

    Ultimately I switched the V30s out for some old early '80s G12-65s, to get more low mids out of it and bring the overall volume down a little. There were times afterwards I missed the midrange and treble of the V30s, but I think the '65s were a bit more versatile and smoother on the ears at high volume.

    I can't comment on the Lonestar, but I think it's a very different amp, from what I've read and heard in demos - more compressed, very thick overdrive, lower gain.
    This was interesting  in terms of useful mods

    Actually I did change the mid slope resistor (I had to go back to my classified post to double check!) from 30-something to 20-something kohms, it wasn't a big change but moved the midrange in a slightly thicker direction.
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16010
    Put it this way.......You won't want to play a Strat on the bridge pickup through a Stiletto .........just so harshly bright
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  • I had a Lonestar 1x12 and it was up there with a fender twin as one of the best clean sounds. The second channel I found quite difficult to get a good crunch out of but the lead sounds were very good. 

    I ended up selling it to buy a Dual Rectifier Roadster on here. While the cleans aren’t quite as good as the Lonestar, one unintended benefit as the ‘Brit’ channel on channel 2 does a great JCM800 impression with a Klone in front of it. 
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  • I gigged a Stiletto for a few years - brilliant amp provided you dial it in correctly - very bright (but nobody ever moans about Marshalls being too bright...) - but thats what the presence and treble controls are for.

    2 Channels (that you can set to either clean/crunch on CH1 and varying amounts of gain on CH2), Solo Boost, FX loop - knocked my Bogner Shiva off top spot actually.

    Plenty Loud but also completely controllable at home due to the great Master Volume setup.

    Great sounding Marshallish amps - still has the Mesa thing going on though so don't expect it to be a Marshall in a Mesa box.

    Lonestar I had a brief fling with too but couldn't do anything with it - flubby block of lard is the only way I can describe sorry (sorry to all the Lonestar users out there!!) finnicky and hard to dial in and really don't understand the love for them.
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  • frownfrown Frets: 32
    Bit rushed for time, but here's my [haphazard] quick contribution as I'm in the lucky position where I have both the Stiletto Ace and LoneStar [Classic], along with an ElectraDyne all in 1X12 combo config for comparison. While the ED is my personal fave, the LS and SA have their own purpose, depending on need and of course, guitar used - as they change personalities accordingly [As Dominic mentions about Strat bridge pup on a Stiletto - I agree, bit shrill! A P90 Les Paul with 330K pots though, is glorious!].

    From my varied use with mix of guitars & pickups [SC, HB, P90, Fidelitron], here's the general summary of each by channel.

    LS - Clean: chimey, full, clear / Drive: creamy, smooth, compressed, bloomy
    SA - Clean: crisp, dry, stark, bright / Drive:  bright, searing, scoopy, raspy
    ED - Clean: rounded  / Crunch: chunky, middy, hairy / Drive: meaty, thick, roar, grindy

    [Wierd] Hammer analogy? LS - wooden mallet, SA - Ice axe, ED - sledgehammer. Sound dynamics change on amount of swing...

    From the OP Dom's perspective, I'd say the LS is more organic and suited to what you're after, from your description. However, I'd definitely say try both with your own guitars and hear for yourself if you can.  I suggest the LS also coz I want to collect all the ED's for myself...
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    Re; Stiletto brightness... I do mean that it could kill you if you turned the treble up. But, if you started with mid, treble and presence off, and just turned them up to where you needed them (if you kept any two of them down at 1/4 or less, you could push the third up towards half and decide where you wanted to cut through)... it was a very thick, full sound. I'm going back through the scant videos I have of gigs I used the amp on, and it's coming back to me how much I loved it, and how flexible it was.

    There's one gig I'm watching where the red channel, set to the "tite" voicing, does both big wall-of sound power chords, and also chimes fantastically with single note arpeggios without ever sounding thin, even on a strat bridge.

    Damn, now I regret a; selling it, b; that I'm not in a band so wouldn't be able to use it even if I had one and c; a global pandemic would have meant no gigs anyway.
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  • Cheers for the input and advice everyone! I’d avoided Mesas for a while after I’ve had a couple of rectos - probably because I didn’t know about the active EQ and how that works differently compared to your usual marshalls, oranges, fenders etc. I presume the Stiletto and Lonestar both have the active EQ too?
    i thought I was leaning towards the Lonestar but I’m equally tempted by both! The Lonestar is probably more suited to what I’m after and what I play these days I think
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956

    I’d avoided Mesas for a while after I’ve had a couple of rectos - probably because I didn’t know about the active EQ and how that works differently compared to your usual marshalls, oranges, fenders etc. I presume the Stiletto and Lonestar both have the active EQ too?
    Not true - the Rectifier and all other Mesas have a standard passive tone stack almost exactly like a Fender or Marshall, depending on which model. (Rectifiers are like a Marshall.) Only the graphic EQ on some models is active.

    Classic Oranges have a ‘Baxandall’ type tone stack which is different from the Fender/Marshall type but is still passive. Modern ones mostly have the Fender/Marshall type.

    The Rectifier does have an unusual feature though - in Modern mode, which gives the classic ‘Recto’ sound, the power amp negative feedback is turned off.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBM said:

    I’d avoided Mesas for a while after I’ve had a couple of rectos - probably because I didn’t know about the active EQ and how that works differently compared to your usual marshalls, oranges, fenders etc. I presume the Stiletto and Lonestar both have the active EQ too?
    Not true - the Rectifier and all other Mesas have a standard passive tone stack almost exactly like a Fender or Marshall, depending on which model. (Rectifiers are like a Marshall.) Only the graphic EQ on some models is active.

    Classic Oranges have a ‘Baxandall’ type tone stack which is different from the Fender/Marshall type but is still passive. Modern ones mostly have the Fender/Marshall type.

    The Rectifier does have an unusual feature though - in Modern mode, which gives the classic ‘Recto’ sound, the power amp negative feedback is turned off.
    Ahh interesting! Looks like I’ve written Mesas off too soon then... this could get expensive! Haha
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  • andy1839andy1839 Frets: 2197
    I've had the Stiletto 212, as everyone has already said it's a bright amp.  I changed the speakers over and it really changed it for the better.
    (I can't remember which ones though, may have been Creamback neos)

    I'm a fan of the Mk.V 90w as well. 

    For me, the best amp Mesa have ever done is the F50, beautiful cleans and crunch and a great lead channel.  It's just a straight up great amp, not too many switches or eq's.

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