hey guys, i was just wondering can you get those awsome saturated petrucci lead tones from a mesa stilleto? i can get one at a pretty good price so i was just wondering. thanks alot, Pete.
I get that tone out of a stack marshall jcm800 1982 lead series with 100w head and 400w 4x12 cab and a pod xt live, so i'm sure you'll be able to get that tone with a mesa
Hi there
As you can see from my signature, I've got a Stiletto Ace combo. I have to say that I can get absolutely stonking JP tones out of this amp and I don't think you'll have the slightest problem getting his sound with the Stiletto.
I've found that the amp is really bright so I run the presence at zero and it sounds great with the other tone controls about 11 o'clock treble, mids about 10 and bass around 10. Add gain and master volume to taste...
I run the dirty channel on tite gain and I have never found any need to change it. I occasionally add in some overdrive from the FD2 but that's about it.
With any Mesa amp you need to know up front that the all of the tone controls are very sensitive to alteration and interact with each other in ways that I've not found on other amps - you need to really experiment and put in some time until you get the right sound.
With some other manufacturers' amps, you can change the controls over large ranges without much effect. It ain't so for Mesas (and I've had a few)...but the Stiletto Ace and the Lonestar are my absolute faves.
Since getting them, I haven't looked back and I'd rather sell my grandmother than those amps.
thats for all the comments guys, i playd the amp today, it shreds, ill bring my guitar in to work and try it again in a few days, its deffintly a worthy amp.
You gotta remember that 90% of JP's sound over the years is based on the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+/IV lead tone. Sure he's dabbled in other stuff (rectos, lonestars for cleans, triaxis...what, that's just more mark-esque tones ;p) but in the end, he keeps coming back to one thing because its what works best for him.
And the Mark IV is an absolutely phenommenal amp. Best product that Mesa's come up with in my opinion. The voicing is a PERFECT match if you're looking for that Petrucci tone. The cleans are also amazing... although not as good as the LONESTAR. But still. Oh, yeah, and the GEQ will give you tonal versatility soooo beyond what the other amps do.
Anyway, don't go for the Stiletto if JP's tone is your thing. It's an EL-34 amp, so British sonic territory. JP is all about the 6L6's and classic high gain boogie, not Mesa's take on the Marshall sound.
Check out this clip. It's Thiago Campos totally kicking ass on the Repetance solo with this JP-6 and his Mark IV:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_X1ipipG_A"]YouTube - Repentance Solo - Dream Theater - Thiago Campos - Mark IV[/nomedia]