tbonesullivan

Actually, the heritage group admin Sam Hedrick did assert that the entire guitar was a laminate, which had been veneered. I also did point out that the striations that went down in the mahogany, but the opposition was already convinced. They also had the heritage shop manager as well as the drill bit supplier commenting that it was due to the type of bit, but no one cared. They already had made up their minds that the entire thing. Then they got accused of being corporate trolls.

Yeah, I wasn't even getting into the whole "sloppy workmanship" thing. Some were convinced it was a laminate, and the threadstarter was pissed that there was no "official response" to his Facebook thread? He should have talked to his dealer first, and brought it in, before starting a Facebook thread. Then the Admin of the group ran with it, declaring that the whole instrument was laminated, and then veneered. He was also pretty rude to anyone who disagreed with him.

It is router marks. It looks like it got cleaned up AFTER paint for some reason. I think I just got blocked/removed from the group because I don't agree with admin "Sam Hedrick" , who has declared in his infinite wisdom that it's definitely a laminate. They have even had logical answers from people who work at Heritage, but he KNOWS. There's also some guy in Poland who KNOWS it's a laminate. That would have to be VOIDLESS laminate, which is not cheap. There's no production time savings from using a laminated maple top.

The DC-5 IS such a wonderful amp. They make such well designed amps. Now if only they could be convinced to put an adjustable bias resistor... but they don't swing that way.

Just another little update, after a month with this guy. It's definitely a great sounding amp, and well thought out. I don't think this one was pushed that hard before, and getting the speaker more broken in definitely has helped smooth it out some. I'm probably going to orders a set of the Mesa Boogie SED EL34s to have. It's got the Reissue Mullards in them now, but without a bias control, I usually like to stick with Mesa tubes. I'll throw the mullards into the Rivera. Now, anyone looking into the Mesa Stiletto series should be aware that they came in two distinct versions. The Initial release, which was the 100 Watt Deuce and 150 Watt Trident heads. These had 100/50 watt switches, and per-channel rectifier switches on the back of the amp. The Second release, called "Stage II", was a revoicing of 5 of the 6 modes of the amplifier, and it also added the 50 Watt Stiletto Ace head and Combo. The combos are ALL the Ace 50 watt version. There were never combo versions of the Deuce or Trident. From what I've heard from many users is that these changes were for the most part good: The FAT CLEAN and TIGHT CLEAN modes were made much better. On the Stage I, they were "boxy" and just not really super good clean modes. On the Stage II, they are REALLY good. The CRUNCH modes on the Rhythm and Lead channels were voiced more aggressively, with a bit more top end. They were also changed to be equal in volume. On the Stage I the volumes were a bit different, and they were smoother. The TIGHT GAIN mode was left alone, and is a great sound. The FLUID DRIVE mode on the lead channel was revoiced to be much more "super hot rodded marshall" than a classic boogie drive sound. The CRUNCH changes are the ones that are most divisive. People who want more of a vintage sound will have better luck dialing that in on a Stage I Stiletto. You can definitely still do it, but you will need to EQ it carefully. I know that Mesa Boogie Hollywood had mods for the Stage I to make the two crunch channels identical. I don't know if they did any mods to make the Stage II have Crunch channels voiced more like the Stage I.

Those are worth some $$$ now. There are not any manufacturers making them anymore.

Those are nice! And they don't require that 6C10 Compactron like the Super Champ.

They are nice... but damn are they heavy. Also, while legendary, they really need some updating to a modern standard channel switching amp. Somehow.

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason with regards to when Mesa Boogie screws the grille in from the back, or from the front with the washers. Just look for Maverick 2x12s, and you'll find both examples. It's the same with the heads and the combos.

One Control makes some small, affordable, two loop switchers. One has two buttons for the different loops. The other has one button for A/B and another for On/Off. Which is best depends on your effects chain.

"effects switchers" are pretty much external effects loops. So you can keep using your old school stomp boxes, but instead of having to stomp on all three, you just stop one button. There are a pretty wide variety of implementations out there.

The 2x12 Stiletto ACE uses the exact same cabinet, with a different baffle. I don't want to think about how much that weighs. With the closed back it REALLY helps with the low end response. Very tight and punchy. It should be a British-Made VIntage 30 in there, which so far seems good for the amp.

After a week with it, I can definitely say it definitely does have a wide range of sounds it can produce. It DOES have a lot of mids, which can be dialed back. This isn't an amp where you set everything to 10 for the best sound. It's one where you can in some cases have to go really high or really low on the controls depending on your level of overdrive and the type of guitar you are using. Turning up the gain from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock will require adjusting the EQ for the sound you want. It seems to be one of the most sensitive amps regarding to adjustments that I have owned. The Tube rectifier really does add some compression to the sound, even at lower volume levels. I think the 5U4GB has a voltage drop of around 50 volts, which is definitely more than the 30 volts the 5AR4 in my Maverick. It's the second most "saggy" of the three types of rectifiers used commonly today. The larger coke bottle 5U4 actually has a lot less sag. What makes an even bigger difference though, is the BOLD/SPONGY power control, which is called 'TWEED' on some other models. It really changes the character, and I definitely like it "spongy". What's funny is that it sounds much more like other amplifiers in that mode, almost as if a lot of other amplifiers are actually not able to provide full voltage to the tubes. Set to the regular mode, it has a ton more punch, but it looses some of the "hollow" and "woody" sound it has. Next thing I am going to do is see what tubes are in it. I know that the Power and Rectifier tubes are the standard Mesa Branded EHX EL34s and JJ 5U4GB. I don't know what's under the preamp shields though. If it's the usual all JJ you see in most Mesas these days, then there is efinitely some room for improvement. I've got some used RCA, JAN Phillips, CBS Hytron, and other tubes hanging around. Also I'll definitely put my go to Sovtek 12AX7LPS into the phase inverter spot. I also just picked up an NOS JAN-GE and a NOS 5U4GB from Tube depot. who was having a sale. Those may help things as well. I also have a matched quad of Winged C SED EL34 tubes, which will eventually be put into service. I do like the sound it gets now though. I'm also considering picking up a bunch of "grade 2" ANOS tubes from some tube dealers. They are tubes that are not really suitable for V1 or high gain stages due to microphonics, but which should be fine for cathode followers, phase inverters, etc.

I would also suggest avatar speakers. I've got one of their 2x12s, and it's been a solid addition to my arsenal for years. They have open, closed, and convertible back 1x12 enclosures.

It really is in great shape, so yes, I hope to have it for quite sometime. It looks like the tubes may be all stock. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the preamp tubes. Given the tight quarters in there, it may be easier to just pull the chassis to get to them than having to reach past the other tubes and the fan. I do know that the previous owner had some of the preamp tubes checked, because V3 AND V4 both have cathode follower circuits that use them. I should mention that the last preamp stage before the phase inverter on pretty much all Marshalls is always a cathode follower, just like on the Stiletto. Mesa Boogie in general does not usually use cathode followers very often. They put a lot of stress on some tubes, and many new production tubes, such as all the Spiral Filament tubes made in Russia, cannot withstand the high cathode / filament voltages that a cathode follower produces. Pretty much all of the "reissue" tubes like the Mullard, Tung-Sol, etc use this, as well as the Electro Harmonix and Sovtek LPS tubes. The old design Sovtek tubes like the 12AX7WA/WB/WC are fine though.