ADA MP-1... Whats all the fuss about

[zepplin490]

Ive been searching ebay lately for another preamp to run through my Peavey 50/50 since my Rm4 is running into the fx return on my rm100. Ive come across dozens of MP-1's for sale for pretty decent prices. I have read alot of review from people raving about these things and their overdrive prowess, one thing that gives me a little hesitation is that they are pretty much reliant on midi to switch patches and I am an idiot when it comes to anything midi, I avoid it like the plague but I have seen a couple MP-1's that come with a footswitch. Is it worth grabbing one of these thing and a midi controller for some midi education and for some great preamp tones? (although i doubt that anything could replace my RM4)
-mp-

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Once you get the settings Nuno used, it sounds great!

 

[threadkiller]

They were cutting edge at the time and sound great for overdrive and high gain applications. They can be found cheap now but hard to get some parts/repairs. I have one that is sitting in my closet but I plan to get a power amp and use it again when I can save the dough. The MIDI is simple and easy unless you choose to make it complicated but controlling multiple units with it. If you just want to use it to change patches don't sweat it. I got one because most of my heroes used one at some point. That sound is in there. They are a little noisy but what isn't at high gain?

 

[rupe]

It was the heart of my rack rig for many years. It's not perfect, but it's capable of dishing out some great hot-rodded Marshall style tones. I replaced it on several occasions with "the new best thing" (JMP-1, Triaxis, Triple Giant, Fish, GT Trio, and others) only to return to the MP-1.

 

[zepplin490]

Sounds good I may grab one as ive seen them for $200 or less and a midi foot controller is another hundred from what ive looked at.... what about the MP-2 i saw a couple of those on ebay too..
-mp-

 

[OUTLAW1969]

Sounds good I may grab one as ive seen them for $200 or less and a midi foot controller is another hundred from what ive looked at.... what about the MP-2 i saw a couple of those on ebay too..
-mp-

Others may disagree, but the original MP-1 delivered the goods the best, in my opinion.

 

[rupe]

Sounds good I may grab one as ive seen them for $200 or less and a midi foot controller is another hundred from what ive looked at.... what about the MP-2 i saw a couple of those on ebay too..
-mp-

Others may disagree, but the original MP-1 delivered the goods the best, in my opinion.

 

[snowdog]

Once you get the settings Nuno used, it sounds great!

Never had these. The MP-1 sounds good with lots of different settings.

 

[dpeterson]

i sold them new at GC never got a good sound out of one... my studio pre and quad preamp crushed it... i dont get the fuss either.

 

[craftm1]

+1 for the original MP-1 and I've been using them since they came out! Love them and for my Rack Rig they are the heart!

 

[SFW]

They are one of those units that sound a bit thin when you are playing by yourself. Put it into the context of a band, and I still don't think there's much that sounds better. I ran one for years before I became a forum junky and was told what a piece of junk it was. I have often thought about getting another one at some point.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds good I may grab one as ive seen them for $200 or less and a midi foot controller is another hundred from what ive looked at.... what about the MP-2 i saw a couple of those on ebay too..
-mp-

Others may disagree, but the original MP-1 delivered the goods the best, in my opinion.

this

i've had 3 mp1 and an mp2(didnt love the mp2)

one thing i love, the mp1 are really consistent from unit to unit...throw some JJ short plates in there, or some 12ax7b shuguang silver dragons and you're good to go for years.

the most recent one i snagged for "a song"...literally.

i wouldnt pay more than 150 for one, and 50 for the mc1. the chorus in them IMHO is some of the best rack unit chorus ever made....always wondered why they didn't "pedalize" that chorus.


you can mod the fuck out of them too and they're pretty easy to work on.

 

[robertkoa]

Once you get the settings Nuno used, it sounds great!

Never had these. The MP-1 sounds good with lots of different settings.

Yeah.

I got one of ebay that has noise mods and it's quiet and not buzzy or thin.

I use it for Vintage Sounding Marshall low to medium gain into Cab IRs and the Cab IRs in Modelers.

Sounds surprisingly good for this, but rarely have I seen it on a Demo...

For Fusion Stuff , I sometimes use Jimi's intro " Watchtower " tone and the ADA nails it and other Marshall

stuff also , gets pretty close and sounds like a real Amp .

As Yeti said in his Post, mine came with JJ short plates -warm and clear.

I wonder if a JJ Longplate would make the Cleans cleaner, sharper.?

 

[Anonymous]

Once you get the settings Nuno used, it sounds great!

Never had these. The MP-1 sounds good with lots of different settings.

Yeah.

I got one of ebay that has noise mods and it's quiet and not buzzy or thin.

I use it for Vintage Sounding Marshall low to medium gain into Cab IRs and the Cab IRs in Modelers.

Sounds surprisingly good for this, but rarely have I seen it on a Demo...

For Fusion Stuff , I sometimes use Jimi's intro " Watchtower " tone and the ADA nails it and other Marshall

stuff also , gets pretty close and sounds like a real Amp .

As Yeti said in his Post, mine came with JJ short plates -warm and clear.

I wonder if a JJ Longplate would make the Cleans cleaner, sharper.?

i messed with a few different tubes in mine (as i do with everything)...but didn't go quite as far down the rabbit hole as i wanted (taking notes, breaking down each tubes pro/cons to my ears).

but i did try the long plates in both positions, then v1 with a short plate in v2 and v2 with a short plate in v1

i like the JJ short plates for rock and metal, or a mullard in v1 and an rft in v2 for more rock and more mellow.

try one though, you might like it. i thought the JJ803 sounded a but softer on the low end and a tad muffled in the mids (as they always do...i actually like them for a reverb tube because of this).

anyways, here's some pdf files of ada settings. i have A shit ton of mod files and other stuff from the ADA depot that i dug up on different places on the net.

you can join the ada mp1 facebook page and get on the mailing list too....nothing really happens.

heres the nuno file:


somewhere here:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end ... itars.html

or here is where i ended up digging a bunch of stuff up:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end ... fitti.html

then arrived at this for the nuno settings that wagener used..which conflict IIRC with some earlier info he posted...either way, this'll def get u really close to if not dead on depending on your pickups. if you use the lawrence l500xl then use the live settings i posted above...it's dead nuts on.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/364951-post33.html

 

[Anonymous]

i found some paul gilbert settings too:









not sure on those, haven't messed with those settings yet. i cant remember where i downloaded those from.
here's a vid of paul using his:

here's some more nuno info from micheal wagener:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end ... fitti.html

you can do a search on gearslutz just like here...put mwagener into the author box, then type in nuno or whatever you want. it appears that wagener documented EVERYTHING...i've spent hours creeping his posts for info.

 

[Anonymous]

heres mod 1 (marshall) and mod 3 (slo/rectifier)

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Great post guys.. I've always been on the lookout for a cheap one, love the nuno tones and for that reason, would probably not mod an MP-1 if I had one. Think i'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[Anonymous]

remember, wagener said his was version 1.38. that's your starting point.

 

[Hamer95USA]

ADA parts & repair is available from ADA. They're back in business again. If you can find one, the ADA Depot 3TM "Ultra" modded MP-1 preamps are the shiznit! I have 2 of them. I converted my original MP-1 preamp into a 3TM mod and bought another one from a local seller.

Guitar George

 

[lettmusic]

they were good for the time, in the early 90s I ran a whole ADA rig. It got old really fast, the sound is really processed. I was able to get that ADA's Paul Gilbert tone and Nuno's too. But it's just very processed sounding so eventually I sold them and opted for a Mesa Mk IV.