ADA-MP1 opinions... got me thinking?

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glpg80

glpg80

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i used to own an ADA-MP1 preamp and had the entensions to build a full rack rig as a second gigging option and something to have at home or at band practice so i didnt have to carry my head back and forth.

it was ironically about the same time mike (jugger) was building his, so this goes to show you how long ago it was :lol: :LOL:

i even ordered the 3TM mod and installed the board myself in the unit just in case i ever wanted it on tap :rock:

when i got the unit i wasnt very impressed... sub par tone so to say. after the mod it was more gain and an improvement but still extremely sub par to my 5150. i slaved the MP-1 off of my 5150 when i owned it, but the entire time it sounded just weak or quiet. sub par. i had never owned one before, and i of course double checked my install and checked the board with the owner, it wasnt the 3TM.

i eventually ended up selling it on ebay.

i heard a rack on youtube, with a VHT power amp, an ADA-Mp1 stock running a rocktron intellifex instead of a G-major, and STOCK that damn thing screamed!!!!

so my question is, to guys that use them or have used them, whats your opinions on them? why havent/didnt you like it? is there supposed to be that large of a volume and tone difference IE like a weakness? the tone just didnt sound very pleasing and im wondering if i did a bad thing by selling off an ADA that was just messed up and needed repairs. i didnt have another to compare it to so it has me wondering :doh: :doh: :doh:
 
It has been quite a while since I got rid of mine, but as I recall there is a -10-+4db switch on top of the unit. If you had it set to -10 there would be a very noticable volume difference compared to your 5150 preamp section.

I liked mine back in the day, but it was VERY noisey. So much so, that I could not get my Hush noise gate to close on my high gain settings! Tone wise, I prefer a 5150 or 5152, or wost other good higainers, but imo the selling point of the mp1 was the versatility. I decided that I wanted 2 or 3 great tones instead of 128 fair-good ones.
 
I had one and agree it was very noisy. Bought a Hush IICX and that took care of that. My problem was the eq controls seemed set to the wrong frequencies. Never could get it just right. With a rack eq it would have been fine I bet. For power amps I used to late 70's 2203's power sections (installed power amp in jacks).

Been wanting another one again..... :doh:
 
I owned one for several years. They are good for what they are but will never WOW you with tone. At the time they came out, I liked it but there wasn't a lot of stuff out there at the time that had that many sound possibilities. I don't regret selling it.
 
cool thanks for insights.

yeah that makes things alot less wondersom then. i figured i had slipped and made a mistake on a tonal holy grail there for a second because of a unit that just needed more TLC.

as for the 10/4 switch, you mean inside it? the one i had didnt have such a thing. just 2 mini pots on the 3TM board that adjusted the high Q and low Q frequencies.

which by the way allowed me to fine tune the midi controlling of the eq frequencies by hand and ball-park it, then use the midi controls to get closer or vary the frequencies accordingly.

IMHO if that was your biggest turn off, id get the 3TM mod and do that.

BTW i still kept the original preamp analog board from the ADA-MP1. i always thought about building one hell of a single channel all tubed practice amp out of it :loco: :rock:
 
glpg80":87o3jcxk said:
cool thanks for insights.

yeah that makes things alot less wondersom then. i figured i had slipped and made a mistake on a tonal holy grail there for a second because of a unit that just needed more TLC.

as for the 10/4 switch, you mean inside it? the one i had didnt have such a thing. just 2 mini pots on the 3TM board that adjusted the high Q and low Q frequencies.

which by the way allowed me to fine tune the midi controlling of the eq frequencies by hand and ball-park it, then use the midi controls to get closer or vary the frequencies accordingly.

IMHO if that was your biggest turn off, id get the 3TM mod and do that.

BTW i still kept the original preamp analog board from the ADA-MP1. i always thought about building one hell of a single channel all tubed practice amp out of it :loco: :rock:
Click to expand...
There was a switch on top the unit....one way was if you were running into a gtr amp's input. The other if going into a power amp.

I had a hard time with the mid freq the most. Always thought it was centered too low, but this was a long time ago.....
 
The MP-1 into a 2:90 is still the heart of my live rig...has been since '88 (2:90 since '93). I've gone through almost every high end preamp that you could name (Fish, JMP1, Triaxis, Triple Giant, GT Solo, Soldano X88...many more) and I still end up going back to my original MP1. One thing that really adds a lot to the overall sound is pairing it with a BBE unit (I prefer the 422A or 482i...they need to be set differently though). As for noise, its never been an issue. I've others that were extremely noisy but mine isn't and never has been :confused:

My biggest complaint would be the lack of touch sensativity...and after reading baron55's post, now I know why.

As for the switch on top, only the very early ones had this...it went away about 2 years into production IIRC.

I'm going back to a head/cab setup (or perhaps an Axe-FX) only to downsize as I keep jacking up my back moving my rack rig around. Tonally I still really dig the ADA. I'll never sell it...I'll probably be going back to it again in a few months :D
 
I had an a stock MP-1 for many years that I used with multiple power amps(Tubeworks Mosvalve, ADA microamp, Marshall 9200, JCM 800, various HI-FI amps). Then moved on to the MP-2, I was happy with them until I tried a VHT Ultralead, brought it home and did an a/b comparison. The VHT completely devastated the ADA rig. I think any high end, high gain tube amp Bogner,Soldano,Rivera,(Diezels weren't on the radar at the time) would have bested it easily. It did fair well against the the first year JCM2000 my other guitarist had at the time though. The MP-1 had it's day and that was many,many moons ago.
 
I LOVED mine when I had it! But I really wanted a downsized rig instead of the 200+lb rack rig I was lugging around with me...so I sold it and bought a Krank Rev Jr.

I just really like the tonal response I get from a traditional amp head, than I do from separate Pre-amp/ Power Amp sections as well.
 
Trace at Voodoo Mods can make that thing sing and quiet at the same time! I have heard only good things of them after being modded.
 
If the choice is between carrying around a tube amp or dealing with ADA tone. I'll carry the amp everytime. I had an ADA rig years ago, the best thing i ever did was trash the whole thing.
 
ADA was my main rack for many years, I sold most of my ADA gear off the last couple of years, I still have my MP-2 with noise mod and shortened power cord.

The MP-1 really came alive when I added the MQ-1 graphic EQ. I never did the noise mods to my MP-1's (I have a PDF file on how to do it from ADAdepot.com) but that would probably clean them up. Never saw the need for the 3TM or other performance boosting mods. After using them for so many years, I guess I became used to the lack of dynamics when compared to a true tube amp.

And only the earliest production version of the MP-1 had the line switch on the top, which was a PITA if you had it in a full rack, later models moved it to the back panel.

Here is a pic of my last ADA rack:

ADA-Main-Rack.jpg


MXC on top of the case, Furman, MP-1 stock, MQ-1 stock, MP-2 with noise mods, B200S SS power amp. I ran this into 4 ADA Slant SplitStacks, 2 per side.

MP-2, MXC, CCP, QuadSwitch are up for sale. Posted in the Gear Classifieds. ;)
 
seriously, it depends on the power amp.

A stock MP-1 through a VHT 2150 can be devastating. A couple years ago, I did an ABC test with a CAE 3+SE, an HK Access, and a stock ADA MP-1.

They were all through the same fx, power amp, cab, mic, etc. Nothing was changed except for the preamp. None of them really sounded all that different from eachother. Especially on tape.

I don't regret still owning an MP-1 classic, a stock MP-1, an MB-1, an S-1000, and a Rane MPE-14 (MQ-1 eqivalent). BTW, ADA Delays like the S1000 sound so much like mid-80's Dimartini, it's not even funny. These can be had for around $50.
 
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