ADA MP-1

[IRM]

I've hear some good things about the ADA MP-1 and was thinking about buying a used one. Anyone here had experience with it? How does it sound, is it reliable, what features does it have, what kind of tubes do you have in it, what power amp do you use with it, etc

...and anyone know why did ADA went out of business?

[ December 31, 2002, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: IRM ]

[A. Pulver]

Re: ADA MP-1

I have had mine since they first came out.
No problems at all.
I have changed the 12 AX7 tubes 3 times.
The tone is great as far as I'm concerned.
Clean to distorted as hell.
I have to admit that I prefer the tube programs to the solid state voicings though.
My fave is a custom program. "77"
OD1:7.5
OD2:10
M.G.:7
Bass:-16
Mid:-12
Treble:4
Presence:12
Voicing:Tube.
(Just incase anyone wants to sound like me) [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
I have the foot controller to go with it.
Works great for me anyway.
I think I paid over 600 back in the day.
Seen em dirt cheap lately.
Hope that helped.

[redmanjj]

Re: ADA MP-1

I own one now, and I have a back-up on the way (which I purchased from Jimosity). I run mine with a Rocktron Intellifex into a Traynor Custom Valve 40 combo. (you can run into the input or the effects return of a combo, but have to make sure you have the right setting on the ADA). Any midi board works with it; I use the Rocktron Midi Mate that Chuckracer sold me.

I am in the process of trying to buy a power amp and a 2x12 to go with it. I like my ADA so much that I often use no other effects at all.

They can be had for very cheap, but many people still use them. For the $$$, you will NOT be disappointed.

[Accept2]

Re: ADA MP-1

I used to have one, and I liked the tone, but found it broke up too much at high gain settings. It also was really noisy, which was the reason I dumped it. You really need a good noise gate with these. For the price though, they sure are a deal and a half...........

[ShredFred]

Re: ADA MP-1

I bought a used MP-1 a few months ago and am very happy with it. It gets great heavy metal tone (imho). [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Anyway, I run it with a Furman pq-3 in the effects loop then into a Hush Super C, a BBE 482, and a Mesa 20/20. There's a lot of info on ADA and the MP-1 at ADA Depot

[Dave L]

Re: ADA MP-1

I have a MP1, and coupled with a good tube poweramp/amp and a noisegate they´re pretty sweet. Since they are dirtcheap nowadays they are unbeatable in that pricerange imho...dialed in just right they compete with alot more expensive preamps.

I only use it in the studio, though...to get some bright, shimmering "80´s metal"-tones my main setup can´t really pull off.

One of our former JCF-members gave me a pretty good advice regarding the MP1. Run it on lower-gain 12AU7- or 12AT7-tubes, instead of the regular 12AX7. It takes away some of the harsh treble and fizzy gain, and makes for a much more pleasant sound. Major difference, imho...I like it bright but the MP1 "as-is" has enormous highs!

I heard that ADA went out of business because their warehouse burned down, inventory and all. I don´t know how true that story is, though.

[ January 01, 2003, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: Dave L ]

[redmanjj]

Re: ADA MP-1

The right tubes do eliminate a lot of the hiss that these units are accused of having. I don't find them to be any noisier than any other high gain amps I've played or listened to.