Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

[lerxstcat]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

ADA Depot is great for schematics, mods and locating shops that will work on ADA gear (many won't)so that's a great reference on nelli's part above. The MP-1 Classic or MP-2 (one of them)has a noise gate. The 3-tube mod Sam mentioned is also called the Soldano mod as it gives you higher gain.

[txcharvel]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

The MP-1s are noisy, I use to gig with one back in the early 90's. I was so pumped to get one but the noise really bothered me at first. I tried gates, HUSH units, but I either didn't like the gate or it impacted the tone in a negative way.

Finally, I figured out the easiest way around it. It's got 128 presets, and I think I used 4 [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] . In the bank I used, I made the levels on the last preset all zero. The noise was only bad on distorted tones anyway. In between songs or during a break in the song, I just stepped on that preset. For cleaner, or overdriven tones, the noise was not that bad so I didn't feel the need to compensate.

It is very easy to make a "muddy" tone. There are two gain stages and at first you might feel the need to crank 'em both up. Take your time and play with with it. You'll be amazed at how little gain you need to get a killer metal sound.

Also, you can back off the gain a bit and put a tube screamer in front of it. I found this out a few years after I had it and wished I would have discovered it sooner. This really seemed to make it sparkle. I still do this in front of my POD.

[fishhead785]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

I used an ADA MP1 for 10 years until I got my Tri Axis. I really liked the ADA but I always thought it sounded a little thin

[Bert]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

[ QUOTE ]
My two Charvels have Full Shred's installed so the signal is plenty hot.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Full Shred is actually not a particularly hot pickup. That might be your issue right there.

[vklobucar]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

Huh?

At 14.6k for a bridge model it is a pretty high output humbucker as far as pickups go no?

[Bert]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

The Full Shred is voiced towards higher frequencies, so overall output isn't as high as other pickups with similar resistance. As Bill Lawrence writes:

"If some marketers use DC resistance as a power rating for an AC device, like a pickup, then they only show their ignorance."

Take a look at the Seymour Duncan spec charts (http://www.basslines.com/website/tonechart.shtml#hum) ... Full Shred output is rated as medium. It's certainly not a low output, but try comparing to the X2N, Invader, Lawrence L500XL, Tom Anderson H3 series, etc....

[charvelguy]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

They are worth the money I think. I have an MP1, classic and MP2. Really, if you are going for it.. take the MP2 for the extra hundred. The added features and sounds are worth a few extra bucks. The classics are nice but they are pretty pricey, probably still about 300.00. I gigged with an MP-1 for years..it was easy to dial in, very reliable. Sometimes I thought the clean lacked what I wanted.. certainly had better cleans in other rackmounts units as it still requires you to use the gain stages. Then you have the balance issues, clean will have to be ran maxed out in the master, and like 3,4.5 in the pre. The gain sounds master have to be quite a bit lower to compensate volume to be equal-that was a drawback on these. I thought it could be a little thin too, but I guess I would call the 'thin' more along the lines of transparent but on the whole, I liked it better than a rockmaster.

I also run mine with the guitar volume reduced and a tube boost in the front on occasion for a variation on the sound on whatever channel preset I was using. I had about 10 presets programmed but used about 5-6. The chorus is analog based.

On the whole, I prefer heads over rackmount. It seems I move more air and get more responsiveness from amp heads, but for what it is, and how it sounds... the MP1-MP2 is a nice buy for the price. I also never had a problem with the gain not being enough with this but I was playing more classic rock oriented stuff. 70's-90's & some newer stuff.

I just checked eBay. I thought these were going in the 130-150 range again, seems people are trying to get a little more than that out of it.

[chrisolson]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

[ QUOTE ]
Huh?

At 14.6k for a bridge model it is a pretty high output humbucker as far as pickups go no?

[/ QUOTE ]

No - but the name seems to lead people to think it is. Kinda like a Screamin Demon. "K rating" does not equal output. There is some correlation, but that is not the full story. The Full Shred is a good med-high output bucker, but not to the likes of the Duncan Distortion or JB. I think it's a better pickup actually as it stays articulate and is very difficult to "mud up" - it maintains some clarity even at volume. I wish I had them in all my guitars.

[charvelguy]

Re: Opinions on the ADA MP-1 please?

I would think the number of windings is going to effect the ohm resistance. Usually the number of windings is relative to a higher output pickup but it also depends on the mag.