I think my ADA MP-1 bit the dust tonight...

[Inearthed]

At practice tonight, about halfway through our songs I noticed that I was getting a bit harder to hear. At the time, I thought it was because the other guitarist had turned up his 2203 a little bit because he had stopped to tune between songs. I pushed my power amp a hair louder and then halfway through the next song my volume dropped really low... I leaned down to hear this horrible muddy / scratchy mess, immediately dropped the power amp volume, switched it to standby, dropped my volume on the ADA and powered it down.

I'm pretty sure I either was killing the preamp tube in there or the unit just bit the dust... Luckily, we had a Marshall 8100 sitting around, I plugged that in, dropped the treble down to .5 (the key to killing those ice-pick highs) and I could hear myself again... Looks like my little port-a-rack bit the dust though. I will have to troubleshoot it on Saturday...

Not really asking for help or anything, just figured I'd share...

[pagemalicious]

Try changing the tubes in the MP-1 first. If the same thing happens then retubes your power amp. Doesn't sound like anything else could of caused it.

[Inearthed]

Yeah... I'll have to do that. I need to order a bunch of tubes anyways (5150 and DR need retubing)

[LesPaulCustom]

I got a matched pair of tubes from ADA Depot for my MP-1 and it made a HUGE difference in tone and sound...very highly recommended and it was less than $35 shipped for 2 tubes....

[Matt Crooks]

That's exactally what mine did when the tubes went bad...

[texasfury]

On a related MP-1 note, see if anyone can diagnose this. I remember getting some Groove Tubes 12AX7s and swapping into my MP-1 back then when I had one (I bought it new). The sound was noticeably thinner than the stock tubes. Anyone have a guess why this happened?

[pagemalicious]

On a related MP-1 note, see if anyone can diagnose this. I remember getting some Groove Tubes 12AX7s and swapping into my MP-1 back then when I had one (I bought it new). The sound was noticeably thinner than the stock tubes. Anyone have a guess why this happened?

The brand of tubes you use in the MP-1's is really noticeable. I use JJ 12AX7s and it sounds really smooth and full. Give them a go

[Fragle]

with preamp tubes it's all about trying new things. never think a certain tube sucks because it didn't sound good in a particular amp. for example. my old laney loved the JJ 12ax7 preamp tubes, my marshall hates them, so does my 5150. the 5150 sounds best with an electro harmonix 12ax7 in v1, a tube that sounds ridiculously bad in my marshall. on the other hand, the svetlana 12ax7 sounds pretty dull in the 5150, but gives the marshall a nice kick in the butt.

my recommendation: buy a bunch of different tubes, and swap em around. yep, it's time consuming, but in the end it's well worth the effort. just remember to check em at high volumes, as low volume sound is a totally different thing.