ADA MP-1

o.k ive got this baby running thru a gunn head which has two independent channels.i take a signal from both a/b outputs and plug them into the separate channels on my head.i definatley get more body with solid tones at stage level.using the ada like this is giving me more of a mesa sound for the dirty stuff.my cleans r from solid state only as i find that the clean tube breaks up to soon.im using NO effects (apart from my wah).the fx loop gets noisy and degrades tone a little.there is a mod to bypass this at ultimatetone.com.my tubes are jj tesla's and ei's in my gunn head.im playing a standard strat with texas specials and a hotrail in the tail.ive got an alesis quad and a bbe sonic max.which i dont use now.its all tone suckin stuff.i just plug in and play now.

read the other reviews

ive had problems with my dirty channels not saturating properly,which have resulted in my heavy od channels crunching.dam dry joints

they r dead.but scope the net

been doin the covers thing for about 15yrs now.ive had my ada for 10yrs.i used to hate it with my rack gear.but ever since ive run it thru my head,its unlocked tones i never new it was capable of.would love to try a triaxis though.

Ahh young grasshoper, the tubes you choose make all the difference. I am currently using Mesa Boogie 12AX7WB (which I think are made by Sovtek). These sound great! If you can afford to, try as many different tubes until you find the ones that suit your style/sound the best. I will pass along an "unofficial" tip from one of the techs at ADA before the company dissapeared, he said that you can mix tube types (the MP-1 takes two) if need be to find "your sound". All-in-all I like the basic tone very much. It tends to be "reactive" enough to "feel right" if you are a really dynamic player, or use the volume knob as your "tone" control. The solid state sounds are fair, however they require a LOT of EQ to be usable.

Ok, so it's a tube pre-amp, that's it. No more, no less! I currently use the MP-1 as a front-end for my rig going into a Roland GP-16 (lot's 'O' FX & EQ) which is run trough an ADA Micro-Cab II (Bitchin' speaker sim). Over all it is great, but could use a more versital EQ section.

Never had a problem! Just change the tubes and be careful about putting too much stress on the 1/4" jacks, as they are notoriously flimsy.

When they were around they were great!

I've been using this thing for over ten years now, and it still works and sounds great! I have some newer modeling units (Johnson J-Station & Roland GP-100) which also sound great. But man there is something about the glowing vacum tubes in the MP-1 that have real character.

Its easy to use, but it takes some time to get the tone your after. The adjustments are very sensitive and the smallest adjustment can effect the sound. Overall, it's very easy to use.

I'm using the MP1 and a MP-1 Classic, and to be honest, I really can't tell them apart. I run them into an ADA solid state 100X100 stereo power amp and an ADA delay/echo (yea, I'm an ADA fan) and a Boss EQ and Compressor. My guitar is a Jackson Fusion Pro with a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge. Let me sum this up in one sentence. If you can't get a great sound with this preamp, you shouldn't be playing guitar .. this thing will do EVERYTHING from crystal clear to singing blues to heavy ass kicking crunch, and EVERYTHING in between.

I've had this unit forever, I change the tubes twice a year (Mesa tubes) and I've never had a problem.

Don't know ... never called 'em. Not that it really matters, they're out of business.

I don't care what kind of music you play, if you own an electric guitar, you owe it to yourself to at least try one of these .. but remember, this is a pre-amp, not an amp. So don't expect too much from the unit alone. Add an equalizer and your favorite effects to it and spend some time tweaking and you will get the tone your looking for. Be warned tho.... the MP-1 is addictive, once you nail your tone (and you will)... you'll never want to be without it.

I play Jackson guitars with EMG-81 pickups. Playing on the clean channel is tricky, as it breaks up a little too easily. I usually use the solid-state clean because the tube clean doesn't want to stay clean enough. Needless to say, I have more than enough distortion! Awesome! I run this preamp into a Marshall VS100H head and Marshall 1960A 4x12 for practice/small gigs, and into a Rocktron Velocity 300 with 2 Marshall 4x12s for the bigger gigs. The MP-1 sounds great through both these setups. Definitly needs an EQ with more bands and adjustability when going into a power amp. But if going into a regular amp head, the EQ on the head takes care of it fine.

Not perfect by no means, but I definitly am a believer in its versatlity. I play mostly metal like old Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, etc, but I also diddle with Jimi, Clapton, and classical types too. I can dial in a heavy-as-hell Candlemass tone, and turn around into a smooth Yngwie tone, and then even to a Clapton tone pretty easily.

Never had a single problem with it yet, and don't expect to. I bought this used about 1 year ago, and have always used it since. Hell, I haven't even changed the tubes in it, and have no idea if they have ever been changed or when.

Actually there is pretty good support even though the company doesn't exist anymore. There are two websites I know of that have been EXTREMELY helpful with any questions regarding ADA stuff... www.ultimatetone.com and www.ada-mp1.com both have excellent support so I'm giving a seven due to no company involvement. Otherwise it would be a ten.

If I had to replace this unit, I would absolutely get another one. Been playing since '86 and I wish I had this back then! Like I said, its not perfect, but it was cutting edge technology when it first came out, and can be had for way cheap. In my opinion, it is WAY more versatile than a Triaxis, and WAY more affordable. The only big bitch I have is that the volume surges when switching between clean and distortion patches, especially if using tube clean. Thats why I'm using the solid-state cleans, as it doesn't surge so much then. You nu-metal people will probably not even look twice at an MP-1, because you think that MesaBoogie is all the shit, all because Korn and Biskit and the countless imitators use Mesa. If your lame McDonalds job will buy you the Triaxis before it goes out of style, more power to ya. The MP-1 is definitly the better deal, and you can play NOW, and upgrade later (if you really must stay with the mindless flock and have the Triaxis) rather than sit there not playing anything at all, waiting for Head and Munky themselves to place a Mesa right in your grubby hands for $120, while showing off your new piercings.

fairly simple to operate.

i'm using it through a mesa dual recitfier. I use it on the clean channel on the amp with the gain half way up and the gain on the preamp about 8 or 9. It has a chorus which i never use. it sounds ok for $50 to $100. It helps cut through a little for solos but it's not great. get a triaxis

had it a year with no problems

they no longer exist

play hard rock about 5 years. I am going to sell and buy mesa triaxis and power amp

Ok then, first of all I suppose I should detail my rig a bit (or at least the rig I started using the ADA with).


Fender Jagmaster > ADA MP1 > VS100

Give or take the occasional effects pedal (which I am now upgrading), this would have been my basic setup.

First off, let me cut to the chase and say this unit is fantastic. It can create a wide range of very cool sounds, ranging from quite sparkling clean to a very brutal and creamy distortion. The ADA was designed in the age of 80's metal, and to this extent, it's distortion is based around that very hot 'molten' sound that some people have mentioned. You can probably hear examples of this unit best on early Metallica, some Deftones stuff and the Smashing Pumpkins album 'Gish' (perhaps where it is most evident, being the only preamp or distortion Billy Corgan used). It has a very warm distortion, and the EQ brings a lot of the tonal characters out (though admittedly a 16 band EQ or similar placed before/after the preamp would bring the sounds you want out). The clean settings are usually overlooked a little by some people, because it's hard for the untrained ear to really hear the difference between good clean and bad clean (my mother doesn't care about the Solid State/Tube debate, or couldn't tell the difference between an AC-30 clean or a Marshall Park clean), and I have to admit even I am still finding my bearings with those killer tones, but on the whole the clean for this unit is good. It can sound a little sterile if you don't work with it, adding some really subtle chorus sometimes sweetens the sound, but if you work hard with the unit you can produce the sparkling clean so many guitarists search for.

If you crank the output level of the ADA, it does hiss, no mistake. It's not unbearable however, and with something like a BBE Sonic Maximizer or a DBX Spectral Enhancer, you can get rid of that hiss and brighten up the sound an enormous deal (not that it sounds bad without these units, but these extras make a great sound absolutely amazing).

Overall, again, this unit on it's own may have a few hinderances, but combined with a great guitar and amp, and importantly, a great rack system, it sounds great.

The ADA is a preamp, so to that extent it doesn't contain 'features' which would be instantly recognisable. Instead, it is an excellent and very powerful tube amp, capable of creating a lot of very diverse clean and distorted sounds. Basically, it has 3 'modes' for you to choose from: Tube Clean, Tube Dist and Solid State. In addition to these 3 modes, there is also a 3 band EQ and a rather cool chorus effect, which has quite a subtle yet wide range of use. It's fully MIDI programmable and interchangeable, has an effects loop (which incidentally, can be controlled and programmed within each preset). In addition to these major features, it also has an output level, which makes it useful for changing the volume without changing the tone. It also has speaker emulation via a 'line out' (something I have yet to try) and a headphone port (which isn't bad considering). I suppose you could nitpick, and ask for a little more from the EQ and maybe some sort of Noise Gate or compression (or at least controllable compression), but on the whole the tube preamp should really only be one section of a larger rack unit, and so to this extent I think this is a superbly constructed piece of kit.

I have had mine for maybe 9 months. It was made in the late 80's and has flown from America to Britain, and it works amazingly well. This thing is definitely the most reliable piece of equipment I have had (or rather, the one that has been most likely to let me down considering age and so forth, but has not).

ADA is dead, so it's unfair to rate them.

You'll notice I have given this unit straight marks, and I'll explain why. This unit is not perfect. You won't be able to buy this unit and create the tone you've always wanted. Instead, think of this unit as part of a whole, and not the whole itself. To make this unit sparkle, you may need a sound processor (like DBX or BBE), you may need an EQ or a Compressor, or a Noise Gate. You definitely will need a great amp. The reason I have given this unit 10 is because it does what it says on the tin, to use the phrase. It's a preamp, it comes before many other things (ideally) to create that part of the overall sound. It should be a cog in a larger machine, and only one piece of the puzzle. To that extent, this is a glorious piece of the puzzle. It can do whatever it claims to be able to do. Be warned, however, this puzzle will only fit if you have the rest of the pieces. In other words, the ADA does need some other stuff to make it shine. My advice is have a great amp and a good guitar before getting a preamp, and then, think about getting EQ or Compression. Don't overdo your setup with a 'DBB88291A Double Jiggy Noise CompGate DuoMatrix Valve Bypass' or whatever, but if I can offer any shred of advice from my experience as a guitar player, it is know that this preamp is wonderful, but also know that it is not the be all and end all to your sound, merely one section of it.

Hope I have helped, other than that, I hope this preamp gives you the hours of guitar playing joy I have had!

I'm using a Stock Ibanez RG760 with 2 single coils and an H/B into the mp-1 into a 80's Laney AOR 50 watt head and crate 4x12 cab Im using no effects as of now but plan on either running a Lexicon lxp-5 or LXP-1 for reverb and using a stereo Chandler echo or Rockman echo for time based effects in the loop, I may just get a Quadraverb 2 for all the time based effects we'll see.... should sound sweet as honey either way.
The crunch tones generated by the original MP-1 have truly become a modern classic sound. It pretty well defines the sound of the 80's shred and metal acts from Testament to Jason Becker(my favorite player ever) to a great Criss Oliva era Savatage type sound(nice tone!). Paul Gilbert used them in the Racer-x days...listen to all Cacophony and Racer-x stuff and tell me it doesn't sound kick ass!
If your into that sort of thing, there is no substitute for getting that elusive "bity" distortion and that kind of "clucky" pick attack that makes you sound faster than you may really be. It makes harmonics jump out even with my old dead strings and stock pickups, sustains for days etc etc. Makes playing easier somehow..it's got some major joojoo going on inside of it. I totally love it.
it does clean pretty well too but definately shines in it's 80's shredder guitar tone capabilties plus at fairly low volumes. (I have Jason Becker's exact setting for the mp-1 off his instructional video if anyone cares.)
I can only imagine running it into a Laney GH100l or VH100R with a full stack of 4x12 cabinets and stereo time effects with a eq and BBE....might just be better than heaven.Im saving up my pennies either way!

fairly basic as far as versatility, has usable chorus effect but is pretty versatile as far as cleans and crunch tones.

I have only had them several months. I say Them because they are history as you all know so I bought 2 of them. Nothing else does what it does so I thought I'd be safe.

n/a

I've played since 1986 or so(god Im old) and have yet to try a piece of gear so addictive. I'd buy another in a second if mine were stolen. I dont like the noise it makes but a noisegate is a cheap and effective fix.
I wish it had delay built in instead of chorus, I never really use chorus.

Excellent for metal, heavy. The clean channel breaks up at higher volumes. Not bad though. Best distortion i can find when used with a tube power amp. (peavey 50/50) and cheap!

Not a whole lot of features, but it does do its job. I have boss GT-6 for everything else. Great distortion for heavy music and a good analog chorus. Bought it used 2 years ago and still runs perfect.

Very reliable. Used it for 2 years so far no problems. Have played w/o backup.

ADA? Out of business. Good luck on that one. Manual is good though.

Been playing for 5 years and this is a great preamp if used with a tube poweramp. Best distortion for the money. I would more than likely buy another one if i could find one.
My gear:
Ibanez 7421
Boss GT-6
Boss BF-2
Boss DS-1 (dont buy this)
Ada MP-1
ADA MC-1 (foot controller although i dont use it now that i have GT6)
Peavey 50/50 Power amp
Carvin MTS 2x12 Cabinet

It sounds ok on it's own, but i need to run a parametric eq in the effects loop and a sonic maximizer as well, to get any real balls out of it. I power this with a mesa simul 2:90. Now, anyone looking to buy this unit, please read the following statement very carefully:
YOU NEED TO MATCH THIS UP WITH A GOOD ALL TUBE PREAMP AND A GOOD SPEAKER CAB!!! Very important! I had this thing sitting in my closet for years, because I thought it sucked. At the time, I was using a solid state poweramp and a shitty 2x12 cab. I recently had to dig it out; as my tremoverb was being re tubed, and I hooked it up to the mesa 2:90, a rectifier 4x12 cab and the sonic maximizer, along with a furman parametric eq in the effects loop. I can get a really good sound with this combination, from old school Metallica(ride the lightning era) to modern crunch(if I scoop the shit out of the mids with the furman). A lot of people like this sound that I've concocted. The best part is, u can pick this preamp up for under $200 on ebay. Just know that you WILL need outboard gear to make it sound awesome. By itself, it won't hold up to todays standards. You need to remember that this preamp was from the 80's, a lot has changed since then as far as tone goes.

From what understand, this was based on the preamp section of a marshall plexi? Maybe, I don't know? I love the chorus on this though.

so far so good. Put some good 12ax7's in it though.

they no longer exist. They should start the company up again and create a new preamp to rival what's out on the market now.

like I said, it doesn't hold up on it's own. A sonic maximizer, a parametric eq, a good tube power amp and a good speaker cab, and you'll be happy.

This maybe tube, but it's a slightly weaker sound. Don't expect this to sound like an all tube head by any means. Unless you don't care about that warm tube sound, you'll need a good power amp to back this thing up. The distortion on this is unlike modern hi gain, which sounds too buzzing for me. The dist. is somewhat like a high gain Marshall, which is pretty cool. The solid state voicing is completely pointless, and the clean tube isn't that clean at all. This doesn't matter to me, but this isn't a country preamp, that is for sure.

Wow, the features. This has 2 12ax7 tubes, making it a hybrid preamp. Its MIDI, with a 128 programmable channels. It has two variations of overdrive, a master gain, 4 band eq, FX loop, chorus effect, and a headphone jack. Unfortuately, you can only move the eq's in set intergers, (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16), without being able to access the numbers in between those. But overall, that probably doesn't make that much of a difference in your final tone. This has a clipping meter so you can see if gain or eq or overdrive are causing unwanted noise, which is very helpful. A large output knob controls the volume. There are three mode voices: overdrive, clean (to crunch), and solid state clean.

I haven't had it long enough to know, but this thing looks pretty beat up on the surface and it still starts up everytime! I am planning on gigging w/o a backup.

Isn't the company defunct now? Don't expect much support!

For the money, I don't think there is a better buy. In fact, you have to spend a ton of money to get even close to a better one. This isn't without its own issues. Why put 128 MIDI channels on a preamp, isn't that a bit excessive? ADA should have invested their time into adding a couple of more tubes and ditched the MIDI interface altogether! Also, what is it to have chorus but no reverb? Why not make an amp with whammy but no treble knob? I would however still buy a new one if something happened to this - well a new used one I mean.