ADA MP-1

Very simple interface; buttons inclued two gain settings, master volume, bass, treble, mid and presence, chorus depth and rate, midi channel, edit mode and save. Essentially a Marshall JCM preamp with membrane buttons instead of knobs and a MIDI save feature. Set your tone, hit 'save' on any of the 128 locations. Allows you to recall a saved setting through MIDI. Manual on line. Stock unit/replaced both 12ax7 tubes.

Good quality tube preamp with generous amount of distortion. Not a triple rectifier-type sound- has more clarity and midrange, however. Nice lead warmth and sustain. Can be noisy- recommend low gain settings or gate to tame. Chorus is broad and warm. Clean sounds ok - compressor pedal helps imo.

Bought new in '89. Unit tanked last year. Purchased replacement from ebay in March '09. Fairly reliable.

No customer support at presnet. ADA Depot website can provide resources to accomodate revisions/repairs etc. Not a techie so I don't bother futzing with it.

Play mostly rock- perfet match, very versatile in my setup. Used with Rocktron Intellifex, Hush through Peavey 50/50 tube power amp into 2x12 cab.
Would def replace with same unit. Comperable to Mesa Triaxis or Marshall JMP1. Excellent core tone for rackmount system. Highly recommended.

->How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

It took me literally 5 minutes to figure out how this unit works, VERY SIMPLE!! If you can turn a light switch on and off then you can work this thing no problem. It's very easy to get a good sound.

->How about Editing patches?

As I said simplicity is this unit's forte. The things you can edit are: gain, bass, mid, treble and presence. You just press the up and down buttons to increase the value of your gain, EQ and presence and once you've finished tweaking, you press the 'Store' button then press any of the numbers from 1-9 to save the patch.

->How is the manual for it (if there is one)?

I didn't have to use a manual because I bought the unit second hand. However, should you need one, there are manuals online in pdf format, just search with google or visit www.adadepot.com which is a very good resource.

->Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?

I have the latest firmware for this unit, which is version 2.01. I haven't made any modifications to this unit, except a tube change because the old ones started to lose its tone. The unit sounds great with 2x high gain Harma DR270 7025 tubes.

->What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?

My current rig is very simple:

Guitar: 1989 Charvel 650XL with EMG SA/SA/89 and EMG Afterburner
Preamp:ADA MP-1
Power amp: Marshall EL34 50/50
Cabinet: Marshall ModeFour MF400 angled

I am going to add a Lexicon MX200 and a BBE Sonic Maximizer 882i next month hopefully.

->Is it noisy? On what settings?

This unit can be a tad noisy at higher gain settings (I never go above 8.5 on gain 1 and 2).

->Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?

ABSOLUTELY!! I can nail Alex Skolnick's tone (lead guitarist from Tstament) He used an ADA MP-1 in the late 80s.

Here's my favourite bit: The 'Depth' button is just wonderful, I find it makes my distorted tones fill up the whole room and larger than life, think of a fully cranked JCM 800 but with more gain and balls, so BRUTAL! The sound has a 'nasal' quality to it which I find very pleasant, that's the best description I could give, I can't find anymore words to describe how AMAZING this unit sounds! The combination of this preamp, Marshall EL34 50/50 and the ModeFour cabinet is a match made in heaven.

I can get a sparkling clean tone and when the afterburner is in the on position it's incredible how clear and bell-like the tone is! There is a 'voicing' button which switches between 'tube' clean and 'Solid State' clean. The SS option gives you a very clean sound but I prefer the tube voicing because it sounds thicker.

And with the tube distortion the notes ring forever. My guitar is neck-through so it might help a bit with the sustain but I also have a bolt-on Jackson Warrior as my backup guitar with Seymour Duncans and even that guitar sustains for a looooooonnnggg time when plugged through the ADA MP-1.

->Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?

The distortion is excellent but I wish the bottom end would be a little tighter, like the distortion you get from an Engl Powerball which is why I'm giving this a 9. Maybe if I used a different cab the bottom end would sound tighter. Some people say the ADA MP-1 sounds tinny and lacks bass, I beg to differ, I think with my current rig there is plenty of mids and low end. Each note will cut through anything without being too shrill. Neck pickup tone is well rounded and warm.

The Chorus is definitely a plus point for this unit. Not the best, but it's good enough for me. I only have a mono cabinet, so I am not using this effect to its full potential. However I have used this unit with a stereo cabinet and the chorus sounds very nice in stereo.

->Can you depend on it?

This unit must be over 19 years old! and it's still working which is a testament to the build quality. My friend knocked this unit from the top of my cabinet and I thought that was the end of it because it was coupled with my 22kg power amp in the rack case and landed upside down with the heavy mofo poweramp on top of it. I plugged my guitar in and the unit still works, it's a hard SOB to kill. Very reliable.

->Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

Yes, but I would carry a spare set of tubes.

ADA went bankrupt ages ago so the only form of customer service would come from ADA Depot. I haven't dealt with ADA Depot because I haven't had any issues with this unit so I cannot comment on the customer service. Having visited the ADA Depot website and its affiliates, there is an enormous amount of information on this unit.

->What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?

I play anything from 80s thrash (e.g. Testament, Exodus), prog metal (e.g. Symphony X), Death Metal (e.g. Deicide, Origin, Cannibal Corpse) and instrumental stuff (e.g. George Lynch, Tony Macalpine, Paul Gilbert/Racer X) and I can say that the ADA MP-1 is versatile enough to get the right tones for these genres.

->How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?

I have been playing guitar for 8 years. I'm not rich enough to have owned all those expensive top of the range equipment e.g. Mesa Boogies, Engls, VHTs etc but so far, my current rig is the best I've owned. I used to have a Marshall JCM 900 which is a fairly decent amp and compared to that, the ADA MP-1 simply blows it away.

->If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

If my ADA MP-1 were stolen I'd track down the thief, beat him up, put his head in a vice and slowly tighten it until the head gets crushed. I would then chop up the body into tiny pieces and get a hungry dog to eat the remains. That way, the thief will end up (deservedly) as dog excrement. I would search eBay for another one if It were stolen or lost. They appear every now and again at very reasonable prices.

The handling in the most instances is self explanatory. For all other instances there is the manual. It is helpful at all.

I have TAD 7025 Tubes inside. The Sound is amazing. The possibilities in sound creation are enormous. Nice transistor Clean, warm Blues Sounds until straight Metal and all in between. With this Tubes there is enough reserve, even at High Gain. The Stereo Chorus sound great, too. I use it with a Inellifex and a Marshall poweramp and HK4x12. There is a lot of noise, even with the low noise mod from adadepot so a noisegate is advisable. This is the reason for the 9.

It was the first midiable tube preamp... of course there are some troubles with it. The weak sound after longer playing (thermal problem). The noise at all. The front jack??? but it still works and sounds great. Fortunately there is ADADEPOT.COM where you can get help.

There is no more official customer support. But there is adadepot.com where you can get great modifications and helpful increments. You will never get that from a official customer support!

Amazing piece of gear

The MP1 is very easy to use for me.I don`t like the factory presets at all.The EQ is top and I like the early Marshall-sound on stereoids.
I have new 12AX7 Groove tubes.I like the gain very much.

I play 80-metal.I`m playing custom AS guitars(my art work)- with Seymour Duncan JB-s /Charvels from 86 with EMG-s/, MOD. Marshall 800 EL 34 Groove tubes / Hand made Tubetec 50/50 W Power Amp( Sovtek 6551 valves)/Rocktron Intellifex-on line/Rivera 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30/.The sound is incredible from clean to ful driven overdrive.
I have mod. on my MP1.I have two distortions:-one is "regular"-distortion tube and one is
Clean distortion on stereoids.These second sound is more Mesa-stile.
I bought these ADA-MP1 in 1989.

All O.K in 20 years.

Ok, ok, ok... So, it's 2008 and I am writting a review on a piece of equipment that was built in the early 90's. When asked, "ease of use", I gave it a "9". It's pretty easy to use (even without a manual). I won't lie, it does take a few hours or so to finally master it.

A TRUE AUDIOPHILE'S DREAM!

HA! This is the money maker! Dude! I've been playing for years. I've had plenty of experience with all sorts of effects. Let me get to the point. If you want something that sounds great when you are alone at home, this might not be the unit for you. I suggest a Line 6 product. But if you want something that will rock the crap out of your speakers... ADA's MP1 is the key to OUSTANDING sound. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE!

I figure that by the time the secrect gets out, these bad-boys will go up in price! But, hey! I've got mine... where's yours?

If you're in a band a

BING-BANG-BOOM! It's still works?

I have totally trashed my MP1. I mean, Hell, I don't have a case for this thing. I usually place my unit on top of my amp. Ever so often, I get to jammin' pretty hard that the vibrations from the amp pushes it right off. All the sudden... CRASH! It's laying on the floor. But to my surprise, the SOB is still working.

Terrible... They are out of business (I'm sure). But there's websites like ADADEPOT.COM that can help you get what you need.

EXCELLENT

If you're a seasoned Rock/Metal guitarist and you are still looking for that tone that cuts through all the noise, trust me, ADA's MP1 is for you. It's raw power will make you a fan the minute you sit back and actually listen to what is truly being projected.

ON ANOTHER NOTE... If my review has actually inspired you to buy this unit or you're a ADA MP1 owner yourself, send me an email and I'll send you my personalized settings. You won't be dissapointed.

The MP-1 is easy enough to use, making quick on the spot changes can be a little annoying especially when you forget to save them or accidently write over an old patch... =/

It's important to remember that when starting with an amp, don't just go hell for leather with the EQ etc. The EQ section on this pre is quite interactive so starting on 0 with all the settings EQ wise is a good idea.

It's easy to get a good sound and great sounds are easy to get, the way I run it, it sounds amazing.

I A/B this into the back of my ENGL powerball for my lead tone:

ENGL Powerball < ISP DECIMATOR <
+ <A/B<MXR phase 90<Budda Wah
MP1 > Rocktron Hush>Boss DD-6>LOOP RETURN<

I use Jackson/Kramer/Ibanez guitars with Dimarzio Pickups. Gotta love 'em!

I run it with a little higher gain, than my rhythm tone... the sustain on the MP-1 is lovely, very silky.. very syrupy... Its a very warm tone. Settings wise I keep the Bass on either 9 or 12 depending on the venue. Mid range is set to about 6-8, treble on 2 and the presence on 12, it's a great smooth lead tone ephasised by a Delay before it goes into the loop. It means that I can have a cutting rhythm tone without having a horrid, brittle lead tone that I hear so much these days... you know the one... the ear bleeding, dog upsetting, wine glass shattering one.

It sounded great in a Rack with my Brunetti Power amp but I love using it like this, big win for the lead tones.

Some of the best ive ever heard from a unit that costs 1/10th of everything else (well, it did when I got mine) and considering it's age... and the amount of mods to it, well. You just can't argue with that

arrived at a venue...
MP-1 falls out the back our van...
Tube busted...
found my spare pair of tubes...
put them in...
sounded great...

thats about it really.


it's pretty rugged!

As they don't exist anymore... ADA DEPOT.com is the only place to go and in some ways they're even better than customer service!

Quicker to help anyway

I play death metal, extreme death metal I suppose. It works very nicely... I have a good selection of gear as well, Marshall's ENGL's, Oranges etc and this is my lead tone of choice!

If it were stolen, id definately get another one... im looking for another one for home use (mines always in storage because were normally on the road) they're getting expensive now though!


BUY ONE!!

The MP1 is quite easy to get a good sound out of, however... it can take a while to get used to saving patches. Also, without the switching system - MC-1, it can be very hard to use live!

Other than that, nearly every tone on this is fantastic and easy to get too.

However the ADA Depot really is an incredible resource! A must!

WHOA! Working alongside the ADA-Depot you have ready access to hundreds of patches. When I got this unit I used the patches on the site and then created my own tones from them! What a great resource!

The chorus is a nice touch and is lovely and warm, perfect for adding flavor to your lead tones!

I have no idea why people would want to add more gain to this, it's got ott gain for me! I usually keep the OD1 up to about 5-7, and OD2 down to about 3-5. That gives me the cut I need. Also, I would describe the MP-1 as having two different hi-gain personalities. With the mids run low and the presence Hi, it's very old school. But with the mids cranked a little and the presence lowered a touch then you've got a very modern sound but with a vintage sensibility... the notes sustain for ever!

My favorite aspect of the MP-1 is the attack, and the punchy quality of the notes for lead playing. In fact, thats what I use it for - my lead work in thrash/death metal bands.

I run the MP-1 out in the return of my ENGL Powerball's FX loop, then I run the send of my Powerball's FX loop back into the receive of my MP-1's fx loop. I run both inputs into an A/B selector and as such I can switch between the Powerball and the MP-1 for rhythm and lead tones respectively.

It's quite noisy, but then again most hi gain amp's are. I have an ISP Decimator in the chain so that cuts down on the noise a bit.


another great aspect of this unit is when you select the clean tube, and crank the gain... then boost it with an SD-1 you can really get the brown tone!!!!!!


The solid state clean sound is so pure, we used it exclusively on our album - simply because it sounded a world apart from the ENGL's clean tone... which was also great it's just in the mix, the ADA sounded so much better!

I would depend on this amp, simply because if it fucks up... you can fix it yourself pretty much!

ADA Depot are super stars...
everything I ever wanted to know was answered and then some!


++++100 great stuff

I got this unit for ??20 on eBay because it had no plug... silly buggers. What a steal!

I play metal... death metal, thrash metal whatever... i demand clarity; and this MP-1 gives me that... but with character! The other guitarist in my band wants one now!

I've been playing for 9 years now and I have owned numerous amps (Mesa's, Marshall, Fender, Line 6, Behringer V-amp Pro's etc) and have stuck with ENGL's... but now i've got the icing on my ENGL cake. What a great tone!


If it were stolen then i'd find the person that stole it! And grab it back!


It's a great piece of kit just to have in your arsenal... so many tones!

Very easy to use and is structured very logically. The factory presets were not on mine originally but I reprogrammed them in just to get the feel of the unit. Next you'll find you want/need different tones and off you go..
I've found that with the 128 presets available I have only managed to fill 26 so I know I will never be able to run out of possibilities. Editing the patches is extremely simple and even if you spend a couple minutes playing with the MP-1 you'll find you don't even need to reference the manual (If you do ADAdepot.com can hook you up)

My current setup: Washburn X81FaceEraser: Maxon OD-9: BBE Sonic Stomp: Boss NS-2: Furman PL-8 II: ADA MP-1 Pre Amp: Peavey Classic 50/50 Power Amp: Avatar 2x12

Amazing sound quality if you know your target sound already. Cleans are very nice for the jazz stuff I play as well as any other style. The distortion is extremely versatile. I can use it for my thrash/ metal rthym tones for stuff like Testament, Shadows Fall, etc. as well as for an amazing lead tone for Alex Skolnick/ Paul Gilbert/Rusty Cooley/Randy Rhoads style solos. In my personal experience I have found that I have wanted more gain at times so I simply boost the MP-1 with my Maxon OD-9 for an incredible sound. The MP-1 gives off some noise but I plan on getting a Hush soon for it, nothing major though. I have two JJ ECC803S's loaded in it and it sounds awesome.

I have had it for a couple of months with no problems. The wiring/circuit is very simple and uncluttered so I could probably fix problems that might come up. Have gigged without a backup. You buy this preamp knowing that it is around 15+ years old so expect things that come with its age, so far so good.

ADAdepot.com for everything you will ever need

I play mostly metal and shred type stuff but also some jazz thrown in as well. The ADA MP-1 works perfectly for every tone I ever need. If it were stolen I would definitely buy another one although the prices of these units has been on the rise. I definitely recommend it to anyone that desires a solid all around tone.

Well, I finally broke down and got one of these things (a month ago, but I wanted time with it before pitching my $.02 in, adjusted for cost-of-living increases...). Why did I wait so long to get one?

This v. 2.01 unit came from its previous owner with 2 JJ tubes and 3 scratchy pots. One of these things I fixed ;-). This thing is so easy to use (used an ADA delay before, Back In The Day, mebe this helped?), that...well, it's easier than my Digitech Twin Tube, which is really easy! It's easier than a seething nympho in a room full of TAG-soaked stud-puppies! Easier than an STD to catch at Spring Break at Daytona Beach! Show us yer..."easy, there, big fella!" Yep, it's so simple, even I don't need a steenkin' manual...got one from ADA Depot anyway, not that I really needed it...

It's likewise really simple to wangle good tones from, if you know what to do and have the right tubes!

This little widget is remarkably versatile. Despite its age and generation-or-so-ago-hair-metal-sound "stigma" (the only people who slag 70s and 80s music are apparently people who know only three root position chords and have zero concept of melodic arrangements!), it cranketh! Many newer amp modelers strive for tones this thing does with the real deal! The distortion, chorus are very good, thank you! The clean tones are pretty good, too! No wonder these things have achieved some underground cult status!

All this said, aside from the pot cleaning ("no stems, no seeds..."), I had to take out one JJ and replace it with a high-gain Shuguang (marked "Marshall": it came from my JTM 60 combo, where it was basically wasting its potential...) in order to get "THE SOUND". I swapped many tubes in and out before deciding on the Dynamic Duo---turns out I could've left one of 'em right where it was! As an aside: I really like JJ tubes. But let me say this: no brand of tubes sounds unconditionally bad or good. Every JJ won't sound good, just like every Sovtek WA won't sound bad (just MOST of 'em! ;-) ). Perish the thought of even finding two tubes that sound exactly alike under all circumstances! It's pretty much a "per application" affair, where the tube's "character" either fits the sound you want from your setup, or...NOT! The blend between *these particular* JJ and Shuguang tubes in *this preamp* sounds great to me! I can get almost Fendery clean tube, Marshally crunch, and Mesa raunch with a little dialing-in of gain/EQ, and ba-da-bing, dere it is! So if anyone isn't happy with the tone of their amp, I've said it for years, and I'm hardly the first or last: try some different t00bz!

No Sovtek tube I tried (WA, WB, WXT+, LPS) in either socket fit what I was trying to accomplish, even with much mid-scoopage, and the hit/miss ratio was better with my JJ and NOS stash than with the Shuguang pile. But THAT ONE Shuguang and THAT ONE JJ together...like Bogie & Bacall, Fred & Ginger, Batman & Robin, Penn & Teller (or Bush & Cheney for all the demented fans of "How We Completely Bankrupted America, Inc.", starring the Big Oil 'N' Pharma Gouge R U$ $i$ter$ and HallibuDubai, or Rove & Gonzales AKA Goebbels and Goering in "New Toilet Paper, Formerly US Constitution, Nice Oily Feel as it Wipes You Clean"...but enough of wishing for the days of the Stained Blue Dress "simplicity" when all we had to worry about was being sold out to the Chinese by Bill, Hill, and Al About Me's Big Inconveniently "Liberal" Adventure!). This preamp sounds MUCH better than the forecasted future the past few administrations have precipitated upon we poor shmoes who are still overpaying for it, and will be for several generations!

High-gain settings are Hush Central. Good thing I have one! And when rolling the volume back all the way with hi-test, it's a little white-noisey. This may be fixed when I go poking at its guts, but the Hush works for now.

You DO need outboard effects if you're actually using this thing in public. And the aforementioned noise gate. It ain't just a hair-metal preamp, either. You can shred with it, too! ("We have Both Kinds of music here: Country AND Western!") I felt a little Nuno-ish dialling this in with "Get The Funk Out"! Really, you can play blues thru it too, or pop, or grunge, or Stevie Ray, Eddie, Satch, Angus, Vito Bratta, Paul Gilbert, Kirk Hammett (his tone needs help), Dave Grohl, Runs 'n' Noses with Buckethead or Slash, the RHCP, Dreadful Grapes, Santana, Bob Marley, the Beatles, SOAD, yourself, or whatever you feel like! Its reputation does its versatility not much justice. In fact, a buddy who plays Phish-type stuff and poppy originals (and some metal too) etc. in a really good working band has used one for quite some time! But mine sounds better! Neener, neener, neener! :PpPp

It likes tube power amps. Doesn't everybody? No? Well, fukkem! Does ok with solid-state at the expense of a little warmth and character.

It must be dependable, it's still alive! All the switches, etc. still work! But I wouldn't think of not having a backup! Nope, not me!

Support? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, dunno what came over me! Dunno why ADA folded, either, and I'm formerly from their home state! There's ADA Depot, which goes above and beyond The Call, and now I have schematics, explicit mod pr0n, etc., muhahahahahaaaaa! So it might get the noise mod, and a little more gain, or the 3TM if I feel particularly gain-deficient, which hasn't happened yet, because I could just use a different preamp...

This rating is for ADA Depot, and all those folks there who work on Making It Happen!

I play anything and everything but gangsta rap, and this thing, like the rest of the rack preamps I play with, will cover just about all of it with a thick coat of gravy and a side-order of home-fries! What it lacks in onboard effects and frills, it comps for with a diverse and useful bedrock of raw tone! Besides, I have outboard effects and then some! I don't have to worry too much about theft where I live now (Maine), an' besides, ayup, we shewt people up heah for that, and th' beahs an' lobstahs eat th' evvy-dense ;-)! I could compare it to the other preamps I play thru; it holds its own well. My favorite feature is the tonal versatility one can achieve thru this thing with not much effort...that's the name of the game for why I use it! I got it because I've wanted one for awhile, and delayed gratification SUCKS! So, it's in a rack, and being worked, and we're all happy, and it's all good! YAAY! Now I go out to plant some maples and do some welding...

tHIS UNIT IS EASY TO USE,EDITING is a breeze.the manual covers all you need to know. mine uses 2.0 software? other than that it is stock.

This unit is very versitile, from blues to country,jazz,to rock it does it all!The SS clean channel is my favorite clen sound. as the clean tube channel breaks up early. but is great for bluesy, edgey in between sounds. The distorted tube channel has a nice fat tube, toneful sound, that gets peoples attention when i play out.The chourus is OK but not the ultimate.I play this unit through either a Line6 Flexton3amp w/ ext cab, or my carvin x100b amp w/4x12 cab, either one will rip your face off if turned up enough!I play a Parker nitefly guitar which the MP-1 just loves. Very tonefull combination.

I have had no problems with the MP-1, except a input jack,which I replaced.

no contact with ADA

I play classic rock,motown,blues,and some jazz.The MP-1 covers them all. I;ve been playing for 32 years and own several amps and guitars.I love it;s tone ,ease of use, low price, and all around versitility.THE TUBES CAN MAKE OR BREAK THIS UNIT, so try differnt ones!It;s a little noisy at high gain settings, but what amp isn;t Some delay would be nice but it;s only a pre amp not an amp.

Version 2.01, no top slide switch, UN-MODDED


I own a Mesa Triaxis and this thing is 95% as good for its tone IMHO and without having to sell your house to buy it.Being an older midi preamp it doesnt have real time CC's feature

I like how the EQ is POST disortion (unlike triaxis) and this lets me dial in a tone in a more 'traditional way' a LOT quicker.

The manual is easy to follow.

I actually get a better clean on this than my triaxis and it literally cost me 10 times LESS!! I bought the MP1 in out of frustration as the Triaxis was seemingly impossible to get me dream tone, ultimately it is getting there and in time it will but the MP1 is certainly not 10 times less in the sound dept even in stock trim, the mods guys do on these for more gain must make them friggin tone monsters!!!!


Editing patches is a breeze - I got my head around this quickly and was cranking out killer tones under an hour. I don???t think the presets do this thing justice though so start with a factory preset and tweak away!

Some reviewers wanted more gain and I guess I could see what they mean but I am happy as I don???t wash my tones away with too much gain anyway but do find myself at the higher end of the gain settings for some lead patches. ADA DEPOT is the place to check out all the great mods available for this to increase gain and reduce noise. On that note, the MP1's are known to be noisy on high gain settings but I use the gate on a G-Major to kill it.

I use this in a rack setup: G-major > Marshall 9200 > Mesa 4*12 traditional cab all controlled by a Behringer FCB 1010 foot controller......... SIMPLE

I play an Ibanez JEM and a Yamaha RGX - both with medium/high output Dimarzios (evo's, steve special and airnorton)

Built in chorus is OK

The VOICING feature allows you to use a solid state, clean or dirty tube in your signal path giving you more variation in tone (download and read a PDF manual on this!)

Headphone out sounds awefull to me so I use a Behringer ULTRA DI from the 'outs' for direct monitoring and recording ideas only

Man its lasted this long with who knows how many previous owners and its still going! There seems to be enough support out there on forums etc for advice when things 'go bad'


I dont use a backup

ADA DEPOT is the only support now as ADA has gone bust. Online community is awesome considering how old these are getting now, there are SO MANY guros out there willing to help where they can. There are HEAPS of posts/threads out there with an answer to your exact question

Been playing 16 yrs. Have used a fair amount of gear over the years but not as many as some - I generally research/test something in depth and stick with it for a while. I mainly would use a head setup with stomp boxes or a boss GT6 but recently moved in racks to avoid tap dancing on a million pedals.

If I could find another one I would replace if stolen

Nothing I hate - for a live band situation I just LOVE the simplicity of an 'old school' VAVLE preamp using digital technology to OPERATE - not be included in the signal chain as such like other preamp modellers


If you have the chance to try/ buy one of these just do it, if you dont like it there a plenty of ppl now wanting these you can sell to.

2.1 firmware. Not upgraded, but does have brand new JJ 12AX7 tubes. This thing is really easy to edit, and gets easier the more you play with it. The tone is absolutely surprising, and the variations in the gain settings are right on the mark.

Here is where this thing shines: The distortion tone is over the top, and because of the OD1 and OD2 valve gain blending, it's easy to make minor adjustments and smooth out the tone. I mostly play rock from 70's all the way to 2006 stuff, and do lots of clean, dirty, semi dirty, or heavy Metallica tone music. I'm playing vintage Les Pauls > ADA MP1 > TC G-Major > Boogie 20/20 Power Amp > 2 x Marshall 1936 cabs each with 2 x 12 celestions (vintage 30's in one, GT75's in the other). This combination is incredible, and the versatility of the ADA taking my tone from clean, to dirty, to raunchy, to smooth sizzle is totally inspiring. I've been playing for over 30 years, and haved owned (and still own) many Boogies, Marshalls, Fenders, and other assorted fun stuff. This preamp still holds its own almost 20 years after it was built. My only slight misgiving is that the clean tube sound is missing a little punch, but this is probably nothing that a BBE wouldn't fix, so this only gets a 9.

Ok, I just bought it over the Internet, but it was built in the 1980's?! I think it was either on a shelf for the last 19 years or else its built like a tank. I'm going with the latter and betting it's reliable.

ADAdepot.com. That's all there is now.

OMG!! For the price, you can't go wrong. Full stereo capability, 2 x 12AX7 analog signal path with MIDI switching, onboard chorus if you need it, more than enough presets, and all for under $300?? This baby gets a 9, and would get a 9.5 if they would let me.

Hands down the easiest unit to use and if you need a manual to figure it out, maybe rack gear just isn't for you.
I've got 2 units with one being version 1 and the other version 2

I have been very fortunate to get both my ADA's to sound very crisp, clean and NO NOISE.
Chain of events
ADA-
Effects loop-Alesis quadraverb (for more eq and effects) BBE Sonic Maximizer- Focusrite Trackmaster
and finally into the monster Peavey Classic 120/120 stereo tube poweramp
I use a Peavey (all metal) foot controller. I've dropped it from a balcony and it still works perfect!!

Nothing has gone wrong with my ADA's

If you want to hear an example of what this gear sounds like checkout Tractor at http://www.brutalmusic.com
We did the whole demo with one Adat and a few transfers

For reference I am comparing this MP-1 with a Marshall JMP-1 a Digiteck GSP 21 and 2101 and a Digitech/Hafler T3. The MP-1 I have is version 2. I got it used and it had EH tubes in it and I also put some GT Mullard reissues in it as well. Swapping the tubes from EH to the GT's did give a very little improvement in the noise and a little more tone. The MP-1 does have a bit of noise but nothing much more than any tube gear if you crank the gain too much. When I plugged in for the first time I heard many tones that were familliar. Obviously in the 80's some big name players have used this preamp. I believe if the JMP-1 was out during that time we would have heard that on some of those big name records instead. The MP-1 is a decent sounding pre and does offer a lot of tweaking ability. Definitely a lot of useful tones in the box. The gain structure of the MP-1 really reminds me of my old Digitech GSP 2101. I highly suspect that Digitech based their GSP 2101 tube preamp design on the MP-1. If you are a GSP 2101 user and are looking for something different, I wouldn't suggest the MP-1 as it is just so close in sound. It's probably not fair to compare the MP-1 with the Marshall JMP-1 since they don't make the ADA's any more and the JMP-1 cost much much more but I will. The JMP-1 is a lot easier to program. You just hit the button for "gain" "volume" "bass" etc then twist the data knob. The MP-1 you have to keep hitting the up and down buttons, gets annoying after a while. I find the chorus on the MP-1 usefull but, most players wouldn't be happy with just chorus and no reverb or delay so the ADA will lead you to searching for an FX processor anyway. For clean tones the ADA and JMP-1 come pretty close. For distorted tones the the BIG winner here is the Marshall JMP-1. The JMP-1 has more of a complex gain structure and can be much smoother and much more aggressive as well. If you like the Marshall sounds the ADA can get you in the ball park but the JMP-1 will hit the home run for sure. If you are more of a lead player you may find the MP-1 more to your liking than the JMP-1. The ADA has more single note definition which would work better in a live situation over the JMP-1. As for distorted bottom end tones the ADA is muddier in the lower tones than the Marshall. I find it harder trying to get a good bottom end chunky tone on the MP-1 as compared to the Marshall, which is very easy to get those chunky tones. So my general comments would be this: If you are comparing the ADA MP-1 to the Digitech GSP 2101, I would suggest go for the MP-1 only if you are a lead player and want more single note definition. Rhythm players would probably be best with the Digitech since it has much more effects to play with. If you need a preamp for studio work, hands down the Marshall JMP-1 is the winner.

I am using this several ways, mainly as a tube driver into old marshall four input JMPs. I tried it in the JCM 800 and it didn't like it. I used to use an old mashall tube power amp, 9005, and it did sound good, but I missed the old marshall heads. Now, this thing sounds unbelievable through the front a the old marshalls, which are generally clean at moderate settings. It funcitons as a chandler tube driver would, in fact, it has the same type of transformer as the chandler tube driver without the wallwart, or the same transformer as the valver driver of today. sounds freakin' sweet, without the muffly sound of the hot tonebone british pedal (which is pretty good, too). This is like having a progamable chandler tube driver!!!

Well, after 15 years of marshall and fender amps, i dug back to the old ADA MP 1, got it on ebay for cheap!! couldn't resist. It is the model with the top line level switch. Clean and sturdy, plenty of eq and chorus. No other effects, so it gets a good features rating, not great.

15 years old and still functioning, put some new caps and tubes in there and I presume it will last a lifetime!!

ADAdepot.com this site saves the day!!!

I have to rate it high, because it works with the power amps quite well, and it rips with old marshall heads !! The price paid alone is worth trying it out, just for fun!!! This is our future plexis!! Some day they will fetch $1,000US, trust me!!

I use a peavey Wolfgang and a Musicman Van halen in addition to my sons fender mini strat for guitars. All have Dimarzio pickups which I love. Not too noisy for such a high gain device. Here you go, I can get just about any guitar sound you can imagine from this great preamp. Marshall, fender, boogie, you name it, it will get it. How brutal is the distortion? Has as much or more gain available than my 5150's and all Marshalls or boogies I have tried. The extremely high priced boutique amps are the only ones that will give you more usable gain. But they cost between 10 to 25 times more!!!!!! very high variety of sounds for a small amount of money.

I believe the unit is an early 90's unit. Extremly versatile for all of the music that I play which spans from classical, to jazz, to country and blues to my favorite, shredding metal. 128 different programmable presets, What more do you need? Like having 128 different amps at your disposal. Has all the features that I want and need. I use it for practice, recording and gigging. Stereo chorus sounds great through my stereo power amps and the two 5150's that I run it through.

Must be 15 years old and has never failed me

None from the original ADA. ADA depot is the next best thing.

Been playing 25+ years. Have done it all. Sex, drugs and rock n roll. More gigs than I could ever count. I would buy it again if lost or stolen. I love the simplicity of the unit and the uncluttered sound that it puts out. For me , no effects needed or wanted. just pure tone. Iv'e played dry with no effects for 90% of my career and will always use minimal effects. you don't need them with this unit. Just plenty of volume and speakers to push it. This unit compares easily to more expensive preamps of which I have owned four. A rocktron pihrana, Marshall jmp-1, Mesa triaxis, and a hafler triple giant. The mp-1 sounds better than all of them except for the Triaxis. Again the triaxis did sound better but not $1,000 better. The ADA is about 85-90% there when compared to that unit and $900.00 dollars cheaper! Great unit!

This rack is very easy of use for me.and i like this.

My guitar rig
Guitar : Ibanez RGT42 (birdge>Dimarzio super dist. dp-100 neck>inf2)
Amp: Marshall VS230 (2x30w solid state stereo chorus amp)
Racks:ADA MP-1 loop in Boss Gx700 (i use gx700 for cab.sim)
Midi:Behringer FCB1010

I love this gear's sound quality.And i like 80's.i play rock-blues-funk etc..

i plays generally rock style,this gear give to what i want.hard,warm,crunch, hi-gain tones. cool stuff!

Very easy. You just have to remember to hit the right patch button
when storing.

The ADA is very versatile. The sound quality depends (among other
things) on the tubes you use. I use OLD Groove Tubes (svetlana)
or Telefunkens in this and you can dial in alot of very sweet tones.
New tube types DO NOT sound right in this pre-amp.
I play jazz/blues fusion country and rock.

Except for the dumb-ass plastic 1/4" jacks - it's performed pretty
well.

nada

Jazz, blues, country, etc...
I'd get another one.

Very easy to use, not too many features, just how i like it! od1, od2, gain, presence, effects loop, chorus depth/rate, edit and store functions. Manual is straight foward and easy to read. Editing patches is fast and couldnt be easier! The software is upgradable so make sure you have the right manual.

My setup is currently kinda shady, Fender strat>lace sensor pickups>fender twin reverb. Looking to get a proper power amp in the near future. The ada is a abit noisy however its barable. The amp features one affect which is analog chorus and an amazing chorus at that. The cleans on this amp are SWEET! I would put one of these up solelyfor the clean and lead tones...i just got this thing and am still tweaking my rythm sound which is the hardest thing imo to get out of this amp...very easy to get cleans and heavy leads though! for 168 bucks you arent gonna find sound like this at that price anywhere else! I find it easy to get sounds of my favorite artists, smashing pumkins (gish), nirvana, metallica, thrash metal...

the things gotta be like 15 years old and it sings

I play alternative rock and i love this amp. Sets me apart from everyone elses generic tone! (seems like everyone sounds the same these days)...if it were stolen id have to hunt dont the mother and beat his ass down...but i would buy another at this price...ill never sell it...its good enough to keep forever even if i get something better (hopefully jmp-1 soon)...

This preamp was made in the early 90s, it is versatile in that you can get a very wide range of tones. No on board processing, aside from preamplification, except for a chorus, which is weak.

People buy preamps because of tone, that's really the only justification for them. Few would buy such a unit simply because it has an effects loop.

Ok, tone...

No one can describe in words a guitar amplifier's tone.

Can't be done. It's very much like trying to describe a wine on paper and expect someone to know from that whether or not he will like it.

I have been using this unit for over 10 years with zero problems. I don't abuse things so maybe that is part of the secret to its longevity.

This unit replaced a Marshall JCM 800 because I wanted something rackmountable and more configurable. The best way to audition a preamp is with a solid state power amp, duh, you don't want to add anything along the way to color the sound any more than the preamp is already doing.

I own a small recording studio, so I have a lot of good solid state amps and have found the MP1 to be just about the best compromise in getting both clean and distorted tones.

I mainly these days play Jackson Pro Soloist guitars both American and Japanese models.

I can get a killer clean tone with the pickup selector switch fully forward and the last tone nob turned fully counter clockwise, using the solid state voicing. I add some reverb via an old Yamaha Rev7, pretty much a classic studio effects processor, very retro as these things go.

Did I mention that this sound is killer? Beautiful highs but not harsh, lots of depth and still enough complexity to have some sustain when doing fast soloing type thingies. Also very clean chord sounds not mushy, all notes defined.

Distortion is harder to dial in, the people who said you need the manual are half right, you do need it but you also have to understand the basics of EQ and how sounds are created via that technique.

If you are a brute who thinks, hell just turn everything to 11, this aint the rig for you. But if you work with this unit it will give you some very cool lead tones and cool rhythm tones.

I kinda like rolled out, some call is scooped, mids. Guitars have lotsa mids anyway so you really don't need to augment them in your amp, unless that floats your boat.

One disadvantage is that the unit is noisy on very high gain settings, there are two pre amp settings and if you are running both of them at 10 well its gonna be hissy, but that can be fixed with a lot of products and those who are serious know what these products are, if not ask around.

The kind of sounds I like run from mid period stones through DammajPlan. With the MP1 you can dial in Clapton, Schencker, Page and from there go to Yngwie and all the way to Pantera type stuff.

The only secret is to work with every setting and then with your guitar's nobs [that's what they are there for anyway] and finally your power amp.

When you add a tube power amp there is nothing you cant do with something like an MP1, some people diss them but my guess is that those people havent taken the time to work with all the components in your amplification circuit, preamp, line effects, guitar settings and power amp.

Here's a cool rhythm patch that also works for bluesy type Clapton Creem era stuff.

Both pre amps at 6, mast vol at 7, bass at 4, mids -12, treble 0, presence 2, voicing tube distortion, not the clean setting.

Now a little trick is working with output volumes, make sure you play with this cause you want the unit to be working with a full head of steam so around the 12 o'clock position works well and that way you are sending a strong signal.

Believe it or not for practice I sometimes grab a studio headphone distribution amplifier, which has probably 5 watts RMS per channel x 6 channels and use two of them to run the MP1 in stereo.

Trust me, there is enough power in such a small package to drive 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs to reasonable levels, with 25 watt speakers.

There are always sweet spots where everything just comes together and you have to look for those.

I guess what I am saying is that much of the tone you get from amps, if they are ANY good at all depends on setting them up. Maybe some are easier to set up than others and thats why they like them.

The only thing you really wont get totally is that Pentode type Boogie saturation, which is understandable simply because the Boogie amplification circuit is a little more sophisticated. Sophisticated aint necessarily better, mind you its just more complex.

For my money Boogie stuff is built kinda poorly, especially considering the price, $1500 bucks for a combo type amp seems high to me, but then thats probably just me, but Ive seen some horrors inside Boogie amps and some poor design, but a lot of people like em, so there.

What else?

I dunno, except that when you can buy a unit like this on Ebay for like 200 bucks I say give it a try, you can always sell it for about the same price.

Oh, one more thing, since this is after all a preamp, tubes are important. If you play a lot or for long times or like me sometimes leave a unit on for like two days...uh tubes will wear out.

Go for high output 12AXs. I have used Sovtecs, Groove Tubes, GTs etc all with good results.

If the sound starts getting thin, its probably time to replace the tubes, and that should be the VERY FIRST THING YOU DO IF YOU BUY ONE OF THESE BABIES

Not difficult if you are willing to READ THE MANUAL. Although this is not a one-button device, it's plenty easy to use once you get your sound "patches" input and arranged.

I never give anything a TEN, so this gets a NINE. But it's a BIG NINE. I am originaly an electric bassist and own an MB-1 but as I've also got a Chapman Stick and several guitars (as well as stereo basses) I decided to add the MP-1 to two of my racks. I boght them both through Ebay and have not regretted it fir one minute.

If there is a "sound" you cannot get with this preamp, blame the person pushing the buttons- it's not the preamp's fault.

The MB-1 I bought new from ADA has never failed, and the two used MP-1's I bought through Ebay were real sweethearts to repair. I was impressed with the PCB layout and circuit design topography. I've been tempted several times to start offering repair work on the MP-x and MB-1 but all I need is more work. Besides, the only ones I'm likely to see are those that have been poorly maintained or stricken by some unfortunate event. They're just well enough designed to have few "normal" failures.

I do my own.

I wish ADA was still in business- I'd seek a position with them.

I'm not going to ramble on about how wonderful the MP-1 (And MB-1) preamps are- you can read the other reviews for yourself and get all that.

If you want a workhorse that won't become outdated, get an ADA preamp.

I basically use two guitars: Ibanez rg 3120 and Jackson Custom (both with DiMarzio
pickups), through ADA-MP1 (I have two units) + Rocktron Intellifex (for reverbs and delays) + Mesa Boogie 20/20 all
tube power amp + 2 cabinets (Marshall 1912).
I have bought the first MP-1 in 1993 and even today I continue to think, that under the sound characteristics
It still be the best preamp on the market.(On my taste)
I tried anower ADA's preamps (MP-2, MP-1Classic, MP-1/3TM), but any of them does not possess that unique
distortion which has original ADA MP-1.
I tried some other units, like SansAmp PSA-1, Carvin Quad X, Marshall JMP-1(Big Joke), but all of them sounded
like dying cat in comparison with ADA MP-1.
Unique worthy competitor - it MesaBoogie TriAxis (I have one), but it is not better,
and besides very expensive.

Read all the other reviews.

Built very well. No problems.

WWW.ADADEPOT.COM

I've been playing guitar for 20 years.If You want the sound of Paul Gilbert,Nuno Bettencourt,Marty
Friedman,Jason Becker,Metallica,Testament and many others,who used and still use the ADA-MP1,go and buy it.
But remember,what it just preamp and You will need some
other stuff,like good guitars,power amps and cabinets.

I use it with an Ibanez JPM100 P2...

My main rig is:

Ada MP-1 --> Rocktron Intellifex (Black face) --> Rocktron 300g Compressor with Hush --> Peavey 50 + 50 Poweramp (not the classic one, the other with the gold stripes) and Ada Mc-1 as a midi pedalboard.

I play most of all progressive metal / rock a la Dream Theater, but I like to play also Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, blues and a little of jazz too. This Preamp has got a lot of distorsion inside it... yeah it is really noisy but with my compressor 300g who has the HUSH system I can filter the noise... One important thing is to use the right tube with this unit otherwise u won't be satisfied. Now I use PM guitar tubes (12ax7HG, and HG stands for High Gain) and this unit rocks ^_^ Avoid low noise tube, they'll eat all sound and character. You can do a lot of modding into this preamp, one is installing a polipropilene condensator for reducing the noise (I think they use this "escamotage" for reducing noise also with the 3 tubes mod) or, always with a good technician, you can increase the distorsion amount in the first dist channel. I think this unit is good, who says it's shit is only a fuckin' noob :)

Fully programmable midi preamp, three voicings (solid state, tube clean, tube dist) and really customizable :) Quite easy to use, for some aspects it might be better reading the manual :)

Reliable :)

Ada died, instead Adadepot are really quick and kind ^^

I play guitar from 11 years, my kind of music requires a really good equipment. Let me say that if have some patience and you tweak it a little, this preamp is really awesome. I know it can't satisfy every person but give it a chance, it's a good unit ;)

rig as follows, hand made mahogany guitars with various Dimarzio pickups, MP-1, Rack EQ, Marshall JCM 800, THD, Hotplate, 4x12 cab with vintage 30's. Arion sch-1 chorus and EH memory man analog delay in effects loop of Marshall. I've played for 30 years and have owned alot of gear I like heavy rock and play alot of different stuff. Priest, Rush, SRV, also some of the new stuff, Foo Fighters, Velvet revolver, etc. The MP-1 is very versitile. The first thing to know is that it's only a part of your overall tone. Guitar woods, pickups, power amps etc, play a huge roll.This preamp has the ability to either sound like Gods rig or total shit. It depends how you set it up, which I found easy without a manual. I run mine into the front of the marshall. My unit has the small output switch on the top and it's on the low setting. I've come to find that you need a good balance between pre-amp distortion and power tube distortion. At high volumes, the speakers will take on a different tone too. So when your tweeking, Play at live levels. You can find your tone at low volumes and then it will sound like crap loud. I can go from Angus young, (lots of power tube distortion) to Zak Wilde, (lots of pre-amp distortion) pretty easy. I'm sure I could get simalar sounds from other pre-amps but for the money this does what it should and sounds great doing it. My other guitar player has a line 6 Pod. It sounds good but sounds like a processor to my ears. This sounds like a guitar. He is always asking me how I get my tone. Well, Get an amp rig, not a computer! I have EH tubes in mine and they sound great. I never have the gains past 6 on any of the presets. You loose tone with high gain. Good tone comes from pushing the power tubes. High pre-amp gain gets lost in a live mix. This preamp heats the marshall up and gives me good , useable distortion. Listen to some old priest and realize they are damn near clean but loaded with power tube distortion. I do plan on getting another one in case this one craps out but in 8 years, it's been bullitproof

read all the other reviews

no problems

na

great unit. If you get one, you will need to spend some time with it. You can't plug it in and expect to find what you want.It's Extremely versitile. But know that it's only a part of your sound. Alot of tone can come from the player too. If I play my rig, I sound like me, If Kirk Hammet plays my rig, he'll sound like Kirk Hammet. If I play his rig, I'll sound like me.

The sounds I get are amazing, when paired with a digital or analog effects processor, for shaping and noise surpressing, the effects that I paired with it is a peavy profex II efects processor and a korg digital tuner as well as line voltage conditioner. The peavy efects processor takes care of the noise gate and colors the sound with a good aray of effects like noise gate/aural exiters/and three types of equalization settings, and the other effects like phase pitch shifting etc. that give the mp-1 from extreme crunch to soft and suttle over drive tones, the only modifications that I did to it was replace the original tubes with groove tubes of wich a little noisy buy ok. Throughout the years I have fried the voice coils on my 412 cab, not by the volume but by exeeding the tone and saturation that the speakers can handle, by the way the cabinets are 1990 yamaha 412's mated to peavy MX tube power heads that I use for their great clean tube gain (clean chanel only) and colored with the effects processors.

The features are standard for this pre-amp, I puchased it back in 1990,

The only problem I had was that the front 1/4" input tended to give signal loss, but I solved the problem by removing the top cover and found out that unit wasn't cooled properly and was desodering a location that was conected to the input, my solution was to soder the location back in the circut board and provide a small fan in the rear of my rack case.

Well you know the company isn't here anymore, but like in life companies make bad management decisions in which it affects companies like wise. And like in any buisness spend money on R&D to keep fresh on products and with new inovations and marketing.

I use it on my Ibanez RG270DX into M&B 2:50 poweramp, with that set tone takes me to heaven and above. I wanted to get the solo tone of Gilbert and i sure got it with ada mp1. It has everything i ever wanted, from soft distortion to great&crystal clean to hard metal distortion. The perfect tone i get with ADA depends a lot from my distortion level (i use 80% of gain). IT'S THE BEST SOUND I CAN GET FOR PLAYING 80S MUSIC !!!

Really easy to use, the manual i got from adadepot.com was not needed, but if someone wants to check all the details, it's all well explained in it :). I bought my ADA MP1 preamp because of Paul Gilbert's Racer X sound he had in 1980s, and i sure got the tone i wanted. I use it for home use as well for the gigs. It's really the best i could ever get.

I use it for 8 years now and it has never been broken, i only placed new tubes twice in that time. I play with it on gig without any backup, because i never saw a piece of equipment reliable as ADA is. It is A W E S O M E.

I never had any problem, so i can't give any argument on that as well. Even that ADA company does not exist anymore, on net you can find www.adadepot.com with TONS of useful info, sets, etc... for that i give them 100% support :)

I've been playing for 12 years, and as i said for half of my guitar life i've been looking for that Gilbert tone .. and i found it with my ADA. That's it!

Distortion? Tone? Well yes I am a metalhead and have never tried to get the tone of Led Zep's "Communication Breakdown" and don't think that's what ADA had in mind when designing this unit. I've been playing in a Metallica Tribute for the past 5 years. I have 2 of these, one very old and one as new as you can get. Both sound great. The old one has a switch for instrument/line level. Found a problem here as I like to use the rear input and whether the switch is line or guitar level the rear jack is much quieter than the front. The new one, both inputs are exactly the same. They did away with the switch.

I don't know why some of you are displeased with the way the MP-1 sounds. All I can say is that you either got a lemon or had bad tubes. It will not get every sound you may be after but it also does not sound like a beehive either as some have stated. Remember the power amp is very important too and not all tube amps sound the same. Be sure to check out Eurotubes.com for alot of info about Mesa, Peavey, Marshall, etc. and how they come from the factory set up completely wrong. I use a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp. A workingman's amp. Very rugged and decent sound. Plus you can change its voicing depending on what power tube rating you choose, being from 1 to 10 from groove tubes (EL84) which are made by JJ Slovakia. Enough about power amps. This preamp comes as close to old school Metallica as you can get, but it does need a little help from an EQ after it. I use an Alesis Quadraverb (again with the old school, not as old as Supro on the other hand so why does no-one ever complain you can't get Metallica out of one of them?) for added EQ. It has a very good 5 band parametric, however you can only run 1 other effect with it (delay) but for Metallica rythem you don't need it. I have found some outstanding lead tones from this and my style is from Hammet to Friedman. I also like Priest, Maiden, UFO, Satriani, Johnson, Rush, Dream Theater, Queensryche, ets. all opf which san be achieved with this preamp as well as Disturbed, Godsmack, Megadeth with the right power amp, EQ, and speaker cabs. There are thousands of different guitar amps out there and no single amp cam sound like all of them. This one however sound great in most cases. As for gain I don't have mine set past 6 and my rhythem guitarist is set at 7 and there is plenty of gain to spare if you need it. The 3 tube mod does not seem necessary to me, but to each his own...and that the key. If your not sure of your tone ask what your fans think. I have had hundreds of people come up to me after a show and say how great I sounded, ask what I'm using, some surprised some not.

Very easy to use, I have never had a manual (bought used) but had no problem editing programs. I have used alot of rack gear in the past however, and if you can get through a Quadraverb or a Rocktron Prophesy this unit is cake. The Prophesy is a very well featured processor, The MP-1 is a very well featured preamp. Sure it's great to have all in one, but sometimes the it's best to leave reverb and delay to guys that specialize in it.

Input jack on front panel of older unit became scratchy. Had to make a tool to bend the tang back to make contact. Contact cleaner helped too. No problems otherwise whatsoever

Much better service than Peavey, That's for sure, I paid very little for my 2 MP-1's but you can get one on ebay all the time for a great price, and, it will beat anything costing as much as 3 or 4 times as much. Check out adadepot.com for manuals and specs.

I have been playing guitar for 30 years. Jackson V's and Les Paul's are my choice of guitars with EMG pickups; 81,89,60. I also use a 3630 for gate and a tiny bit of compression. You can't go wrong with a set of JJ tubes in this thing. They have standard as well as high gain tubes and have alot of character/dynamics.

I would buy another one if lost or stolen. I want to try the MP-2 as it has a more powerful EQ section, but I don't know if it retains the same tone.

My good friend bought a Rocktron Prophesy back when we played in a Def Leppard tribute and have to say it is a great sounding processor. Costs much more but has everything along with great distortion. Takes a long time to set up though. I am still searching for that elusive bright never ending sustain like Creaping Death but, I probably just don't have the right balance of EQ/preamp yet.

I'm using a maverick guitar (newish british guitar company) with this pre amp and it goes well. This unit was designed mainly for heavy rock/ metal genre's (just look at the artists that played these things, mainly shred and metal). This thing is very good at shred type leads and i was pleasently suprised at the rhythm tones too although they are more marshall than mesa but you can get mods for them to sound like a mesa at ADADEPOT.com
The distortion can get pretty darn brutal with some good high gain tubes. Im using EH 12AX7's which work very well. I tend to prefer clean distortions so that when at gig volumes the distortion doesnt sounds muddy and meshed and this thing sounds very clean.
The clean channels are pretty good but will sound awsome with a good rack FX unit.

Pretty good feature for its age. 128 presets etc. You know it by now. Very versatile. I'm pretty glad it doesnt have delay reverb etc because i normally find that if a company design something just for the distortion they normally get it pretty good. Like here.

Well ive only had it a few months and has worked fine. I am from the UK and ordered it from US so i had to buy a step down transformer which works fine.

ADA GONE! Nuff said.

ADADEPOT.com knows everything you need to fix it if it broke.

Ive been playing nearly 5 years now and have always played line 6 type modelers which are great for home use and PC recording.....but for live use...NO WAY! They lack the soul of a good tube tone. The great thing about rack gear is that you can add things to improve the sound of it. Ive played this on its own and it sounds great but with a great cab and FX it will sound AWESOME!!!!!
The only other things that are close to this is Triaxis and JMP-1 which are way way WAY more expensive. Great pre amp.

I'm just giving a quick review. I bought mine new in 1989 and and used it with NO problems ever since. I don't push the volume too high because I can get all the volume I need out of my Eventide and amp. Therefore, in 14 years, I've only changed the tubes one time, and that was just as an experiment, not that I blew any.

I basically have 4 sounds programmed. Clean, crunch, distortion with heavy mids, distortion scooped a bit. Everything else I can taylor through my effects. I've tried switching from rack effects to going all pedals, but I have yet to find any distortion pedal that even has half the gain and response the MP-1 does.

If you have a good processor after it, you can run line levels out of it and not have to push the tubes as hard.

Read below for other features

14 years. no probs.

never had to deal them for repairs. I did get an upgrade a LONG time ago.

Been playing for 19 years. Many guitars and many effects. If this thing ever breaks down, I'd probably try out the Tech 21 PSA-1 rack distortion next. There nothing wrong with a little change here and there.

What a amazing piece of shit. If you have been playing guitar for a while and have been looking for a shitty distortion that sounds a like a dying cat, then buy this. The tone is 100% generic. It almost sounds good through my mesa strategy 500, but nothing near to my triaxis or hughes and kettner access. A true waste of money and time. I can't belive I have owned and used this piece of crap for so long. Don't belive any of the reviews that say it sounds good. Spend a little more money and get a sans amp or a jmp-1

The usual stuff- fx loop, midi, a really shitty sounding chorus, not bad

I wrote this review today because it finally died. This thing is old and has been through hell and back. It has toured with numorous metal bands for the last 10 or so years.

This is the sound I've been looking for in 20+ years. I have switched between early 80's hard rock to late 80's & early 90's metal and just about any classic rock. I now play prog rock (Dream Theater, Fates Warning) and with the MP-1 I can nail any tone I'm after. The distortion can go from thick and edgy to super saturated to razor sharp. And with the MIDI control I can call up any preset instantly. Solid state clean is VERY clean and the tube clean breaks up at higher
settings. I have a very light touch and the MP-1 picks up the dynamics and articulation in my technique. Most hi-gain amps squashed and mangled my tone so any expression was totally covered up by the amps character. The sound of the MP-1 blends very well with my technique and allows me to use my hands as a part of the tone.

The features are well documented here, I won't reiterate them. But go to ADADEPOT.COM for all the info you need. That site is the best.

Very reliable, I have retubed mine at least 7 times for different sounds and not once has I failed me in 9 years.

ADA is dead so go to ADADEPOT.COM for any info or help. They have manuals, pics, mods, and a messageboard. Incredible site.

I run from 3 different custom Ibanez RG 421s into the MP-1 then into a Digitech RP-20 (for effects and midi control only)into a Hafler G-150 power amp and then to a Peavey XXL 4x12 cab split in stereo. The MP-1 gives me any tone I need from soft to hard. If you can't afford a Marshall or Mesa amp (I sure can't), this is the next best thing. Also, if the stock sound doesn't sound good to you it can be modified to sound similar to a Mesa Dual Rectifier or Soldano SLO 100. Go to ADADEPOT.COM before passing judgement on the MP-1. It is a very flexable pre-amp.

i used this with a marshal jcm 800 4x12 and a mesa 20/20 poweramp..... it sounds like a boss metal zone.but not even as good....it has lots of gain. these guys who are gettin this three tube mod for more gain than this thing already puts out......well,they need to have there ears checked.how much gain do ya need???? this is one of the buzziest crappy sounding POS ive ever used.save your money. the company isnt even around anymore. what does that tell ya? this thing put em outta business.if yer playin screaming metal,/ it might be alright to use. after all those guys wouldnt know tone if Hendrix busted his strat over there heads!!!!!

midi tube preamp. stereo.fx loop.

it works ...but i dont what'll happen when it needs work.ADA is defuncked.

ther gone like the dinosaur!!!!

its good for a backup i suppose. or if your an ear dead metal head.my advice get a real tube amp.i have a marshall JMP-1 that smokes this thing...sorry ADA lovers .its true...thats what this POS is tryin to do amnyway..sound like a hot rodded marshall..... well the JMP-1 does that wayyyy better than this thing does....but niether sound as good as my JCM 800 head and cab together....

***my little story.....skip below if you dont care, yet it may be helpful to some***

this is where my epic-like journey began. before i was using a crate stealth (pretty good tube head for the price), but i wanted more (ie midi capabilities, to build a rack, simplify my rig, blah blah). like i said before, i like metallica, and after reading one of kirk's interviews about this preamp and reviews here on harmony-central i bought one off the internet.

when i first tried it, it was cool i guess. classic rock tone. and after messing with the settings and all that, thats all i got, a classic rock tone. which is cool in its own sense, but in my band we play thrash, and that wouldn't stand.

this amp is known for its gain, so once again i went back on here and read how everyone put in new tubes. the only preamp tubes i had laying around was an electro-harmonix 12ax7eh and a mesa boogie 12ax7. after i put them in, very little changed.

so then i tried boosting the preamp section with an overdrive pedal, and that helped A LOT. but it still wasnt what i wanted. so then i went back on here AGAIN (i love this site) and noticed one of the reviews below talking about mixing tubes and putting them in a different order (thank you sir for that review). i didnt think it would do much but i tried it anyways and DAMN, that did it.


<actual review>


distortion - i was pleased with my little experiments. the distortion on this thing is pretty heavy, especially for thrash/metal. the tone that i have is fairly scooped...not scooped to hell like ...and justice for all and the black album, but enough mids to actually give my tone muscles. (remember....you may like your 10 bass -10 mid 10 treble settings when playing at home....but play in a band and you will not hear yourself....i guarantee it) it does have a marshall quality to the tone. however, you MUST get another eq to hook up after the preamp. the eq onboard the mp-1 is pretty much crap. you might also want to get an eq to put before the preamp, because from my experiences, good tone = good pickups -> eq -> preamp distortion with onboard eq -> another eq -> and TUBE power amp. with all that, you should pretty much nail the tone youre looking for. but even with all the gain that this beast has, combined with good pickups, you can hear every note when you hit a barre chord.

clean-as for the clean....im not too anal about that. just give me a good scooped clean with chorus and ill be satified. but this preamp does exactly that. people on here complain that it breaks up to early, but i personally like that. i dont want my clean being to crystal clean, just a little dirty. to give you the idea of the clean....listen to "Harvester of Sorrow" by metallica, thats the clean on this thing.

A rack preamp from the late 80s/early 90s. Offers an EQ (limited to whole number increments that makes it a little difficult to perfectly nail your tone), 2 Overdrive sections (OD1 is the pre-gain to boost your signal before distortion, OD 2 being the actual gain which controls your distortion), master gain (think of it as the sub-volume while the output level knob acts as your master volume so to speak),presence control, onboard chorus (which seems more like a flanger to me), 3 voicings (solid state clean, tube clean, and tube distortion), effects loop, headphone jack (why?), stereo output and midi capabilities.

i REALLY wish it came with reverb, but then again its just a preamp. if i had a choice id swap out the chorus/flanger for reverb. even though my clean always has a chorus on (yeah i like metallica), i seem to get a better chorus tone from my pedals. plus the fact that i only use one type of chorus setting unlike my numerous reverb settings. but then again im sure some you will enjoy different chorus settings at different channels.

seems pretty sturdy to me. spends time in a rack so its somewhat protected from the evils of the world. but i have gigged with this and i never had a problem with it yet.

never dealt with.

ive been playing for about 5 years, and ever since day one, ive been anal about tone. this thing pretty much has one of the nicest tones ive heard coming from a preamp. although you WILL NEED A POWER AMP in order to get excellent tone, but itll still sound somewhat decent through a SS power amp.

however, due to the fact that this is an old preamp, you will have to get some extra things in order to see its true nature. my rig is as follows...

guitar -> line6 distortion modeler (which acts as an eq and adds a tad bit more gain to the front end) -> ada mp1 (reverb in the loop) -> parametric eq -> power amp section of my crate stealth tube amp.

but pretty much if this thing were stolen, i would definately get a new one. unless our band gets signed and we get all rich and famous...then id buy a marshall tsl. but while im awake, ill stick with my mp-1.

but the reason for the 7 is the fact that it requires a bunch of other stuff to make it great.....and the fact that it needs REVERB!

Pretty simple to use.Like all rack gear takes some tweaking but the sound u want comes quiqly.If there was a software editor out there i would gave 10

My setup:Ibanez jem 77fp(with emg active picups)->morley bad horsie wah->boss ns-2 noise gate->ibanez ts-9dx turbo tube screamer->ada mp-1->boss vf-1->peavey s.s. amp(not good).
the sound i can get from this rig its awesome.Just name it and its there.The mp-1 has all the things i need,from crystal compressed clean,to mild sweet fat overdrive,to hard metal distortion.The dynamics and picking response in this thing are great.Of course with hi gain settings u get some noise too,but nothing a good gate can't fix.One notice.This is not a standalone unit.It is a great preamp(with a great price)but u will need some good units with it to have full implementation of this unit.espesially a good power amp and cabs will take your sound to the next level.

Never had problems(lets hope i never will)

Ada is history(too bad) but u can get all the support u want from www.adadepot.com

I play for 8 years rock metal blues.This unit definatly is for my style.The only thing missing from my rig is a microcabII but soon i ll nail one too.

Looks confusing at first but the manual is easy to understand. You just need to experiment with pushing buttons. I got lucky and mine had the manuals for the MP-1 and MC-1 footswitch. It gets great sound by just tweaking the EQ.

Sound is incredible. I play Heavy/Speed/Thrash Metal and this unit kicks it. ADADepot.com has presets by users that allow you to start w/ a setting and you can tweak from there. I use Ruby Tubes for a great distortion.
I run the MP-1 w/a Legionsound poweramp (www.steelsound.com), a dual 15-band EQ, MC-1 footswitch, 2 Jackson Performers (1 custom), 1 Behringer 4x12, 1 custom 4x12. Very loud set-up.

Very rugged and dependable so far. Replaced the tubes when I first got it and it shreds. Since ADA no longer exists, some smart fellers put together www.ADADepot.com. These guys can answer any question you might have about this unit, including mods to get different sounds.

www.ADADEPOT.com

Can't live without this site!!!
These guys are the only existing support.

I tried many other tube amps and this unit can hold balls with almost all of them. Once you do a mod from the support site, this puts all those $1000+ heads to shame. Why pay for a name when you can pay for this kind of quality. I still have yet to fill all my 128 patches (yes, 128).
If there was one thing to change, it would be that the power switch is on the back and is hard to get to in a rack. That's all I can complain about. ADA kicks!!!

when i first got it home i was not too impressed.the dist tube is way too hot and muddy for hi speed hi clarity runs,but push the clean tube channel and look out!so many great tones from ej to satch to al dimeola live there.the eq is very effective but needs to be carefully adjusted as sometimes the difference between great and awful are a couple notches away so to speak.noise can be taimed with a hush unit.I perfomed a mod [the cathode follower circuit change courtesy of mark howell and ADADEPOT.COM THE SITE FOR ALL THINGS ADA]that makes for a much more Marshall crunch contour,with slightly less gain..not a issue for me as i use a dostortion pro into stock plexi 100,s also a great classic semi dirt tone ala daydreamer from trower is obtainable at any volume hendrix,shred,blues,fusion they in there.

mine is from 1988 .I bought it for the price... 125$used at guitar center.the presets are of course a joke and may mislead newbies into thinking its shit.It does require some experimenting to get to the goodies,but they are in there.3 channels [hot tube,clean tube,clean solid state]lots of midi storage,nice chorus,loop,shit input jac,headphone in.

get the best tubes you can afford.also a battery for the memory I GOT ONE AT RADIO SHACK for 3$ watch the input jac it would be a good idea to replace it using the dead bug trick [a simular ideais avail at adadepot.com]

R.I.P

i love mine for price nothing caan touch it.I would replace immed.In fact I am going to buy 2 more if I can find them for less than 170$ .if you dont dig the dirty tube channel try the clean tube maxed out or close to it.also try the marshall mod it does make a difference. it takes about 2 hours only because the parts are very small and you don"t want any mistakes.if your not sure of your electronics skill,any tech can do it it should not cost much its not brain sergery

I play a variety of musical styles ranging from classic Marshall "plexi" sounds to jazz. This unit sounds very good, but some of the digital sample pre-amps sounds better. However, they samplers are more expensive.

The ADA MP-1 sounds better than many amp heads.

If your unit is noisy, I suspect its time for you to change tubes and/or upgrade your guitar cable or shielding.

I have a first or second year ADA MP-1 and I had a second used one that was at least five years newer, but in tough shape. The price information listed by others is accurate.

My ADA MP-1 goes directly into a stereo high constant current power amp and into a stereo Marshall 2x12 cabinet.

I like the fact I can save my sounds and easily step through the sounds in comparison to most items of this type.

I found my older reverb unit added noise and limited the signal out of the ADA. I guess I would have found a reverb more useful than a the included chorus. I also wish ADA's excellent flanger sound might have been included.

I've used several sets of tubes and had a diode repleaced on my original unit.

The backup unit worked pretty good until is suffered a catstrophic failure. The backup unit had bee exposed to a lot of mosture over the years from what I could tell. Many ADAs live hard lives.

I would say slightly milder and quiter tubes are my choice, but if you want to get a harder sound like Metallica, it will respond with the a tube selection like Rubies. If you can find Mullards, then the ADA MP-1 will sound more like an older Marshall. Mullards can be expensive.

Instead of checking internet vintage tube suppliers or vintage guitar stores, you might be better off check surplus military stores like Mendelson's in Dayton, Ohio. An old timer from the military told me to look for slightly used or NOS Raytheon tubes first and then RCAs and avoid the cheaper commerical grade GE tubes. The guy said Mullards are good, but "good luck on finding them in this country."

I don't know which brand of new tubes to recommend, because the ones I like best don't seem to last that long. The closest you can match the complete tube type designation, the closer the tube should be to the original sepcification in terms of sound and noise supression.

I talked to the head person among others several times among others and it was on my suggestion the MicroCab option was developed.

I had excellent support with ADA when compared to most other companies. I'd put them at the same level as Yamaha, Martin, and Prescription Electronics and slightly better than Modulus, Duncan, SWR, and today's Gibson.

I wouldn't buy another at this point, but they are great units if you're on a budget and you already have a power amp.

My constant current power amp is made by AB, but I'd think most any name brand would be good if it is realiable and quiet.

I have some instructions and wiring diagrams. I'd be willing to sell my ADA to a person in need.

Very easy to use . . . I've had it since 1990 and NEVER had a problem with it . It's so easy to use and create new sounds. The manual is very self explanatory. The MIDI is easy to use.

I use a customized Ibanez and a PRS Custom 24 with a X-11 MIDI pedal to control it . With the MP-1-> Digitech S-200 -> a TubeWorks MosValve 240watt amp--> two Mesa/Boogie cabinets. It sounds great! I can get a perfect silky Santana tone, exellent clean/blues tones and all in between.

It's my primary in my rack system I never take anything else with me . I've replaced the battery, and have a back-up. But thats all. I've used it in the studio, on stage and no matter what or where it's kicked ass.

Never needed to get it repaired. The company was great when I lost the manual. I u'sted to love the magazine that came out for a while.

I play rock/metal/blues and it's a versitile/wicked little pre-amp. I've been playing for 18 yrs. I also own a 72 Stratocastor, a thin body Ovation acoustic,a Fender FR-50 resanotor. If I "lost it" in some way I would replace it possabily with a MP-2 or another MP-1. I just love love the ease of use.The only thing I would want is a tuner in it. The only thing I ever had a problem with was the phantom power to the controler, but I got that corrected really easily. It created my "signiture sound" and I love it; smooth distortions, hard gutsy full out distortions, silky sustain, clear clean tones and smoky blues tones.

I use Ibanez S470 w/ DiMarzio Steve's Special in bridge, Fender Amrican Strat with SD JB in bridge/59 in neck, ESP/LTD EC-1000 w/ dual EMG 81's. ALl these guitars sound awesome through the MP-1. I play death metal, black metal, hardcore, heavy metal, jazz, blues, country, all sorts of shit, everything sounds good on it. With an eq, I use a Behringer PROEQ, dual 31-band, and this thign puts out some seriously brutal distortion if I eq it to. Even without the eq, it sounds awesome.

Uh, everyone knows the damn features...MOVING ON!

Never had it fuck up, never even worried about it. It's solid.

Never dealt with them, and don't plan to.

I've been playing for 5 years, I gig a lot, do a lot of studio work, and this preamp is just too good for the money, should cost over $700, but I'm not complaining, heh. Would buy another if it were stolen, but not after I shoved apple cores up the guys ass that stole it. Peace.

I'm currently running: Epiphone Les Paul w/EMG 81 -> Ernie Ball Volume -> ADA MP-1 -> Roland JC-120 (ADA outs into Roland effects loop, using ADA level knob for volume). There's a hint of noise with the more extreme distortion levels, mostly ground hum from my crappily wired room and lack of a power conditioner.

I play mostly metal/hard rock stuff in the vein of Tool, but venture into Metallica territory and some blues stuff, too. This amp covers it all. Sounds more organic than a JMP-1 (and with a better interface), and again, is much cheaper than the Triaxis. The tubes give it just enough warmth to be enjoyable, but it doesn't quite compress or break up like an all-tube amp... but it's not, so why should it?

Again, s.s. setting is clean as a whistle, the clean tube setting is nice and warm, and can hit that really great tubey crunch when the ODs are pushed. The dist tube setting has a little too much gain for me most of the time, unless I'm playing some really over-saturated lead stuff (which is when the chorus DOES sound good. I get a decent Van Halen/Satriani sound out of it). It's not perfect, but 85 bucks for a piece of guitar history? Count me in.

Nothing fancy, other than LOTS of MIDI storage space. This is my first piece of MIDI gear, and I've totally fallen in love with freedom you get... once you read the manual. For everything. I got the matching MC-1 foot controller. It's pretty simple. The solid state "voicing" sounds crisp and biting (especially with the treble jacked), and both tube sounds (clean and dist) are great. A really wide selection of tones. It's no Triaxis, but for around 2% of the price... not bad. The chorus is pretty digital, but I try not to use it much.

Connections are pretty standard for a preamp: outputs, effects loop, and headphones. I'm told there's a "speaker modeling" switch on it, but I still can't find it. It's supposed to be on top, but I just can't find it.

Editing is a breeze, but reading the manual does help.

I haven't had to change the battery or tubes yet... but I've only had it for a couple months. I'm planning on backing up my presets and changing tubes in the near future so I can be assured that it'll be good for a while and I'm covered if the battery dies. I would buy one in an instant if it were stolen or totally died, and I would gig with it expecting it to work on ANY occasion. The only thing I'd do with a backup is program more sounds into it.

::sniff:: No more ADA... that makes me sad. I think I could probably get it fixed just about anywhere, though... it's a pretty popular amp. Given a 1 because, as we all know, there's no more ADA.

I've been playing for about 10 years, and only started playing in a band about a year ago. This is the newest piece in the tone puzzle. I'm planning on getting a TC Electronic G Major and a Mesa/Boogie 2:90, but I'll never get rid of my ADA. It's so easy to use, and it sounds great. The only thing I wish is that they would have taken more time with the chorus... but that's what the G Major will be for. :)

if you cant figure how to work this thing ,by a stomp box
A little tricky to get the right sounds but so are all the other units I have tried
the manual are out there on the net...

wery good distortion,but be aware how you set the values compared to each other...the eq`are a little weak...
My setup is Ada - (with a Alesis midiverb3 and Boss ge 21 in the effectloop) - Marshall 9100 - Marshall 4 * 12 cab
I used Ibanez rg guitars ,mainly rg 560 7620...

I bought my first one 11 years ago,sadly it died on me a few month ago...but I have used it almost daily...
I have never brought a backup ,never needed ,but maybe I should

no offical ada site but there are a coupple sites out there...
tried a local place but they could not fix it...still trying!

I play mostly metal,some hard rock gothic rock etc...
I have been playing for about 15 years and I have tried alot of different equimpment,sometime I wish it had a little better eq and a little more distortion ,but if you have a guitar with good pickups its no proplem,,but an equalizer is recomended!
I have a special sound wich many guitarists have noticed..and the Ada is the heart of that sound!!!...I bought 2 others when my first one broke down,it was not easy to find belive me...at this price it is simply rules!!!
I have tried Marshall jmp-1,different kinds of Rocktrons,Mesa Boogie triaxe.and a few Digitechs...
the triaxe sound cool but to nice...I guess I would by a Rocktron Piranha it sounded great but will cost you more than an Ada...

Easy to edit, easy to program, easy to control via midi. Found the manual on the web after 1.5 years workign with it - so self explanatory.

Top notch overdrive and distortion if programmed rightish. , Difficult to understand why the overdrive just kicks in at high values.
A bit noisy, you'll need to use a denoiser with it (I use a Rocktron Hush CXII).

Very solid very reliable built like a rock.

No Ada anymore

I use it in the effect loop of my Spirit Folio SI to add a smooth overdrive to my Hammond and E-Piano sounds and this works out perfect! I love the midi capabilities and the sound is better than anything else for this. If stolen I'd desperatley look for another one. It would be perfect if the noise bit would be better.

I'm just going to give a quick review for the MP-1. Editing is a cinch. Manual is easy to understand.

I love this thing. I've used Ibanez and Music Man through my MP-1. Chorus is nice, especially when used in stereo.

Never needed a replacement.

These thing kick all ass. I bought mine in 1988 and it has NEVER had a problem in 15 years. Anyone who can pick one of these up for cheap should. I paid $550 for mine back when they were new. It has served me well over the years.

I figure one of these days it will die on me and I'll probably go buy a Tech 21 rackmount distortion unit. I've never heard it, but if it's anything like the other TECH 21 products, it's gonna be great.

It isn't particularly intuitive how to save patches above #9. No, I have not RTFM. Shouldn't have to.

This is where the MP-1 shines! It does every tone I could want. With a bit of tweaking, it does those super heavy, saturated modern tones, too. (I play blues, classic rock, and pop rock. SRV, Rush, REO, Deep Purple, Cars, Bowie, Sting, Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd and the like.)

I play straight into the MP-1 (except when I use the Wah), through an Alesis multieffect, and into a matched pair of solid-state combo amps, in stereo. (I'm using the LINE-IN on the amps so I go directly to the power amp stage.)

I have an American Std Strat (From bridge to neck: SD Hot Rails, Duckbucker, JBJr), Les Paul (Stock), Washburn A5 (SD 59/Jazz), and an Ibanez RG (SD Custom, JBJr, 59). The MP-1 has so many patches that I can use a range of settings for each guitar.

The clean tube channel is where I spend most of my time. If you push it a bit, you get the vintage tube overdriven tone -- no problem. The distortion tube channel is where you get your more extreme stuff. I only have a handful of patches that use it. The solid-state clean channel is *very* clean, even with high gain. On this channel, you generally need more extreme EQ to get the sound you're looking for. But the ss clean channel is what makes this preamp so well rounded--clean means clean.

No unexpected problems here. (It has tubes, so eventually you'll need to replace them.)

These are < 150 on eBay. I'm glad I don't need one of those expensive "modeling" things. The MP-1 does what the modelers are trying to model in the first place. Talk about value. (These were much more money when they first came out. I think it was 87 or so.)

excellent sounding unit. the high gain tones are superb. I had a Triaxis until I bought this unit. I can 10 of these MP-1 units for the cost of the Triaxis. Don't get me wrong, the Mesa Boogie unit is very versatile, but too pricy when you can afford an MP-1.

the ADA channel switching is louder than the Triaxis. An audible pop can be heard, no big deal though. just want to be clear.

lot's of features, read the other reviews.
wish the output selector (line or instrument) was mounted on the back, not on top of the unit...seems silly.

I don't use the chorus as I use a TC Electronic G-Major for effects

no problems. just regular wear and tear (tubes replace, volume knob replaced because it wore out....heck, it's over a decade old)

haha, no more ADA... *SIGH*

great unit for the money. if you want bang for the buck, here it is.

I use this with a 70's strat and 2 Les pauls, one with carvin pickups. with hot pickups, it screams, with lesser outputs(like on my strat) it has a real nice growl. The clean channel stays clear all the way, but with the gain controls you can get a lovely AC DC style crunch. The Distortion channel is way over the top, with almost too much gain, that ranges from hard edged hard rock souns, that really lets you dig in, to full on saturated heavy metal crunch.The noise on the solid state circuit is sometimes really annoying, but I use some hush from a rocktron intellifex(which is the perfect partner for the ADA;the belong together)and it cleans right up.

The mp1 was made in the late eighties, is fully midi programmable, has controls for 3 gain stages, an fx loop, 3 band eq and a very nice sounding stereo chorus. you can choose from 3 seperate voicings for each of the 128 presets- clean tube, distortion tube and solid state circuit with compression(modelled on a roland JC-120). other features include a headphone output and midi in, out and thru.
paired with the right power amp, its loud enough for any gig, and the 2 12AX7 tubes give it beautiful tone on any preset, making it perfect for warm jazz tones, blues rock, heavy metal and especially hot rod californian shred sounds(my favourite)

This is the most reliable piece of gear, its been gigged for about 10 years with several owners, has never had replaced tubes or been serviced, and still looks and sounds like its brand new.

Its a bit of a worry ADA no longer exist, so you cant get it serviced by a proper tech, althuogh there are plenty of 'third party' sites on the net that can do the job.

If this got stolen, itd be unreplaceable. I use it with a boss graphic eq , a rocktron intellifex and a marshall power amp. Compared to a boogie triaxis, its way cheaper and sounds just as good with my rig, and also preceded marshalls JMP1. Ironically, I believe it recreates marshall and boogie tones almost better than the companies themselves! They are pretty rare, and itd be hard to find a replacement.

Badass! I own 2 of these preamps. They both just crush! Those people looking for the Mesa Dual Recto sound would have been disappointed.....UNTIL NOW!!! Yes, the MP-1 can be modded to have the Mesa tone, and better yet, ITS CHEAP AND EASY TO DO!!! Info can be found at www.adadepot.com Check it out, you may just wet yourself! (Unless of course, you paid the big bucks for the Mesa as well. In which case, you probably will be so angry, as you didn't even get a kiss or a pat on the head for that nasty buggering you received.....)

It slices! It dices! It already knows even before you do when and where you like it rough and when and where to be gentle! And now for this unlimited time offer, this amazing preamp will even light your cigarette and "just cuddle and talk" with your significant other/lover/sex pet after sex FOR YOU! ;)

Other than that, you know what this preamp has for features.

I beat the hell out of my MP-1 preamps and make them be my bitch every single day for 4-8 hours a stretch. Sometimes you may find an MP-1 with minor issues, as nothing is perfect and time does take its toll on everything, but mine are always obedient and just keep getting up for more. I only have to change the tubes every now and then (about every 4-6 months) and "Please, may I have another?" is what I keep hearing after the violent floggings I regularly dispense with sadistic intent.

They must like it by now, I'm sure.

ADA has been out of biz for quite some time now, due to the usual corporate takeovers, leadership differences, or financial maladies that threaten all the innovative and successful businesses. Actually, I had heard that ADA had a huge fire at their factory and decided to just call it a day after that, but I can't confirm this as I wasn't there. (I was on the opposite side of the country when I was into torching stuff back then. My attorney said I shouldn't say that, but what the hell, the statute of limitations has long since expired...... ;)

No matter, www.adadepot.com is the place to go for support.

Like I was saying, you know all the features and facts about this awesome preamp. I'm here to tell you that this thing can be modded quite easily to kill a Mesa Dual Recto at 20 paces as well. I am not dogging on Mesa in any way whatsoever, but as that overused saying goes, "Show me the money!"

The going rate for an MP-1 is about $100-120 USD used on ebay. I paid about $120 for each MP-1 I own. You will not, I repeat, NOT find a Mesa ANYTHING anywhere for twice that price! At about $1500 for the Mesa equalivant, it works out to be about $375 for each letter in the word "Mesa". Thats what you're REALLY paying for, after all. And besides, SOMEBODY has to financially make it up to the companies that give away their products to the ungrateful artists using their products....(successful artists who can already afford to buy dozens of the product, I might add. The rest of us poor folk pay our own bills) Add about $5 for the parts needed for the modification, and some real basic electronic skills, and viola! Something you can be even prouder of than you already are! The folks who spent all that money for their Rectos will hunt you down out of pure jealousy, then simply resort to crying in their hands. Go for it! VALUE DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any company, nor am I a part of any corporate decision for anything. I neither buy nor sell anything on a commission, and I have absolutely NOTHING to gain with this posting. I also do not own or maintain the website I mentioned or any other site for that matter. I am a person just like so many of you who have needs, but little means. The Tipster just wants you to know that you CAN have a Ferrari or Viper for the same price as a Yugo or a Kia. And to entertain somewhat while I'm bending your ear is good, too! (come on now, you didn't honestly think that I wouldn't want to be "cuddled and talked to" afterwards now and then, did you?) ;)

Features: Tube Preamp with Three "voicings" (I think of them as channels, I dunno if they are or not, technically). Solid State Clean, Tube Clean, Tube Distorted. On board 3 band EQ + Presence (Low,Mid,Hi,Presence) and built-in Stereo Chorus. MIDI Program Switching with 128 presets. Basic Straight-up preamp. I like the on-board EQ, Chorus, and the MIDI switching features. Could benefit from on board noise gate, more EQ bands, and FX.

Creating patches is easy and intuitive. Could probably be understood without a manual. The MIDI implementation is straight forward/understandable.

I upgraded my firmware to 2.01 for MIDI based patch editing.

Just an up front note: I've owned this for almost two years now, so I've had time to fall out of that new-gear-honeymoon-phase during which most HC reviews are written :)

As some others have mentioned, I think it's important to remember this is a preamp. By design, it's not an all in one unit. It's a key component in your tone, but you will need to surround it with quality components to get your ultimate tone. A minimum is a good guitar, power amp, and cab. See more notes below on outboard gear.

I'm using it with a Boss OD-20 overdrive in front of it (sometimes I use the Fulltone FD2 model with the MP1) with a Boss VF-1 for EQ and FX and a Behringer UltraFex II as a Maximizer. I use a Rocktron Hush IIcx for Noise Suppression. For live power, I use a Peavey Classic 30 as a power amp and for recording I go through an ADA Microcab (awesome piece of gear!!). Guitars are home-made strat (main axe) w/ Duncan Demon and Dimarzio Air Norton pups, and a PRS Custom 24.

Tonewise, this thing's surprisingly versatile. The reputation as a hair band/shredder tool the MP-1 got in the late 80's was really misplaced (although, admittedly it does nail that tone easily :).

Here's the basic run down for the "channels":

SS Clean: The Solid State Analog clean channel is really, really, nice. Combined with the onboard chorus it's got a very "Roland JC-120" thing going on. I love this crystalline clean sound. Some people will probably hate it for being too 'HiFi' sounding but I think it's exactly how a clean channel should sound. This was a really pleasant surprise for a 'Heavy Metal' preamp.

Tube Clean: As many have mentioned this channel begins to break up quickly. The break up is musical, though, so I kind of consider this a feature since I like the SS channel for pure clean tones. I think of this as the Bluesy/Fender channel. You can get a lot of nice blues and classic rock stuff going here. You *can* get a 'Warm' pure clean tone from the MP-1 but it requires quite a bit of tweaking for your setup (like turning down your guitar volume knob) and some people will find it frustrating. This is probably it's biggest weakness. Like I said, I love the SS Clean, so this is a non-issue for me.

Distorted Tube: And, of course, the main reason people are interested in a preamp like this, the tube distortion channel. This unit has gain to spare... Like many here have observed the responsiveness is very good and you really can get a great shred tone. I personally have not had much trouble getting this thing to do everything from classic heavy metal and modded Marshall tones all the way to Hyper Dark/Death/Satanic stuff. It does have a more 'Hot Rod Marshall' signature to it than some other preamps (but that can be a beautiful thing :).

It does the 'Liquid' High Gain lead sound that everyone is looking right out of the box. The Rhythm tones can get into the truly devastating range and can made to go right over the top with extra EQ and a slightly boosted input signal (Tubescreamer and/or Active Pups).

In fact, with the outboard EQ you can get this channel to cover just about any high gain territory you can think of (except maybe pure harsh industrial solid state distortion (get a metal zone or some other solid state stomp box for that ;)).

I find the MicroCab (for recording, which is my primary scenario) actually wants a little more gain/EQ than the Peavey Amp (Live). The MicroCab filters some of the Heaviness, so I actually find myself using the OD and EQ less when going to a real power amp/cab. The tube power amp on the Peavey may be playing a role here too. If I were using the MicroCab less I probably wouldn't use the external overdrive much at all.

Chorus: I like the Chorus, it's got a great sound, especially with the clean channel. I consider it kind of a bonus, since like I said, a preamp's first function isn't FX. ADA did their best to make the chorus versatile and it can be used as a notch filter, flanger, tremolo, etc, wi

So far mine has been reliable but ADA is out of business and it's a tube based unit, so it's got to be a little bit of a concern.

Like everyone here has mentioned ADA tanked but there are a lot of netters willing to help.

Been playing around 17 years and like I said, I've owned this unit long enough to be over the 'Gee-Whiz' phase.

I really love heavy guitar parts. So, IMHO, the main purpose of a preamp is to serve up vicious liquid tube gain. It's got to be able to deliver tight rhythm crunch, searing gain, and singing lead tones. The ADA does all of this and delivers crystal clean, and broken up tube blues, too. This unit has the capability to be the tone cornerstone for an ultimate high gain rig.

I'm really finally happy with my tone now and the MP-1 is really the key to it all. My tone is probably better than I'd ever imagined it being given that I never expected to be able to justify the cost of a unit like the MP-1.

The street price that these things go for nowadays makes this unit just an unbelievable value. There's really no other way to get this sweet a tube preamp with this great a tone in this price range. It's unheard of really. If this product were still being manufactured, I'm sure it'd certainly be in the same price range as still-current competing products (ie JMP-1 and friends, at least 5x what MP-1s go for on eBay). Even if you consider a gate and an outboard EQ a requirement to bring it more in line with new products it's still a killer deal! My *entire rack* including the MP-1, maximizer, microcab,
and VF-1, cost less than a single JMP-1 or Triaxis (the only competitors worth mentioning) do new.

I sent the mp1 to trace to have him add somemore gain & tighten up the bottom end some.The original ada was known for haveing a hotroded marshall tone, which I guess is why they were so popular at one time.I felt as a stand alone unit they fell just a little short as far as gain and fullness went.(kinda thin)
After Trace`s modification I have to say it sounds 137% better than before.To me it sounds like a jcm 800 with quite a bit more gain.It is much fuller than before with a good thick tubey distortion.It can now do some good heavy sounds.(priest,hammerfall,maiden,ect.)Which is what I was more after.
It is just shy of the superthick bottom mid-scooped thing.You know ,the palm mutes that burst blood vessels.I believe he could have took it there, but the unit had no space for an additional tube.Make no mistake though, he did squezze a bunch more gain out of it than before.The cleans sound rich & harmonically balanced also.
For me it fills that missing marshall void.Perhaps the amp they should have made?
If you have an mp1 & like it send it to Trace.You will like it more when it returns.

Most know all the features of the mp1.

Trace is very professional & a cool dude too.I had been stringing him along for a year or so, claiming I would soon send him something to mod for me.He always answered my emails & was a gentleman thruout.When I finally did send something I was kept up to date & it was back to me in a week.And he followed up to see how I liked it as well.Thats good service!!
Trace I will soon be sending you all kinds of older tube preamps to see what you can do w/ them.

$165.00 to make the mp1 kick tail...Can`t beat that!I`ve owned a bunch of stuff over the last 20 years of playing.This modded mp1 fills a place of its own.If they had sounded this good at first maybe they would still be in buisness.

This is where this sucker kicks in. I use a Jackson Dxmg, to a crybaby, to the mp-1, then to a Marshall 8008 valvestate power amp w/ Avatar 4x12 cab. I use this mainly for heavy metal use, aka metallica, slayer and ozzy. But, it gives great cleans, quite posibly better than any fender ive heard, especially with some chorus in the mix. It is a little noisy, but its not very bad at all. And its only noisy when you have the gains all the way up. I have presets on that sucker for Clean, to metal,and great leads. I can get a very Vai'ish lead on it. If you want a very versitale pre-amp, get this, it doesnt matter what style you play with it.

Basically : 3 modes, Dist tube, Clean Tube, Ss. with Stereo Chorus. you get 128 presets to work with. What more do you need!

I replaced the tubes when i got it. I put new groove tubes in there, to be exact, they are russian groove tubes. There is a slight problem with the input jack, but if you just keep the cord up, it's fine. Not a big deal.

Umm....... They are no longer with us.

Overall, this is the best pre-amp out there. Comparring it to "digital", which = shit, the ada kicks ass. it is equal to the tri axis, but hell of a lot cheaper. Ive been playing for 3 years, and i have had all kinds of amps and gear. This was the best investment i made. If some moron were to jack this from me, i would chase that fucker down and beat him till his jaw bone breaks into little tiny pieces.