ADA MP-1 MOD3.1

This is the most versatile amp i've ever used, the mod really opens up it's potential. It's got all the MP-1 features, this review is for the modded pre-amp not the stock unit, research the stock unit if you want to know features.

Right now im using a mutt guitar, my SG is being worked on. The mutt has a Squier Affinity strat body, kramer neck, modified(hacked up) floyd rose copy bridge, EMG 81 neck and bridge pickup.The Hairston modded tubeboard comes with other mods done to it besides mod 3.1, one of which is the noise mod(huge noise reduction). This makes the unit so much quieter. This preamp sounds similar to the Peavey 5150, Soldano SLO-100, and the Mesa/Boogie Dual rectifier. It can still put out a nice clean sound but it's the distortion that is amazing. Palm mutes are very pronounced, harmonics are easily produced, gain is increased, and with this mod you don't loose the "bite" that this unit has in stock form. You can distort the tube clean voicing if you want, but like i said before it will still produce a great clean sound in solid state mode. The distorition is brutal. It's probably not as brutal as mod 3.666 but if it got any more hardcore i don't think i would like it, this is perfect to me. You can get the hardcore "In Flames", "Metallica", type distortion. You can get it to sound like "Incubus" or old school Santana sounding. I can dial up anything from bluesy overdrive to hardcore distortion to stock sounding cleans.

I haven't owned it long enough to comment on it's reliablity, but Hairston replaces all the parts on the tubeboard with new stuff so it should last for a long time.

ADA Depot is awesome, they're friendly and extremely helpful. They personally answer any questions you post on the forum. These guys are great.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I've got alot of gear. Most of it is now going to be replaced by this pre-amp. If it were stolen i would buy another. The greatest thing about it besides it's sound is that it's so affordable. For 150$ you can get an MP-1, and for another 60$ you can get a pre-modded tubeboard. After installation you'll have a pre-amp that will make Mesa/Soldano/5150 owners cry because they spent so much on their amplification. I had a hard time choosing which tubeboard i wanted, they offer many different ones. I chose this because in my opinion "In Flames" has the best metal tone ever, they use 5150's and thats one of the amps this is based off of. I would not trade this for a 5150, Dual rectifier, or even a SLO-100 even though they're worth so much more. Installation took awhile (4 hours), but considering i've never done any major soldering, and have very limited experience with electronic repair, i would say it was pretty easy, just time consuming.