Members TheGrooveking Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 I was curious as to whatever happened to ADA, where they bought out by a competitor and closed down or what? TheGrooveking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3red Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 http://www.adadepot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gimme411 Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Here's a basic blurb about why: " Not true, they kind of did that on their own through decisions to manufacture some products that were getting too sophisticated to simple-minded guitar players at the time, and by trying to break into a very competetive market by introducing all tube combo amps of their own. Their sales were way down by the early 90's, partly due to the fact that they had gotten away from signal processors, and were strictly manufacturing guitar amplification systems. (The MP-2 was the current preamp on the market, and was not selling). So, they went back to their roots, and pulled out the designs of the original MP-1, and improved it, keeping the simplicity of the MP-1 intact, and introduced the MP-1 Classic, in hopes of reviving integrated guitar systems sales. This was'nt enough to help solve their financial woes, so they gambled that their reputaion was strong enough to break into a new area for them and appeal to a new generation of musicians who were calling themselves "Grunge" rockers, and dissing racks of any kind. This brought about the introduction of the ADA Combo amps. Viper, Snake, Quad 4, etc... ADA spent a lot of money retooling to produce these amps, and setting up new parts suppliers who demanded high volumes of component purchases in order to do business. In the spring of 1995, when the wildfires swept through the Oakland Hills, and consumed the ADA factory, after the blaze, they decided to walk away from it and cut their losses. There were just too many negatives, and too many uncertainties about how the market was going to go at the time, and not enough positives to motivate them to get back in business. They collected their insurance settlements, paid off their bills, and went to Cabo San Lucas for a farewell party." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keebz Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 ^^^ sounds fake. I don't think anyone really knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gimme411 Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 This is HarleyHexxe's take on it. I do know the fire part is true. Albeit not sure about the Oakland Hills deal as ADA was on the peninsula and not East Bay. I used to work down the road from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheGrooveking Posted April 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Thanks for the info, but I have seen some addresses for them that were in Michigan? Also wasn't Rocktron's rack gear business doing well at the same time? I know that they started out as SeaMoon and then became ADA. TheGrooveking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elric Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Thanks for the info, but I have seen some addresses for them that were in Michigan? Also wasn't Rocktron's rack gear business doing well at the same time? I know that they started out as SeaMoon and then became ADA.TheGrooveking Yeah, it's sort of a mystery at this point. The chronology I've heard in other stories has been different. One believable sounding scenario I'd heard was that they moved after the Oakland fire and that the new facility terms were negotiated badly (they were paying for much more capacity/space than they actually needed) and it put them on questionable financial footing. Then they over extended themselves on new products and expansion plans. That stuff happens all the time... a really small company that spreads itself too thin can easily implode especially if they've spent a lot of money on the assumption business is going up. FWIW, I think they were always a CA operation. They may have had an authorized service center or had warranties processed somewhere else or somesuch but I'm pretty solid on CA as the physical location of the company throughout. There were also some wild rumors about various companies that tried to buy them out, etc, at various points. So, anyway, it's definitely the stuff of legend at this point. I'll have to see if I can find my MP-1 Classic manual. That was one of the last products they did. It may have a non-Oakland address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hamer95USA Posted April 5, 2008 Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 This is HarleyHexxe's take on it. I do know the fire part is true. Albeit not sure about the Oakland Hills deal as ADA was on the peninsula and not East Bay. I used to work down the road from them. Hey gimme411, The last location of the ADA factory was located near the Oakland Colisuem, not the Oakland Hills or the Peninsula. That might have been one of their offices you're talking about. I've been to the actual factory before it was burned down in 1993. Guitar George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hamer95USA Posted April 5, 2008 Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 Thanks for the info, but I have seen some addresses for them that were in Michigan? Also wasn't Rocktron's rack gear business doing well at the same time? I know that they started out as SeaMoon and then became ADA.TheGrooveking Hey TheGrooveking, ADA has always been a northern California company as far as I know and was never associated with Rocktron Corp. in any way. I also knew Todd Langner, the guy who designed the original 3TM tube circuitboard mod & co-designer of the MP-1 preamp. He did work on my ADA MP-1 preamp and assisted me in building my first guitar rack system for me. ADA went out of business. Here were some of the things that happened: Financial distress from poor sales, new product lines. Factory burned down and they had no insurance. John Nady of Nady Wireless bought part of the ADA inventory stock. Guitar George Guitar George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheGrooveking Posted April 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 Thanks Guitar George for the info, I'm going to have to dig up the manuals for my ADA gear and check addresses. TheGrooveking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chrisandronna Posted April 5, 2008 Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 Hey Guys, I worked at ADA until 4/97, roughly half a year before they finally went under. I was there for 10 years. The factory and offices were all at the same location, near the waterfront in Oakland, CA. The final address was at Lesser st. about 2 miles north of the Oakland Coliseum. No wildfire ever consumed any part of ADA, the factory was roughly 10 miles from the Oakland hills fire AND the fire was in 1989 or so. The building at 420 Lesser st is still there. Before that we were located on Edgewater drive, directly across the freeway from the Coliseum, and before my time there they were in Berkeley, CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheGrooveking Posted April 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 chrisandronna, thanks for the info, you probably have some insight as to what happened? If you don't mind me asking, what happened? If you don't want to publicly list it, please PM me. Thanks, TheGrooveking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members petejt Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 Why does it seem that most American guitar equipment companies are always started/based in California? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gimme411 Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hey Guys, I worked at ADA until 4/97, roughly half a year before they finally went under. I was there for 10 years. The factory and offices were all at the same location, near the waterfront in Oakland, CA. The final address was at Lesser st. about 2 miles north of the Oakland Coliseum. No wildfire ever consumed any part of ADA, the factory was roughly 10 miles from the Oakland hills fire AND the fire was in 1989 or so. The building at 420 Lesser st is still there. Before that we were located on Edgewater drive, directly across the freeway from the Coliseum, and before my time there they were in Berkeley, CA. hmm, cool to get inside info. I don't know what the hell I worked the street from. D'oh! Just came to me.... It was Dean Markley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaboo Posted April 14, 2008 Members Share Posted April 14, 2008 I had an MP-1 that had some troubles, so the tech sent it to the factory to get fixed. I think ADA died a week or so later. Never saw the MP-1 again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lucius Posted April 16, 2008 Members Share Posted April 16, 2008 I had an MP-1 that had some troubles, so the tech sent it to the factory to get fixed. I think ADA died a week or so later. Never saw the MP-1 again. That is sad! Cheers, Lucius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members django5 Posted April 18, 2008 Members Share Posted April 18, 2008 Why does it seem that most American guitar equipment companies are always started/based in California? Musicians go to LA in search of fame of fortune, don't make it so they decide to use their knowledge instead to make music equipment. That would be my guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members styxer06 Posted April 23, 2008 Members Share Posted April 23, 2008 I still have an ada mp-2 that my other guitarist uses. i went to a pod. it still works fine..for now my 7 pin midi cable and mxc pedalboard had problems. my tech went thru a ton of buttons and it still didn't work right. then they went out of business. now the mxc is a paperweight. and I got a ART x-15 and it has been working fine for 8 yrs. jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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