Trying out a new guitar rig this weekend

[newmaxnew]

I can't seem to stop buying new music gear. I end reading about some piece of gear and before you know it I am buying one (the only reason I don't have an AX/FX yet is they are expensive).

 

I was reading some threads where people were talking about the AD/A MP-1 preamp. That really got me interested. I saw that they could be had on eBay for around $200. I did some research and found that there are many mods that can be performed on these things. I bought one and played around with it in stock condition, and it sounded great. However the stock unit has more gain than I really need for my current 60s and 70s band.

 

So I bought a second MP-1 to mod. I decided to perform the Cathode Follower mod that takes away some of the gain and makes it sound more like a JCM-800. The mod was easy, it just required removing some parts from the tube board, cutting one trace and adding three jumpers. It now has the right amount of gain for classic rock. I think that the MP-1 sounds better than the overdrive pedals I was using before. Now I want another one to do a 5150/Soldano mod to.

 

I paired it with a peavey classic 60 power amp and my Line6 M13 effects board. I am going to take this rig with an open back 2 X 12 cab for the gig on Saturday and see how it performs at a gig.

 

Max

[wades_keys]

I had an ADA MP1 for years and finally sold it when I switched to keys/bass.

 

(including the midi footswitch which is still somewhere at the ex-wife's.)

 

I agree about the too much gain.

 

Also, the EFX loop isn't buffered correctly - there is a mod for that as well.

[stdio]

I had the ADA back in the late 80's when everybody had them. I loved it and it worked great, but I remember it was very noisy and we didn't really mod stuff back then like now. Plus I paid something like 700 bucks for the thing. In fact I remember the guys in my band asking me when the burgers were going to be ready during song breaks. Wish to God I kept it and the Marshall head I sold then too.

 

Enjoy it!!

[newmaxnew]

Wow! I had no idea those things cost so much back then.

 

I don't use the effects loop on the MP-1. I go from the MP-1 output to the M13 loop then into the power amp.

 

I am going to have to see if I can find my old Alesis Quadraverg GT and see how it sounds also. It isn't nearly as cool since it doesn't use any tubes but at least the preamp section is analog.

 

Max

[stdio]

I had the quadraverb with my rig as well... and one of those BBE sonic maximixers. That would really add some balls to the sound as I remember.

The quad was really fun to mess with I remember... found one at a used music store that was all beat to {censored} and missing knobs for $25 bucks. Pass.

[newmaxnew]

Cool, I have a BBE Sonic Maximizer on the way.

[newmaxnew]

I used the rack rig at a four hour gig on Saturday. I ran the modded MP-1 and a line6 m13 for effects into a Peavey Classic 60 power amp and then into an Avatar 2 X 12 open back cab.

 

I had to do a little bit bit of tweaking on the fly in between the first couple of songs. I had to boost the volume a bit on my lead patches and bump the volume on my totally clean patches.

 

I was very impressed with the sound of the MP-1 modded. It sounds so close to a JCM-800 and a cranked Plexi! It was easy to nail that 70s AC/DC tone. I was also able to dial in a real nice clean tone very similar to a fender clean. There were no issues with feedback and the notes cut and sustain very well. I felt that my tone was sitting in the mix better than it had with my other rigs.

 

I have gone through a lot of stuff over the years but had never used an MP-1 before. I even owned a JCM-800 for while but I could never get that cranked Marshall tone without being way too loud.

 

Maybe I will get a tonebone switcher and mount the modded preamp and the stock preamp and be able to switch between them.

 

Max

[bigjd]

I used a midi eq in the effects loop on mine instead me a sonic maximizer I liked it much better and I could tweak each patch much more.