ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear

Miscellaneous => Introduce Yourself => Topic started by: Explorer84 on December 06, 2014, 04:21:04 AM

Title: Hi from England
Post by: Explorer84 on December 06, 2014, 04:21:04 AM
Hi all, firstly I want to take this opportunity to thank Dante for bringing the forum back to life  ;D

I'm 50 years old, I live in England, a long time Ada user,

I bought my first MP1 brand new in 1989 and have collected a few more over the years, my original MP1 is a little bit tired these days, with broken sockets and such, so probably ready for a nice mod or two ;D , it's still the sweetest sounding first gen MP1 that I own,

these days my 'go to' preamp is my MP1 Classic, just sounds incredible, I use it with a Marshall 9100 stereo Tube power amp into a 1960 Marshall 4 x 12 loaded with Eminence Lynch Super V12 speakers

effects: currently using a TC Electronic G-Major 2, but eagerly awaiting the release of the Fractal Audio FX8

btw my user name is inspired by my favorite guitar, my 1984 Gibson Explorer
Title: Re: it's back! and so am I ;D
Post by: rnolan on December 06, 2014, 04:57:49 AM
Hey Explorer84, welcome to the resurrected depot (Dante  :bow: ), Like your set up. If you are chaining through (4 cable method) the TC, chek out some of the posts from me and MikeB re running it in parallel, it sounds quite a bit better  :thumb-up: .
Cheers Richard
Title: Re: it's back! and so am I ;D
Post by: Explorer84 on December 06, 2014, 05:32:31 AM
Hey Explorer84, welcome to the resurrected depot (Dante  :bow: ), Like your set up. If you are chaining through (4 cable method) the TC, chek out some of the posts from me and MikeB re running it in parallel, it sounds quite a bit better  :thumb-up: .
Cheers Richard

I'm currently using the TC between my MP1 and power amp, and I have to say just having the G-major connected is a massive tone suck, very disappointing for a TC unit, so I might take a look at your posts :)

I borrowed a friends Axe FX II and used it just for effects between the ADA and power amp, it sounded great, it didn't change the sound of my MP1 at all, very impressive sound quality,

the thing that impresses me about the FX8 (apart from being less than half the price of the Axe FX) is that it has two independent effects circuits, one between guitar and preamp, and one for  between preamp and power amp (or effects loop in a regular tube amp) so very practical for 4 cable method use,

Fractals stomp box models are great, perfect for getting a bit more gain on the Brown channel in front of the MP1 Classic,

and well the harmonizer and spacial effects, reverb, delay etc are just lush

there's only one FX8 video up on youtube so far, he's using it with his Friedman BE100 tube amp, sounds great  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-cfAckn254 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-cfAckn254)
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rnolan on December 06, 2014, 06:34:29 AM
The TC GMaj isn't a bad unit, but with MP1 chained through it, the first thing that happens is it converts your great tube analogue signal into digital.
I don't mind digital fx units, but it sounds much better if you keep an analogue signal chain to poweramp (and some dig fx have true analogue pass through) and mix them in (in parallel, not series). The other post talks about how you can do it with a cheap(ish) ART Slip mix (all in stereo). It works and works well...BTW
Cheers R
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Explorer84 on December 06, 2014, 09:59:06 AM
The TC GMaj isn't a bad unit, but with MP1 chained through it, the first thing that happens is it converts your great tube analogue signal into digital.

That's what impressed me so much about Fractal's audio processing, I couldn't hear any difference in the sound going direct from preamp to power amp, and having the Axe FX in between,

I like the idea of having the option to use synth modeling and other effects where you don't necessarily want to hear the direct guitar in the mix, if the FX8 has the same audio quality as the Axe FX then I think it will be a winner
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rabidgerry on December 06, 2014, 02:08:36 PM
Hey man!!  Welcome to the board. You must the be closest person to me on this board, where abouts in England you from?  I'm over in Belfast flying the MP1 flag  :)  Got two myself but they're soon gonna be supped up to the max with some mods.
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Dante on December 06, 2014, 04:19:41 PM
Welcome Explorer84, nice to have you aboard!

My favorite guitar is my 83 Explorer ;) and my favorite preamp is my Classic. That said, I have a strong sentimental link with my MP-2 as well. Either one serves me well and I bound back/forth.

Let's see some pix of that wonderful guitar you got man! Here's a pic of mine
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rnolan on December 07, 2014, 12:54:31 AM
Nice Dante  >:D
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Explorer84 on December 07, 2014, 09:35:47 AM
Welcome Explorer84, nice to have you aboard!

My favorite guitar is my 83 Explorer ;) and my favorite preamp is my Classic. That said, I have a strong sentimental link with my MP-2 as well. Either one serves me well and I bound back/forth.

Let's see some pix of that wonderful guitar you got man! Here's a pic of mine

here it is, it's had a few mods over the years,

(http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/watchtheskies_photos/explorer.jpg)
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rnolan on December 08, 2014, 04:33:01 AM
 :whoohoo!: nice  :thumb-up: now I want one LOL
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Dante on December 08, 2014, 11:44:23 AM
My case looks EXACTLY like that ;)

Nice axe!!
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Explorer84 on December 09, 2014, 03:59:13 AM
Can you believe that the Explorer and the V first came out in 1958, way before rock and metal  ???

I saw The Scorpions Matthias Jabs play one at the first Monsters of Rock festival in 1980 at Castle Donnington in England, I knew I had to have one!, waited another 4 agonising years to get this one, I was 19, it cost me every penny I had, so worth it! :metal:


.
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rnolan on December 09, 2014, 04:37:24 AM
Showing my age but sort of yeah, lots of nice things from that era, like Gibson 57 PUs and the reissues (I've got 2) rust like the originals LOL. This is back when instruments were hand made (ish), many these days are computer profile routed... It's changed allot (where's my walking stick..LOL)
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: Dante on December 10, 2014, 02:53:27 PM
Can you believe that the Explorer and the V first came out in 1958, way before rock and metal  ???

I saw The Scorpions Matthias Jabs play one at the first Monsters of Rock festival in 1980 at Castle Donnington in England, I knew I had to have one!, waited another 4 agonising years to get this one, I was 19, it cost me every penny I had, so worth it! :metal:
.

We ought to be twins...I bought mine because of Matthias Jabs too! (I was a huge Scorps fan in the early 80s) As soon as I joined the US Military, I started making a steady check with no bills, so I saved $750 to buy mine :)
Title: Re: Hi from England
Post by: rnolan on December 11, 2014, 03:51:24 AM
Hey Dante, I assume you had a different hair cut back then then LOL.