ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
ADA Preamps => MB-1 => Topic started by: rabidgerry on November 25, 2020, 03:41:31 PM
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Is it worth getting and MB-1?
I spied one in UK and I have put down an offer. Tube setting doesn't work though. I figured could be useful to own though?
Thoughts guy?
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Hey RG, definitely worth getting an MB1, fantastic bass preamp (I have 2, one live rack and one in my studio rack). So if tube setting doesn't work it needs some TLC. Most of the patches I use don't use the tube setting and you won't necessarily miss it but hey it should work. It's also a good candidate for a MDRT (both mine have MDRT). Also the last EPROM had some CC capability. If the price is right and you can send it to MJMP for an overhaul (which is what I did with my 2), you (or your bass player) will not be disappointed. It also works quite well for guitar clean sounds. Both of mine are as quiet as a church mouse.
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MB-1 Rules!!!!!!!!!
Been using it since early 90's both on stage and in the studio.
I paid full retail value when it was new, best investment in gear I made, besides my custom build basses.
Do get that tube stage working again though.
Might just be the tubes, but if not send it to MJMP for him to do his magic to it.
Peter
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Hey RG, definitely worth getting an MB1, fantastic bass preamp (I have 2, one live rack and one in my studio rack). So if tube setting doesn't work it needs some TLC. Most of the patches I use don't use the tube setting and you won't necessarily miss it but hey it should work. It's also a good candidate for a MDRT (both mine have MDRT). Also the last EPROM had some CC capability. If the price is right and you can send it to MJMP for an overhaul (which is what I did with my 2), you (or your bass player) will not be disappointed. It also works quite well for guitar clean sounds. Both of mine are as quiet as a church mouse.
Didn't think about MDRT or anything like that Richard but I'm taking you advice! This will be for me and my studio setup! Bass player doesn't deserve it :lol:
MB-1 Rules!!!!!!!!!
Been using it since early 90's both on stage and in the studio.
I paid full retail value when it was new, best investment in gear I made, besides my custom build basses.
Do get that tube stage working again though.
Might just be the tubes, but if not send it to MJMP for him to do his magic to it.
Peter
I knew you would say something similar to this Peter :thumb-up: Ok man well lets see what happens! I put an offer in so see if the guy bites!
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He drove a hard bargain the seller but I got it a bit cheaper from asking price. My thinking was it's not working 100% so you know drop the price :lol:
Hopefully I like it.
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Good Score :thumb-up: (well I hope the price was good and there's room for fixing and MDRT). I did a few posts in the MB-1 thread after I got mine, the CC stuff took a while to get my head around so I tried to explain it and make it easier for others who wanted to use it. In the end I just use the expression pedal master volume control. The only thing that didn't blow me away was the distortion option(s) not that I'm into distorted bass. I'll be very surprised if you don't like it allot :whoohoo!: .
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No really into distorted bass either.
Can you use tubes for clean sounds? Or is that all through the SS?
Hope this works out.
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Sure, unless you use the distortion feature all the sounds are clean. It's got heaps of great patches which emulate most well known bass amps and also for active or passive PUs. I've heard allot of different bass amps over the years, the MB-1 is way better than most of them IMHO. And direct in for recording you don't need any cab emulation, just take the full range out. Have a good read of the manual while you wait for it. There's a table at the back of all the different patches it comes with, very extensive list.
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No really into distorted bass either.
Can you use tubes for clean sounds? Or is that all through the SS?
Hope this works out.
Tube in the clean setting works just fine.
Big difference with the guitar pres is that tube and SS voices worked in parallel.
So you can set your tubes to a grind or distortion that is 'too much' on its own, but if you set the main SS voice nearly perfect, you can then mix in the tube until you hit the 'perfect' amount of grind, without loosing any bottom.
:headbanger: :headbanger: :metal: :metal:
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No really into distorted bass either.
Can you use tubes for clean sounds? Or is that all through the SS?
Hope this works out.
Tube in the clean setting works just fine.
Big difference with the guitar pres is that tube and SS voices worked in parallel.
So you can set your tubes to a grind or distortion that is 'too much' on its own, but if you set the main SS voice nearly perfect, you can then mix in the tube until you hit the 'perfect' amount of grind, without loosing any bottom.
:headbanger: :headbanger: :metal: :metal:
Interesting so its a blend of tube and SS. Is this for all patches?
I have it out of the box and was playing with and these is defo an issue with the tube. I factory reset it and any tube patches are completely silent.
Other pre-sets sound okish so these must be SS patches.
I did change the tubes to known working tubes so I wonder what the issue is????
I also think it is a lot more complex than the guitar preamp! Richard was right the manual will need reading. I have only glanced at it.
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Hey RG, :whoohoo!: . It's been a while since I got into all its ins and outs but I think you can have any blend of SS and tube just by adjusting the inputs and outputs for each stage as the tube and SS sections have separate controls which then combine just before the compressor/eq/chorus/loop. It also has 256 patches, why so many :dunno: . Also Peter posted a neat idea where you can make the loop parallel by using both of them but just use a short patch lead between the send/rtn of one of them, then the other behaves like a parallel loop because you don't break the signal path on the short patched one.The factory patches are not only set to emulate a large range of various bass preamps but also for either active or passive PUs. So the patches for active PUs have their gain set accordingly to accommodate the higher output of the active PUs. The table at the back of the manual has a list of them all but watch out for if any given patch is set for passive/active. I made a .doc and pdf version of the patch chart so I could print it A3 (pdf attached).I suspect it needs a Belgian holiday to get the tube stage sorted, an MDRT, latest EPROM (v2.05) and whatever else needs a refurbish (battery mod? etc). Then you'll have a great unit, super quiet, super versatile, really reliable. And when you really want to do your head in, get into what you can do with its CC. As I said, I just use it for overall unit master vol.
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I smell a Belgian holiday coming up as well! I might get it sent off before I even bother to play about with it.
Is it me or does this thing seem like it might be more complex than an MP1?
I noticed the rom I have loads up stating 2.05 so guess firmware I'm sorted then (makes a change). I always laugh that Micahel Wagener as knowledgeable as the man is saying how he thought the firmware in his MP1 made it sound better :lol:
Anyways Belgian holiday.......................who lives in Belgium that this MB-1 would want to visit?
I actually cannot wait to play it as mediocre as a bass player as I am. Me and my little Cort Action Jnr bass!
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Anyways Belgian holiday.......................who lives in Belgium that this MB-1 would want to visit?
Mmm don't know ::)
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Jean-Claude Van Damme of course! :whoohoo!: :lol:
Only messin!
I will be in touch MJMP! :thumb-up:
One thing I noticed from the MB-1 already is there is lots of nice bottom end. Know how there are two kinds, nice bottom (end) and annoying bottom end. So that's cool!
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Ok!
And yes it's more complicated then the MP-1, but not as bad as a MP-2.
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I wouldn't say it's way more complicated than a MP-1, just a bit different as it's purely designed for bass and what bass players need. So you have the tube and SS stages in parallel (combine as it suits) and then a strait forward path to the 2 fx loops. Where it really starts to mess with your head is the CC stuff, not so much what you can do with it, but how to set it up. That did take some reading/thinking/drinking to get my head around. But I spose I've had a MP-2 for a long time now and I just found it (the MP-2) a great leap forward from what I had in the MP-1. The only bit of the MP-2 I've never played around with is the macros. I'll get to them eventually, but then I don't have a huge need to drive that, just curiosity...
Maybe do a quick recording before you send it to Belgium so you can compare the MDRT vs stock tranny. Peter of course will know this as he's been on that journey. Both of my MB-1s came all souped up >:D so I've never got to compare, not that I mind, they are just amazing, with, as you have discovered, great bottom end. Man, running in stereo (Alembic > MB-1 > mixer > TC MOne (lite delay/reverb) > B200s > Messa P112 cabs), melt me....
Just had a look at the Cort Jnr, looks like a nice bass :thumb-up: BTW I'd recommend a set of Alembic CX-3/45/S short scale strings for it, it's what my Alembic SC Brown came with. Love them. Hex core, finishing wrap is an oval. The shorter axis of this elliptical wrap faces the fingerboard. So less fretting hand noise as you slide up and down and easier on your fingers (without killing the tone like flat wounds do). And they are made (length) for 2 aside tuners. Alembic have a retail site on Yahoo, so easy to buy.
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Ok!
And yes it's more complicated then the MP-1, but not as bad as a MP-2.
Hey MJMP, to a bassplayer it isn't more complicated. It has the functions you would expect on a 2 channel bass amp, you can always either/or the channels an semi-parametric EQs are parr for the course.
Only the effects loop (having 2 in parallel, but the section in series) is it bit getting used to but very useful :banana:
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Hey Peter, when you first put in a MDRT, what was your impression of the difference from stock? I've heard the comparison with MP-1 but both my MB-1s came with MDRT (which I'm very happy about :thumb-up: ). In the MP-1 the MDRT really opens up the dynamic range of the unit.
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To put things into perspective when I say complicated, it is compared to the MP-1. When I first got the MP-1 I didn't have to look at the manual to figure stuff out. I'm also at the disadvantage of when I look at the MB-1 my brain see s an MP-1 so the fact it doesn't operate the same makes it that little more difficult. Had I never used an MP-1 before I probably would not find it difficult but I'm almost certain I'd need the manual as it's not simply a case of edit and then start hitting the eq and going up and down, there are more options so I'd need to know what they all did first.
Anyways it's going on holiday :wave: I don't wanna touch it until it's right :lol: That's just how I am with my gear.
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Hey Peter, when you first put in a MDRT, what was your impression of the difference from stock? I've heard the comparison with MP-1 but both my MB-1s came with MDRT (which I'm very happy about :thumb-up: ). In the MP-1 the MDRT really opens up the dynamic range of the unit.
Moooooore dynamics, and that is so important, especially with bass.
Also the sound becomes tighter, which is also specially important with bass.
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Ok!
And yes it's more complicated then the MP-1, but not as bad as a MP-2.
Hey MJMP, to a bassplayer it isn't more complicated. It has the functions you would expect on a 2 channel bass amp, you can always either/or the channels an semi-parametric EQs are parr for the course.
Only the effects loop (having 2 in parallel, but the section in series) is it bit getting used to but very useful :banana:
I was actually talking about the electronics ;D Not on how to use it. I know the MB-1 very well.
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I was actually talking about the electronics ;D Not on how to use it. I know the MB-1 very well.
O:-) O:-)
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So I got one remember?
It was bust and the great MJMP, the master of all ADA fixed it for me! It was posted back to me last week and I got it by Friday! Only started playing yesterday and I love it.
I seem to recall thinking what was described above was complicated, but I think I figured out the controls no problem. They are quite intuitive.
Hit Edit
then you have a blend of Tube and SS of which you can select predetermined contours and control the mix of each by using the input for either one. Then you have your EQ which is self explanatory and master volume.
Now I'm sure I'll figure out more stuff but that's enough to get me up and running. I like the unit a lot. That chorus is nice! Just wondering is it normal to have a lot of hiss with the compressor? I suppose it is really.
Good preamp and its racked in my home setup already. Should be very useful for the album I'm working on.
Oh I like this idea of Peters, but could I get a little more info on how to use those loops in that way? Sorry stuff like this blows my mind until I see a diagram or something :lol:
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Hey RG, :whoohoo!: :thumb-up: . When/if you want to get (more) complicated, have a read of my post re CC control, there's a bunch you can do, in the end I just went with using expression pedal as master vol (for the whole unit). Did you get the MDRT in it? Both mine have and it works great (not that I've heard one without it. I've not had any noticeable hiss with the compressor :dunno: , not that I've chased a sound and manipulated it, I've just picked a few patches I like, 14 seems a good mainstay, so if they have compressor.... Peter should be able to shed some thoughts.
So I don't use the fx loops as I plug it into a desk and use the send/rtrns to add some reverb. Like the MP-1 loop, they are both series loops i.e. the fx is placed in the signal path (as opposed to mixed in like a parallel loop). But you have 2 loops, so to make one of them work like a parallel loop and "mix" in some fx without affecting the direct sound, you can plug a short patch lead between 1 of the loops send and return (basically guaranteeing the unaffected direct signal gets through) and whatever you patch in the other loop is combined/mixed with the direct signal.
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Oh I like this idea of Peters, but could I get a little more info on how to use those loops in that way? Sorry stuff like this blows my mind until I see a diagram or something :lol:
The Loop section is serial, but within the Loopsection A & B run parallel.
So if you use:
Loop A with just the Out & In connected with a short cable
Loop B with your effects unit
Then using Loop B will get you series effects, and using Loop A+B will give you parallel effects.\\
Of course with most modern effects units you can programm the series/parallel within the effects unit, however then your direct signal will always go through an AD and an DA conversion.
Using above system your direct signal will always be fully analogue
Peter