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Author Topic: MP2 prices?  (Read 6296 times)

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j4q0

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MP2 prices?
« on: Time Format »

Hey guys,

I might regret this, it's been a while since I've played my ADA gear and since I'm playing my 5153 all the time I'd like to sell my MP2 and I was wondering if anybody can comment on what are the ongoing prices.
The unit works flawlessly and is in pristine condition with only a few scratches on the top cover.

Cheers!
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rnolan

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #1 on: Time Format »

Hey j4q0, yes you will regret it  :facepalm: , IMHO the MP-2 is the best preamp ever (although I haven't tried a classic yet and that may sway me  :dunno: ).  Ok so your in Canada, this means it's 110v ? and shipping will be relative to where you are (often the cost of shipping kills the deal).
Over time I've bought 5 MP-2s, my price point for a good working unit (without the MXC pedal pack) is around $500 AUD delivered (so around $497 CAD).
Remembering though I'd be up for new tubes (what tubes are in it BTW??), the front jack needs changing (not a biggie), probably the display screen is fading, again not a biggie to change out, and then there's the noise mod (21 caps and 1 (or 2) resistors), this is a bigger job although not necessarily essential depending how you play.  MP-2s are also now very much in needing new memory battery territory.
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j4q0

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #2 on: Time Format »

Thanks for the reply.
I did have a classic and it was my main rig together with a mesa 2:90 for about 10 years in the early 2k. I loved that unit but wanted something different and also got tired of buttons instead of knobs.
The Classic used to sound very well with everything flat and perhaps a bit of eq tweaking depending on the application, loved the chorus and the noise gate and the brown channel was way better than the distortion channel, only thing I didn't like was that it wasn't a high gain channel.

I find it a bit hard to program the MP2 with a sound I like and the high gain distortion is not as tight as my 5153 so that's why I left it behind for several months already. Perhaps I can get some tips on programming the unit? If I can get a high gain tone heavy and tight similar Down - Nola album, lamb of god or Megadeth latest albums... I'll be happy camper.

I'll answer your questions and i have a couple more if you don't mind:
- Yes 110v.
- Every single musician that buys music gear over the internet pays shipping for literally everything so I can't do anything about shipping as shipping is shipping.
- Price wise I prefer to convert all to USD so we're talking about $370 USD, now when you say delivered that means that the unit was about $300 USD?
- It has the original tubes, I tried a couple of mullards and there's not much of a difference honestly, perhaps because I haven't played it loud enough.
- Front jack works without any problems, when you say it needs to be replaced does this have a significant improvement on the tone of the unit?
- Display screen not fading at all  :headbanger:
- No noise mod performed as the original owner told me.
- Battery, I've had it for about a year and a half and I haven't had any problem with the battery.

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rnolan

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #3 on: Time Format »

Hey j4q0, hey happy to help with MP-2 programming, there's a few of my patches in the MP-2 patch section which are probably a good starting point, they all work at stage volume.  I found the Mullard long plates really 3D and suit my style of playing, but yes this was at stage volume.

Answers:
Yes $300 USD would be a decent price (IMHO) for a stock MP-2 in good condition.  It costs around $100 AUD to get one to Australia.
The original tubes will be quite old now, but it depends how much use they've had as to their condition.
The front jack is mostly a maintenance thing as it takes lots of ware over the years, again depending on use. It's a cheap and easy change. but if it's not broken or degraded....
The memory battery is now many years old, way past what ADA advised re lifespan.  It's a 3v lithium (a CR2032 works as a replacement).  You can measure it to check, it needs to be 2.7v or better.  We've had lots of MP-1 batteries dying in recent years and the MP-2s are starting to fade now as well. The upshot of a flat battery will just mean you loose all your patches, so write them down and/or back them up via midi sysex dump.  Also changing the battery will loose your patches, I think MJMP has a method to do it without patch loss, well for MP-1 not sure re MP-2.
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #4 on: Time Format »

Hey j4q0,

     I have two MP-2's and I'll admit they can be a pain to get a tone tailored to your needs, but it can be done and it's worth the time to sit down with it. I'm sure you can get the type of tones that you describe in your post, although I haven't heard anything from the bands you listed lately. I do know the MP-2 can keep up with modern guitar amps quite easily, so if you sell it, you'll more than likely have sellers remorse afterwards.
    I do have a Classic rig set up for my main tones, and I wouldn't part with that, but I still use the MP-2 rig with it for some of the heavier tones I cant get from the Classic, and for some of the lead tones.
    I haven't replaced the input jacks on either of my MP-2's they are fine, so no need. I also haven't done any noise mods on them and it isn't that much of an issue. However, I do agree with Richard about the tubes. long plate Mullards, do make a difference in the quality of the sound but you need to have it up to stage volume to hear it.
    If I need to do a battery change in either of them, I wouldn't worry about memory loss, as I've dumped the same programs into both of my MP-2's, via MIDI SYSEX Dump. IF I didn't have that option, I would have saved them into my laptop, as there are MIDI librarian programs that will do that. You just need a USB to MIDI cable to accomplish this, and those are cheap.
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j4q0

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #5 on: Time Format »

Time to report back.

This past week I got some time alone with my MP2 and went through the MP-2 patches section of the site and copied them all one by one so I can use them as a good starting point to create a patch of my own.

I’ve relearned how important is the speaker cabinet and power amp for one’s tone, most of these high gain patches did not work with my rig at all, they had either too much low end or too much high end.
I also relearned how every guitar player has their own definition of clean tone  :))
Some of these patches I would never use but I can easily hear other people playing them. It always comes down to the same thing: There is no wrong tone, only different tones for every single situation.
 
As a reference, the gear I’m paring this unit is:
Power section of a 5153 modded to accept EL34,
2x12 closed back cab with Celestion K100
Custom made set neck guitar, mahogany body and neck, ebony fretboard, B&BXL500 on the bridge and SD59 on the neck
Custom made N4, mahogany body with 1/4” maple top, maple neck and ebony fretboard, B&BXL500 on the bridge and SD Jazz on the neck

So, the patches that became my starting points were Kim's 5150 and Mesa Rectogasm, as well as Dante's killer dirty and clean patches. These are the closest thing to what I hear in my head when i think of a guitar tone.
It’s a bit hard not to get lost in the infinite possibilities of tone when you have a 4-band tone stack plus a 9-band graphic eq and each of the 9 voicing has a different tone character; however, once I became acquainted with the characteristics of each voice, it was a lot easier and faster to match my reference tone and go from there.
I also found interesting that although you can get a decent tone without the need of the graphic eq, it is necessary if you want a modern tone with good note definition specially at high gain settings.
 
Having a built-in compressor is another great tool for the cleans, I don’t like too much compression so the lower settings worked great for me and were easy to set up. All the other effects are just great, good wha options, nice tremolo and of course amazing chorus, but we all knew that already.

When comparing the high gain from the head with the MP2, the head seemed noiseless, so the noise reduction does its job well done. I really like riding the knob of the guitar so needing the noise reduction was a bit annoying.

Voicing 7 has enough gain for my high gain needs even though I tend to go for very high gain settings for my Pantera fix every once in a while. Another thing I relearned is that at higher volumes the OD is more obvious and you don’t need as much as you think you need; I haven’t played live in a while so I’ve lost a bit of perspective on this point and only remembered this when I cranked the amp loud enough make the house rumble :headbanger:
The way voicings 8-9 saturate causes the tone to lack tightness and to get wooly. I really enjoy the voicing 5 as a crunch tone and all the clean tones are fun as well. For high gain, I haven’t been able to distinguish between setting the DRIVE to 90 and OD to 50 and viceversa, so I’ve kept them both at about the same setting around 7-8, this also helped me reduce the noise.

I did end up with a very good tone on voicing 7, very close to my 5153 and with the help of the graphic EQ I could bring up some mid high frequencies I think benefits the guitar tone for both rhythm and lead. I always wished when I had the MP1 classic it had a graphic eq to fine-tune it so this is definitely a great tool to have. This tone was versatile enough and the gain setting allowed me to turn off the noise reduction without being overly noisy and it allowed me to get some nice crunch tones with the guitar volume rolled back. The MP2 does respond better than the MP1 and the MP1 classic in this depertment, when rolling down the vol the guitar tone retains a bit of the highs, though not quite as well as my 5153 or my other amp. And talking about the MP1 classic I have to say that the brown voicing in that unit is just as good as it gets for crunch tones.

And as much as I love MIDI integration and MIDI control, at this point tone is a priority for me so I didn’t fiddle with either the effects loop or the MIDI real time control. Both my MP1 and MP1 classic effects loop worked great so I would only assume the MP2 was just as good with the added flexibility of having independent mix for A and B signals. Real time control is very useful so I’m pretty sure I would love to set some expression controllers for some interesting morphing tones.

Overall, I do think that the MP2 can keep up with any modern amp/preamp and can give you anything you want from ridiculous spanky overcompressed cleans to insanely crushing high gain, you just need to spend a bit of time learning its programming and tone control response.
I do think that for me, I just keep fighting the unit in the noise department and I feel more confortable playing my other 2 amps. I’m also preferring knobs these days.

So, to sell or not to sell. Keep it in a rack case collecting dust until I decide I’ve had enough of knobs or sell it to fund other new toys, oh guitar player's dilemas… :crazy: :lol:

It would be very cool for somebody to try this patch and comment back. I'd like to hear your impressions when running it though different power amp/speaker combo.

The Tone
Voicing: 7 Warm high gain
Drive: 75
Overdrive: 80
Master: 82

Compressor: Out

Tone Controls
Low: +4
Mid: 0
Hi: +2
Pres: +2

Graphic EQ
100 Hz: +6
170 Hz: +4
280 Hz: 0
470 Hz: +6
800 Hz: 0
1.3 kHz: +2
2.2 kHz: 0
3.8 kHz: +2
6.3 kHz: +8

Wha: Out
Tremolo: Out
Noise: Out (or Gate, 50%)
Chorus: Out
Loop: Out

« Last Edit: Time Format by j4q0 »
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rnolan

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #6 on: Time Format »

Hey j4q0, nice write up  :thumb-up: , and a good way to approach learning a MP-2. The one MP-2 CC I use always is the stereo mater vol, which can only be accessed via CC pedal.  I've taken to using voice 5 for most things and rolling the vol pots on the guitar and using the CC master vol pedal to boost vol for solos.  Don't know if you tried my patches  :dunno: , but they work at stage level (where I ran them up..) albeit with ultrasonic PUs, Anderson Proam (basswood body, pau ferro fingerboard.  They also work fine with my JPLP.
If your unit is too noisy with higher gain voices, you can do the noise mod (HG is where it helps the most BTW, if you stay at voice 5 there's no need for it).

I've not played around with the MP-2 macros yet, they could be fun  :headbanger:
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j4q0

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #7 on: Time Format »

I copied into my MP2 every patch I could find on the patch page which was about 36 or so, I was being anal about it  :crazy:  :lol:
I'm 100% positive I tried some of your patches. I did play them all at fairly loud volume and a bunch of them did not work for me at all. After I really understood how to set up the unit I went back to play all the patches again and fiddled a bit with the EQ.

Since every patch (almost all of them at least) relies on the graphic EQ to get a specific sound, I realized that after a while I ended up setting the graphic EQ fairly similar regardless of what patch I was in so it would match the tone I was hearing in my head. In the end I settled for voicing 7 as liked the bit more chunky tone of the high gain, I did like voicing 5 too but wha can I say... I like high gain and I cannot lie  :banana-guitar:

I got a buyer for the unit so I'm parting with it for the time being.
And honestly, if ADA was to issue an updated version of the MP units with rotary knobs/encoders I would not hesitate one second on getting one.

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rnolan

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #8 on: Time Format »

When I first got my MP-2 I used voice 9 for most things, back then I was much more into high gain (so I hear ya  >:D ).  These days my old rhythm sound is now my over the top lead... hence I've gravitated to voice 5.  I agree, the interface could be improved, I've though about it over the years, although once you have set up you basic patches and are happy, you (I) rarely touch the patches..
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Dante

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #9 on: Time Format »

Nice writeup indeed  :thumb-up: I'm glad you were able to use some of my settings. I too run into the problem of other folks' patches simply not working for me. It boils down to all the other gear that plays a part in the tone. Your memories of the Classic are pretty spot on, I use the brown voicing more than the distortion. With an external eq (in my fx unit), I can get a good high gain and even metal tone from it, but only with the distortion. The brown channel really comes alive at higher volumes for me, and the picking dynamics are way better than the MP-2, IMHO.

Harley taught me a great deal about the MP-2's graphic eq, in that you would be surprised how much one freq can change the tone (for better or worse). Now, I just don't pay attention to what I'm seeing, I trust my ears. I've actually been playing with my MP-2 lately and trying like hell to fix up my Classic, so I may have some new updated patches very soon.

Of course, they may be useful, or useless, because I'm running the unit through my Crate Powerbloc, plugged into my H&K 4x12 cab, which seems to be a bassy rig. We'll see

BTW: don't let that unit go

Soloist

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Re: MP2 prices?
« Reply #10 on: Time Format »

Hey there j4q0, I tried your patch today.
With my set up its too  upper-mid heavy, so I bumped up the lows a little and dropped the 6.3 khz a bit and bam!!! Nice tone :thumb-up:
Keep in mind I also run an eq inline reverse smiley.
Try my main metal tone
Voice 9
Drive 90
OD 90
Mstr 74
Comp in 1.5:1
Low +2
Mid -6
High +2
Pres 0

100 +8
170 +8
280 +4
470 0
800 0
1.3 +4
2.2 +4
3.8 +4
6.3 +4
Wah out
Trem out
Gate in 35
Chrs out
« Last Edit: Time Format by Soloist »
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Fractal Audio FM3 ver 1.06
Boss GT 100 ver.2.11
Switching- Radial Engineering Big Shot I/O v2 - Radial Engineering Pro D2 Stereo Direct Box
Power - Live Wire Power Conditioning Distribution System
Monitors  - (2) FRFR-112 Headrush Stage monitors
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ADA gear: MP1- MP2 - MT200
Studio gear- way too much to list.
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