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Author Topic: A little advice needed from you Folks on a repair issue - already!  (Read 13906 times)

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DannyjoeCarter

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OK - I bought two ADA MP-1s last week. The first one arrived very poorly packed and I heard things rattling around and the tinkling sound of glass!! I refused the UPS order and sent it back to it's owner and will be getting full refund. Fine  :(

 Now the second came today in VERY clean condition cosmetically, however the unit has a very loud open ground sound and the gain is almost nothing, more like a subtle overdrive or boost. This is happening either in the front or rear inputs and I have tested it on the different power amps and in the fx returns of two different amps - all working in perfect order.
I'm hoping to get this unit fix because of how clean the unit is and the lady I bought it from it seems very cool.

 Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  :) 
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Kim

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  • If it's too Loud...you're gonna get more of THAT.

There's always going to be a "first place to start" when troubleshooting anything.  :)
With the MP-1, the first place to start is the tubes; swap in another pair that's known to be good and see what happens.  I can tell you that back in the day I personally "fixed" half a dozen or more MP-1s that I bought as "broken" by just changing the tubes.   :crazy:

Now, if you don't happen to have another pair of tubes lying about, shame on you.   :P It's considered to be a Rite of Passage to MP-1 Ownership to have a few extra pairs of different brands to experiment with!   ;)

Ok, if you don't have extra tubes, then tell us if the problem persists with just the 2 Tube Voicings or across all 3 Voicings. (S.S. Clean, Tube Clean, Tube Dist.)   
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DannyjoeCarter

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Thank you for the reply Kim!

 Yes it had generic no name tubes in it and I put a pair of JJs in it - got tons of tubes, EL34s, 6L6s ECC 83s 12AX7 etc.  ;D
No change at all. Weak gain and input and loud ground hum.

 Now SS and clean seem to be much less buzz but still buzzing. By the way I told by the former owner to make sure the selector switch was in line or instrument ( I remembered that from the old days ) but  have discovered that the 2.01 no longer had that feature.

 Also I tested the rear input ( 1.38 version didn't have instrument level, I'm learning fast here   ;D ) and problem still exists.
Also no error messages come on on power up.

Any other suggestions? Thank you by the way  :)
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rnolan

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Could be input jack  :dunno: (give them a good clean with decent contact cleaner), MJMP will no doubt suggest you check a few things and help you get it sorted.  Shame you had to send the other one back.  Although tinkling glass is not good  :facepalm: , but hey it might have just been a broken tube ??

Careful how you think about the different versions.  v2.01 was a firmware (EPROM) update.  The basic units also came in different (hardware) versions eg v1 with top switch etc.  You can put a v2.01 EPROM into an v1 but it's still a v1 so the EPROM version (eg 1.38, 2.00, 2.01) doesn't necessarily tell you what hardware version it is.

Also (as posted previously) the top switch on the v1 MP1s changes the main outputs from line to inst level, it has nothing to do with the rear (or front) inputs. It just affects the main out level for plugging it into a power amp (line level) or guitar amp (inst level).
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vansinn

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DannyjoeCarter

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Yeah I was bummed that BOTH units have been returned. The first one would have a nightmare filing a claim and just not worth it, IMHO. UPS doesn't generally deal with things too quickly and thinking that if it hit hard enough to break a tube or tubes and kn owing a second one was on the way I simply refused the delivery.

 As for the second, I shipped it back today - I just want a working unit not a "buy as is - needs work" model. I'm so excited to get back into my original sound so I'm being a little picky. When buying and the description says "Like New" and "Perfect working order" but doesn't turn out that way, well I'll get the right one.

 And rnolan thanks always for the advice; perhaps I am making an assumption that if I pop the hood and don't see the line/instrument slider switch it's a 2.01 or later model - could that still be a 1.38 version? Sorry for all the questions I'm just trying to catch up on all this stuff  :)

Thanks to everyone for the advice and help, you too van sinn!
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Kim

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  • If it's too Loud...you're gonna get more of THAT.

......perhaps I am making an assumption that if I pop the hood and don't see the line/instrument slider switch it's a 2.01 or later model - could that still be a 1.38 version?


I'm aware of four versions of two Levels (1.37  1.38  2.00  2.01). 
According to the Manual:
When you power up your MP-1, the display indicates which level of software is installed. On power-up, "ADA" is displayed first, followed by a 3 digit number. The first of these digits is the level of software installed. 

Level 1 software offers the following features: 100% compatibility with MIDI Spec 1.0. In addition, ADA has pioneered a phantom power system which sends AC power through a 7-pin MIDI cable to controllers such as ADA's MC-1 MIDI CONTROLLER.

Level 2 software offers upload and download of MP-1 parameters to computers with a MIDI interface using system exclusive messages. In addition, MP-I parameters may be accessed in real-time using SYSEXmessages.

Level 3 software will read MIDI Time Code for synchronizing with SMPTE Time Code devices. and will be able to store a Q-LIST of MTC program and parameter changes. These are the updates that we now know about. As MIDI evolves, so will the M P-1 , its capabilities will continue to expand!


I don't think the MP-1 development ever made it to Level 3 software though. The highest I've seen was 2.01...   :dunno:
The Level Switch was omitted from the v2.xx units but that was actually a design/hardware revision and not a software revision; the Level software eprom is interchangeable between both versions, so you could see 2.01 on the startup screen regardless of whether there's a Level Switch under the hood or not..
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MarshallJMP

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does the front input jack look like a "black box"?
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DannyjoeCarter

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OK really good info Kim!  :)

 And MarshallJMP, no there was a Switch craft style stereo jack in the input of the one I just returned. All the 1.38s I used to have had the black box input jack you are referring to. I believe the Switch craft style became the norm in the later models correct?
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MarshallJMP

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Yes the switchcraft was used on the V2.xx mp-1's.And these also had the instrument level rear input.
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DannyjoeCarter

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OK great - thanks as always Folks for the info!
I'm presently on Ebay right now as well as Reverb and am buying two more MP-1s - BOTH 2.01 versions!!
You guys have convinced me, for my own piece of mind the 2.01s are the way to go for me, especially how I want and need them to run - YOU ROCK!!  :banana:
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rnolan

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 :whoohoo!: , hope these work out  :thumb-up:
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DannyjoeCarter

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I think things should be fine now - hopefully!

I bought two more today, one from Reverb and one from Ebay. Both were 2.01s which is what I'm gonna stick with. Plus there's another one that seems to have a little rust on some of the screws and looks a little hammered but the sellers claims it works and sounds great so I may snag it for purely backup or parts.
 That seems to be the best way to go seeing how none of the ADA stuff is being made any longer  :(
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rnolan

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That's why I bought 3 more MP2s, well one for the studio rig but 2 for spares.  Fortuitously they all work well (for now).
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MarshallJMP

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For the mp-1 I have all the parts (even the obsolete ones) , the one thing I don't have are new face plates. So you're covered  ;D
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