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ADA Preamps => Original MP-1 => Topic started by: Chamai on November 13, 2014, 12:44:30 AM

Title: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 13, 2014, 12:44:30 AM
I just want to know if anyone boost their mp1's before the preamp?

i do a lot of palm muting and i feel that I don't get a tight enough sound without a boost pedal of some sort. the mp1 has more than enough gain for me, but its lacking the tightness and gain compression.

right now i am using a tube screamer in the front with gain set to 0. this gives me the tightness when i palm mute. but it does change the sound of the ada.

i would love to know what people use to give the mp1 a little more punch.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Systematic Chaos on November 13, 2014, 01:32:42 AM
I had pretty good results boosting my Mod3.1 with an MXR GT-OD...
While not altering the overall character of the MP1 it gives a boost and adds a certain depth (not oomph)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on November 13, 2014, 05:38:28 AM
Hey Chamai, interesting question, I put nothing in front (and I'd avoid anything that doesn't give me an analogue pass threw (I try not to digitize my sound but add/mix in digital FX)), also (and I also do allot of palm muting) I've never had an issue with MP1/2 in that regard  :???: .  Tubes can make a difference here (what are you using ??). BTW (being clinical) tubes don't typically compress (i.e. reduce dynamic range, they have a very wide dynamic range), but they can be driven to clip (distortion is what we do  >:D ) which has a dynamic range (compression like) effect (if you think about it).
I do know that when you run allot of gain, you need to control it with both left and right hand muting (but hey, I grew up with Marshalls, no master volume control, learn to drive or squeal like a pig LOL)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 13, 2014, 09:18:55 AM
thanks for the write up rnolan.
I guess I am just after a certain type of sound that needs the amp to be overdriven/boost a little. again, im not going after more distortion. I run my jcm 900 with a tube screamer as well. i guess i just love the tube screamer.

i do want to avoid having pedals in the front coz i want to keep my ada setup and all rack rig. i tried using my gsp 21 pro in the loop to overdrive the mp1, but it sounds really thin if i do that. all the bass is gone. im looking for a rack overdrive (not preamp) that i can put infront of the ada. here is my setup right now:

guitar --> tube screamer (0 gain) -->mxr 10 band eq --> ada mp1 --loop--> digitech dsp21 pro --> 31 band eq

really wanna replace that tube screamer with a rack effect! im opened to suggestions.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 13, 2014, 11:48:47 AM
I had pretty good results boosting my Mod3.1 with an MXR GT-OD...
While not altering the overall character of the MP1 it gives a boost and adds a certain depth (not oomph)


any experience using a treble boost instead of a od?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on November 14, 2014, 01:03:32 AM
Anyone who uses a wah pedal before their MP1 (sorry I'm being glib LOL)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: RobbHell on November 17, 2014, 09:03:35 AM
I use passive pickups and use a compressor before the ADA and a Eq in the loop. Heavy palm muting is no problem.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on November 17, 2014, 12:20:00 PM
With my original mp-1 i used to use a boss GE-7 eq with a reversed smiley (mid boost).
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Dante on November 17, 2014, 04:23:11 PM
thanks for the write up rnolan.
I guess I am just after a certain type of sound that needs the amp to be overdriven/boost a little. again, im not going after more distortion. I run my jcm 900 with a tube screamer as well. i guess i just love the tube screamer.

i do want to avoid having pedals in the front coz i want to keep my ada setup and all rack rig. i tried using my gsp 21 pro in the loop to overdrive the mp1, but it sounds really thin if i do that. all the bass is gone. im looking for a rack overdrive (not preamp) that i can put infront of the ada. here is my setup right now:

guitar --> tube screamer (0 gain) -->mxr 10 band eq --> ada mp1 --loop--> digitech dsp21 pro --> 31 band eq

really wanna replace that tube screamer with a rack effect! im opened to suggestions.
I've tried to replace my old Tubescreamer since 1991 with all kinds of gear (rack gear included). It's the one pedal I still have
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: kawai2g4b on November 17, 2014, 08:14:48 PM
I will boost it with one of my on board guitar preamps, a la BC Rich (though I don't have an actual one), and manipulate the varitone circuit for EQ shaping.  Works like a charm with the MP-1.  I just got an old Yamaha Overdrive pedal and will try it through the MP-1 for you guys.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 23, 2014, 09:35:49 PM
thinking of getting a boss sd 1 for the front. i have a tube screamer. its too warm and muddy sounding for me. i want to get a little more sharpness.

there is a few furman pq 3's for sale locally. i heard some guys put those infront of the mp1 for boost. anyone here tried it?
n   
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on November 24, 2014, 03:46:23 AM
Hey Chamai, I've always liked MP1/2 how they are and never wanted to put something in front, but whatever gets the tone you want. You could add the tube screamer in the MP1 loop, not quite 3TM but then similar in some ways  >:D . You could try a bit more presence/treb for sharpness ?
Cheers R
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 24, 2014, 09:05:25 AM
Hey Chamai, I've always liked MP1/2 how they are and never wanted to put something in front, but whatever gets the tone you want. You could add the tube screamer in the MP1 loop, not quite 3TM but then similar in some ways  >:D . You could try a bit more presence/treb for sharpness ?
Cheers R

i prob just like high gain sounding stuff. just wondering, since i have 2 mp1's, is there a way where i can hook up my 2nd mp1 to the 1st to use as a boost?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Systematic Chaos on November 24, 2014, 11:34:26 AM
IIRC Alex Skolnik used an MP-1 in front of a 50W Marshall JCM900 for Souls, The Ritual and Handful of Rain....
Some Quotes:

How did you get your tone on the Testament album Souls of Black?

For some reason, more people ask about this sound than any other. It was my usual rig at that time which consisted of an ADA MP1 Preamp and Marshall JCM 900. I think any Marshall head will do, the only thing is it has to be set clean, as all your overdrive comes from the MP1. Usually preamps are put through power-amps, not Marshall heads, so doing it this way creates a lot of overdrive and it's a very noisy rig. But the sound was worth it. You shouldn't have too much overdrive on the MP1 either; a little bit goes a long way. Also, a pretty even balance between bass, mid and treble, not too much presence.

From "Guitar fro the Practicing Musician 12/94" (Savage Handful Of Rain era):

"Rhythm parts were played by both Jon and Alex using Criss Oliva's old Charvel Jackson guitar, dubbed "the Gargoyle." According to Alex, this guitar has the distinct sound of Savatage. "We had six rhythm tracks for each song, all with different guitars. Usually we ended up going for a track of the Gargoyle and a track of my Ibanez in the background," he recounts. "The Gargoyle sounded best each time for the rhythm tone, but the lead sound was my guitar and tone. A lot of rhythms were going straight through an amp Jon gave me, one of the best sounding Marshalls I've ever heard. When I ran my gear through it, we got a wide variety of tone. Depending on the dynamics, it reminded me of quiet Beck or when cranked up, like early Van Halen, which is my favorite tone in the world. This 50-watt JCM 900 from Thoroughbred Music was a dream amp. When Jon gave it to me I was speechless. I don't know if I want to take it out on the road because it sounds so good. It might just be a studio head."

"The result is that this record has some of the best tone I've ever gotten," Alex claims. "We ran it through the ADA MP-1 preamp, which I've used for years. Running through the ADA added a richer sustain sound, which is better for solos. In fact all I brought for this trip was a guitar and preamp -- there was my sound. I like a little dirt. I mean, I love Allan Holdsworth's playing -- he is a revolutionary player -- but he is so clean it's almost non-human. I apprecaite what Steve Vai does as well, but it's perfect. That's cool, but somehow Eddie Van Halen -- especially the early stuff -- there's this touch of dirt. There's a touch of slop that makes it more human. It sounds like it's on the edge. I like that."
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Duke of Metal on November 24, 2014, 07:22:45 PM
I used to use (and still do sometimes) an MXR Microamp (white single dial booster).  I used it with my MP-1 3TM when I had Duncan Distortion SH-6B in my lespaul.  But after I swapped them out for Duncan Blackouts, I didn't the MXR As much anymore. I still have it and have the dial set very very low.  You barely hear a difference.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on November 25, 2014, 02:35:26 AM
i prob just like high gain sounding stuff. just wondering, since i have 2 mp1's, is there a way where i can hook up my 2nd mp1 to the 1st to use as a boost?
There's a post elsewhere here about this idea, it can work and in that thread I talked about how best to do it gain wise (but depended partly on having early model MP1 with inst/line switch on top of MP1), consensus was, while it's possible, it would be very noisy. I have some ideas that may get you more what your after, check your PM, we need to have a gain structure conversation.
R
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on November 25, 2014, 07:37:05 PM
i prob just like high gain sounding stuff. just wondering, since i have 2 mp1's, is there a way where i can hook up my 2nd mp1 to the 1st to use as a boost?
There's a post elsewhere here about this idea, it can work and in that thread I talked about how best to do it gain wise (but depended partly on having early model MP1 with inst/line switch on top of MP1), consensus was, while it's possible, it would be very noisy. I have some ideas that may get you more what your after, check your PM, we need to have a gain structure conversation.
R

got your pm, thanks for taking the time to help me out

both of my mp1's are the early with the inst/line switch on top. so maybe im in luck. I was wondering whats the best way to hook these 2 units up.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on November 26, 2014, 04:50:17 AM
Hey Chamai, the inst/line level is about the gain structure.  if for e.g. you want to run an MP1 into > MP1 then you'd set the 1st MP1 to Inst level Output level (or you'll grossly overload the 2nd MP1 input (which is expecting guitar level (Instm/millivolts))). Have a search for other posts on this idea and also putting 1st MP1 in 2nd MP1 loop
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on November 27, 2014, 02:44:19 AM
Boss Vintage Overdrive OD-1 set at 0 and level at 50 brings a massive chunk into the sound if it is sounding a little to "open" on your mp1.  Compressor can help too.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Gemini75 on December 01, 2014, 03:01:49 AM
I've found an Ibby tube screamer to be indispensable for hi-gain tones. Tightens the tone up in a much more pleasing fashion than does the Boss SD-1, at least to my ears it does.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 02, 2014, 12:17:18 AM
i still haven't really figured out how to bridge 2 mp1's together to make it sound good. so i prob just give up on that idea.

seems like quite a few here use some sort of boost in the front here. after playing around with the mp1 more, its got a lot of gain. but imo, the mp1 lacks a little bit of depth and tightness. just picked up a bad monkey od pedal, my new fav pedal. it doesn't mess with the tone of the ada and it gives the push i need.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Gemini75 on December 02, 2014, 02:59:04 AM
No lack of gain on the MP-1, but it can sound a little too loose tone-wise when going into hi-gain territory. I'm using a TS9 atm, but think I'll splurge on a Maxon 808.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Soloist on December 16, 2014, 10:47:49 PM
I am running a Boss CS3 compressor in front. I use it for a lead boost, it can be a bit noisy on certain patches so I run a Boss NS2 in front of it with the compressor in the NS2's loop. Works great! I was thinking of running my Boss GE7 either in front or in the MP-1's FX loop.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 29, 2014, 03:09:04 AM
a buddy of mine had a pair of old rocktron s112 cabsfrom the 90's (before they put vintage 30's in) these speakers work so well with the ada. i heard these speakers were meant for modelling so they sound quite flat. the celestions i was rocking sounded very muddy. but damn, these rocktron cabs made everything so crisp and clear. i have to say, speakers really play a huge part in the overall tone. i was messing with eq and all that stuff for months but couldn't get a good sound, now i am 100% happy.

also i took a gamble with a mxr micro amp, man, this thing really helped with the overall sound. it gave the distortion a little more hair. i set this thing at 9-10 o clock depending on guitar. most useful pedal i have right now.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on December 29, 2014, 07:38:44 AM
Hey Chamai, all the bits count, and speakers (as you say) are very important, it's really all a balance to get the tone you want. So your new speakers are cooking for you  :thumb-up: :whoohoo!:
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 06, 2015, 10:18:06 PM
Hey Chamai, all the bits count, and speakers (as you say) are very important, it's really all a balance to get the tone you want. So your new speakers are cooking for you  :thumb-up: :whoohoo!:

for sure, i seriously never though these small rockron 1x12 can get the sound i was looking for. i was ready to buy a pair of marshall stacks. thank god my friend likes to buy random useless gear that ends up at my house.

i am ready to upgrade my fx processor to better. i am really looking for something that has an amazing analog chorus. i really don't care about other effects like reverb or delay, since i have a dedicated unit for that. stuff on ebay is expensive and way overpriced.

i do have a tc g major but that thing is hooked up to my jcm 900. and it sounds a little too modern. but sound quality wise, my gsp 21 is a joke compared to that thing.

p.s just bought a rivera rock crusher. it's sure tough trying to build 2 guitar rigs at the same time.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 06, 2015, 11:43:09 PM
Rock crusher looks useful. I have one of the first of this idea, Tom Shultz power soak, I use it with my '72 Marshall 50w which doesn't have master vol (so I can get a decent sound and still be in the same room LOL). MP1 changed all that... :whoohoo!: .
There's a few posts re analogue chorus options, IIRC the early TCs ?? (like Edge U2 uses) got a good mention. Is the ADA chorus not enough ? or is this for you Marshall rig ?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 07, 2015, 12:14:21 AM
Rock crusher looks useful. I have one of the first of this idea, Tom Shultz power soak, I use it with my '72 Marshall 50w which doesn't have master vol (so I can get a decent sound and still be in the same room LOL). MP1 changed all that... :whoohoo!: .
There's a few posts re analogue chorus options, IIRC the early TCs ?? (like Edge U2 uses) got a good mention. Is the ADA chorus not enough ? or is this for you Marshall rig ?
there is something about that crank marshall tone that nothing can replicate. i really love my jcm 900, but it sound like complete crap at low volumes. i cranked it to 4 once and it was unbearable. i find that old school marshalls are not very forgiving at low volumes. i have 2 good buds who just bought themselves a DSL40 combo and it sounds half decent even bed room levels. not great, but it's usable.

the ada chorus is not enough. a S.S patch with chorus is not bad, but when i use distortion with the ada chorus, it doesn't work for me. sorry ada users! i can't fine tune the tone of the chorus and it changes the characteristics of the distortion. all my patches are somewhat similar to a hot rod marhshall tone. but once i kick in the chorus on the ada, i kinda lose that marshall tone. i only use a touch of chorus to smooth out my tone a little. just think "def leppard hysteria" type of sound,

i would love to get my hands on a TC 1210, but damn that thing is pricey.

just wondering, do have any experience running effects through a mixer? i see some pictures where people run all their effects into a rack mixer instead of running it in the loop of the pre amp (ada) i believe this gives the player even more room to fine tune their sound. if its not too much trouble, please explain how this works. lots of guys from the 80's actually have a mixer in their rack.

when i bought my first mp1 a few months back, i was pretty happy with just the mp1 running into a speaker cab, my setup keeps growing and i am constantly searching for gear.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Soloist on January 07, 2015, 09:37:02 AM
I use the Alesis multimix8 line rack mixer, it gives you 8 channels and a beautiful stereo fx loop. As far as the chorus goes I also want that Def Leppard wet chorusy sound the best chorus I have found so far is an Alesis Quadraverb. Best chorus I ever heard.
Marshall Dsl40c, I have one of those. I was never happy with it at any volume. The C19 mod did help it some but the Jmp1 runs circles around it at any volume.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 08, 2015, 12:41:26 AM
Hey Chamai, quite a few rants from me about this in various posts. I've always used a mixer in much the same way I'd set up a live mix with a PA. It does give you more control and also lets you keep the ADA analogue signal all the way to the cabs. The Alesis that Soloist is using (relatively new offering) is a perfect choice though only has one stereo send return, so good for one stereo effect (or you can chain effects within the loop). But it is 1RU rack mount so nice and tidy.
I have an old Yamaha AM802, 8 inputs and 3 (mono) FX/Aux sends. It works well but where to mount it so you can leave it cabled up.  I have mine velcro'd (industrial strength velcro) to the bottom of my rack (tidyer than when I used to gaph it to the bottom (or earlier I gaphed it to the back lid and flipped it over onto the top)). Also my MP2 has stereo parallel loop (similar to Alesis MM8). Mixers are basically virtical input strips (channels) and horizontal bus lines which the channels feed. The main bus is the L/R mix bus, on AM802 the are also 3 FX/Aux buses so you can control how much of each channel is fed to any of the buses, Fader feeds the mix bus and FX/Aux send knobs feed the Aux buses. Main mix goes to poweramp, Aux buses 1 and 2 go to Quadverb L/R in, L/R out return to 2 channels, Aux 3 goes to IPS33 in, out A/B again down 2 channels (which also get sent to QV via Aux 1 and 2). Careful you don't send them back to themselves or they feedback (badly LOL) but this is mixing 101 stuff. I also have a Midiverb 4 in the MP2 loop but haven't used it much yet.
One down side of MP1 loop (apart from being mono) (same for most amp loops BTW) is it's serial so all your signal goes into the loop. This isn't so bad with analogue FXs but not the best way with digital FXs (eg the first thing a TC GMaj does is A/D the signal so there goes the analogue). There's a number of post from myself and MikeB about this and we proved it sounds much better not committing you whole signal to the TC. Mike uses an ART split mix to make a stereo loop after his MP1 (details in other posts). This is probably the cheapest solution and the ART is passive so no power required for it. The MM8 is the tidiest (I just wish it had more sends) and not sure what they cost (Soloist ?). I've been designing some thing similar (in my head) for years. I was thinking 2 RU, all tube input and 6 sends.
I you're happy with a desk style mixer, the new Carvin range looks interesting.  They have a 12 channel with 6 monitor sends and 2 FX sends IIRC. The difference between a monitor send and FX send is whether the signal fed into the send comes from before of after the channels fader/vol. In live PA situations, you don't want the channel vol affecting the monitor vol but you do want it affecting the FX vol.  For what we are discussing here, once it's set you rarely touch it so using monitor or FX sends would make little difference. So IMO the Carvin would be a good choice and allow you to "parallel loop" 4 stereo or 8 mono FXs and send any of their outputs to any of the others as required/desired.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 08, 2015, 09:39:53 AM
Hey Chamai, quite a few rants from me about this in various posts. I've always used a mixer in much the same way I'd set up a live mix with a PA. It does give you more control and also lets you keep the ADA analogue signal all the way to the cabs. The Alesis that Soloist is using (relatively new offering) is a perfect choice though only has one stereo send return, so good for one stereo effect (or you can chain effects within the loop). But it is 1RU rack mount so nice and tidy.
I have an old Yamaha AM802, 8 inputs and 3 (mono) FX/Aux sends. It works well but where to mount it so you can leave it cabled up.  I have mine velcro'd (industrial strength velcro) to the bottom of my rack (tidyer than when I used to gaph it to the bottom (or earlier I gaphed it to the back lid and flipped it over onto the top)). Also my MP2 has stereo parallel loop (similar to Alesis MM8). Mixers are basically virtical input strips (channels) and horizontal bus lines which the channels feed. The main bus is the L/R mix bus, on AM802 the are also 3 FX/Aux buses so you can control how much of each channel is fed to any of the buses, Fader feeds the mix bus and FX/Aux send knobs feed the Aux buses. Main mix goes to poweramp, Aux buses 1 and 2 go to Quadverb L/R in, L/R out return to 2 channels, Aux 3 goes to IPS33 in, out A/B again down 2 channels (which also get sent to QV via Aux 1 and 2). Careful you don't send them back to themselves or they feedback (badly LOL) but this is mixing 101 stuff. I also have a Midiverb 4 in the MP2 loop but haven't used it much yet.
One down side of MP1 loop (apart from being mono) (same for most amp loops BTW) is it's serial so all your signal goes into the loop. This isn't so bad with analogue FXs but not the best way with digital FXs (eg the first thing a TC GMaj does is A/D the signal so there goes the analogue). There's a number of post from myself and MikeB about this and we proved it sounds much better not committing you whole signal to the TC. Mike uses an ART split mix to make a stereo loop after his MP1 (details in other posts). This is probably the cheapest solution and the ART is passive so no power required for it. The MM8 is the tidiest (I just wish it had more sends) and not sure what they cost (Soloist ?). I've been designing some thing similar (in my head) for years. I was thinking 2 RU, all tube input and 6 sends.
I you're happy with a desk style mixer, the new Carvin range looks interesting.  They have a 12 channel with 6 monitor sends and 2 FX sends IIRC. The difference between a monitor send and FX send is whether the signal fed into the send comes from before of after the channels fader/vol. In live PA situations, you don't want the channel vol affecting the monitor vol but you do want it affecting the FX vol.  For what we are discussing here, once it's set you rarely touch it so using monitor or FX sends would make little difference. So IMO the Carvin would be a good choice and allow you to "parallel loop" 4 stereo or 8 mono FXs and send any of their outputs to any of the others as required/desired.

I really appreciate the write up

I am a complete noob with mixers so please bare with me

 can I plug a effects unit into one of the input channels of the mixer since lots of mixers (as you describe the alesis), only has one fx stereo return. I don't want to chain all my effects in that one fx slot.

I have 2 effects unit that I would like to run.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gtmm on January 08, 2015, 11:18:26 AM
Chami,

"can I plug a effects unit into one of the input channels of the mixer since lots of mixers (as you describe the alesis), only has one fx stereo return. I don't want to chain all my effects in that one fx slot."

Yeah, sure. As rnolan points out this is a better way to do it.

I use a Spirit Folio rack mount mixer in my rig. It has 12 mono input channels, two stereo input channels, 6 aux sends (two pre-fader, and four post-fader), four stereo returns with two aux sends, and two stereo FX returns. I just use the regular input channels for everything and don't bother using the stereo or FX returns. All the input channels feed the stereo bus mix output, which would be the input to your power amp driving your cabs, cabsim, DAW input if recording, etc.

I've got an MP-1 in channels 1+2 of the mixer, and an MP-2 in channels 3+4; an old Furman stereo analog compressor/expander whose inputs are fed by aux sends 1+2 (pre-fader) and returning in input channels 5+6, a Lexicon MX300 whose inputs are fed by aux sends 3+4 (post-fader) and returning in channels 7+8. The other inputs are used for MIDI sounds, (an Alesis D4, Emu Proteus FX, and two Oberheim Matrix 1000s.)

A typical signal flow for me is usually this:

MP-1 outputs to mixer inputs 1+2; MP-2 outputs to mixer inputs 3+4. Their stereo bus mix level is controlled by the faders, with the panning usually hard left and hard right. Only one MP-x is being used at a time (though I will soon change this!!)

Then I use aux sends 1+2 (pre-fader) on the MP-1/MP-2 input channels (depends on which MP I'm playing through) to send the signal to the compressor. The return of the compressor goes to input channels 5+6 of the mixer. The stereo bus mix level of the compressor is controlled by the faders, and usually the panning is around 9:00 o'clock for channel 5 (left) and 3:00 o'clock for channel 6 (right).

Then I use aux sends 3+4 on the compressor channels (post-fader) to send the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signal to the Lexicon. The return of the Lexicon goes to input channels 7+8 of the mixer. The stereo bus mix level of the Lex is controlled by the faders and the panning is usually hard left/right, but not always. The Lex output is 100% wet (all effect, no input signal mixed in with its output) as this balance is controlled by the fader settings on the mix board.

So, as far as mixing the sound on the stereo bus I typically have the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 output, a compressed MP-1/MP-2 output, and the compressed MP-1/MP-2 output through the Lex (usually reverb, sometimes chorus also).

All levels and panning are individually tweakable for all three stereo signals, including pan and EQ as each input channel on the mix board has a four band sweepable eq.

It's very flexible also. For example, if i don't want the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 signal in the mix I just pull the faders down on those channels, and since the aux sends that go to the compressor (aux sends 1+2) are pre-fader that flow is still there and now in the stereo mix I have just the compressed MP-1/MP-2 and the effects.

Or, if I don't want the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signal, I just pull those faders down (input channels 5+6), which kills the compressed MP-1/MP-2 send to the Lex as the aux sends I use on the compressor input channels (aux sends 3+4) are post-fader. Then I just turn up aux sends 3+4 on the original MP-1/MP-2 channels strips to drive the Lex input.

Also, you can use both the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 signals and the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signals to drive the Lex by just using aux sends 3+4 on the original MP-1/MP-2 inputs channels along with aux sends 3+4 on the compressed MP-1/MP-2 input channels.

It sounds really good, for example, to have the original MP-1/MP-2 signal (the uncompressed one) panned tight, like 11:00 o'clock for left and 1:00 o'clock for right, the compressed MP-1/MP-2 panned at like 9:00 and 3:00 o'clock, and the verb/chorus, etc. panned hard left/right with both the original MP-1/MP-2 and compressed MP-1/MP-2 signals feeding the Lex. Just use your ears to find the balance you like.

Another benefit of this setup is that your gain structure is highly optimized as the inputs to the compressor and Lex are fed from aux busses with knobs for controlling the output of the bus. Also, there's no need to change any patching unless one really wants to daisy-chain all their FX.

This setup just requires four aux sends (two pre-fader, two post-fader), and six channel strips (eight if you have two MP's) and is quite flexible.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 08, 2015, 01:54:18 PM
Chami,

"can I plug a effects unit into one of the input channels of the mixer since lots of mixers (as you describe the alesis), only has one fx stereo return. I don't want to chain all my effects in that one fx slot."

Yeah, sure. As rnolan points out this is a better way to do it.

I use a Spirit Folio rack mount mixer in my rig. It has 12 mono input channels, two stereo input channels, 6 aux sends (two pre-fader, and four post-fader), four stereo returns with two aux sends, and two stereo FX returns. I just use the regular input channels for everything and don't bother using the stereo or FX returns. All the input channels feed the stereo bus mix output, which would be the input to your power amp driving your cabs, cabsim, DAW input if recording, etc.

I've got an MP-1 in channels 1+2 of the mixer, and an MP-2 in channels 3+4; an old Furman stereo analog compressor/expander whose inputs are fed by aux sends 1+2 (pre-fader) and returning in input channels 5+6, a Lexicon MX300 whose inputs are fed by aux sends 3+4 (post-fader) and returning in channels 7+8. The other inputs are used for MIDI sounds, (an Alesis D4, Emu Proteus FX, and two Oberheim Matrix 1000s.)

A typical signal flow for me is usually this:

MP-1 outputs to mixer inputs 1+2; MP-2 outputs to mixer inputs 3+4. Their stereo bus mix level is controlled by the faders, with the panning usually hard left and hard right. Only one MP-x is being used at a time (though I will soon change this!!)

Then I use aux sends 1+2 (pre-fader) on the MP-1/MP-2 input channels (depends on which MP I'm playing through) to send the signal to the compressor. The return of the compressor goes to input channels 5+6 of the mixer. The stereo bus mix level of the compressor is controlled by the faders, and usually the panning is around 9:00 o'clock for channel 5 (left) and 3:00 o'clock for channel 6 (right).

Then I use aux sends 3+4 on the compressor channels (post-fader) to send the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signal to the Lexicon. The return of the Lexicon goes to input channels 7+8 of the mixer. The stereo bus mix level of the Lex is controlled by the faders and the panning is usually hard left/right, but not always. The Lex output is 100% wet (all effect, no input signal mixed in with its output) as this balance is controlled by the fader settings on the mix board.

So, as far as mixing the sound on the stereo bus I typically have the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 output, a compressed MP-1/MP-2 output, and the compressed MP-1/MP-2 output through the Lex (usually reverb, sometimes chorus also).

All levels and panning are individually tweakable for all three stereo signals, including pan and EQ as each input channel on the mix board has a four band sweepable eq.

It's very flexible also. For example, if i don't want the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 signal in the mix I just pull the faders down on those channels, and since the aux sends that go to the compressor (aux sends 1+2) are pre-fader that flow is still there and now in the stereo mix I have just the compressed MP-1/MP-2 and the effects.

Or, if I don't want the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signal, I just pull those faders down (input channels 5+6), which kills the compressed MP-1/MP-2 send to the Lex as the aux sends I use on the compressor input channels (aux sends 3+4) are post-fader. Then I just turn up aux sends 3+4 on the original MP-1/MP-2 channels strips to drive the Lex input.

Also, you can use both the original (uncompressed) MP-1/MP-2 signals and the compressed MP-1/MP-2 signals to drive the Lex by just using aux sends 3+4 on the original MP-1/MP-2 inputs channels along with aux sends 3+4 on the compressed MP-1/MP-2 input channels.

It sounds really good, for example, to have the original MP-1/MP-2 signal (the uncompressed one) panned tight, like 11:00 o'clock for left and 1:00 o'clock for right, the compressed MP-1/MP-2 panned at like 9:00 and 3:00 o'clock, and the verb/chorus, etc. panned hard left/right with both the original MP-1/MP-2 and compressed MP-1/MP-2 signals feeding the Lex. Just use your ears to find the balance you like.

Another benefit of this setup is that your gain structure is highly optimized as the inputs to the compressor and Lex are fed from aux busses with knobs for controlling the output of the bus. Also, there's no need to change any patching unless one really wants to daisy-chain all their FX.

This setup just requires four aux sends (two pre-fader, two post-fader), and six channel strips (eight if you have two MP's) and is quite flexible.

thanks for all the info, you guys are awesome

you think you can recommend me a good rack mixer that is currently in production?

I don't have a lot of stuff that I will run

digitech gsp 21 pro effects unit,
fostex 3180 stereo reverb
dbx 1066 compressor
31 band eq

mxr micro amp and boss ns2 in front of the ada
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gtmm on January 08, 2015, 02:29:51 PM
Chami,

I really don't have any recommendations for rack mount mixers right now. This is due to me not playing (guitar, that is) for some time, and my current and past focus being writing, not live performance. As a matter of fact, the mixer I have now I got for free from a studio that failed in the mid '90s. And the mixer takes eight rack spaces.

In other words, my rig wouldn't survive any live situation; it just sits in my home, in my rack.

I am however, looking to to find a two or possibly four rack space mixer that would work just for my guitar rig. If I run across something I will let you know!!!!
 
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 09, 2015, 04:10:57 AM
Go gtmm  :thumb-up: good use of the desk and some interesting ideas with the panning (I pan hard L/R, but you've got me thinking  :crazy: ).
@Chamai, as gtmm says (and if you can follow his (very good BTW) description (easy for me (and quite enjoyable), maybe a little harder for where your heads at LOL)). Don't worry, we'll help you along the way as you learn more. gtmm's patch (as does mine to some extent) utilise the flexibility a mixer with options (lots of sends) brings.  The stereo ins and FX return on a desk like this are for live mixing flexibility (as typically at a gig, all the channels will have mics plugged into them (vox, drums etc)). But you get much better control and patching possibilities using channel inputs (if you have them). For a MP1/MP2 setup, you have channels to spare, so both gtmm and I use them instead (better control) and then send them to other things etc. I do the same thing in a studio or live PA situation when I've got my audio engineer hat on.
As gtmm says, while the spirit rack mount is perfect, it takes 8RU (spaces) so generally, all your rack. This is why I velcro mine to the bottom of the rack, I'm contemplating a rack shelf and cable tie the desk to it. There are some rack case options that provide for a small (like these ones we use) rack mount desk on top of the rack. Designed for small PA applications (perfect for what we are talking about).
As I said, I've always wanted a 1 or 2RU rack mixer but can't find one with enough sends. The Alesis MM8 is perfect but only 1 stereo send. However, if you used an ART split mix from the send to send to each different effect, and then return all the signals back into input channels, it opens up possibilities. Though is still not as flexible. But we're probably spinning you out by now LOL.
What you need and both gtmm and I want is the tube line mixer I have been dreaming up for years.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 09, 2015, 05:15:27 AM
Ok so you have 2 stereo FX units, a stereo (good quality) compressor (why ??) and a 31 band eq (mono ? why ?). The 2 FX I understand why, the other 2 what do you use them for and why, I say this because it's better not to put more units in the signal chain than you need as they all have/add noise (which becomes much more apparent at MP1 full tilt gain with volume  >:D ), and they also complicate your gain structure and make it harder to get right.
But you could put DBX between MP1 outs and poweramp as is stereo and high qual analogue (again why? you do this in PAs to protect the speakers, it will just squish all your lovely dynamics unless you just want to use the noise gate function, now that's a valid reason  :thumb-up: and good spot for such a thing). I'm assuming your 31 band eq is mono ? so would be best IMHO in MP1 loop (other wise how do you put it in the stereo chain ?). If it's a stereo 32 band, then it could go before the DBX after the MP1 (again, just like a PA mix set up).

The main game though (as I wouldn't bother with DBX or eq (but hey that's me and what I want/need/don't need)) is how to combine your 2 FX devices and "mix" them into the signal.
Probably easiest and most tidy (only 1RU) is the Alesis MM8 and either chain the 2 FX together (gsp > 3180) in the (send return) loop, or add an ART split mix in the loop which can feed each effect (in stereo) and either return each down a stereo input. Or you could just use a splitter lead ?

The most simple patch I can think of (way not the best though) is:
MP1, (MP1 loop 31 Band > gsp (mono)), MP1 A/B outs > 3180 rev > DBX > poweramp > cabs (sorry hope your not on overload  :facepalm: )
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 09, 2015, 06:06:09 PM
Ok so you have 2 stereo FX units, a stereo (good quality) compressor (why ??) and a 31 band eq (mono ? why ?). The 2 FX I understand why, the other 2 what do you use them for and why, I say this because it's better not to put more units in the signal chain than you need as they all have/add noise (which becomes much more apparent at MP1 full tilt gain with volume  >:D ), and they also complicate your gain structure and make it harder to get right.
But you could put DBX between MP1 outs and poweramp as is stereo and high qual analogue (again why? you do this in PAs to protect the speakers, it will just squish all your lovely dynamics unless you just want to use the noise gate function, now that's a valid reason  :thumb-up: and good spot for such a thing). I'm assuming your 31 band eq is mono ? so would be best IMHO in MP1 loop (other wise how do you put it in the stereo chain ?). If it's a stereo 32 band, then it could go before the DBX after the MP1 (again, just like a PA mix set up).

The main game though (as I wouldn't bother with DBX or eq (but hey that's me and what I want/need/don't need)) is how to combine your 2 FX devices and "mix" them into the signal.
Probably easiest and most tidy (only 1RU) is the Alesis MM8 and either chain the 2 FX together (gsp > 3180) in the (send return) loop, or add an ART split mix in the loop which can feed each effect (in stereo) and either return each down a stereo input. Or you could just use a splitter lead ?

The most simple patch I can think of (way not the best though) is:
MP1, (MP1 loop 31 Band > gsp (mono)), MP1 A/B outs > 3180 rev > DBX > poweramp > cabs (sorry hope your not on overload  :facepalm: )

the compressor is more of an experiment with my sound, its not part of the main setup. i don't really plan on keeping this in the setup. the compressor do sound great with a clean sound though.

things that must stay are 2 of my fx units and my 31 band eq.

man, stepping into fx racks and all this fun stuff is confusing as hell. i was more amp and stomp box guy back then.

i am actually very very happy with the sound i am getting with my current setup. gsp21 -- eq -- reverb. i just want to play around with a mixer to see if i can make stuff even better. the gsp does change the ada mp1 sound quite a bit.

again, thanks for the help!!!!!

here is my current setup (mono)

guitar --> rack tuner --> MXR micro amp --> ns2 noise sup --> ada mp1 --> gsp 21 --> 31 band eq --> fostex reverb -- back to mp1 --> mosvalve power amp --> cab

i just need that mixer in the whole setup
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 09, 2015, 11:10:36 PM
Yeah I got the feeling we were feeding you too much to absorb easily. If you read gtmm's and my post(s) slowly and we work through them bit by bit you'll get it in the end LOL.
Hey glad you like your sound  :thumb-up: and the DBX would be good for clean sounds. A mixer is the go for the best set up (gain structure, ease of control, options) but can get a bit complicated ?
A huge improvement would be to put the Fostex 3180 (very nice BTW, old school spring reverb  :whoohoo!: , if you belt it at the end of a song it will sound awesome (e.g. the end of deep purple highway star)  :metal: ) after the MP1 and run in stereo (if you can). You'll be so glad you did.
MP1 out A/B > 3180 L/R in, L/R out > Mosvalve L/R in > cabs (or stereo cab).
What cab(s) do you have ?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 10, 2015, 02:08:21 AM
Yeah I got the feeling we were feeding you too much to absorb easily. If you read gtmm's and my post(s) slowly and we work through them bit by bit you'll get it in the end LOL.
Hey glad you like your sound  :thumb-up: and the DBX would be good for clean sounds. A mixer is the go for the best set up (gain structure, ease of control, options) but can get a bit complicated ?
A huge improvement would be to put the Fostex 3180 (very nice BTW, old school spring reverb  :whoohoo!: , if you belt it at the end of a song it will sound awesome (e.g. the end of deep purple highway star)  :metal: ) after the MP1 and run in stereo (if you can). You'll be so glad you did.
MP1 out A/B > 3180 L/R in, L/R out > Mosvalve L/R in > cabs (or stereo cab).
What cab(s) do you have ?

i am going to make sure to come back and read those posts again when i pick up a mixer. i have been really into guitar for the past half a year. man, after buying my first mp1 back in october, i can't stop buying!!! people are not really into rack stuff anymore, so i can get a lot of stuff locally for a good price.

i am still taking my time looking for one thats reasonably priced and rack mount. that rock crusher really set me back. so i won't be able to buy gear. i am up for suggestions on which mixer to buy.

i did mess with stereo  with my ada, it was awesome. the reason why i am rocking mono is because i am out of cables hahaha and i need my gsp for its chorus.

heres a pic of my set up. i am running a pair of early rocktron s112 before they put vintage 30's in.

(http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g301/Chamaimeow/1_zps01cc4d73.jpg) (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/Chamaimeow/media/1_zps01cc4d73.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 10, 2015, 05:30:12 AM
Hey cool, nice rig(s) my friend  :thumb-up: , hey get some cables !! I saw a Fostex 3180 on line for $2400 (US I assume), nice bit of kit. even in mono I'd put it after the MP1 as it will have true analogue pass through for direct signal and allow you to mix in the reverb you want with the mix control, and, better gain structure.
I've been chasing a good rack mixer (that isn't desk style that can mount vertically (like gtmm's spirit, and there others like this)) with enough sends for years. MM8 is the right idea, just not enough sends. But in your setup, you could use a desk style mixer, either on top of your rack, or either speaker box.
As mentioned before, the Carvins look good, particularly as they're not expensive and heaps of sends. I've got a couple of Behringer eurorack UB224FX-PROs, one very early model, one much later, they rack mount like the spirit, with 4 sends, I use one for my studio (the old original one) and one is for small PA.
If I find a good option I'll let you know.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gtmm on January 10, 2015, 11:28:39 AM
Hey Chami,

Nice setup! I looked for some small rack mount line mixers yesterday just out of curiosity and this one, the Samson SM10, looks pretty good for a one rack space, especially for the price of $199.00

http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/ (http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/)

In the post I made earlier describing how I use my mixer you have to remember that all my channel strips are mono (except for two which I use for synth input). So when I said that my set up required 4 aux sends this was four mono aux sends being used as two stereo sends. So keep that in mind.

The SM10 has 10 stereo inputs (two of which have mic level xlr inputs along with line level TRS), four mix busses, and two dedicated stereo returns.

On each input channel you could mix to the main stereo outs, a stereo monitor out, and a stereo FX out. The monitor out is pre-fader and the FX out is post-fader, which is exactly what you want.

So on each input channel you have four knobs -- volume, balance, monitor send, fx send. Don't worry about the fact that the "monitor" and "fx" sends are named what they are -- think about them as separate stereo mixes.

So for example, if I was to wire this up so that it worked just like my current setup that I described above:

MP-1 out --> SM10 stereo input 3
Stereo Compressor out --> SM10 stereo input 4
Lexicon out --> SM10 stereo input 5
SM10 inputs 1 and 2 I wouldn't wire anything to because this is where the two mic inputs are and I would leave those available for that use.

SM10 Monitor mix out --> Stereo Compressor input (this is pre-fader send)
SM10 EFX out --> Lexicon input (this is a post-fader send)

This setup would work exactly how my current wiring scheme described above works.

The SM10 is more than it appears for a few reasons:

All inputs are balanced, which in the long run is a good thing to have in a mixer. They are also switchable between +4dBu and -10DBV operating levels.

Main stereo outputs are paralled -- so you could drive your power amp/cab and also have a dedicated (and balanced) feed for front of house or recording feed.

It has a headphone out on the front panel and a monitoring switch that allows the headphones to source either the main mix out, alternate mix B out, Monitor bus out, or EFX bus out. This is very handy to have.

There are master volume knobs for the main mix, Monitor mix, and EFX mix.

For a one rack-space mixer, it's pretty nice. For the price, it's very nice!

Anyway, check it out at the link above.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 10, 2015, 02:20:50 PM
Hey Chami,

Nice setup! I looked for some small rack mount line mixers yesterday just out of curiosity and this one, the Samson SM10, looks pretty good for a one rack space, especially for the price of $199.00

http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/ (http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/)

In the post I made earlier describing how I use my mixer you have to remember that all my channel strips are mono (except for two which I use for synth input). So when I said that my set up required 4 aux sends this was four mono aux sends being used as two stereo sends. So keep that in mind.

The SM10 has 10 stereo inputs (two of which have mic level xlr inputs along with line level TRS), four mix busses, and two dedicated stereo returns.

On each input channel you could mix to the main stereo outs, a stereo monitor out, and a stereo FX out. The monitor out is pre-fader and the FX out is post-fader, which is exactly what you want.

So on each input channel you have four knobs -- volume, balance, monitor send, fx send. Don't worry about the fact that the "monitor" and "fx" sends are named what they are -- think about them as separate stereo mixes.

So for example, if I was to wire this up so that it worked just like my current setup that I described above:

MP-1 out --> SM10 stereo input 3
Stereo Compressor out --> SM10 stereo input 4
Lexicon out --> SM10 stereo input 5
SM10 inputs 1 and 2 I wouldn't wire anything to because this is where the two mic inputs are and I would leave those available for that use.

SM10 Monitor mix out --> Stereo Compressor input (this is pre-fader send)
SM10 EFX out --> Lexicon input (this is a post-fader send)

This setup would work exactly how my current wiring scheme described above works.

The SM10 is more than it appears for a few reasons:

All inputs are balanced, which in the long run is a good thing to have in a mixer. They are also switchable between +4dBu and -10DBV operating levels.

Main stereo outputs are paralled -- so you could drive your power amp/cab and also have a dedicated (and balanced) feed for front of house or recording feed.

It has a headphone out on the front panel and a monitoring switch that allows the headphones to source either the main mix out, alternate mix B out, Monitor bus out, or EFX bus out. This is very handy to have.

There are master volume knobs for the main mix, Monitor mix, and EFX mix.

For a one rack-space mixer, it's pretty nice. For the price, it's very nice!

Anyway, check it out at the link above.

I will def look into this. as rnolan said, more sends the better because I might be adding more stuff to my setup and i want everything on a seperate channel. (80's style fridge rack!) I really want to rack mount the mixer instead of having it on top my the rack,
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 10, 2015, 02:29:05 PM
Hey Chami,

Nice setup! I looked for some small rack mount line mixers yesterday just out of curiosity and this one, the Samson SM10, looks pretty good for a one rack space, especially for the price of $199.00

http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/ (http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/mixers/sm10/sm10/)

In the post I made earlier describing how I use my mixer you have to remember that all my channel strips are mono (except for two which I use for synth input). So when I said that my set up required 4 aux sends this was four mono aux sends being used as two stereo sends. So keep that in mind.

The SM10 has 10 stereo inputs (two of which have mic level xlr inputs along with line level TRS), four mix busses, and two dedicated stereo returns.

On each input channel you could mix to the main stereo outs, a stereo monitor out, and a stereo FX out. The monitor out is pre-fader and the FX out is post-fader, which is exactly what you want.

So on each input channel you have four knobs -- volume, balance, monitor send, fx send. Don't worry about the fact that the "monitor" and "fx" sends are named what they are -- think about them as separate stereo mixes.

So for example, if I was to wire this up so that it worked just like my current setup that I described above:

MP-1 out --> SM10 stereo input 3
Stereo Compressor out --> SM10 stereo input 4
Lexicon out --> SM10 stereo input 5
SM10 inputs 1 and 2 I wouldn't wire anything to because this is where the two mic inputs are and I would leave those available for that use.

SM10 Monitor mix out --> Stereo Compressor input (this is pre-fader send)
SM10 EFX out --> Lexicon input (this is a post-fader send)

This setup would work exactly how my current wiring scheme described above works.

The SM10 is more than it appears for a few reasons:

All inputs are balanced, which in the long run is a good thing to have in a mixer. They are also switchable between +4dBu and -10DBV operating levels.

Main stereo outputs are paralled -- so you could drive your power amp/cab and also have a dedicated (and balanced) feed for front of house or recording feed.

It has a headphone out on the front panel and a monitoring switch that allows the headphones to source either the main mix out, alternate mix B out, Monitor bus out, or EFX bus out. This is very handy to have.

There are master volume knobs for the main mix, Monitor mix, and EFX mix.

For a one rack-space mixer, it's pretty nice. For the price, it's very nice!

Anyway, check it out at the link above.

I will def look into this. as rnolan said, more sends the better because I might be adding more stuff to my setup and i want everything on a seperate channel. (80's style fridge rack!) I really want to rack mount the mixer instead of having it on top my the rack, again thanks for the help guys!!! seems like all mixers with more sends have at least 16+ channels and they are massive. I looked at gtmm's Spirit Folio rack mount mixer , that thing is awesome but its insanely big.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gtmm on January 10, 2015, 03:07:14 PM
chamai,

Yeah, mixers/consoles/boards/desks never have enough aux sends. They also never have enough flexibility to assign busses pre or post fader. Never. Exception being all digital mixers like the Presonus Live series, and others. This is been true for as long as I've been an audio rat.  :lol:

One has to find a balance between the size the mixer takes in your rack, how much signal routing flexibility you need, quality of sound, and cost.

A more flexible mixer is probably the way to go, as I did. But, the physical size is a problem at times and of course the difference in cost is considerable. My Soundcraft Spirit was $2,300.00 new in 1996. I didn't pay that, I got it for free as I mentioned above.

Granted, the SM10 i referenced needs at least one more stereo aux bus, and then it might enter the realm of potentially awsome for a 1RU. :metal:

Cheers!
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 10, 2015, 03:20:48 PM
chamai,

Yeah, mixers/consoles/boards/desks never have enough aux sends. They also never have enough flexibility to assign busses pre or post fader. Never. This is been true for as long as I've been an audio rat.  :lol:

One has to find a balance between the size the mixer takes in your rack, how much signal routing flexibility you need, and quality of sound.

Cheers!

yea I noticed, I guess mixers are not really meant for guitar players. I guess it shouldn't be that bad just chaining a few units together. its still better than running my effects thru the mp1.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gtmm on January 10, 2015, 03:30:23 PM
Sorry, added to my response before I saw Chamai's post.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 10, 2015, 10:10:17 PM
someone selling a  Roland m-160 mixer. its rack, 4 sends return. its huge though. the guy is asking $200 bucks canadian for it. what you guys think?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 11, 2015, 03:03:32 AM
Go gtmm The SM10 looks perfect, thinking one for myself now LOL, good price point  :thumb-up: , better appointed than the MM8 and only 1RU. The roland looks ok but 4RU, the SM10 will work with your setup more easily and take 3RU less space. the m-160 is all mono inputs, so you use 2 channels panned hard L/R for a stereo input, although mono channels provide slightly more flexibility in what you send where.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 12, 2015, 01:22:29 AM
found a sm10 locally for 125 bucks cdn. brand new looking. but no gear for me for the next month or 2.. damn
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on January 12, 2015, 01:42:12 AM
Good price, best I saw so far was $167 on Amazon. At this point I'd say it's the best contender.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 19, 2017, 03:39:27 AM
Sorry to drag this thread backup, but I was wondering fpor anyone who has boosted their MP1 (like me both with EQ and OD), has anyone used a trebel booster before?

I'm curious as to what this would be like since a trebel boost is not the same as an EQ pedal set with the trebel (or more accurately the hi mids) sliders up hi to provide an extra bit of gain.

Just thought I'd ask since this is something done on Marshalls back in the day to good effect so I wonder what it's like with an MP1.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Systematic Chaos on April 19, 2017, 02:50:05 PM
Hey Gerry,

I used to boost my MP-1s occasionally with a Keley TS9DX Flex or a GT-OD....

This one´s (not mine) boosted with a Maxon 808 and sound pretty boss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl9KVY86eKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OlJzwgmMHI
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 20, 2017, 02:40:31 AM
Those clips where not to my taste personally.  Just sounded like some generic modern extreme hi gain amp.  I guess it's good that an MP1 classic can be used in that way, mind you there was so much other shit going on there, who knows what the Classic was actually contributing.

I am familiar with an OD boost as I do it myself SC, but I'm particularly keen to hear if anyone has used something like a Dallas Rangemaster or any other "Trebel Boost".  Why?  Because I understand a trebel boost is actually not just the same as having an EQ setup to boost the same frequencies and placing that in front of an amp.  As far as I'm aware it almost adds a fuzz or gritty to the sound as well as boosting said frequencies.

Ultimately I'm just curious as I know Judas Priest used a rangemaster into Plexi's in the early years and also into JCM800's until 1986
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 20, 2017, 01:57:30 PM
You can't compare an MP-1 with a 4 input Marshall.With the marshall you go straight into the tube section, with the mp-1 you go first into a FET buffer, then into an opamp based booster and then into the tube section. A treble booster might be too much.Also you need to set the marshall full on to get that Priest sound.It won't work at low volume settings.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 21, 2017, 11:07:58 AM
I hear you, but I'm not comparing to a Marshall per say.  I'm comparing the practice of using a boost of some kind.  Something that I know works well with an over drive (and it seems there are lots of choices) and also an EQ.  With a distortion pedal it does not work.  Well not for me anyways.  So I just wondered what it's like with a treble boost and if anyone has tried it.  Surely set low it's do able?

And I can get a close priest tone as you have heard from a 3TM and more recently that new (Old MP1) I bought the other week.  These settings are the shit

OD 1: 4.2 OD2: 7.0 Bass 2 Mid 6 Treble 0 Presence 4

This isn't something I really need to do, just curiosity as those treble boosters really sound unique texture through a marshall.


Question: can't a JCM800 be played without full volume?  Isn't there a master volume?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 21, 2017, 11:40:27 AM
Well a distortion pedal can work too but it depends on the amp I guess.Won't work well with an MP-1 but sounds awesome on a marshall amp.Listen too Gary Moore he always used a boss DS-1 with his strats and he sounded awesome.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fdXQUug1Ds

I can get a very decent priest sound out of my 3TM.But sound wise there are a lot of factors that come in. Starting with the fingers and ending with the cabs.

I don't think (but I might be wrong) a treble booster will work well with a mp-1.What works well is an EQ set as mid booster or a OD pedal.

Well I think they do sound great with marshall amps since it's actually the marshall that's making the distortion.

Here's a clip where you can hear the difference, a treble booster on a clean marshall en then on a cranked marshall, sounds totally different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPWtp_zgfDI
He also tries it on a Fender but I prefer the marshall sound.

The louder you set a marshall the better it will sound.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on April 21, 2017, 11:56:59 PM
od pedal makes the ada tighter, but i feel that it thins out the sound a bit

after owning the mp1 for more than 2 years, i find that power amp distortion is the key to a good sound.

i run my mp1 through the low input of the jcm 800. i crank the master to 4 and use an attenuator to lower the volume.

my current settings are od1:7 od2:3.8 Bass:4 mids:4, treb:2 pres:0 or 2. i may use a MXR micro amp or diamond compressor

it feels like a boosted a marshall now.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 22, 2017, 06:56:25 AM
@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 22, 2017, 07:09:06 AM
To make it sound good ,yes IMHO.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on April 22, 2017, 05:07:41 PM
@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?

Very different sound imo. A boosted jcm 800 much more aggressive and saturated. Which is hard to do with the mp1

Mp1 one can give me a thick rythem tone without being too aggressive but with enough gain the same time. Which I find it hard to achieve with the 800. Hard to explain. I'm just a jcm800 fanboy.


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on April 22, 2017, 05:14:54 PM
@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.

Very different sound imo. A boosted jcm 800 much more aggressive and saturated. Which is hard to do with the mp1

Mp1 one can give me a thick rhythm tone without being too aggressive but with enough gain the same time. Which I find it hard to achieve with the 800. Hard to explain. I'm just a jcm800 fanboy.

i tried using a my mosvalve with my mp1, i didn't like it. i love the sound of a cranked power section.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 23, 2017, 06:48:00 AM
+1

And for me the MP-1 sounds a lot better with a tube amp then with a SS amp.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 24, 2017, 02:27:35 AM
+1

And for me the MP-1 sounds a lot better with a tube amp then with a SS amp.

Well that's subjective of course, all I'm sayng is there is more than one way that it can sound good.  And I'm also saying there are a lot of people who have used a solid state amps with these preamps and sounded good.  Hell I'm not using any amp with my new/old MP1 and I'm getting it to sound good DI recording.

If I was going to go to go all tube myself I would just buy an amp head (a Laney AOR springs to mind - heard good things), it seems pointless to run a rack preamp and power amp to me that are both tube.  That's what I thought was the advantage of having a tube rack preamp in the first place, to get the tube sound but with less hassle of running and maintaining a tube head.


@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.

Very different sound imo. A boosted jcm 800 much more aggressive and saturated. Which is hard to do with the mp1

Mp1 one can give me a thick rhythm tone without being too aggressive but with enough gain the same time. Which I find it hard to achieve with the 800. Hard to explain. I'm just a jcm800 fanboy.

i tried using a my mosvalve with my mp1, i didn't like it. i love the sound of a cranked power section.


Ok I'm sure it is different, but isn't there something smaller that can achieve the same thing (without nit picking) pushing the JCM?  Just seems excessive since so many people choose a JCM for it's JCM-ness and chose and MP1 for emulating something similar but without the drawbacks of a full tube head.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on April 24, 2017, 12:36:03 PM
+1

And for me the MP-1 sounds a lot better with a tube amp then with a SS amp.

Well that's subjective of course, all I'm sayng is there is more than one way that it can sound good.  And I'm also saying there are a lot of people who have used a solid state amps with these preamps and sounded good.  Hell I'm not using any amp with my new/old MP1 and I'm getting it to sound good DI recording.

If I was going to go to go all tube myself I would just buy an amp head (a Laney AOR springs to mind - heard good things), it seems pointless to run a rack preamp and power amp to me that are both tube.  That's what I thought was the advantage of having a tube rack preamp in the first place, to get the tube sound but with less hassle of running and maintaining a tube head.


@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.

Very different sound imo. A boosted jcm 800 much more aggressive and saturated. Which is hard to do with the mp1

Mp1 one can give me a thick rhythm tone without being too aggressive but with enough gain the same time. Which I find it hard to achieve with the 800. Hard to explain. I'm just a jcm800 fanboy.

i tried using a my mosvalve with my mp1, i didn't like it. i love the sound of a cranked power section.


Ok I'm sure it is different, but isn't there something smaller that can achieve the same thing (without nit picking) pushing the JCM?  Just seems excessive since so many people choose a JCM for it's JCM-ness and chose and MP1 for emulating something similar but without the drawbacks of a full tube head.

Ooooohh, Laney AOR!  I've been on a real vintage kick since getting my MP1 and been thinking about getting this one if/when I get the caps!  That, and/or a Carvin X100B.  Sir Vinnie Vincent was endorsed by Laney and Carvin, respectively, but reports indicate his actual sound came from a mic'd up Jose modded Marshall combo in the back.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on April 24, 2017, 08:55:53 PM
Hey RG, yes the original concept was to have a tube preamp and SS poweramp, an idea I'd been sprucing since I was 14. But some prefer an all tube poweramp and ADA did make the T100S (very rare beasts).  I've had a good run with the Carvin TS100, though I prefer the B200s.  Tube amps are so heavy to lug  :facepalm: . Although the TS100 is much lighter than earlier tube amps, it's still a "brick" though.

Anyway as you say it's all subjective, how you get the tone you want is individual.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on April 25, 2017, 12:36:41 AM
+1

And for me the MP-1 sounds a lot better with a tube amp then with a SS amp.

Well that's subjective of course, all I'm sayng is there is more than one way that it can sound good.  And I'm also saying there are a lot of people who have used a solid state amps with these preamps and sounded good.  Hell I'm not using any amp with my new/old MP1 and I'm getting it to sound good DI recording.

If I was going to go to go all tube myself I would just buy an amp head (a Laney AOR springs to mind - heard good things), it seems pointless to run a rack preamp and power amp to me that are both tube.  That's what I thought was the advantage of having a tube rack preamp in the first place, to get the tube sound but with less hassle of running and maintaining a tube head.


@ MJMP

So you can't run a JCM800 at more reasonable volume then?  It has to be loud?


@ Chamai
I don't mean to sound like a :poop: here, but why run an ADA MP1 into a JCM800?  Isn't this like running something that's tries to emulate a JCM800 into a JCM800?  Since you have a JCM800 why not just boost that?

Also different it may be, but you can run an MP1 into a solidstate power amp and get a good sound.  Plenty of people have, and plenty of people do.

Very different sound imo. A boosted jcm 800 much more aggressive and saturated. Which is hard to do with the mp1

Mp1 one can give me a thick rhythm tone without being too aggressive but with enough gain the same time. Which I find it hard to achieve with the 800. Hard to explain. I'm just a jcm800 fanboy.

i tried using a my mosvalve with my mp1, i didn't like it. i love the sound of a cranked power section.


Ok I'm sure it is different, but isn't there something smaller that can achieve the same thing (without nit picking) pushing the JCM?  Just seems excessive since so many people choose a JCM for it's JCM-ness and chose and MP1 for emulating something similar but without the drawbacks of a full tube head.

im waiting to get my hands on a 9000 series marshall power amp. until then, nothing comes close to plugging into the jcm 800. i like plugging into the input because i can mess around with the eq on the amp to further adjust my sound since the mp1 is quite limited. unfortunately, i can't get a good ss clean sound the jcm plugged in so i dedicate my 2nd mp1 just for cleans. that goes to the power section of my dual rec for now. 6l6's has a thicker sounding cleans imo.

i am not a fan of getting all my distortion sound with just pre amp gain. imo, it sounds fizzy and lacks balls. i don't mind having excessive amount of gear as long as it gets me the sound i want. i can't get 100% clean with a tube power amp because i crank the volume on my jcm 800. thats why i have no clean patches on my 1st mp1.
 i love overkill guitar rigs. planning on adding a second 10 space rack or just move to a 20 space fridge.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 25, 2017, 01:43:33 AM
i looked at Marshall 9000 series last week but it was an SS version.  The Tube version looks like it will be heavier than your JCM800 lol

I never have an issue with no balls and fizz with my preamps.  I might though if I scooped all the mids and bumped up the presence etc.

Also guitar speakers have a part to play with that as well I find.  Get the right speakers and fizz is never an issue.  I've mixed vintage 30's with Eminence CV-75's.

I was looking at this amp the other day, still a little big for my tastes.  check link and scroll down.  Mind you I'm very happy with my class D amp, very versatile and lot's of power.


http://www.rockin.co.jp/shop/archives/31953.html (http://www.rockin.co.jp/shop/archives/31953.html)

I'm all for excess too man but when you're flying on a plane to another country or general light weight touring is concerned a fridge rack setup is not practical which is why my rig is only a 3U and may only ever expand to a 4U.

Hey RG, yes the original concept was to have a tube preamp and SS poweramp, an idea I'd been sprucing since I was 14. But some prefer an all tube poweramp and ADA did make the T100S (very rare beasts).  I've had a good run with the Carvin TS100, though I prefer the B200s.  Tube amps are so heavy to lug  :facepalm: . Although the TS100 is much lighter than earlier tube amps, it's still a "brick" though.

Anyway as you say it's all subjective, how you get the tone you want is individual.

That's what I thought.  When you say sprucing, what do you mean?  I think I say an ADA tube amp a few weeks ago.  I personally would not venture into the full tube territory as it comes with a lot more maintenance.

Is your carvin a two racker 2U?  Funny how that Carvin you have is nearly the same model number as the Ada T100S.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on April 26, 2017, 06:04:42 AM
Hey Chamai, whatever makes the sound you want/like  :thumb-up: . I've put some interesting rigs together over the years combining everything I could get my hands on  >:D .

Hey RG, I was 14 when I was sprucing that idea.  Back then Marshalls didn't have a master vol and were made on peg boards.  I used to haunt a music store (BAEZ Music) in Newcastle (Australia) owned by a pommy guy Mick Sampson.  He designed and built awesome tube amps, similar to Marshalls but had 2 channels and both had master vol... and used PCBs (neat) Anyway watching him build them and understanding that allot (if not all) of the tone "I" wanted was in the preamp, and seeing/knowing how heavy tube poweramps (transformers) are, and also at this point in time SS amps were getting a leg up (Rolland Jazz Chorus etc) I suggested why not just replace the poweramp section with a SS amp  :dunno: .  Well it didn't happen, I was this pesky 14 year old, he/they tolerated me (every Wednesday arvo (instead of going to school sport))... So at this time, no midi, the first Seiko guit tuner came out...  For me the MP-1 was the embodiment of that dream I spose, it just made sense  :dunno: .
Yeah carvin is 2RU and the closeness of the model numbers is easy to mistake  :facepalm: .  Upside with the Carvin, it's about half the weight of some other 50/50 tube amps.  But it really doesn't add colour, maybe a hint of tube warmth ( :dunno: ) so depends what you are looking for.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on May 13, 2017, 12:38:14 AM
i looked at Marshall 9000 series last week but it was an SS version.  The Tube version looks like it will be heavier than your JCM800 lol

I never have an issue with no balls and fizz with my preamps.  I might though if I scooped all the mids and bumped up the presence etc.

Also guitar speakers have a part to play with that as well I find.  Get the right speakers and fizz is never an issue.  I've mixed vintage 30's with Eminence CV-75's.

I was looking at this amp the other day, still a little big for my tastes.  check link and scroll down.  Mind you I'm very happy with my class D amp, very versatile and lot's of power.


http://www.rockin.co.jp/shop/archives/31953.html (http://www.rockin.co.jp/shop/archives/31953.html)


i don't mind the weight. since my rig never leaves home.

you from japan by any chance???

man, i remember i was there more than 10 years ago and there was a whole street full of music gear. why can't we have cool places like that in canada.

I'm all for excess too man but when you're flying on a plane to another country or general light weight touring is concerned a fridge rack setup is not practical which is why my rig is only a 3U and may only ever expand to a 4U.

Hey RG, yes the original concept was to have a tube preamp and SS poweramp, an idea I'd been sprucing since I was 14. But some prefer an all tube poweramp and ADA did make the T100S (very rare beasts).  I've had a good run with the Carvin TS100, though I prefer the B200s.  Tube amps are so heavy to lug  :facepalm: . Although the TS100 is much lighter than earlier tube amps, it's still a "brick" though.

Anyway as you say it's all subjective, how you get the tone you want is individual.

That's what I thought.  When you say sprucing, what do you mean?  I think I say an ADA tube amp a few weeks ago.  I personally would not venture into the full tube territory as it comes with a lot more maintenance.

Is your carvin a two racker 2U?  Funny how that Carvin you have is nearly the same model number as the Ada T100S.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on May 13, 2017, 08:36:57 PM
I used to hang around a music shop in Newcastle (Australia) instead of going to school sport (~1970)..  The guy who owned it BAEZ Music designed and made tube amps and cabs etc.  I was watching him build amps and chatting when it seemed (to me) a good idea to have the tube preamp separate and use a SS amp just for the power amp, as most of the tone was being shaped in the preamp and tube power stages are very heavy.  He never made one though (despite my encouragement LoL). His amps were 2 channel each with its own master vol, first I'd seen that setup.

Yeah the closeness of the model numbers is interesting.  The TS100 is 2 RU, nice amp, also runs in bridge mode (unless you have different tubes in each channel (eg EL34s left, 6L6 right)). Nice amp, very transparent.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rickeb1 on May 15, 2017, 10:31:34 AM
Just to throw in another $.02... A while back I put together an inexpensive "B" rig consisting of an MP-2 and an old Carvin SS DCM-150 I happened to have laying unused in a closet.  Got a used Avatar 2x12 and put in a V30 and a GT-100 that I also happened to have laying around.  I was not expecting a lot from this setup, to be honest, as I thought the SS power amp would not sound great, but I was hoping it would be passable for jamming and some small gigs. 

I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised on how good this little rig sounds!  I have actually gotten compliments on how punchy this rig is.  Yeah, it would probably sound better with a tube power amp, but it showed me that you can get good tones even with a SS power amp, at least on a small scale.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on May 16, 2017, 04:29:48 AM
Well even at a larger scale, I've used a B200s for a long time, when it needed a short holiday (after 30 years) I bought a TS100 all tube.  Quite nice, but the B200s I find better and it gives me 120w a side, so not shabby.  I can imagine the DCM 150 sounds quite good, I have a DCM200L in my live rack at the moment, great for bass with MB-1 and also great for guitar with MP-2. But again I really like the B200s, they are just amazing amps for what we do.. (why am I not surprised, I still recon ADA preamps are the best on the planet  >:D )
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rawk777 on October 28, 2017, 10:53:35 PM
I play a lot of fast palm muting stuff, and I use a Proco Rat to boost my MP1. It works well with the MP1, MP2, Triaxis, but not with my Rocktron Chameleon 2000, wich is a digital preamp. The pedal is actually a Deucetone Rat, that have in total 4 different clipping options, including a clean boost.

I tryed different pedals to boost my preamps, and I compared them with a true bypass pedal switcher. In order of appreciation: Rat, BD-2, Ts-808, SD-1, BBE Crusher, MT-2, Behringer MIC200, DS-1.

1- Rat Deucetone
This is my favorite. I prefer all of the modes of the Rat, to every other pedal I tryed to use as a boost. All the modes have slight different flavors (more bass, more agressive, etc.), but they are all good. It's true bypass, and really doesn't like to have a buffer in front of it. With boss pedal in front of it, it sounded like crap. It sounds tight, really low noise, awesome. Just don't put too much distortion or you'll mess everything ( I set mine about like this - dist-9h, filter-12h, level 3h).

2- BD-2
A bit more warm than the Rat, and have a more vintage/warm vibe to it. Really nice.

3- Ts-808
Sounds nice and natural, just add a touch of punch, but not quite enough for my taste, and introduce way more noise than the rat.

4- SD-1
The less expensive pedal! I could have put it in 3rd place at the place of the 808. More agressive than the ts-808, but more harsh too. That pedal can be microphonic and cause feedback.

5- BBE Crusher
Suppose to be really close to Marshall The Guv'Nor. Doesn'T sounds bad, but it have a 3 band EQ. I don't want to tweak a 3 band eq on my boost pedal! It's true bypass.

6- MT-2
Metal Zone! I have been able to get a not to bad sound, close to the SD-1... But every other settings sounded really bad.

7- Behringer MIC200
It's actually a small mic preamp that can work as a DI. It has a tube in it. I did not play a lot with it because it caused to much noise to be used as a booster for heavy guitar sounds. The sounds "wanted" to be nice, but was just too noisy.

8- BOSS DS-1
I have not been able to have an instesting sound as a booster with it. It's a classic distortion pedal, but I just could not find a way to use it as a booster.


I also tryed about every OD/DS pedals simulation of my BOSS GT-10, but I consider it a different topic :). I don't think I would have tryed a RAT pedal if I didn't have a simulation of it in the GT-10. That's a great tool, but I'm trying to remove it from my rig.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on December 24, 2017, 05:04:45 AM
Adding a new boost that I tried out.  I initially tried this and thought it was too much in front of the MP1.  It kind is a Boss OD2 copy (but I've not actually used one of them so I cannot say for sure).

The Exar OD4 which is a hand assembled pedal.  I never heard of this brand before but it's very good quality.

Adding it as a boost I find setting

drive > 0
turbo > 0
Tone > 10
Level > 6  (this can be turned higher but I personally would not go more than 7)

gives great distortion boost, clarity and feel of the MP1 left intact but as there is extra gain it has the added element of extra compression however I'd still say there is quite a bit of dynamic range left (like how it responded before the boost) which I didn't actually want but it's kind nice as notes seem to really respond.

Good overdrive pedal in it's own right and a viable boost for the MP1.  See picture.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 28, 2017, 02:41:11 AM
after plugging into my 9002, i ditched the boost. my mp1 sounded way better paired with this power amp. way better than plugging into my jcm800 low input. no boost pedal for me now. turning the mids 1 step down on the mp1 and a EQ mid boost + a few DB on the input infront of the mp1 is perfect. i find that adjustment the presence on the power amp allows me to find tune my tone better compared to the presence on my mp1. the jump is too big on the mp1.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on December 28, 2017, 06:38:25 AM
You can't really do thrash metal tones without a boost or super tight.  The chunk is not there.  Don't get me wrong I love without the boost as well, but there is a point where turning OD1 and OD2 up more will not do a higher gain tone any better.  For the third layer you need something in front.  Either that or use  3tm.  I have both so have the option, but something cool to my ears about a pedal infront of my standard MP1.

I did play a show without a boost one time and it was great for a lot of our material, but for the faster thrashier tone numbers it was not doing the job.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 28, 2017, 04:54:08 PM
You can't really do thrash metal tones without a boost or super tight.  The chunk is not there.  Don't get me wrong I love without the boost as well, but there is a point where turning OD1 and OD2 up more will not do a higher gain tone any better.  For the third layer you need something in front.  Either that or use  3tm.  I have both so have the option, but something cool to my ears about a pedal infront of my standard MP1.

I did play a show without a boost one time and it was great for a lot of our material, but for the faster thrashier tone numbers it was not doing the job.

the chunk is there for sure. i wasn't a believer on how much the power amp can color the sound. get your hands on an old school marshall 9002 or those big mesa power amps. it can do thrash. my mp1 sounds like a boosted jcm 800. again, we all know the mp1's bass frequencies are messed up.

the power amp man. TRUST ME. i pretty much ditched my mosvalve right away. the difference was night and day.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on December 29, 2017, 02:07:54 AM
Awww I would get an amp like that but I have to think about travel and getting my rig on planes etc so a huge 9002 would not be practical.  I still dunno how it can add that chunk though?  That's normally something you get from another gain stage before the power amp.  But hey if it's changed things for you for the better then  :whoohoo!:

I switched to Rocktron Velocity power amps this year and I have to say I love them.  Totally feels smooth and spongey compared to other SS amps.  I dunno what they have inside those things but it's a great sounding power amp.  It adds a more 3d feel and sounds excellent.

Using the MP1 direct into a recording unit (as I do a lot) I defo need a boost in front.  I don't when using my Rockmaster preamps because they have a push pull boost built in and turns the Ultra Gain channel into that more saturated kind of distortion.

Soloist, do you find you always need your boost in front of your MP1?  What's it like with a compressor in front?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 29, 2017, 02:39:39 AM
Awww I would get an amp like that but I have to think about travel and getting my rig on planes etc so a huge 9002 would not be practical.  I still dunno how it can add that chunk though?  That's normally something you get from another gain stage before the power amp.  But hey if it's changed things for you for the better then  :whoohoo!:

I switched to Rocktron Velocity power amps this year and I have to say I love them.  Totally feels smooth and spongey compared to other SS amps.  I dunno what they have inside those things but it's a great sounding power amp.  It adds a more 3d feel and sounds excellent.

Using the MP1 direct into a recording unit (as I do a lot) I defo need a boost in front.  I don't when using my Rockmaster preamps because they have a push pull boost built in and turns the Ultra Gain channel into that more saturated kind of distortion.

Soloist, do you find you always need your boost in front of your MP1?  What's it like with a compressor in front?

no clue why, but does add chunk. my od1 and od2 settings where a lot higher when i ran my mp1 with my mosvalve. now i had to lower them quite a bit. both coz the power amp added a bit of distortion. cranked el34's gives that huge sound. sounds even bigger through the loop of my dual rectifier, but it sounds a lot smoother and way too much bass. it's still not as super tight as running an od pedal up front, but close. it's running on 50 watt mode through tow 1x12 loaded g12t75 speakers. it's heavy as shit, but i don't gig. i wish my wife would allow me to get a pair of 4x12's. i wanna experience it.
my settings are od1: 6.5 od2: 4.2 B:9 m:4 t:4 p:4. rate:0.1. these settings would not work on my mosvalve at all.

and i am the kinda guy that boost every amp i own.  the mp1 with 9002 is the only amp that i don't need a boost and rather not have one. i love the 9002 so much that i run my other amps with it. best $400 bucks cdn ive ever spent.  :headbanger:

(https://i.imgur.com/BXu61R1.jpg?1)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Soloist on December 29, 2017, 06:56:55 AM
Hey Gerry, I have several ways I boost my Mp1.
Mid boost with a modified boss eq. Always on for dirty tones (pre distortion /od). Next a tube screamer use this for clean boost leads. Boss Super Over Drive, use occasionally to add some more hair to the tone. After distortion /od mxr 10 band eq for additional touch of bass. Compressor is pre eq and distortion used mostly on cleans, however gives you sustain for days on dirty patch.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on December 29, 2017, 08:40:57 AM
You guys are all totally off the mark.  The key to his tone isn't the 9002, it's the Barbie sticker!  I slapped one on my stock MP1-woah!  It was like night and day. ;)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on December 29, 2017, 01:36:15 PM
Hey Gerry, I have several ways I boost my Mp1.
Mid boost with a modified boss eq. Always on for dirty tones (pre distortion /od). Next a tube screamer use this for clean boost leads. Boss Super Over Drive, use occasionally to add some more hair to the tone. After distortion /od mxr 10 band eq for additional touch of bass. Compressor is pre eq and distortion used mostly on cleans, however gives you sustain for days on dirty patch.

That is a couple of ways to boost right?  Not all running into one another?

So if you use the Boss Super OD, do you have other things before and after?

If I use too much of anything in front it will turn to shit.  Subtle use of anything is the only success I get with that technique.

How would you describe the benefits of your practices?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 29, 2017, 02:53:24 PM
You guys are all totally off the mark.  The key to his tone isn't the 9002, it's the Barbie sticker!  I slapped one on my stock MP1-woah!  It was like night and day. ;)

now you exposed my tone secret. " I love Penis" sticker is on order" btw.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Soloist on December 29, 2017, 03:10:09 PM
My pedal board runs as follows:  Boss Noise Gate with Comp-EQ-tube screamer-super OD-mxr eq all in the noise gates loop. I use them in different combonations depending on patch, guitar, tuning ect. By putting them in the gates loop it settles them down and makes them play nice with one another. I love this set up, very versatile for playing almost anything.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on December 31, 2017, 03:16:13 AM
do you guys ever find that boosting the mp1 makes it sound thin? it packs a nice punch, but really thins out the tone
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on December 31, 2017, 10:01:59 AM
@ Chamai Depends on the boost

So if I use an overdrive block from my boss gt5 it thinned it out, and all I did to compensate was add a little more low end in via the EQ on the GT5.  No issues.

So lately as mentioned in a few posts back I got this EXAR OD-1.  No thinning at all using it as a boost. And as I mentioned in the same post, your using virtually nothing but the level control when boosting, an extra drive totally turns it to shit very fast.  Using the exar as a boost added or kept the muscle from before being boosted.  I tried to describe this in the original post.

So I ordered this biyang xdrive pedal and I wish to experiment with it as a boost and see what results I get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TSrfnXSF_Y

There are a tonne of options including changing internal chips and I am interested to find out how good this pedal will work as boost in front of the MP1.  I posted a thread on here about it already but no one was interested.

Richard you should like this video it has an Aussie doing the video. Actually, I have found a lot of videos like this from Australians and I find them very good  :thumb-up:

Happy New Year also guy's
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rnolan on December 31, 2017, 07:27:23 PM
Hey RG, good video, interesting pedal, the different chips change the mood of the sound but subtly.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 01, 2018, 02:13:30 AM
the od pedal i have on my board is very similar. this pedal replaced all my od pedals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-71XWcLtmk
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 02, 2018, 01:03:11 AM
Hey RG, good video, interesting pedal, the different chips change the mood of the sound but subtly.

Well you have the switch for modes and then also the chip options, and I'm sure there are a few chips out there worth trying??  May be not?  They give you the one already from maxon and ibanez OD's so that's one to have.  For the price this pedal is crazy value.  I have a Biyang EQ and the quality is outstanding.  Chinese shit has come looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way!

the od pedal i have on my board is very similar. this pedal replaced all my od pedals.


I have a feeling your OD pedal was a lot more expensive though.  Can you change the chips in it as easily as changing the battery?  I like the options on your pedal too.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/earthquaker_devices_palisades_overdrive.htm (https://www.thomann.de/gb/earthquaker_devices_palisades_overdrive.htm)
Holy shit I didn't think the price would be that much difference but there ya go!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biyang-Three-Tubescreamer-Clone-Overdrive/dp/B001U2IH6Q (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biyang-Three-Tubescreamer-Clone-Overdrive/dp/B001U2IH6Q)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 02, 2018, 02:47:48 AM
wow, you guys pay a lot more over there.
can't change everything. but it's almost like having a bunch of od pedals in one.
certain amps work better on certain settings. works well for me
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 02, 2018, 03:08:52 AM
wow, you guys pay a lot more over there.
can't change everything. but it's almost like having a bunch of od pedals in one.
certain amps work better on certain settings. works well for me

Well of course, it's imported to us.

still looks pretty expensive to me even from a US site.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PalisadesV2 (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PalisadesV2)
That's £184 in my money vs £40  :lol:

also for me personally I would need to reason up the cost for such a device which would literally just be to sit in front of something else and not actually be forming the bulk of my tone.  If I was heavily reliant on the pedal itself being the cornerstone of my tone I would contemplate spending this kind of cash on it,  but when I think to myself I can bag a second hand MP1 for this money I think "not a f**king chance".  It looks like a great pedal, but then so does the Chinese pedal.  The Palisades has the most options I have ever saw on an lowely overdrive pedal.  The Biyang has plenty for my taste though and I dare saw the majority of other over drive users.  I can't wait to try it out.  I've never had a tube screamer so this should be like having a tubescreamer with options.

**I would actually remove those horrible chicken head knobs from the chinese pedal however as I don't like them and put on something more basic.**
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 03, 2018, 02:57:56 PM
boost is a huge part of my tone so i don't mind spending a little more on one. and having all these options in one pedal is great. i really loved my sd1, but it cuts out a bit too much bass. i can just switch modes on my pallisades and it sounds like my sd1 with a bit less bass cut. but i still keep it on my board because it works so well with my dual rectifier.

i am not really a pedal guy. all i have is a comp, od pedal, mxr micro amp and a noise gate. prob getting rid of the noise gate since i don't really need it anymore.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 04, 2018, 12:37:00 AM
I didn't mean it that way that a boost wasn't so important, I just couldnt part with that much cash for a single pedal.  Particularly when you can get something just as a good for a lot cheaper.
It's the same with guitars.  There are so many good options now days that it's not necessary for me anyways.

You're a bit screwed now ( joking  :thumb-up:) then since you don't need a boost what with that Marshall 9000, you gonna sell that pallisades?

Interesting you said the SD-1 thinned out the tone.  This was exactly like picking an overdrive on my Boss GT5 and boosting the MP1 in the FX loop.  The GT5 is an all analogue drive section.  The over drive I used was called Vintage Over Drive.  Not exactly sure what model of boss over drive it was supposed to be.  To compensate however I used the EQ to add a little more bottom end back in again.  I recorded half my albums guitars using this set up (and I might be going back to it as an FX unit has not worked out for me).

I'm not a pedal guy so to speak, I consider pedal guys guy's with board with about 4-10 pedals on there into an amp, but live I use a Boss GT5 and whichever preamp I'm in the mood for in the loop.  In studio it was the same until recently but now I might have to swap it all back again to the GT5.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 04, 2018, 01:27:05 AM
i use the palisades for all my tube amps. that pedal is never leaving my board.

well the key to get a good tight distortion is to have some bass cut out and boost the bass up after the pre amp.i don't have a parametric eq on my marshall rig yet. mesa amps seem to have more bass than i never need so an eq is not needed. i need a slight boost on the 500kh area just to get some low mids on my jcm 800 when i am play at bed room levels. i like my mids, so scooping to get a bigger sound is not my style.

i am interested in the gt5 now you mentioned it is an all analogue drive.  seems like a cool way to get a few analogue pedals in one unit.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 04, 2018, 05:58:48 AM
i use the palisades for all my tube amps. that pedal is never leaving my board.

Not pedal guy   :lol:


I use more mids than anyone I know so I'm with you there.  MJMP has heard it live so he can vouch.  It's good as it means you can hear all my mistakes  :facepalm:

I don't normally have to cut any bass or low end, I find I generally need to bump the lo end up with my Rockmasters anyway.  With the MP1 live though, I remember having to cut it at least down to -2, as it had more than enough going through my poweramp and cabs and just sounded muddy if I didn't.  I must test drive it again live and see where I am at.  It's mainly been a studio thing for me for the last few years.

Yes the GT5 I used the amp modeler with analogue drive module before a pre amp for a long time.  It sounded good.  I mean I got away with it  :)

Now I use the exact same but in the loop I have a preamp.  The drive section and possibly some other elements (the wha) at the front end are analogue.  It's the exact same with the Boss GX700 (the rack version with probably a little more in depth FX features).  The only OD I was ale to use however as a boost in front of MP1 was the Vintage Overdrive.  The EQ in front works also.  It's great as what ever you put in the loop you can move about in an assignable FX chain.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 05, 2018, 12:13:18 AM
i only use 2 OD pedals and a comp for my amps. all my modulation and verbs and shit i use my rack pieces. i have nothing in front of my MP1. maybe a EQ pedal, but that POS mxr broke so i really have nothing in front.

i find always cutting some bass before hitting preamp gives a more clear distortion. i have my bass at least 6 on MP1. what are your settings and speakers? i never had the muddy problem but lacking low end punch because of how the mp1 was voiced.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 05, 2018, 12:28:28 AM
I personally use 4  2x12" cabs loaded with Celestion vintage 30s and Eminence cv-75s.

At gigs sometimes I end up using cabs that have been supplied and it's usually 2 4x12" cabs.  What speakers are in them generally will be a mystery to me.  I guess it's common for me to be playing through Marshall 1960's but it they can be anything really.

i find always cutting some bass before hitting preamp gives a more clear distortion. i have my bass at least 6 on MP1. what are your settings and speakers? i never had the muddy problem but lacking low end punch because of how the mp1 was voiced.

Well that all depends on guitars and pickups really on whether you have to do that or not.  If I add a boost from my GT5 it does exactly what you describe hence the thinning as it's become bias to mid and hi frequencies.  Personally though I've never cut bass from a guitar going into an amp.

I can't remember the last live patch I used on my MP1.  In the studio its at usually at zero or around 2 or something like that. 
Here is one patch I've been using in the studio for months and not strayed much from:  (posted earlier on this thread actually)

Boosted by GT5 OD

OD1 4.2
OD2 7
Bass 2
Mid 6
Treble 0
Presence 6

Systematic Chaos is another person on here I remember saying he needs to cut a lot of the bass on the MP1.  Can't remember where that post is though.  I'll have a look.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 05, 2018, 02:14:07 AM
i run two 1x12's unfortunately at home, that is why i have my bass up a bit. i the reason why i cut bass is to shape my distortion sound. here is an article that i learn this technique from. it's a good read.

http://www.amptone.com/g228.htm

i use g12t75. those are my favourite speakers for my jcm 800 and mp1.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 05, 2018, 08:17:58 AM
I'll give that a read, seems very in depth.  I've done all that kind of experimenting before though.

It really will depend on your guitar and pickups to begin with though.  Like a Les Paul is going to have more lo frequencies than a strat for example.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 05, 2018, 06:24:02 PM
For sure. My les paul is pretty much the only guitar I use for metal and rock. A slight volume boost and bass treble.cut with mid boost on an eq in front of the mp1breally helps.tighten things up on the mp1.. works well with any amp really. It gives the now a boosted feel without changing the tone much. Also I can up the bass on the now without sounding muddy at all.

Multiple gain stages IMO is the key to a good distortion tone. Again. My shitty mxr eq is usable right now.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 29, 2018, 01:10:57 AM
Ok sorry to keep draggint his thread up for the non boosters out there.......................but

The Biyang X-drive is the shit when it comes to boosting my stock MP1.  It's savage.  And the noise floor?  Holy shit batman!  I was able to have the:

volume about 3 o clock,
drive at about 7 o clock
tone about 3 o clock
toggle switch set to TS (tube sceamer mode)

in front of my MP1 and actually able to reduce my noise threshold on my Hush IICX!!!  It's a very quiet OD pedal, very quiet!  This setting in front of my MP1 using this patch is pretty face ripping.  Still enough mids even with the EQ at 0.  I only tried this with one guitar that has a Dimarzio Megadrive in it, so I'll check out some of my Super Distortion equipped guitars later and see how they sound.

OD1 4.2
OD2 7
Bass 2
Mid 0
Treble 0
Presence 6

The guitar becomes super silky smooth to play and there is still definition and plenty of cut through.  I'd say this was a super heavy setting, kind similar to what you can get with a 3TM.  I'm sure none of you will try the X-drive or need it, but don't discount it if the need for an OD ever arises, it's very good and that price is shockingly good.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: gb on February 25, 2018, 05:16:30 PM
interesting thread. Im not really a boost guy as i just have a separate patch with increased gain or volume etc.. however saying that, i always loved the jcm 800 patch on Amplitube and realised why.. it had a "pro drive" pedal boosting in front. So got me thinking.. i run a Lexicon G2 that has "copys" of the typical boost pedals (OD, TS etc). I compared an Original TS with the lexicon copy version of it and they are pretty damm close. So i thought id boost my rhythm mp1 patch with the lexicon and yes it does give it some ooomph and some depth (a pushed sound, harmonics scream out etc). I compared it with my unboosted mp1 lead patch and its comparable however the boosted rhythm has an "edge" a pushed sound.. the lead mp1 patch is up there too but more smooth with clarity. hard to decide however they are options all built into my setup with no extra pedals or cables. So i have nothing really to contribute lol just wanted to share.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on February 26, 2018, 01:45:06 AM
Hey GB,

you have contributed mate, simply by telling us you now see how a boost in front of an MP1 can add something very useful for a particular sound.

The tube screamer clone I have been using is f**king savage in front of my stock MP1.  Harmonically it adds lots of content and also maintains a lot of string definition.  For the type of music I play I could not do without a boost in front a stock mp1.  Simply adding more gain on the MP1 itself and using without boost does not achieve the same thing.  The extra "layer" comes from something put at the front.

I like how you have put the lexicon's onboard drives to good use.  This is like me when I was using my Boss GT5 onboard analogue overdrive as a boost.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on March 03, 2018, 09:27:11 PM
Not sure if it's moot at this point, but I've seen video of George Lynch running a Rat through the front end of his MP1 circa '89.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rawk777 on March 06, 2018, 07:57:30 PM
I really love Rat pedals to boost high gain amps. I have a rat deucetone (wich have 4 differents rat versions in it), and I love to use every modes. Right now I like the dirty rat the most. Aweome pedal :).

I think the pedal also sounds good as a distortion pedal on a clean channel, but I just use it as a boost (dist 9 oclock, filter noon, level 3 oclock).
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on March 08, 2018, 02:20:48 PM
You can check out how he's got it set up in this video, sorry I don't know how to embed YouTube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IumKMyLDGns
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on March 09, 2018, 12:30:08 AM
sounds like a boosted ada.

isn't a rat more of a distortion pedal than an overdrive?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on March 09, 2018, 12:29:57 PM

isn't a rat more of a distortion pedal than an overdrive?

As far as I know, yeah.  I was never a fan of distortion/od pedals and have rarely had the need to use them unless I was playing through someone else's rig.  I think I played one through an old Plexi once? :dunno:
I came of age in an era where high gain heads (Engl, Mesa, 5150) were commonplace, so I thought it kind of redundant to have any pedals on top of that.  I play with another guitar player, so my stock MP1 usually gives me what I need.  I can see why Lynch would want to use the Rat to boost since he likes a little more "hair" in his sound.  When I saw him last year he was playing a borrowed JMP with a distortion pedal.  It was...bright.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: herbyguitar on March 09, 2018, 01:17:46 PM
Most O.D. pedals have a tone control that just doesn't work for me. Tone 100% and the bass and mids suffer. Tone 70% and the high end suffers. Now it needs an equalizer to rebalance. I have yet to find one that doesn't mess with the tone.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rawk777 on March 10, 2018, 11:49:48 AM
I tryed to boost the ADA with a boss DS-1 and it sounded like crap.

The rat can work as a booster, overdrive, distortion and fuzz. That's an awesome pedal :). Also, the filter control do not work like standard dist and od pedal... When you turn it clockwise, treble gets rolled off.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on March 12, 2018, 04:48:24 PM
just tried boosting with my rack tube driver to ada mp1.

sounds pretty awesome.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on June 05, 2018, 12:00:28 PM
Chamal, dumb question; did you place the Tube Driver before, or after your MP1?  I got an ART SGE Mach II coming in the mail and I was going to mess around with its analogue distortion, but I wasn't sure where to put it in the chain since it's primarily going to be used for pitch shifting and MAYBE a boost.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on June 08, 2018, 12:46:03 AM
goes before the mp1.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 03, 2020, 04:38:46 AM
Just bringng this one up again as I bit the bullet and bought a little treble boost.  It sounds pretty good I have to say.  It can be noisey with a power supply and too high a setting, but it actually sounds pretty good.  I wouldn't describe it a having a wha pedal stuck in one spot.  The pedal I bought is supposedly based on the Dallas Rangemaster which Judas Priest and many others are famous for using.  I couldn't honestly say if it sounds like it or not since I have never owned or used an original Rangemaster.  But just for the record, it seem to work real well boosting an MP1 into a lot heavier distortion, livens it up a bit also.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 09, 2020, 01:45:05 AM
Might post a little sample of the tone later on since it's the first MP1 stuff I've done in a long time.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 09, 2020, 05:18:24 AM
Yes Gerry,

That would be interesting to hear.

Me, I have always wished that I could get more bass lower end out from my MP-1 (3TM) without having to use a graphic EQ or anything like that.

I have done the mods as per MJMP has said and also added in the 'Bass Warp' trimmer pot as described in the 3.666 schematic mod in the 'schematics vault' section here on the forum.

I have also changed out U17 and installed an LME49740NA to see if that would improve things, but nah.  It would be nice though to get more bottom end.

Yes please do post a sound clip Gerry, I would like to hear that please.




Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 09, 2020, 02:04:59 PM
Have you tried the bass trimpot on the 3TM itself?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 10, 2020, 11:30:37 AM
Have you tried the bass trimpot on the 3TM itself?

Yes MJMP, I have it maxed and also the Bass Warp, Just trying to get a little more bass.

I was thinking, would changing the Bass Warp pot up to about 20K or higher, or else keeping it at 10K and changing cap C82 up to around 330nF make much of a difference on that section of the tone stack to get more lower end bass boost?

It looks ok on pencil to paper for the lower cut frequency, 160Hz is a little high for me.

I think possibly trying to get it down to about 60-ish Hz for better dropped D guitar sound might work out by changing one of those components.

what do you reckon ?

Sorry for hijacking and de-railing this thread folks, maybe I should start a new thread over in schematics and modifications.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 10, 2020, 12:01:12 PM
That's weird, low end on all my MP1's is not an issue.  In fact it has way more than it needs.  The MP1 I am currently using with the boost is my MP1 MDRT/Noise mod version.  Aint used the 3TM in a while and it has enough low end and I've never touched a thing on it other than the tubes.

What is your setup Rusty?  Into a power amp into a cab?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 10, 2020, 12:06:25 PM
Hello RG,

Yea im using good enough gear, I think,

A Marshall valve state 8008 power amp, 80W-80W,
Then a Peavey stereo 2X12 with Jensen Modern 70W speakers.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 10, 2020, 12:22:57 PM
Wasn't so much to see whether it was good or not gear just was wondering is something else thinning out the sound in the chain.  Try MP1 into power amp by itself.  You never know.

Your gear probably more expensive than mine  :lol:

also what number you got the bass at with the MP1 eq?  Mine is like -2 in my DI set up which I will make the forth coming clip from.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 10, 2020, 12:39:46 PM
Naw, sorry RG, I didn't mean how good the gear was, just meant that it should be good enough to deliver good enough bass frequencies.

RE: what number you got the bass at with the MP1 eq?  16, up full RG.

-2 on your's, h'mmm,   :dunno:,  I need to do some investigation.

No worries,
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 10, 2020, 02:04:30 PM
Defo something not right there then, I have tonnes of bass on each unit.  Let us know what you find on the investigation.

Just got the old Flying V strung up today, haven't played it in 10 years!!  Might do these clips with it and a Stagemaster.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 11, 2020, 11:07:06 AM
I find 60Hz way too low for guitar, good for bass but for me the low end freq is between 100-160Hz.

My setting of bass on the MP-1 is 6 to 9, I usually use 6 for band practice and live and 9 when I'm playing alone. The bass player has to fill the low end, not the guitar.

Just made a sim of the original vs your values, check it out. My guess is you will loose even more bass.Green is original red is your value.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 13, 2020, 02:14:24 AM
I find 60Hz way too low for guitar, good for bass but for me the low end freq is between 100-160Hz.

My setting of bass on the MP-1 is 6 to 9, I usually use 6 for band practice and live and 9 when I'm playing alone. The bass player has to fill the low end, not the guitar.

Just made a sim of the original vs your values, check it out. My guess is you will loose even more bass.Green is original red is your value.

Very good MJMP,

I have measured the resonant frequency of both of my speakers in my 2x12 cab, They both measure 75Hz.

I think I’ll use 75Hz as my target frequency and change R165 Bass Warp again to see how things go.

I am not using bode plotting software at the moment, just pencil to paper and a calculator.

@ my target of 75Hz and given the formula for fc = 1/(2πCR), rearranging for R, Ω,s, =  R = 1/( 2πfC) = 21.22KΩ
                        
I’ll change out the 10KΩ trimmer pot for a 22KΩ one if I can find one, or the nearest higher value and see how things go.

RE: “My guess is you will loose even more bass”  ?  Why is that, may I ask ?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 14, 2020, 07:13:14 AM
ok a rough Hell Bent for Leather.  Ok Ok I copped out as I only learnt part of the solo (the easy bit).  I think tonally it sounds pretty good.

So that's my MP1 (MDRT fitted) boosted with a dallas rangemaster clone type pedal.

Let me just add, I stole the actual drum track and bass guitar from youtube.  You get some nice isolated tracks on there these days.

Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 14, 2020, 07:36:30 AM
Here's a solo with the boost off initially and then the boost on.  Forgive the whammy flutter ending, still trying to crack that, the bar keeps moving as I try to flick it and I'm trying to keep the strings quiet apart from the one I want to sound obviously.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 14, 2020, 12:07:18 PM
RE: “My guess is you will loose even more bass”  ?  Why is that, may I ask ?

Well if you look at the bode plot your -3dB point is at 50Hz, at 100Hz you already lost around-8dB, for guitar that is the bass range.Even at 70Hz it's too low IMHO.

@Gerry, nice tone and good playing, very close to the Priest sound.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 14, 2020, 12:12:48 PM
Thanks MJMP,  I was trying to get that as close.  Before I got the Rangemaster boost pedal I was using a Tubescreamer copy with all the drive turned down and simply using the volume and tone control.  It also had similar results.  Perhaps even more of a Mid hump.  I really love those tone.

Listening back with or without the boost isn't so audible, but the feel is completely different when actual playing, so using the boost it's awesome, more liquid I guess.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 14, 2020, 01:06:58 PM
Yea, Nice sounding RG.  8) Only one thing though, and it's me. My headphones are £ shop jobs, with and without boost seems the same on these pieces of junk.   :) 
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 14, 2020, 01:14:08 PM
Yea, Nice sounding RG.  8) Only one thing though, and it's me. My headphones are £ shop jobs, with and without boost seems the same on these pieces of junk.   :)
  You notice when playing.  I don't have it blasted either, I could push a lot more but I really was going for the Priest tone of that era hence doing the Hell Bent for Leather track (boost the whole way).  It's just adding an ingredient and getting a tiny bit more distortion as well as just that bit of bite.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 14, 2020, 01:19:43 PM

Well if you look at the bode plot your -3dB point is at 50Hz, at 100Hz you already lost around-8dB, for guitar that is the bass range.Even at 70Hz it's too low IMHO.


H'mmm,  I see that, I'm gonna have to come up with a solution.

OK, it's back to the drawing board.

Thanks MJMP.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Rusty on April 14, 2020, 01:24:13 PM
Yea, Nice sounding RG.  8) Only one thing though, and it's me. My headphones are £ shop jobs, with and without boost seems the same on these pieces of junk.   :)
  You notice when playing.  I don't have it blasted either, I could push a lot more but I really was going for the Priest tone of that era hence doing the Hell Bent for Leather track (boost the whole way).  It's just adding an ingredient and getting a tiny bit more distortion as well as just that bit of bite.

Yea RG, definitely a nice tight sound and not too high gain. good sounding axe and playing too I may add. It would be very controlable at a high volume too I would say.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on April 14, 2020, 02:20:28 PM
That's my Squier Cobalt Metallic Blue Stagemaster and my Tokai Cherry Red FV40.  Tokai on the left Squier on the Right.  The FV40 is a 67 Flying V copy.  It's not mahogany though so it gives a different sound.  It is thru neck but it's alder so has a brighter tone I believe.  The Stagemaster is also Alder.  Stagemaster weighs a tonne compared to the V.  It does have a Licensed Floyd with big brass sustain block after all.  FV40 i swapped the nut out for a bone one and the bridge for a Tone Pros I believe the brand is.  Sounds great, lots of harmonic content but the chrome finish is weak and started to come off one of the saddles.  Stagemaster at high volume is well behaved at high volume but you still need a good gate.  Haven't played the FV40 in years, so have no idea what it would be like through my current set up.  Probably good, less bits that can move on that guitar and I potted the pickups in their chrome covers myself.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on April 15, 2020, 12:48:48 PM

Well if you look at the bode plot your -3dB point is at 50Hz, at 100Hz you already lost around-8dB, for guitar that is the bass range.Even at 70Hz it's too low IMHO.


H'mmm,  I see that, I'm gonna have to come up with a solution.

OK, it's back to the drawing board.

Thanks MJMP.

That's why I always use bode plots so you can "see" how it sounds  :)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: StillClimbing on May 22, 2020, 06:31:51 PM
I mess around with an MXR micro amp turned up about 1/2 way. Eh, it adds some hair/fizz but no real volume. I'm not blown away and it probably wouldn't make it into my live rig. I'll try it with some different patches.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chris5150 on May 23, 2020, 10:58:16 PM
I boost mine with a SD1 for death metal.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on May 24, 2020, 06:15:33 AM
I boost mine with a SD1 for death metal.
How do you set the SD-1?

I personally can't even add drive to any OD pedal I place in front of the MP1 never mind a distortion pedal.  Starts to feel weird and kinda distorts the distortion if you get what I mean?  Do you set the SD-1 low?  Or add drive?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chris5150 on May 25, 2020, 06:37:07 PM
I boost mine with a SD1 for death metal.
How do you set the SD-1?

I personally can't even add drive to any OD pedal I place in front of the MP1 never mind a distortion pedal.  Starts to feel weird and kinda distorts the distortion if you get what I mean?  Do you set the SD-1 low?  Or add drive?

Only set as a boost, full level no drive. It works well that way, any other way and I don't like the tone.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on January 14, 2021, 12:38:45 PM
I've boosted the front end of my MP1 with an SD1 with the level and tone on max.  I'm using it for a more boosted modern metal sound and it gets you there with the right settings.

OD 1: 6.5
OD 2: 6.5
Master: 7
Bass: 6
Mid: -2
Treble: 4
Presence: 4

For live, I'm using the Roland GP8 via the 4-cable method, sending the analog overdrive through the front end.  Level's at 100 and drive is at 25, Turbo mode is "off." This actually gives a bit more body versus the SD1, and the cool thing about the GP8 is it has a dedicated analog EQ so you can shape the overdrive sound to get more or less of certain frequencies.  Then, I use a Boss NS50 half-rack to bring down the noise and get a little tighter.  Each patch also has up two 2 external outs to loop in and out, so I have it set to turn the NS50 on and off.

Guitar -> GP8 input
GP8 output -> MP1 Fx Return
GP8 Return -> MP1 FX send
GP8 Send-> NS50 input
NS50 output -> MP1 input



The above method bypasses the digital section when the effects loop is off in the MP1, so your signal gets analogue passthrough.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 15, 2021, 03:05:41 AM
That is one boost I'd like to try the SD1 this and a MXR Distortion.  The off putting thing for me about those two pedals is the lunacy regarding the olds vs the new ones so I don't want to get mixed up in all that bullshit.  I'd really love to try both but it appears I would need to buy the old models and this will cost silly money, that is unless this is just ear delussion talking the new ones just sound the same, hard to know, so many re-issues suffer the same plight and you have to ask yourself, so I succumb to this or just go with my own ears?
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on January 15, 2021, 08:37:15 AM
That is one boost I'd like to try the SD1 this and a MXR Distortion.  The off putting thing for me about those two pedals is the lunacy regarding the olds vs the new ones so I don't want to get mixed up in all that bullshit.  I'd really love to try both but it appears I would need to buy the old models and this will cost silly money, that is unless this is just ear delussion talking the new ones just sound the same, hard to know, so many re-issues suffer the same plight and you have to ask yourself, so I succumb to this or just go with my own ears?

I've seen the Japanese SD1s go for less than $100USD on eBay, though that may have been a fluke.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Iperfungus on January 16, 2021, 12:10:41 AM
Try a BOSS DS-1 (not SD-1) as a booster for the MP-1....
Low Gain, High Volume, Tone as you like.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 18, 2021, 02:26:31 AM
Try a BOSS DS-1 (not SD-1) as a booster for the MP-1....
Low Gain, High Volume, Tone as you like.
  What is that like as a boost?

Again though same rat race with this model, you have to buy the pre '88 version I am told otherwise they moved to Taiwan and not as good apparently.

I have a Boss Line GL100 which works but has things wrong with it.  It's Japanese and all analogue.  It basically has all the boss pedals to that date inside it.  If this was working properly for me that would be the most awesome set of boosts on tap that anyone could wish for in a rack.  I might end up selling it though as it needs looked at.  Has strange break up issues the louder the output knob goes.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Iperfungus on January 18, 2021, 04:13:52 AM
Try a BOSS DS-1 (not SD-1) as a booster for the MP-1....
Low Gain, High Volume, Tone as you like.
  What is that like as a boost?

Again though same rat race with this model, you have to buy the pre '88 version I am told otherwise they moved to Taiwan and not as good apparently.

Mine is Made in Taiwan and it's the same of the Made in Japan version, no difference at all.
As for the TS808/TS9: things to overcharge for old pedals.

I don't like the DS-1 as distortion unit at all....but it's an excellent booster and a nice light overdrive, if used at low gain levels.
At high gain it becomes a hive.  :lol:
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 18, 2021, 08:55:27 AM
Well you know there are all those types out there who will argue that the Japanese model is best  :lol:

From what I know the DS-1 is generally used to good affect going into a tube head, I'm not sure how Boss intended it to be used but the famous users like Gary Moore used it to push the front end of a Marshall so it was all out and out DS-1 distortion.  I know this is something MJMP knows more about with the DS-1.

https://www.groundguitar.com/gary-moore-gear/gary-moores-boss-ds-1-distortion/ (https://www.groundguitar.com/gary-moore-gear/gary-moores-boss-ds-1-distortion/)
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on January 18, 2021, 02:32:55 PM
Japanese is best... for a DS-1. I like the japanese ones better the newer ones. For the SD-1, I prefer the taiwan ones.

A lot of the 80's trash bands used DS-1's in into a JCM800 MV (low input) and cranked the master. Sounded really good live.
The way I use it (in my pedal board) I boost the DS-1 with the SD-1. I got this idea from Criss Olivia but he used 2 SD-1's. Since I didn't have 2 SD-1's at the time I tried this and I still like it. I do prefer my JMP/JCM800 MV (low input) over the non MV marshall heads when it comes to amps when I use pedals.

Here is Gary explaining his Boss stuff. He used the DS-1 to boost his strat sound.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQSPNLSQjm0
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Iperfungus on January 18, 2021, 04:16:12 PM
I started using a DS-1 as a booster in the '90s, when Paul Gilbert revealed his live rig with Mr Big: Ampeg head and 4x12 cabinet and a Boss DS-1 for soloing.
That's it.

Honestly, I cannot hear the difference between a Japan and a Taiwan one...all I can hear is that the DS-1 boosts your overdrive into lead very, very well: you just have to set Tone knob properly.
So, as soon as I had one home, I started using it with the MP-1 or the JMP1 or the Twin Tube  (or the PSA1, but it's gone now... :waving-banana-smiley-emoticon) and results are amazing.

An interesting comparison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUpp5UHlq_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhTxcfcT9fU

Maybe the Taiwan has a little more clarity at high gain settings? Or maybe no.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Iperfungus on January 18, 2021, 04:16:50 PM
Well you know there are all those types out there who will argue that the Japanese model is best  :lol:

Dangerous people.  :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chamai on January 19, 2021, 02:40:40 AM
tried boosting my mp1. does not work. sounds really compressed and most of the bass frequencies is gone. eq pedal works much better imo.

i do boost all my other amps though. hi input on my jcm 800 and boost it with an overdrive.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Iperfungus on January 19, 2021, 05:55:47 AM
To be honest, I stopped boosting my MP-1: if I need more gain, I just push OD1 and OD2... :lol:
There's gain enough to kill a big bear.

JMP1 or other units like the Twin Tube or the PSA1 have less overall gain than MP-1, so an external booster can help for a bit of extra gain (those preamps have anyway a lot of gain, even if less than ADA).

This discussion made me want to try my DS-1 better, so yesterday I connected some guitars to DS-1 and DS-1 to my little Bugera V5 amp.
WOW!!!  :whoohoo!:
I have to correct what I wrote above: if Tone is set between 9 and 11.30 o' clock, you can turn the gain to max and set the level as you need and the DS-1 becomes a very nice distortion unit! Not fizzy, defined and warm.
Great, great pedal.

This makes me want a SD-1.  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on January 19, 2021, 09:25:24 AM
I'll have to try that DS1 trick.  The GP8 has the DS1 circuit in it, and it's the Japanese version.  I don't mind the DS1 as a dirt pedal running into a clean amp stacking overdrives. 
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 19, 2021, 10:54:12 AM
I've watched so many of those videos about the Japanese version being better, I just can't get involved in that.  I actually don't think the DS-1 would disagree with like some uncooked meat.  I like the results I have heard other people get but I just get a feeling it would feel right to me.  However that big chunky mid peak in the DS-2 sounds more my thing.  I never realised it sounded like this until I saw detailed video of it the other day comparing with a DS-1.  It sounded like it would agree with me like minced steak and onions!!

Who know what it is like as a boost.

I too like the EQ boost.

But I've got really good results from a treble boost also.  If I find it thins the sound out too much I dial in more bass on the MP1 EQ.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on January 19, 2021, 01:39:15 PM
The Japanese DS-1 has a nicer high end to it, the newer ones sound more muffled. You can hear that very well in the second video. But the DS-1 as a boost, no not for me. The old MXR distortion + is a much better option for boosting tube amps IMHO.

Before I had the 3TM I always boosted my original MP-1 with a boss GE-7, Japanese made of course  :facepalm:  ;D Never liked OD's or distortions for boosting the MP-1.

JCM800 MV nothing beats a boss SD-1
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 20, 2021, 03:57:29 AM
The Japanese DS-1 has a nicer high end to it, the newer ones sound more muffled. You can hear that very well in the second video. But the DS-1 as a boost, no not for me. The old MXR distortion + is a much better option for boosting tube amps IMHO.

Before I had the 3TM I always boosted my original MP-1 with a boss GE-7, Japanese made of course  :facepalm:  ;D Never liked OD's or distortions for boosting the MP-1.

JCM800 MV nothing beats a boss SD-1

Been looking into the MXR's as well but alas the rat race of early 80's vs modern is a thing with this also.  I've heard it's a terrible pedal as well, but results I have heard with it sound pretty good to me.

The only boosts I have enjoyed with MP1 where an EQ or over drive.  The Biyang I have is fantastic.  Even comes with spare op amps to swap out and has different modes.  Actually my EQ is a Biyang to.  Really is a great EQ pedal, both actually are well made and well quite frankly sound excellent. 
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on January 20, 2021, 08:53:47 AM
I've been curious about trying the Becos TS8-MS.  It's a tube screamer clone produced by a boutique company out of the Eastern Bloc.  It has a TON in the way of bells and whistles, but I would want to use it just as a boost for the MP1 that I can turn on and off via MIDI.  I spent an entire day reading the manual and still wasn't sure if I understood how to do it, but overall the sound seems pretty killer.

https://youtu.be/2Y9dZfUnnoQ
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: rabidgerry on January 20, 2021, 09:11:14 AM
out of the Eastern Bloc

What is this some time between 1945 and 1989?

You mean Romania man.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: MarshallJMP on January 20, 2021, 03:12:45 PM
From what I see in the manual, it will bypass when it recieves either program change number 50,51,52,53 and goes on when it recieves either program change number 54,55,56,57. There is also some relay switching going on. So if you want to do this the best way is to use the midi out of the MP-1 going to the pedal and do some midi mapping.

Here is the manual for the midi   https://becosfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TS8-MS_V2_MIDIControllerProgramming.pdf
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: DesolationBlvd on May 18, 2021, 04:37:08 PM
I thought I'd have to boost my MP-1 on top of hitting it with hot pickups, like I do with my Marshall amps, but I found the MP-1 sounds and feels better with lower output pickups and not pushed. When the OD1 light starts lighting up, it sounds like it's ready to explode, but not in a good way for my playing style.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Lyates1987 on May 19, 2021, 08:28:07 AM
I've got a Clean tube channel I setup specifically for boosting with an OD. It's slightly dirty. I currently use a TS9 and an SD1. It takes both very well but I think it likes the SD1 more. I've been wanting to get that $300 Maxon Apex 808 they recently came out with that was built with all the original TS parts from the time period it was perceived to sound the best. My dad has one and it really does sound better than any 808 you buy new from guitar center. Lot more clarity and the typical TS mid bump on this model makes me cream.
Title: Re: Anyone here boost their ADA MP1?
Post by: Chip Roberts on May 19, 2021, 09:58:50 AM
I recently semi-completed my "B-Rig" with a Boss ME5 in the front for analog overdrive and chorus.  It's basically a bunch of MIJ Boss pedals, like the GP8, only no phaser, but analog chorus/flange.

Here's the issue I'm running into; I want to use the OD1 circuit as a boost to round off the low end and get things a little tighter.  On my GP8, I set the OD1 level to 100 and drive to 25, but the ME5 goes in increments of 1-7.  Where 1 is the lowest setting and 7 is the highest.  How the hell do I figure out how to set that?  :facepalm: