My Classic is BACK

[Dante]

My MP-1 Classic just returned from across the pond (The Atlantic Ocean...and I live near the Pacific). I gotta shout out to you-know-who for fixing her up

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: MJMP
You are a Saint

I slapped the rig together late last night and it all worked perfectly (gains were set at 10.0 / 10.0 / 2.5, so I had to dial them down immediately). Got the thing sounding raunchy, snarly, and pissed off (in a good way) in no time at all. Success!

This morning, with a cup of coffee, I put together three dirty patches: Classic rock (midrangy, old Jimmy Page, Alex Lifeson tones), Modern (more bottom end, brutal distortion that can easily be dialed back with the volume knob), and Full on Metal (all the lows, sliced mids, and shards of glass to the face)

I think these tubes are giving me a light fuzz tone when I crank the ODs. I like cranking one to about 7.0-8.0, leaving the other around 5.0. I can get some open sounding chords with a bunch of grit that way. Holding a chord sounds like a growling beast

I am just scratching the surface, I need to come back with a full report. Gimme a day or two...maybe after the weekend

[rnolan]

Hey Dante,  :whoohoo!: :thumb-up:

[Dante]

Plopped my butt on a 1x12 cab in front of the Classic rig, coffee in hand, and proceeded to write a clean SS patch. I had forgotten about the Tube Clean voicing (been too long). Great half-gain grit there....I had always used the Brown channel for that, but no more.

The Classic is just as easy as I remember to program. Considering there are no knobs, it's pretty quick to grab the setting you need and go.

Once I get a solid bank of 10 patches, I'll turn up the Marantz HiFi and jam - that's when the fine tuning starts and I start wrestling levels to get them all playing nice with each other.

More to come...

[Dante]

I have a gig on Saturday. I am not really ready to gig so much, but it's outside and it's at a BREWFEST, so I'm in. :cheers:

We are running direct into the board, not because we're using in-ear-monitors, but because the singer wants to 'control the mix' more. He's not a great soundman, I see trouble on the horizon. So, rather than trust my 20watt Peavey head running direct, I'm bringing something big enough to keep up with an outside environment, should we have PA issues  ::)

So, I'm practicing those songs by running the MP-1 Classic directly into my laptop. That's the sound coming out of the direct out, that's what it should sound like in the PA...should.

That said, I'm really liking what I'm hearing. I've got a great array of tones to choose from, and I'm only using 5 patches.

#20 = Crystal clean (SS voice)
#21 = Dirty, Gritty Clean (Tube clean voice)
#22 = Midrangy Classic Rhythm (Brown voice)
#23 = Bottom Heavy Modern Rock (Dist voice)
#24 = Scooped Mid Metal (Dist voice)

The Brown sound is great when it's almost totally cranked. I think mine is around 8.0/7.5/5.0 or something. The overall tones are fantastic again (THANK YOU MJMP!!), and I still have that kinda fuzz tone that I had before, which ain't bad. I have a feeling it's the tube selection, which I can't remember right now either.

The patches were written with my "les paul guitar" which is actually an Ibanez Artist with a set neck. Mahogany body, maple cap, 3pc maple neck. Gold top paint job, black on the back, MIK.

[Peter H. Boer]

Good the classic is working again.

Enjoy the gig  O0

[Dante]

Well, the Classic is truly back. Performed perfectly all gig long, sounded great. I had a backup rig on me, just in case.

Now, I'm really beat up. I'm not in gigging shape...at all. We played outside, it was a bit hot (around 90°F = 32°C), but we had shade. Thankfully, there was plenty of beer (it was a brewfest). I was so tired afterwards, just pulled the car into the garage without unpacking it. Need to unload it now (it's the next morning).

When my Classic died, I started buying all kinds of gear to take it's place. Now, I need to sell some of it. I have sold a few things already, but I'm still sitting on about 4 complete rigs here.

[rnolan]

Hey Dante, so happy for you the classic is doing its thing  :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: .  Nothing quite like the tones from an ADA.  I know what you mean about being "match fit" to play.  While it's great fun etc it really can take it out of you.

[MarshallJMP]

Hey Dante, does it still have those tubes in it when it left here? BTW anymore memory problems?

[Dante]

MJMP: Same tubes, no memory problems at all  :thumb-up:

[Harley Hexxe]

Hey Dante!

         Great to hear some good news for a change. It seems I'm going to have to send mine off to the ADA Guru for some repair work.
         I'm glad yours is working like a beast again.

Harley 8)

[MarshallJMP]

@Dante, ok great to hear.

@Harley, no problem, mail me.

[Dante]

BUMP: I been tube rolling.....I tried a few 12ax7 options because, when I picked the ones in there, my Classic was not working optimally. I kept a JJ Gold pin tube in the V2 position for all these comparisons.

Here's what I had on hand to try in V1:

Original tubes from an old MP-2 (red letters)
TAD ECC83 Selected
Penta Labs
Groove Tubes (one regular 12ax7, one 12ax7r2)
Sovtek 12ax7WXT
Mesa 12ax7 (grey lettering)
JJ 12ax7
Tung Sol 12ax7
Coupla blank tubes that I think came out of my Carvin V3 head

The winner(s):
The original MP-2 tube and the TAD are sounding pretty good. I'm going to practice with both for awhile. Incidentally, the TADs have the longest plates of the bunch. I had a mullard somewhere, but I can't find it. I think it may have been in the V3 head when I sold it...or it's in my Peavey right now. I have the box :/

Coupla notes: The Mesa tube sounded best on the low end chugga chuggas, but not anywhere else.
The GT 12ax7r2 sounded terrible (YMMV) Dead, flat, just not good. I think that tube may have an issue or two.

[rnolan]

 :whoohoo!: :thumb-up:

[Dante]

Bumping the Necro-Thread;

Pulled out the Classic that I destroyed years ago, found two stock MP-2 tubes (Chinese unbranded with 12AX7 in red)

I put them in my currently functioning Classic and they are GREAT. Much better than the boutique tubes I spent a bunch of money on  :facepalm:

Always did like those tubes best in the MP-2. They work for everything; cleans, crunch, DIST....apparently, they're my choice for the MP-1 Classic too

[rnolan]

Hey Dante, glad to hear you got the classic out for a run  :thumb-up:   Totally agree about the tubes, shame you can't buy them  :facepalm: , they were great in my MP-1 back in the day and also fantastic in my MP-2