Hey El, MJMP will get to it LOL.
Hey David, interesting conversation, and I get where your coming from. Kind of ties in with what SC is doing with a TAD in V1 and NOS Mullard in V2.
So far I've gone for 2 Mullard long plates in my MP2s (and very happy with them BTW), after the posts of late though and playing my Epihone SG (Gibson 57 re-issue PUs) through them the other night (they are so huge), I'm considering going for 2 different tubes.
I think IIRC from what MJMP explained re the way the MP1 tube stages work, that you thoughts are generally correct, OD2/V2 is kind of the master vol (ish) and the main tone is set in OD1/V1 (= tube screamer ish).
Now SC is using the TAD for initial tone/distortion and using the very open 3D Mullard to follow. I was thinking (also based on other posts) to go the other way, Mullard V1, TAD or maybe tight 2d Boogie STR (JJ) in V2. However SC's idea is better gain structure (2D > 3D) will allow the sound to expand. I'll give both a go and let you know.
MikeB and I are coming up for a tube rolling session (his MP1, My MP2)