ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Miscellaneous => ADA Sound/Audio Clips & Bits => MP1 => Topic started by: DannyjoeCarter on January 16, 2023, 11:09:43 AM
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Hey guys here's a quick little video with a real dry stock Marshall sound that will sound even better once I get my MP1, that wonderful analog chorus would add such a nice touch too! Rnolan mentioned I should post this here so enjoy! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjDEsaXcG5A
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That was VERY nice, nice sound too. Seems you have also a bunch of Marshall's?
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That was VERY nice, nice sound too. Seems you have also a bunch of Marshall's?
Thank you for the kind words JMP :) Yes since we last spoke I bought my Wall of Marshalls[size=78%] and the JVM has pretty much been my sound. But I was curious what an MP-1 would sound like into the FX return of the JVMs especially with the Resonance and Presence controls pretty much acting like the BBE Sonic Maximizer did back in the 80s?
So I'll keep you all posted with new clips soon! :banana: [/size]
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Hey DJC, looking forward to hearing the MP-1 into the return, should sound awesome :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: .
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Hey DJC, looking forward to hearing the MP-1 into the return, should sound awesome :thumb-up: :whoohoo!: .
Fingers crossed!!! We'll know this Saturday! :banana:
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That's a badass tone, not to mention some awesome riffing! :headbanger:
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That's a badass tone, not to mention some awesome riffing! :headbanger:
Hi Harley great seeing you on here again! And thank you so much for the kind words, and yeah it's really hard to go wrong with a straight Marshall tone! This tone should be pretty easy to replicate off my mp1 as well and adding a little bit of that sweet chorus is going to make even more magic! :banana:
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Oh yeah,
You can nail that tone and a helluvalot more with the MP-1. Hooking it up the way you are planning on doing it, it will definitely be influenced by the Marshall power amp.
I put one of my Classics into the power amp of a SLO 100 many years ago, and the sound still haunts me to this day. AWESOME. It's the only word that comes to mind, but doesn't do it justice.
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Oh yeah,
You can nail that tone and a helluvalot more with the MP-1. Hooking it up the way you are planning on doing it, it will definitely be influenced by the Marshall power amp.
I put one of my Classics into the power amp of a SLO 100 many years ago, and the sound still haunts me to this day. AWESOME. It's the only word that comes to mind, but doesn't do it justice.
Oh that's great to hear Harley! Yeah with the Marshall JVMs they have an amazing Resonance control as well as the Presence control so it will fatten the MP-1 well hopefully!
That was the only thing I had a hard time with in the late 80s; I ran my rack system, which I was so proud of with all the lush studio tones - until I played for a couple weeks with another guitar player that ran a stock 1982' Marshall JCM 800 with just an Ibanez Tube Screamer in front to if it :( :facepalm: Man I disappeared in the mix LOL!
SO I'm thinking this could be the best of both worlds - but I'll see soon enough! :banana:
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Well Danny, that is the thing I found out many years ago with the rack rigs, you have to be careful not to over-process your tone. I'm guilty of the same pleasures.
That's when I started configuring my rig to run parallel effects and keep my core guitar tone(s) intact. I have a couple of ways of doing that. I can split the unaffected sound from the preamp with a Rane SM26, and run the split channels to effects units, and let them come out of independent channels with their own power amps and speakers, or I can just run separate ADA rigs with effect along side the main rig. Either way, I have my cake and I can eat it too.
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Well Danny, that is the thing I found out many years ago with the rack rigs, you have to be careful not to over-process your tone. I'm guilty of the same pleasures.
That's when I started configuring my rig to run parallel effects and keep my core guitar tone(s) intact. I have a couple of ways of doing that. I can split the unaffected sound from the preamp with a Rane SM26, and run the split channels to effects units, and let them come out of independent channels with their own power amps and speakers, or I can just run separate ADA rigs with effect along side the main rig. Either way, I have my cake and I can eat it too.
Yes sir Harley I think many of us were guilty of effects addiction and all those lush tones and so may times things got lost in the mix.
And the Rane mixer was my friend later on too! ;D
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Danny,
It wasn't just the effects, that was just ear candy.
I was so impressed with how much clarity I was hearing in the studio, that I wanted to be able to do that with my rig, so I didn't just go for the effects processors, I also went into the aural processors too, and I admit, it was too much. You just can't get that fidelity from guitar amp speakers.
Aural exciters, Sonic Hologram Injectors and the like belong in the mixing desk not in the guitar amp. Eventually, I figured out the parallel situation with the effects, and here's what brought it on. I was listening to a playback of a track I had been working on, and realized my guitar sounded very much like Richie Sambora's rig, much to my chagrin. Don't get me wrong, Richie is an awesome player, but his sound on records was too processed. It seemed artificial. That's when I had to re-think my set up. and the answer is simple, get a killer guitar tone and keep it. Then put everything else around it, but keep that tone in the front.
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Danny,
It wasn't just the effects, that was just ear candy.
I was so impressed with how much clarity I was hearing in the studio, that I wanted to be able to do that with my rig, so I didn't just go for the effects processors, I also went into the aural processors too, and I admit, it was too much. You just can't get that fidelity from guitar amp speakers.
Aural exciters, Sonic Hologram Injectors and the like belong in the mixing desk not in the guitar amp. Eventually, I figured out the parallel situation with the effects, and here's what brought it on. I was listening to a playback of a track I had been working on, and realized my guitar sounded very much like Richie Sambora's rig, much to my chagrin. Don't get me wrong, Richie is an awesome player, but his sound on records was too processed. It seemed artificial. That's when I had to re-think my set up. and the answer is simple, get a killer guitar tone and keep it. Then put everything else around it, but keep that tone in the front.
OK I see - great approach Harley!
Hey did you ever get into the Eventide H3000? Man you could lost in a good way into that thing - a wonderful rabbit hole! :banana-trip:
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With my MP-1 I went for a mixer setup from the start. I've never used the MP-1 loop or had any effects in front. I used (and still do) a Yamaha AM802 8 ch mixer with 3 sends and run it much like a PA setup. Sends 1&2 to Quadverb and 3 to IPS33 smart shift. And I'd start with just the MP-1 tone and augment that (with parallel effects, predominantly (slight short) delay and reverb). I was oblivious to other MP-1 users or what they were doing. I took MP-1 patch 1 (Marshall), tweaked it to what I liked and then set gain and master vol levels for various sounds I needed. IIRC I did set up a flange patch for Heart barracuda and a long delay with a smooth lead tone (a bit more bass that other patches). Later I sold the MP-1 and a B200s to MikeB and swapped in a new MP-2 (some say the MP-2 is too complicated, I was in heaven ::) ). That rig (8RU) now has a Carvin DCM200L poweramp and also an MB-1 for if/when I play bass, Also has the MP-2 cab sim outs into 2 chs for either recording or if I use the Messa P112 bass cabs which have a tweeter). And recently I built a new 4 RU rack with MP-2, Midiverb4 in the MP-2 (parallel) loop (first time I've ever used the loop) and B200s, simple and compact :thumb-up: .
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With my MP-1 I went for a mixer setup from the start. I've never used the MP-1 loop or had any effects in front. I used (and still do) a Yamaha AM802 8 ch mixer with 3 sends and run it much like a PA setup. Sends 1&2 to Quadverb and 3 to IPS33 smart shift. And I'd start with just the MP-1 tone and augment that (with parallel effects, predominantly (slight short) delay and reverb). I was oblivious to other MP-1 users or what they were doing. I took MP-1 patch 1 (Marshall), tweaked it to what I liked and then set gain and master vol levels for various sounds I needed. IIRC I did set up a flange patch for Heart barracuda and a long delay with a smooth lead tone (a bit more bass that other patches). Later I sold the MP-1 and a B200s to MikeB and swapped in a new MP-2 (some say the MP-2 is too complicated, I was in heaven ::) ). That rig (8RU) now has a Carvin DCM200L poweramp and also an MB-1 for if/when I play bass, Also has the MP-2 cab sim outs into 2 chs for either recording or if I use the Messa P112 bass cabs which have a tweeter). And recently I built a new 4 RU rack with MP-2, Midiverb4 in the MP-2 (parallel) loop (first time I've ever used the loop) and B200s, simple and compact :thumb-up: .
Wow what an awesome setup! I had the MP-2 back in 94 and liked a lot of the features however I really wanted it for the noise gate but it always seem to have this SPLAT type of cut off which I never figured out. But there were a lot of really cool feature in it. I may have to try and find another one of those too! I also had the MP-1 Classic for a short time but don't remember now much about it other than it had a Brown setting or feature in it.
So it will be fun to experiment with this stuff again! :banana:
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Danny,
I bought the first H3000 when it got into the stores here in 1988. I still have it, but I've upgraded the chipset to the H3500DX now. It has everything you could possibly put in it. I also still have my Lexicon gear as well, MPX-1, LXP-15II, and a few others, which have the best reverbs you could ever want, plus several other effects that are useful in a guitar rig, but there again, most of the effects in the Lexicons, and quite a few in the Eventide are better suited for the mixing desk rather than guitar amps. That's where I have to bring these effects in parallel to my guitar tone, and mind my mix levels with them.
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Danny,
The Classic is a fantastic sounding preamp when you really want to get that vintage amp tone as opposed to the more modern tones of the 80s. That has more vintage vibe than the original MP-1.
Yes it does have the Brown tube voicing as well as a stereo effects loop and built in noise gate which I though were excellent additions to it. In my personal opinion, it has the weakest chorus effect of the three preamps ADA made, and I always supplemented that with one of my S-1000s, or Digitizer 4s,
It also doesn't have as much low end as the original MP-1, so I did some tube rolling to try to make that a little better, and the closest I came to that was a pair of GT 12AX7R2 in it which did give a mild boost to the bass and mids in the preamp, but it still needed help from the power amp for more low end. I wrote a review on that a long time ago on here.
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Hey DJC, that setup has served me well for many years, I have the mixer velcroed to the bottom of my 8RU SKB rack (you can just see it in this pic). The MP-2 noise gate has Fader/Gate and threshold settings. I use Fader setting rather than Gate which avoids the "splat"
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Danny,
I bought the first H3000 when it got into the stores here in 1988. I still have it, but I've upgraded the chipset to the H3500DX now. It has everything you could possibly put in it. I also still have my Lexicon gear as well, MPX-1, LXP-15II, and a few others, which have the best reverbs you could ever want, plus several other effects that are useful in a guitar rig, but there again, most of the effects in the Lexicons, and quite a few in the Eventide are better suited for the mixing desk rather than guitar amps. That's where I have to bring these effects in parallel to my guitar tone, and mind my mix levels with them.
That's awesome Harley - killer gear there my friend! That stuff will never be replaced because of its specific sound. I find there is a spirit and special voice to that studio gear from the mid 80s that is just so unique!
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Danny,
The Classic is a fantastic sounding preamp when you really want to get that vintage amp tone as opposed to the more modern tones of the 80s. That has more vintage vibe than the original MP-1.
Yes it does have the Brown tube voicing as well as a stereo effects loop and built in noise gate which I though were excellent additions to it. In my personal opinion, it has the weakest chorus effect of the three preamps ADA made, and I always supplemented that with one of my S-1000s, or Digitizer 4s,
It also doesn't have as much low end as the original MP-1, so I did some tube rolling to try to make that a little better, and the closest I came to that was a pair of GT 12AX7R2 in it which did give a mild boost to the bass and mids in the preamp, but it still needed help from the power amp for more low end. I wrote a review on that a long time ago on here.
Thank you Harley for that update; right off the bat tonight I noticed how much gain this original 2.0 MP-1 has - crazy gain and I can't even imagine adding a third tube like the 3TM mod! Funny thing is I didn't remember it being this high gain but I love it!
And from your description I'm not going to bother with the Classic - I like voicing just perfect! :whoohoo!:
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Hey DJC, that setup has served me well for many years, I have the mixer velcroed to the bottom of my 8RU SKB rack (you can just see it in this pic). The MP-2 noise gate has Fader/Gate and threshold settings. I use Fader setting rather than Gate which avoids the "splat"
Awesome pics - now that's just sexy looking R!
And that's great point about the fader setting - I didn't remember that - I only had for maybe a week and returned it. You know how your ear gets used to a certain sound and sometimes you dismiss something right off? Well I did and I supposed I didn't give it a chance.
But hey like Harley was telling about the Classic, does the MP-2 have a different voicing than the MP-1? I'm just loving this MP-1's tone so much again after all these years!
I'm curious if the MP-2 starts with the MP-1 and adds from that point or it's completely different?
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That's awesome Harley - killer gear there my friend! That stuff will never be replaced because of its specific sound. I find there is a spirit and special voice to that studio gear from the mid 80s that is just so unique!
I tend to agree with you Danny.
If you look at the current trend in effects pedals, it seems the current owners of the Eventide name also feel that way because they've been releasing pedals that are based on isolated algorithms found in the H3000. I forgot who bought the company, but it's obvious where all these pedals are coming from. (Tricerochorus, Black Hole, etc.).
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But hey like Harley was telling about the Classic, does the MP-2 have a different voicing than the MP-1? I'm just loving this MP-1's tone so much again after all these years!
I'm curious if the MP-2 starts with the MP-1 and adds from that point or it's completely different?
Danny,
I had a very good relationship with Todd Langner when he was the head of ADA Tech service, and we had a conversation about that in the early 90s, right after I bought my first Classic. I'll share what he told me about the preamps with you.
MP-1 has three voices, SS, Clean Tube, and Distortion Tube. Because of its design, there is a certain percentage of solid state voice mixed in with each of the tube voices, no matter which stored preset or created preset you use.
MP-2 has ten tube voices only, no solid state. It's a completely different circuit design from the MP-1, so it really doesn't sound like the MP-1 at all. It wasn't meant to. It was designed to put every option into one small package that could produce and tube amp tone you wanted if you tweaked it properly. This preamp was a collaboration between Dave Tarnowski, Todd Langner, and Matt Bacchi.
MP-1 Classic has one Solid State voice, and three tube voices, Clean Tube, Distortion Tube, and Brown Tube. Unlike the original MP-1, the solid state voice is isolated from the tube voices, so whichever voice you select, that is the only voice you'll hear from the Classic.
What brought that conversation about was an issue I was having with the MP-2, which I had already owned two of those by the time I got the Classic. I was trying to get some of the programs I had created in the MP-1 into the MP-2 and into the Classic. When I would get close, it still didn't sound quite right, and I would lose my picking dynamics in the MP-2. I would get closer with the Classic, and that would have excellent picking dynamics, but the tones were not quite "in-your-face" as they were with the original MP-1. That's when Todd explained all this to me.
So taking a step back, and looking at these preamps, you have to consider each of these as their own unique personalities, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses just like any amplifier in the world. So I use each one for it's strengths.
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But hey like Harley was telling about the Classic, does the MP-2 have a different voicing than the MP-1? I'm just loving this MP-1's tone so much again after all these years!
I'm curious if the MP-2 starts with the MP-1 and adds from that point or it's completely different?
Danny,
I had a very good relationship with Todd Langner when he was the head of ADA Tech service, and we had a conversation about that in the early 90s, right after I bought my first Classic. I'll share what he told me about the preamps with you.
MP-1 has three voices, SS, Clean Tube, and Distortion Tube. Because of its design, there is a certain percentage of solid state voice mixed in with each of the tube voices, no matter which stored preset or created preset you use.
MP-2 has ten tube voices only, no solid state. It's a completely different circuit design from the MP-1, so it really doesn't sound like the MP-1 at all. It wasn't meant to. It was designed to put every option into one small package that could produce and tube amp tone you wanted if you tweaked it properly. This preamp was a collaboration between Dave Tarnowski, Todd Langner, and Matt Bacchi.
MP-1 Classic has one Solid State voice, and three tube voices, Clean Tube, Distortion Tube, and Brown Tube. Unlike the original MP-1, the solid state voice is isolated from the tube voices, so whichever voice you select, that is the only voice you'll hear from the Classic.
What brought that conversation about was an issue I was having with the MP-2, which I had already owned two of those by the time I got the Classic. I was trying to get some of the programs I had created in the MP-1 into the MP-2 and into the Classic. When I would get close, it still didn't sound quite right, and I would lose my picking dynamics in the MP-2. I would get closer with the Classic, and that would have excellent picking dynamics, but the tones were not quite "in-your-face" as they were with the original MP-1. That's when Todd explained all this to me.
So taking a step back, and looking at these preamps, you have to consider each of these as their own unique personalities, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses just like any amplifier in the world. So I use each one for it's strengths.
Harley thank you for another great run down and wealth of information my friend! And it makes sense what you're saying because even with Marshalls many times there isn't too much of a cross over more so than introducing something new! And it seems the same with the ADAs! :)
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Wow Harley, thanks so much for sharing that explanation :thumb-up: , I didn't know that about the SS being incorporated into the MP-1s voicing. When I moved to MP-2 I took the same approach as with MP-1, Copied patch 1 to a new bank and tweaked it to sound how I liked. I've started (after all these years) to experiment with the other MP-2 voices. For now I've settled on Voice 5 Warm vintage but I want to chase something with even less distortion but not clean. I also want to play around with the MP-2 macros (which I've never used before).
When I listen to older recordings I did with the MP-1 I get quite nostalgic for the tones I had. As you say, the MP-2 is a very different beast to the MP-1.
I don't think the distributor here in Oz (Pro Audio) ever brought in the Classic, we also never saw any of the ADA effects so I've never had the chance to try one.
In the end the approach could be (as MJMP and Harley does) use different preamps for their strengths. So you could have all 3 in a rack and use some input switching to select the tone you want. When I get one of my MP-1s working properly (currently one works but midi is broken and the other doesn't boot any more :facepalm: ) I'll install it into the 8RU rack and use an A/B A+B switch in front.
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Danny,
Yes, they did want to constantly improve and offer more options for tweaking their preamps at ADA, but that kind of backfired with the MP-2. It was so in-depth with all of it's programming and editing options, that most guitar players were overwhelmed by it. That's why a few months after buying the MP-2, you'd see them back in the stores for sale as used gear for very low prices.
When the Classic came out a few years later, they simplified the interface and programming back to the original MP-1s standard.
I'll admit that I was pretty overwhelmed with the MP-2 myself at first, and put both of them in a closet for about 8 years. I pulled them out and resolved to make myself spend the time to learn how to use it as effectively as the MP-1. It took a while with a lot of referencing to the manual, but I did finally figure it out, and added the MXC controller with a Quad Switch and CC pedal, which really brings out the great potential the MP-2 has.
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Richard,
It kind of took me by surprise to learn that about the MP-1 too.
I don't really see any advantage in using the macros in the MP-2, as it really doesn't seem to have any more to offer than you already get with the MIDI and RTM functions. That just seems like a different way to store program edit combinations.
I would caution you about using the A/B and A/B/Y pedals to feed the inputs of the ADA preamps. Those pedals switch by grounding out the channel you don't want to use, and that will probably introduce noise into your guitar signal path. I've already experienced that myself. What I've resolved to do instead to fix that issue, was to dedicate a program location in each preamp to be a dead quiet setting, (effectively shutting off the preamp), which in my case is program 128. Since you know already that one of my MIDI controller systems is the Voodoo Labs Ground Control, and two GCX Switchers, I can send independent program change commands to each MIDI unit on their own channels simultaneously, so I can do that. That's how I'm going to set up my 22U rack when I get back to it. I'm not sure If I'll include power amps in that rack yet, considering the number of ADA rack effects I have, I may put the power amps in a smaller, separate rack case which may work better.
As for why you never saw the ADA effects in Australia, that could be because a year or so after they introduced the MP-1, ADA decided to discontinue their effects processor line, and concentrate on their guitar systems only at that point. When ADA did introduce the MP-1, the only effects processors they were producing by that time was the Digitizer 4, Pitchtraq, and MQ-1 Programmable Equalizer. All the other delays we've talked about here on the Forum were already obsolete and replaced with the D4. A clue to when that happened is when ADAs logo changed from "ADA Signal Processors" to "ADA Amplification Systems." You can sort of figure that out from the TRENDZ magazine ADA was putting out.
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Harley, do you know when the STD-1 and TFX4 came out? These are the only anolog units I could find here in europe that had 220V. Never found the S1000 or the i series in 220V. The D4,MQ-1 and Pitchraq are also imported as 220V units.
I still really love my Digitizer, I find it to be an amazing delay unit, especially when used in stereo.
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Danny,
Yes, they did want to constantly improve and offer more options for tweaking their preamps at ADA, but that kind of backfired with the MP-2. It was so in-depth with all of it's programming and editing options, that most guitar players were overwhelmed by it. That's why a few months after buying the MP-2, you'd see them back in the stores for sale as used gear for very low prices.
Yes I saw this here in Vegas - MP2s and Classics everywhere for sale and less money than the MP-1s! And so many guys jut tucked their MP-1s away but the market seemed to be flooded with the others.
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Hey Harley, well that makes much more sense of it. What happened here in Oz, I saw an advert for a programmable preamp, not the MP-1 and at the time I was using my 73 Marshall through a power soak (so you could be in the same room as it >:D ) but I had no lead boost :facepalm: . Nunzio Gambale (Franks Brother) who owned Pro Audio asked us what we wanted him to look out for at the NAMM show he was going to, so we (I) told him I wanted a programmable tube preamp that sounded as good as my Marshall but let me have a lead boost. He came back with the MP-1 and I was in heaven. Later on he made the split stacks/cabs etc here under licence. So we got MP-1, MB-1 (he's a bass player), B200s, B500b and G500s and later MP-2, no effects.
Interesting with MP-2, I get why some find it confusing, for me it was like, yeah hupp, bring it on but then I'm also a sound engineer and was running my rig like a PA and suddenly I had a bunch of other options. Of those though, I didn't need the parallel loop as I used a mixer for that (though using it now for the first time in my cut back 4RU rig), but the cab sim outs were perfect, and the gate very much needed for the crazy amount of gain the MP-2 has. I like the wah but I use it on auto triggered and not that much, good for hendrixy stuff. Of the RTM, I've only ended up using the stereo master vol control for (up until later) the only expression pedal I had, which I find very useful with the way I play these days, basically turn up the vol on the same patch for lead. As I'm sure you know, you can run the MP-2 quite simply and not bother with the bells and whistles, I've rarely futzed with the graphic eq.
I get what you mean about the macros, however I've never tried them out and the RTM combinations in them I'm sure are worth trying, or the ADA dudes wouldn't have included them. That's one thing I've always loved about ADA gear, it's well researched and thought out as in, this is what live guitar players (and bass players) want.
The A/B A+B pedal I have is one I built modifying a Peavey (ch/rev) amp switch pedal. So it selects 1 or other or both output jacks for the input to go to, real simple, just 2 switches and 3 jacks wired up. I made it to select between Marshall 50 input or Rockman X100 input (or both >:D ). The X100 head phone out into 2 x 1/4" jack leads with voltage divider resistors (to drop the HP signal to guitar level), 1 to Marshall 50 (2nd input) the other to Marshall 100 Artist head. That was my lead boost prior to MP-1, when I first got the MP-1 I also fed it a signal and brought back the A/B outs into the X100 stereo input (TRS input for stereo in to the X100 to play along to..), until I got the B200s and Quadverb and mixer, sold the Marshall Artist to pay for it all.
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Hey Harley, well that makes much more sense of it. What happened here in Oz, I saw an advert for a programmable preamp, not the MP-1 and at the time I was using my 73 Marshall through a power soak (so you could be in the same room as it >:D ) but I had no lead boost :facepalm: . Nunzio Gambale (Franks Brother) who owned Pro Audio asked us what we wanted him to look out for at the NAMM show he was going to, so we (I) told him I wanted a programmable tube preamp that sounded as good as my Marshall but let me have a lead boost. He came back with the MP-1 and I was in heaven. Later on he made the split stacks/cabs etc here under licence. So we got MP-1, MB-1 (he's a bass player), B200s, B500b and G500s and later MP-2, no effects.
Interesting with MP-2, I get why some find it confusing, for me it was like, yeah hupp, bring it on but then I'm also a sound engineer and was running my rig like a PA and suddenly I had a bunch of other options. Of those though, I didn't need the parallel loop as I used a mixer for that (though using it now for the first time in my cut back 4RU rig), but the cab sim outs were perfect, and the gate very much needed for the crazy amount of gain the MP-2 has. I like the wah but I use it on auto triggered and not that much, good for hendrixy stuff. Of the RTM, I've only ended up using the stereo master vol control for (up until later) the only expression pedal I had, which I find very useful with the way I play these days, basically turn up the vol on the same patch for lead. As I'm sure you know, you can run the MP-2 quite simply and not bother with the bells and whistles, I've rarely futzed with the graphic eq.
I get what you mean about the macros, however I've never tried them out and the RTM combinations in them I'm sure are worth trying, or the ADA dudes wouldn't have included them. That's one thing I've always loved about ADA gear, it's well researched and thought out as in, this is what live guitar players (and bass players) want.
The A/B A+B pedal I have is one I built modifying a Peavey (ch/rev) amp switch pedal. So it selects 1 or other or both output jacks for the input to go to, real simple, just 2 switches and 3 jacks wired up. I made it to select between Marshall 50 input or Rockman X100 input (or both >:D ). The X100 head phone out into 2 x 1/4" jack leads with voltage divider resistors (to drop the HP signal to guitar level), 1 to Marshall 50 (2nd input) the other to Marshall 100 Artist head. That was my lead boost prior to MP-1, when I first got the MP-1 I also fed it a signal and brought back the A/B outs into the X100 stereo input (TRS input for stereo in to the X100 to play along to..), until I got the B200s and Quadverb and mixer, sold the Marshall Artist to pay for it all.
Absolutely amazing the history you have with ADA R! Thanks for sharing this!
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Harley, do you know when the STD-1 and TFX4 came out? These are the only anolog units I could find here in europe that had 220V. Never found the S1000 or the i series in 220V. The D4,MQ-1 and Pitchraq are also imported as 220V units.
I still really love my Digitizer, I find it to be an amazing delay unit, especially when used in stereo.
MJMP,
I can't give you an exact date of production for those two units, but I can give you an educated guess for an approximate time frame of manufacture, and I would place this time frame from 1980-1982. Here is how I come up with that:
Back in the summer of 1983, I found a tiny music shop run by a guy who carried a small inventory, but everything he carried was top shelf. He didn't waste time with cheap gear. He was also the guy who introduced me to ADA rack gear. ( I had my Flanger pedal that I bought in 1978, so I knew it was good). I never saw the STD-1, but he did show me the TFX4 and let me demo it. It was pretty interesting, but at that point in time, I wasn't into building racks. I had several combo amps and was using a couple of pedals through them, and felt like at most venues at that time, they weren't big enough, or better yet, not moving enough air. So I didn't buy it because then I needed to get a case, and clean power supply etc. etc. and it seemed that I was going to end up building a rack that was bigger than my Fender Twin combo rig. So I walked away from that. The effects coming from that TFX4 haunted me so I went back after a few months, after I acquired my Marshall Stack and Vox Super Beatle Stack to pick up that TFX4, and it was gone.
In it's place he had the 2FX and a couple of "i" series delays. That was in early 1984.
Considering the front panel graphics of the STD-1 and TFX4, It seems like ADA, who seemed to upgrade their effects line every two years, had replaced these with their current models. So, if I'm correct, The STD-1 and TFX4, may have been ADAs first line of signal processors probably beginning around 1980-1981. They only had some interesting pedals before that, but they sounded extremely good. Around 1986, I didn't see any more "i" series delays, I was seeing the S-1000s, which had some terrific effects in them, and were a bit more simplified that the "i" series, but like the "i" series, they only did one effect at a time, so you needed several to get a variety of preset effects. Which explains why I have so many S-1000s and "i" series delays. I do have a couple of D4's too, but since they're programmable, I didn't need quite as many.
So there you go, that's how I've come up with those time frames. It's based on when I've seen these in the shops as new gear and what Todd told me at ADA, during some of our conversations. I miss him, he was such a brilliant guy, and a super cool dude to boot.
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Danny,
I'm surprised to hear the Classics were on that list somewhat, because they were as simple to edit and save as the original MP-1. But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be since Vegas is one of those towns where people follow fashion trends according to what's going on in LA. At that time Nirvana was riding the top of the charts and everyone was dumping their rack gear because racks were not the current trend.
I even had some of the clerks at the larger music stores here telling crap like that. I would merely reply to them that racks were tools, not clothing. But then again, I was telling this to some guys who were shaving their heads, growing stupid looking zig-zag beards, and chowing down on so many doughnuts that they needed to wear Hawaiian shirts with loose fitting jeans. Sheesh. Talk about a flashback.
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Richard,
Yes sir, that is why you never saw any of the ADA effects there in Oz. It sounds like Nunzio wasn't an ADA dealer per se, but since he was a dealer in Australia, he could buy gear and bring it back home to sell if he knew he had buyers for it. If he had gotten the dealership with ADA, he would have come back in 1987 with the preamps , power amps, effects and speaker cabs, but only in a limited quantity for effects since they were gone in 1988.
As for the MP-2, I've been using mine with the MXC, Quad Switch and CCP when I run the MP-2 as a stand alone rig. The Quad switch of course lets me cut in the various features in the MP-2 and I've always used the CCP as a manual Wah pedal, since the MP-2 has a great sounding wah circuit built into it, and the pedal functions just like a stand alone wah. Just pressing the toe down clicks it on or off with any program. With all the preset programs I've stored in the MP-2, (I have 89 programs), just having these devices on the floor lets me do anything I want. So yes, this was extremely well thought out. That's why I never bothered with the macros. They may have preset combinations stored that may or may not be useful, because they were created according to someone else's taste in effects and tone prints. It'll be interesting to see what you think of them when you try them out. I'm looking at those very much in the same way as I look at the factory preset programs they give you when you first get the preamp. Some are useful, some need a bit of tweaking, and some are just too far out there for anything I'd do.
It sounds like you encountered the same noise issue I did when switching from amp to amp. I discovered this with the GCX units I was using with the Ground Control. The GCX works great for bringing effects in and out of the signal path like the ADA effects I have that are non-MIDI, but it doesn't work so well with the ADA preamps that way. I'm glad you found another way to switch, that doesn't make you go Hmmmmmmm.
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Danny,
I'm surprised to hear the Classics were on that list somewhat, because they were as simple to edit and save as the original MP-1. But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be since Vegas is one of those towns where people follow fashion trends according to what's going on in LA. At that time Nirvana was riding the top of the charts and everyone was dumping their rack gear because racks were not the current trend.
I even had some of the clerks at the larger music stores here telling crap like that. I would merely reply to them that racks were tools, not clothing. But then again, I was telling this to some guys who were shaving their heads, growing stupid looking zig-zag beards, and chowing down on so many doughnuts that they needed to wear Hawaiian shirts with loose fitting jeans. Sheesh. Talk about a flashback.
Yeah Harley Vegas go hit hard with the Grunge thing, almost overnight! I was building racks for guys in the early spring of 1992 and by Fall everything turned! Guitar World Magazine had come out with an issue that said "Shred Is Dead" and Man that was it!!! :-[ I actually had a few fans back then and several students then at that same time everyone turned on me and and anything to do that was technical and EVERYONE started dumping their racks!!
Just a handful of guys kept their MP-1s and anything that was coming out like the MP-2 and Classic was returned. Since I posted this video also on Faceb**k probably 7-8 guys have reached out to me that are asking questions about the MP-1 have mentioned they still have them in their garage or some place and I'm telling them GET THEM OUT and get them serviced and Get on the ADA Forum!!
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Hey Harley, Pro Audio (Nunzio) was the Australian distributor, also had spares and serviced the units etc. but didn't bring in the effects. Initially he also brought in cabs but then started making them here, to save on shipping no doubt. My first 2 slant split stacks were made here and I got to choose the speakers, I wanted 4ohm cabs, so they put 90w 8ohm boogie celestians in them for me. He was also the Boogie, Anderson and Alembic distributor. Later I picked up a single slant split stack (made in the US) from a pawn shop, some numpty had used the speaker grate screws to affix one of the speakers WTF, so I fixed that up, wired it to be either stereo or mono and I use it for small gigs/rehearsal to save on lugging. It's got 16ohm Celestian GT75s in it (which I don't think were standard ADA configuration) :dunno: .
@DJC, I've been an ADA die hard from the moment I heard the MP-1 >:D , and many years later found the ADA Depot :whoohoo!: . So great to find others who liked them as much as me.
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@Harley
I had a look around at the schematics dates.
S1000 '84
I series '83
D series '83
STD-1 '82
TFX '82
2FX '84
So your history of ADA effects is correct :thumb-up:
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Richard,
I'm not sure if those Celestions were original either, it doesn't sound like it.
It's been a long time since I was in the back of my split stacks, but I do know they are 50 watt Celestions. They could be G12Ms, but I would have to open the back of one of my cabs to verify that since all of my split stacks are stock ADA.
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@Harley
I had a look around at the schematics dates.
S1000 '84
I series '83
D series '83
STD-1 '82
TFX '82
2FX '84
So your history of ADA effects is correct :thumb-up:
Thank you sir! As I said, it was just an educated guess with the earlier effects, and the later ones were from what I was buying and using, then discussing with Todd various ways of using them in my rig. He also helped fill in some of the blanks about the discontinued effects.
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@DJC, I've been an ADA die hard from the moment I heard the MP-1 >:D , and many years later found the ADA Depot :whoohoo!: . So great to find others who liked them as much as me.
Yes Sir Richard I feel special to be apart of this club! I'm hoping I can get several years out of my current MP1!
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Hey Harley, I thought they were stock until some posts on here re speakers and the vintage cabs etc. and also checking the old site's gear pages which all said they were 50w speakers. So while I know that the single cab I bought is US made and has a slightly different back plate (which you can take off from behind, the cabs they made here have the back plate mounted from the inside and you have to access it by taking out a speaker) it has 75w speakers. So seems someone swapped the out along the way (and as I said used the wrong screws for one of the speakers). Also it was strange to find a single split stack, normally you'd expect a pair :dunno: . But it was a pawn shop (Cash Converters is the chain). Anyway, it's been a handy cab albeit the G12T 75w celestians aren't may favourite.
@DJC it's great to have you back my friend :wave: and I hope your current MP-1 serves you well, it's looking very positive so far :whoohoo!: :thumb-up: .
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Hey Richard,
It seems the cab you bought did have the speakers swapped out at some point. I've also run into the single Split Stack cab situation here from time to time. A few months ago, a guy on Reverb had a pic of a bottom cab and listed two cabs in the ad, but when I contacted him about it, I found out that he only had the one bottom cab, and the other one was a top cab with only one speaker in it. People do weird things :crazy: Naturally, I passed on that one. I would still like to find a pair of bottom cabs, so I keep looking.
I'll get into one of my Split Stacks this weekend, and see if I can get a Celestion model number off the speaker. I know it's NOT a Rocket.
Why would you mount the back of the cab from the inside? That's weird too.
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Hey Harley, yeah people do strange things with gear. I don't mind the G12T75s. The additional power handling and being 16ohm makes them a good fit for running off my B200s or Carvin DCM200L in stereo.
So since the cabs are sealed, and the only way into them is taking out a Speaker, mounting the connection plate internally probably made the construction easier. The connection plate in the Oz ones is just a flat plate (which would look tacky screwed to the back from the outside, whereas the US connection plate is pressed, a more complex piece made to mount from behind and fit into the small rectangular hole. So you can remove the plate to get at the connections without having to take out a speaker. I didn't really notice or think about it until I got the single cab a rewired it. Initially for may years I was using a Yamaha quad box I wired stereo or for smaller gigs I had an open back 2 x12" cab with fender twin speakers in it, also wired stereo. It was a long time until I could afford the slant split stacks, they gave me a great price, $800 for the pair. I ended up with the 90w boogie celestians because they were the only 8ohm 12"s they had at the time and I wanted 4ohm cabs to match the B200s max output. I also liked having 180w power handling per cab, having blown up a speaker here and there over the years.