Getting the right speakers to correspond with your chosen amp has been my biggest caveat. The MP-1 has a signature sound, I find it is the 80s sound I always wanted. The harmonic overtones, it's ability to go into feedback make it an ideal choice. The amps I use are 6L6 based Mesa power for that trademark scoop. The Marshall dual mono bloc has to be my favorite amp, and the Peavey Classic 50/50.

Since the MP-1 has a wide range, and is programmable you can find your signature sounds depending on the output section.

A great way to tame harsh overtones is the Alnico speakers. They're naturally mid centered with a natural rolloff so your ultra nasty rhythm guitar sounds will be tamed through Alnico.

The new Alnico 100s are incredibly round and natural, I tried them in a Fender style Lux amp and loved them, but I ended up missing the chime of its original George Alessandro speakers. So the Alnico 100 went over to the Peavey Classic amp, where they are a natural fit next to Alnico Blue.

That amp is my choice for lead sounds, where I tend to chase Neal Schon's iconic sounds for leads, with the occasional feedback. The MP-1 delivers every time there.

For rhythms it's the Mesa and the Marshall, with Vintage 30s favored with Mesa and Greenbacks favored with Marshall. If you want mids, Marshall is your amp.

Quote from: rnolan on Today at 02:34:07 AMHey Harley, that sounds like a nightmare .

That's also the one that buzzed like a hornet's nest. I just don't like them, period.

CJR09,

  It's normal for the MP-1 to cycle through self-testing mode before starting up, and yes, they typically go to the last preset you were on when it was powered off.

Quote from: Dante on Today at 10:30:11 AMOkay - I'm getting this discussion back on track .....Gibson Humbuckers. I keep saying the reason I play my Gibbys is not because of 'how nice they play' because my Ibanez' play nicer.....I play them for the TONEs. So, looked up my records and here's what I have:

2016 Flying V Pro T (Wine Red)
Original Gibson BurstBucker (bridge) and 57 Classic (neck) humbuckers (both with coil splits)

2012 Les Paul Standard (AAA Plus Top - Amberburst)
Burstbucker Pros in both positions (coil splits, phase reverse, blow switch)

2019 Les Paul Studio (Lemonburst)
Burstbucker 1 & 2

I think the Flying V sounds the best, but all the Gibbys have incredible tones. That bridge PU on the V.....man, that's nice stuff. Almost like a SG tone...kinda throaty. The neck PU (57 Classic) is very bluesy

One oddity; Gibson pickups seem to be much louder on clean patches than my SD humbuckers.

Now that's useful information 

Have you considered putting Gibson pups in any of the Ibanez guitars?

Okay - I'm getting this discussion back on track .....Gibson Humbuckers. I keep saying the reason I play my Gibbys is not because of 'how nice they play' because my Ibanez' play nicer.....I play them for the TONEs. So, looked up my records and here's what I have:

2016 Flying V Pro T (Wine Red)
Original Gibson BurstBucker (bridge) and 57 Classic (neck) humbuckers (both with coil splits)

2012 Les Paul Standard (AAA Plus Top - Amberburst)
Burstbucker Pros in both positions (coil splits, phase reverse, blow switch)

2019 Les Paul Studio (Lemonburst)
Burstbucker 1 & 2

I think the Flying V sounds the best, but all the Gibbys have incredible tones. That bridge PU on the V.....man, that's nice stuff. Almost like a SG tone...kinda throaty. The neck PU (57 Classic) is very bluesy

One oddity; Gibson pickups seem to be much louder on clean patches than my SD humbuckers.

Very good score!!
You've a working MP-1 at home now.

My first MP-1, in the first 90s, was a 1.38 like yours that I bought used from a friend.
I sold it many, many years later...and I started missing it many, many years later on...

So I bought a used 2.01 in 2016 or 2017 and I subscribed to the Depot.
And here we are.

MJMP modified my MP-1 so that it will be ready for the next 30 years (all pots have been replaced, battery mod, noise mod, new TubeBoard for MDRT transformer and, of course, a MDRT transformer).
I had other tube and solid state MIDI preamps after that (Marshall JMP1, Digitech GFX-1 Twin Tube, Tech21 PSA-1, Rocktron Chameleon...), but I sold them all and kept my MP-1.
Because I love it.

The original transformer has been used by MJMP to repair the MP-1 of another Depot user (Danny Joe Carter) at that time and I remember that it was hard to find an original one.

You can live with the stepdown transformer or go for a MDRT, but you'll need MJPM in that case!
As Richard said, the MDRT opens the MP-1 sound a lot and adds some headroom: tubes are powered by 240V, instead of 190V from original transformer.
You loose some original MP-1's "creaminess" (I mean compression) and if you like it or not it's a matter of tastes.
Personally, I love it a lot after mods.

About tubes, I did some tubes rolling (you can find threads around here) and I ended to put a couple of Ruby selected JJs ECC-83.
I love it.
I still have its original red labeled 12AX7-A chinese tubes.
GT-7025 tubes work nicely inside the MP-1: my 1.38 had GT tubes inside!
It had PM chinese tubes when I bought it, but I replaced them quickly with the GTs.
Preamp tubes have long life, so your GTs could be still alive and kicking.
The original tubes of my MP-1 are still plenty of life.

So...welcome here and have fun! 

Welcome to the Depot!!! 

Welcome on board! 

Yeah cheers for the links and info - not sure if I am keen to do the transformer upgrade, don't really want to alter original tonality/character of the MP1 too much

So far - keen to try your Mullard long plates, JJecc83, or sovtek

Kind of like the idea of a mullard in V1, JJ V2 perhaps

As for sound - I like big and open, but also want definition / clarity - kind of always been drawn to soldano, and had an OG 5150 stack back in the day but was too big to be carting everywhere for the clubs we used to play so mostly ended up with 50/100w combos, only recently started getting back into heads and cabs with the advent of the lunch box stuff

always played a bit of everything - punk / hard rock / metal - 87 to 92 golden years - but basically just like anything that is good and well written

Quote from: rnolan on Today at 03:09:49 AMmade the neck so thin, which is what inspired the Frank Gambale Ibenez, Frank played it when he was in Australia just after I'd modded the neck and liked it, then he got his Ibenez made.

Are you kidding us???