MDRT vs. Noise Reduction Mod (Or both)

[jlowe1116]

Hey ADA fans,

I purchased and fell in love with my MB-1 back in about 2008. I hadn't played much over the last 4 years or so but in the last 3 months I have heavily gotten back into playing and would like to do some recording again. The problem is, there is sooooo much noise coming through my amp when using my MB-1.

Now, I am at a point where I would like to spend some money and invest in my MB-1 but I would like a good place to start:

What should I look for when taking the lid off this thing in terms of some caps that would need to be replaced due to old age/usage?

Is the MDRT so highly recommended because it make a big difference in terms of tone (also anyone have any before and after clips)?

Does the MDRT do a good enough job by itself in removing buzz where I wouldn't need the noise reduction mod?

Should I just go ahead and do both?

Thank you all so much for your feedback and keep on rocking!

[rnolan]

Hey jlowe1116  :wave: welcome to the depot, I see one of the guys set you up an account  .I bought 2 MB-1s from the US and sent them via MJMP for an overhaul.  Both have MDRTs now (which solved my power problem being in Australia).  I got him to do whatever he thought was necessary so check with him what's recommended.I've not heard an MB-1 without the MDRT so can't directly compare, Peter can probably comment about that.  I know he's a big fan of the MDRT and also Burr Brown opp amp(s).  Both of mine are quiet as a mouse.  I have one in my studio rack and one in my live MP-2/MB-1 hybrid rack.  Awesome bass preamps, best I've ever heard.The noise reduction mod is worth doing as well as the MDRT as the caps are old.  Also worth changing the tubes, I put some Mullard long plates in mine.

[Peter H. Boer]

Check this thread http://adadepot.com/index.php?topic=236.0

[jlowe1116]

Hey jlowe1116  :wave: welcome to the depot, I see one of the guys set you up an account  .I bought 2 MB-1s from the US and sent them via MJMP for an overhaul.  Both have MDRTs now (which solved my power problem being in Australia).  I got him to do whatever he thought was necessary so check with him what's recommended.I've not heard an MB-1 without the MDRT so can't directly compare, Peter can probably comment about that.  I know he's a big fan of the MDRT and also Burr Brown opp amp(s).  Both of mine are quiet as a mouse.  I have one in my studio rack and one in my live MP-2/MB-1 hybrid rack.  Awesome bass preamps, best I've ever heard.The noise reduction mod is worth doing as well as the MDRT as the caps are old.  Also worth changing the tubes, I put some Mullard long plates in mine.

Thanks for the information. I remember clicking on this site (or maybe some older forums) and reading up about the MB-1 before I bought it about 10 years ago. I was planning on doing the Bill Brown op-amp upgrade after I did the MDRT and noise mod. Thank you for the insight and I look forward to being active on these forums.

[vansinn]

IMHO, noise aren't a problem in the MB-1 unless the capacitors have dried out, and as such no longer filters correctly. Replace those as stated in the thread Peter referred above.
The Burr-Brown opamp replacement IMHO has more to do with tone than noise, but as tone is always important, might be a good idea doing that replacement while you're ordering components anyways ;)
I didn't install the MDRT, so can't directly talk about what it does, but to my knowledge it will improve tone, dynamics and likely distortion too, so, I would install it.

[jlowe1116]

IMHO, noise aren't a problem in the MB-1 unless the capacitors have dried out, and as such no longer filters correctly. Replace those as stated in the thread Peter referred above.
The Burr-Brown opamp replacement IMHO has more to do with tone than noise, but as tone is always important, might be a good idea doing that replacement while you're ordering components anyways ;)
I didn't install the MDRT, so can't directly talk about what it does, but to my knowledge it will improve tone, dynamics and likely distortion too, so, I would install it.

Thanks for the info. Does the cap replacements in the quoted thread vary depending on which EPROM I have?

[MarshallJMP]

Not really unless you have a really old MB-1.

[rnolan]

The 2.05 EPROM is also worth doing and gives you some continuous control (CC) capabilities, I use the stereo master vol control so I can control the output level with an expression pedal.  There's some posts I did about CC control of MB-1 which are probably worth reading.  You can work it out from the manual and release notes but it takes a bit to get your head around it