ADA MP-1? Any users?

[fair.child]

As the title says, ADA MP-1. Tell me about the great, the bad, the good, and the ugly of the unit. Share your experience.



The price of this unit is crazy nuts on Reverb. Some units I've seen listed for $700+

[Ungolian]

I mean...  I played with one back in the day at the local music shop, I have the profiles on my Kemper.  I only use them for Nuno (you need a RAT too) and Vito Bratta.  Which they do well.  But there's better now a days.  It was one of the first attempts at a tube preamp modeler really.  For the time, it was revolutionary.  But today, it's more about nostalgia than unique mojo.  It's kind of limited in that you only get 2 or 3 good sounds, plus you need a power amp and cabinet(s).  For twice the listing price (or probably the cost of an MP-1, power amp, and cabinet), you can get a Kemper or Helix and have literally everything. For half of that, you can get a ToneX.       

[fair.child]

Well, yes. I agree with you on point for Helix, Neural, Kemper, and so on. I was just curious why this unit gets so expensive on Reverb. Similar to H3000 and TC1210. I guess to get that studio schmo sound was really expensive. Back in the days, owning rack gear was a luxury and seems time hasn't changed much for some staples gear like MP-1, H3k, TC2290, Soldano X88R, Mesa Studio Pre, Triaxis, Yamaha SPX unit and so on. I know you can get most of these sounds on Fractal, Helix, or Kemper so why they are still quite expensive on the used marketplace?

[Ungolian]

That is the million dollar question...  I can build my own Klon for about $50 in parts, and while it will sound the same, it won't sell the same   Second, there are a lot of people who still refuse to do digital.  I took the plunge, and am perfectly fine with it.  If it's good enough for Mark Knopfler, it's good enough for me.

[WonkoTheSane]

So very very 80s, if you play rock and hair metal they are hard to beat for the thing they do.

Good consistent sounds. Lots of present but...

Only about two or three good sounds in them.

The tone controls don't have minute enough adjustment.

Gotta keep the batteries fresh (most rack units do, and so many are dead from leaky ones).

[fair.child]

So very very 80s, if you play rock and hair metal they are hard to beat for the thing they do.

Good consistent sounds. Lots of present but...

Only about two or three good sounds in them.

The tone controls don't have minute enough adjustment.

Gotta keep the batteries fresh (most rack units do, and so many are dead from leaky ones).

One or two solid tones are enough. Believe it or not, I plan to use it to play contemporary Christian music. I'm serious, not joking 😂

[gordo]

I use a 6505 so I get it.  Sometimes crunch is heavenly.  Ok that was stupid, church rocks.

[Willybomb]

I found one at a garage sale a couple of years ago for $20.  After a battery replacement/clip installation and purchase of a step down transformer we were good to go.

I didn't like the feel of the buttons - I felt like I was getting callouses from all the pressing with minimal give.  It sounded great for the most part.

Anyway, I captured it into my Mooer Preamp Live with a couple of different settings (Nuno, Vernon) and sold it for AUD$400.  I probably should have kept it just because it's such a classic piece of gear, or I should have held out for more money (it didn't shift at $600), but I doubt I'll ever get another one - I just don't need it, and I don't think I'll ever find one at that price again, lol.

As it is I never used the capture, preferring my Blackstar HT-Dual capture in the MPL (which died later anyway).

There's a jfet vero version lying around on the tagboard forums.  Maybe I'll build that one day, but there are plenty of other options that do what the MP1 does just as good if not better.

[fair.child]

I use a 6505 so I get it.  Sometimes crunch is heavenly.  Ok that was stupid, church rocks.

Bethel ethereal reverb with ADA MP1 Chorus? That's going to be my EG church for sure with ability to get a shreddy tone

[movinginslomo]

Before the famous big muff marshall combo Billy Corgan was using one. It might've even appeared on the Gish album. I heard that and was like "whaaa?" But Billy comes from shred roots I guess.