[jakeskylyr]

Hey guys!

I wanted to get some views from the field (heh) of people who are familiar with the ADA MP-1 and MP-2. As a down the road addition to my rig, I'd like to get some more "in-between" and "Marshally" tones for my rig, but still keep it flexible. Now, I've used MP-1s before and I know what they are capable of. How do MP-2s compare tonally? Are they as pure sounding as MP-1s? Better? Worse? More/Less flexible?

Also as an extra, if anyone here has any experience with the voodoo mod (for the MP-1, or anything else for that matter...especially Mesa) let me know your take on that as well.

Just wanted to expand my horizons and get some feedback from users in the process...

[Vegetta]

I still have my mp1 and still use it some.
I tried a mp2 but to me it didnt seem like a drastic enough change to warrant purchasing it...in other words the mp1 is fine.

I used mine for playing thrash/speed metal mostly. I also used a presence pedal sometimes with it - otherwise I only used reverb, delay and a touch of chorus.

I never really understood the need for the mods to the mp1 it has pleanty of gain (especially with hot pickups--) The eq is very responsive and the chorus is quite useable.

I still have a ADA 2FX multi effects unit too To put this piece of gear into context metallica used them on the Ride the lightning album (yeah its OLD!)

You may want to check out the ada depot
http://www.adadepot.com/

[Jerich]

hey Jake I sold all my Mp-1's I had three at one time ..and used a Bradshaw switcher. The system got too complicated,even for me. Nothing beats the solid crunch of a ADA i used to love it but parts and repairs become very costly with them . At one time Frank Hannon (tesla) used to do all the repairs for ADA. Now i only know of www.adadepot.com I have heard the Voodoo Mod but it was not to my liking it entered the Mesa zone,somthing i am not fond of at all. I see ADA's for under 100.00 every once in a while on ebay. Just download all the diagrams from adadepot and you can practically rebuild the who unit yourself,trial and error. good luck.

PS the cleans on the Mp-1 can be heard all over Cacophony's -Speed Metal Symphony,and even more on Go Off!

[Chris]

I've been GASing for an MP-2 for ages now.

[Vince]

I bought an MP1 years ago. After a few days I took it back. I thought I'd get Metallica's black album sound out of it, but it just didn't stack up against the other preamps I had at the time, namely the Chameleon and the Piranha. And Jake, you know how much I tweak and re-tweak with settings on these things.

Jake, you have a great sound to begin with. Your Mark III rules. If you want to get a cheap preamp that sounds great and is flexible, get a Chameleon if you want solid state or a Piranha if you want a tube sound. Used Chameleons go for under $200, and used Piranha's go for roughly $350.

[jakeskylyr]

I actually intended to (and still do) intend to get a Chameleon for my rig (somewhere), but I figured that the tones that the ADA kinda specializes in (a "Marshall Just Right" type of tone) would probably be easier on the ADA than on the Chameleon. Not that I'm afraid of programming by any means, it's just that there's something to be said for the simplicity of the ADAs, and having a tube for that type of sound.

Are the Piranhas capable of what the ADAs do? I've always wanted to get one of thse too, but I wasn't sure just how flexible they were. I knew they had good metal tones, but I wasn't sure about the in between type tones out of one. Never tweaked with one in that way. Also, are they capapble of the basic tones that the Chameleon is? Because since I DO intend on getting the MPX-G2, I don't necessarily need all the FX of the Chameleon.

I'm not trying to replace my Mesa by any means, I just want more flexibility, and a wider palette of tones.

[Shannon]

What amazes me is that neither ADA or Rocktron has gotten on the bandwagon of reissuing exact copies of these classic processors.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by jakeskylyr

Are the Piranhas capable of what the ADAs do? I've always wanted to get one of thse too, but I wasn't sure just how flexible they were. I knew they had good metal tones,

Do you like Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers? Because, IMO, from owning a Piranha for 2 years, if you're running it with a Mesa power amp (I was running it with a Mesa 2:90), it's spitting image of a dual rec. Muddy and crunchy at low volumes, tight and crisp at high volumes. 2 12ax7 tubes in it. The cool thing about the Piranha is the different modes and EQ. There's a classic gain on it which is more similiar to a Marshall-esque sound, and then there's the modern gain channel which is more of the Mesa style heavy gain. The clean sound is pretty good, but honestly I prefer a solid-state clean. It has an EQ sweep that runs from about 200 Hz to about 2 KHz.

One thing that really made the Piranha sound great was running it with a BBE. Now, normally I'm against BBEs, I think they're trashy. But if you just turn the BBE process on, keep the knobs on the BBE at zero, and run the Piranha through it, it sounds absolutely amazing.

I strongly recommend the Chameleon and the Piranha. I would recommend the Voodu Valve too, but it's just an overpriced version of the Chameleon IMO.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Shannon

What amazes me is that neither ADA or Rocktron has gotten on the bandwagon of reissuing exact copies of these classic processors.

I spoke to Rocktron about this at the winter NAMM show. They say they're happy with the modern Prophesy and Voodu Valve.

They did say they were thinking of re-releasing the original Chameleon at some point, but they had more of an idea of making the Chameleon into a 2x12 combo amp. I discussed that with them and honestly think that's a bad idea, because the effects on the Chameleon are not it's strong point, and I wouldn't want to run it alone with no other processor... and I hate effects loops.

[Jerich]

I agree Vince...ADA do sound sterile ...but you can get that old Cranked tone...and Power amp effects the outcome of the preamp for sure. I have tried all the Rocktrons and The Prophesy was the only one i even liked a little. and it was a hardcore edit monster. I'll stick with my 2120 and Damage Control preamps. Until i get used to the Boss GT-pro the learning curve on this thing is really tuff. and ANOLOG! I wish all these compnaies would stop making floor units and make stuff Rack mountable. we need the days of the refrigirators to come back. Queensryche were known to have Huge ones.