What would you choose

[guitarguru777]

Ok guys heres me dillema ....

I been a fan of the ADA MP1 since it came out. Ive owned 2 over the years and loved em.

Well i been ebaying here recently and im trying to decide.

MP1 or 5150

Granted the Mp1 is WAYYYY CHEAPER and i know i like the tone. But ive played quite a few 5150s and love em.

So heres the rundown.

ADA with a Mesa Boogie 2:100 Poweramp and a V30 Loaded Marshall 4 x12

Or the 5150 with a V30 loaded Marshall 4 x12

The ADA Rig will run about $200 less.

Now the reason im thinking so hard about this is the fact that for years I have always loved the guitar tone on Testaments Souls of Black and if memory serves correctly it was in fact a MP1.

Let the debate begin:

(i already have a ibanez 808 ill be running in the front)



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[silverwulf]

I guess it all depends on the sound you want. The 5150 is definitely a more modern sound, and since you've owned a couple MP-1's, you're pretty familliar with the range of tones you can get from them.

I've owned both, and I still have 2 ADA MP-1's in a rack that get occasional use, too. I have an older version of the software (V1.38), as well as the last version they released (V2.01). To my ears, there's a difference, although not huge. I guess people had complained about the originals being a little noisy, so they fixed the issue some with the 2.0 versions. However, it also seems a little smoother in the gain. I think the older versions have a more raw and aggressive sound to them, but are a bit noisier at high gain settings. The newer versions are quieter, but seem to have the gain smoothed out a bit as well. I love both of them, so I think you'd be happy regardless of which version you had.

About that Mesa 2:100 power amp...I would save some money and pick up a used Mesa 50/50 if you go that route. You can buy them for about $350 - $400 used, as opposed to the $700+ that a 2:100 will cost, and they sound great. Plus, 50W tube per channel is more than plenty. I can't imagine you'd need 200W tube, and you'd save a few hundred bucks! I actually prefer the older Mesa 50/50 (which is more akin to the Mark series power section) to the Mesa 2:50.

I'd talk more about the 5150's, but I think everyone here has talked them to death, so I'm sure you've already heard a million things about them. You could probably snag either rig for about the same price...MP-1 and power amp for about $500 - $600, and the same for a used 5150. Best of luck!

 

[acorredor]

It is a tough choice... i personally love both configuratios... the 5150 rocks...i own one, i had once a MP1, but as silverwulf noted, it was very noisy...i sold it but have always wanted to get a MP2...they are very hard to find in Latin America though... i´d go for the 5150 if i couldn´t find a MP2.
Good luck on your purchase.

 

[Matt Crooks]

I've had both the MP1 and MP2. The MP1 is *far* better sounding, though the MP2 is quieter.

To really make an MP1 shine, hook it up to a VHT 2150 poweramp... it's an awesome combination.

 

[silverwulf]

I've had both the MP1 and MP2. The MP1 is *far* better sounding, though the MP2 is quieter.

+1

I didn't care as much for the MP-2 either. It wasn't bad, but it didn't sound nearly as good as the MP-1's I've had.

 

[guitarguru777]

Cool ... thanks guys ...

Gonna go look for that 50/50

 

[silverwulf]

As another thought...if you like the sound of both and don't mind spending $500 or so on a power amp, why not just buy both and use the 5150 as the power amp when you want to use the MP-1? Then you get the best of both worlds...

I may have an MP-1 for sale. I just checked my rack, and I actually have 3 of them...shows you how good my memory is these days! I have a 1.0, 1.38, and a 2.01 - I'll fire them up today, and since I don't really need 3, I may sell one of them off.

 

[Fragle]

one halfway ontopic question here....how does the mp1 sound in comparison to the marshall jmp1? i think the only ada tone i know is alex skolnick's lead sound on the first few testament records....how are they in terms of heaviness, gain etc? is it more marshall style gain, or different?

 

[silverwulf]

one halfway ontopic question here....how does the mp1 sound in comparison to the marshall jmp1? i think the only ada tone i know is alex skolnick's lead sound on the first few testament records....how are they in terms of heaviness, gain etc? is it more marshall style gain, or different?

It's very Marshall-like. In fact, I think it can do the Marshall thing better than Marshall a lot of the time. I think the ADA has a little more gain on tap in comparison to the JMP-1, but the ADA is also a little noisier. For examples of the ADA MP-1, check out these albums in addition to Testament:

Skid Row - Skid Row
Extreme - Pronograffitti
White Lion - Pride
Metallica - Master of Puppets (some clean sounds)
Metallica - AJFA (clean sounds, as well as used with a TS-9 for leads)
Metallica - Black Album (used with a Mesa Mark IIC+ for heavy rhythms)
Deftones - Around the Fur
Staind - Dysfunction

If you have any live clips form the AJFA or Black Album tours, note that Kirk was using the MP-1 for his primary live amp.

It's most similar to the JMP-1 IMO, but I prefer the ADA to be honest. It can get brutally heavy if you want it to be. If you're looking for soemthing differemt to use sometimes, a MP-1 would be a great pikcup IMO. At a few hundred bucks tops, it's tough to beat. Granted, there's no support as the company isn't around anymore, but there's lots of guys that still work on those things, and there's a lot of parts available online for them. I see a lot of places modding these things now...don't do it! It's a waste of a few hundred bucks IMO, because they already sound great as is.

 

[guitarguru777]

Get me a price Silver ... if you can beat my deal on Ebay its SOLD !!!!

 

[silverwulf]

Get me a price Silver ... if you can beat my deal on Ebay its SOLD !!!!

I'll let you know if I decide to sell another shortly. As a side note...if you find a Version 1.XX and would like to have a Version 2.01, there's still some 2.01 chips available for about $20.

 

[Carrier Flux]

I've got a modded mp1. It sounds pretty decent, but I'd prefer to own a 5150 if those were my two options.

HOWEVER, having said that, I have to admit that having rack gear is really really handy if you're into trying different things. Get the mesa 50/50 or whatever, that'll last you a lifetime of good poweramp tone. And you'll get more saturation at lower volumes than a friggin 200 watt tube amp..egad.

If you have a quality power amp you can try all kinds of different preamp configurations for not too much money. Pick up another mp1, head on over to adadepot.com and find a mod you want. mod it, and you have an entirely different sounding preamp to work with, for very little money. fun stuff.

personally I'm pretty happy with my Mesa Rectifier Preamp and Mesa 20/20 poweramp for recording, although I do own an MP1 still. The mesa [and peavy 5150 stuff for that matter] just has more body, which I'm happy to be working with now. But with the 50/50 setup you're talking about, you can try different things..

 

[guitarguru777]

I just picked up a Crate Preamp for $35 on ebay ... lol I said for $35 what the hell might as well try it ....lol

2 12Ax7s So we will see how that goes. Im still going with the MP1, and i am looking for a version 1 They do sound better to me.

 

[silverwulf]

Im still going with the MP1, and i am looking for a version 1 They do sound better to me.

I've had great success with both JJ/Tesla and Groove Tubes in the MP-1. If you want an effects processor to go with it, I highly recommend the TC Electronics G-Major. They've been dropped in price to $399 new (shipped), and I've seen them go as low as $250 - $275 used these days. Best value for the money IMO. It has a noise gate which will keep the MP-1 in check at higher gain without coloring your tone, and then you've got a lot of great sounding effects like chorus, reverb, delay, etc...also. The newest versions of the software even have a 3 band parametric EQ that you can use to shape your sound even more. To me, they sound virtually as good as it's $1500 big brother (G-Force). The only thing the G-Force has over it IMO is the intelligent pitch shifting.

I do like the first version better. I keep calling it version 1, although it's name is technically something like 1.36 or the like. I just say that to refer to the first run models. All the verison 1.XX models are pretty similar. The most common one you see is 1.38 or so.

 

[vile_ator]

And then theres the 3 tube Langner modded MP-1's at adadepot. I have another mod done to mine, called the Soldano/Pevey mod. You can do a lot with an MP 1. 5150 head is more reliable and simple though. One fat head, plug it in and rip.

Colin

 

[guitarguru777]

Very true but i been using rack gear so long im a rocket scientist at this point ... lol

Actually i still have my old Quadraverb which i love and my rackmount Hush ... So im pretty set just getting the poweramp and preamp. I also have my behringer Footboard with 2 CC pedals so switching shouldnt be an issue.

thanks for all your input guys ... im definitely gonna retube it with some JJ's as soon as i get it. Should be for my birthday 1st week of january.

\m/