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How does the ADA-MP1 stack up to the Mesa Studio Preamp?

13K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  Rodney James 
#1 ·
I've done research on harmony central and these forums, and have looked around for decent prices to purchase either the ADA MP1 or the Mesa Studio Preamp. Both have gotten rave reviews. From what I've heard, they can both do a good bit of gain, and have great tone. I've never actually seen a comparison between the two though. I'm looking for a fairly high gain sound (not extremely), and great saturation and clarity with harmonics. From what I've heard, both the Mesa and ADA can provide this. I can only buy one of them, however. As of now, I am leaning toward the mesa. Which one do you think has more gain and would better suit my needs (Dream Theater, maybe Symphony X, type of gain at them most)? How do the two stack up to each other in other areas? Thank you.
 
#2 ·
Can't tell you about the Mesa but I own 3 MP-1's: 3TM Ultra, 3TM Ultra+ and a stock one with various mods (hmmm, that sounds arse backwards.)

I can get any tone from death to heavy to classic rock. Check out the available mods at http://www.adadepot.com/adagear/detailled/ADA-MP-1/mods.htm.

One good thing about ADA is it is alive and well at the above site. Great support and very helpful and knowledgeable peeps there. Pretty damn good for a company that hasn't been around since the mid 90's.

There are also sound clips available that will give you an idea of what you can do with the unit, stock and modded units.

If you do purchase a stock unit, at the very least do the noise mod and get a replacement MDRT transformer to eliminate ALL noise issues with high gain.

Damn, do I sound biased here? LOL I've owned mine for 4 years and I can get the perfect Lynch tone with my JCM800. Wouldn't trade them for the world.
 
#4 ·
Well, I'll add in.
A friend of mine has the MP-1 and to my ears it's not that good. However, I know the guy who owns and operates adadepot.com, he gets great sounds out of the modded MP-1's.
They are not very reliable stock though. My amp tech is the same guy who makes/custom orders/installs the new transformers for the MP series.
For an MP-1, I'd suggest modding it and getting a new transformer. Or having it done ofcourse.
Ada itself by the way is no longer alive, the company died a long time ago. Adadepot was started since the owner was offered a lot of old stock. The guy running adadepot WILL offer you a great customer service! He's a great person!
Most purists will shoot me for this, but : Check out the mp-2 as well, I'm running one and am pretty satisfied with it.
 
#6 ·
Well, I've still got a number of MP-1's. I also own a Boogie single rectifier Rectoverb. I built an MP-1 with the 3.666 mod for the other guitarist in the band I'm in. Side by side with his rig (MP-1 3.666/Peavey Classic 50/50 and Marshall 1960 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75's) and mine (Boogie Rectoverb and Carvin Legacy 2x12) they sound nearly identical. Awesome gain from the ADA, one of the most excellent cleans available. The biggest issue with the MP-1's..........noise. Even with the noise mod. Not to say it's extremely noisy, but you definitely notice it's on when you're not playing. It's my understanding that the only way to drastically reduce the noise is to replace the transformer with one of the new ones available for it (which aren't available very often) and to replace all of the caps on the main board with metal film caps. That's not expensive, but it's a lot of work.....a lot of caps.

Anyway, the ADA can sound like a Boogie with the right mod plus still offers excellent features all at a lower price.
 
#8 ·
I'd say for what you want, go with the Studio for sure. Both are pretty cool preamps but are voiced very differently. Of course, one huge plus with the mp1 is that you can do a bunch of mods to them rather easily.

I do have both the mp1 and studio, so feel free to throw out any specific questions ya might have. I've had a bunch of mp1s over the years including stock and various modded units. The one I have right now has the mod4 mkII mod.
 
#9 ·
How would you compare the lead sounds of a stock MP1 and the Studio? Which one has more gain?

How would you compare the rhythm sounds of the two units for doing heavier music such as Dream Theater, Symphony X?

Also, I know of many bands that used an MP1. Can you give me examples of songs that use the Studio, or at least that sound a lot like it? If not, do you know where I could get some soundclips of it? Thanks
 
#10 ·
I would say the Studio has more gain on tap than the mp1 and I very rarely run my studio ld drive past 4 or 5. That's plenty for Petrucci style rhythms and leads, which are verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry smooth on the Studio.

Now, the mp1 certainly has a decent amount of gain, but the overall voicing is more towards the marshall side of things and it can get a bit boxy sounding/feeling.

As far as rhythm tones go, the mp1 is definitely in the 80s marshall vein of things, great for those oldschool tones for sure. The Studio is pretty much a Mark IIC preamp so it will nail those Petrucci and oldschool Hetfield tones with extreme ease. If you're looking for DT/SX tones, I wouldn't hesitate to go with the Studio unless you are willing to spend some time with the MP1 and mod it.

I don't really know of any good examples of the studio on recordings, other than cleanish type stuff. Cobain used the clean side a lot, Townshend and Angus Young both used them a lot as well. But if you dig the Mark IIC+, III, or IV tones, then you should be pretty happy with a Studio :)
 
#12 ·
From memory the dude that runs JJ valves is mad on Mesa Studio Preamps - they are all tube, four channel, totally analog and totally non-MIDI friendly - which adds up to a completely different beast to the ADA - I have heard great things about modded ADA MP-1s (and not so great things about standard ones), but being a TriAxis user, I can certainly testify to the absolute joy of Mesa gear - as some computer company was fond of saying; "it just works"
 
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