The Legendary 80s Pre Amp! ADA MP-1 (Going Back To The 80s Ep2)

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I'm here. And it's 80's. And I love it.

[@shawndouglass2939]

Same here, the eighties Fucking rocked

[@AchillesWrath1]

Mid 80's- early 90's were the best.

[@djh6970]

I thought they were, then I heard Europe riches to rags!!

[@LeonTodd]

@@0megalul309 I'm also here. Far out this sounds good with that Friedman.

[@KauffeyBean]

Michael Nielsen, Leon Todd, Robert Baker and everything 80s fanboy reporting in 😁

[@Hairston70]

Lol I modded that MP-1. That is my chicken scratching on the top decal. Glad you guys are still enjoying it. Cheers Robert!

[@RobertBakerGuitar]

Oh man that’s so cool! You did a great job it’s really quiet

[@harleyhexxe9806]

I'm glad it was taken care of. So many of these preamps have been trashed by their owners. The Depot is still around, you ought to drop in and say hello. We're missing the old guard around there.

[@shadowrider2918]

I love the 80's, best era for everything imo!

[@FirestormAudio]

I agree. The late 80s through early 90s were the best music has ever sounded from a production standpoint.

[@T0n3zon3]

I still use my ADA MP! thru an Alesis Quadraverb as my main rig! I have never made it past 1989!

[@mikecorey8370]

The Quadraverb is one the best effects units ever made.

[@slappywag7210]

That was a classic set up. I traded mine in for a mesa boogie tri axis, Simul 2:90 power amp, and rocktron intellifex. Fun stuff, but I like the Marshall dsl2000 and few pedals these days.🤘

[@Jacksonkellyfreak]

I sold one of these things in like 2004ish. I absolutely loved it, but I moved into digital. Then a whole bunch of stuff in between happened, and now you got me wanting another one lol. Great video Robert!

[@craiger2399]

Between you and RJ with his Rockman video I'm in 80s heaven. Your intro/outro theme is so spot on.

[@TyphonKrazilec]

This unit was part of my dream rig back in the days... With a Mesa 50 50, a rocktron multi effect....

[@francistherrien]

Rocktron HUSH, otherwise it sucked

[@mksounds6326]

Quadraverb.

[@rbbrchckn7866]

Holy crap, I used to run my MP-1 into a Mesa 50/50 as well, but I just used a Lexicon Reflex and a DBX 266

[@garycoraluzzi1166]

The 80’s ..incredible bands incredible music like no other time .

[@nordicguitar8395]

I had an MP1 for a long time. Paired it with a Quadraverb and got great sounds. My teen years were the 80s and it was a great time. I started playing guitar in ‘85 and saw so many of those rock bands in their glory days.

[@Stefan-Van-der-Pulst]

Yup that was exactly my rig! Had two MP1's (a spare) and a quadraverb. That was in '89 until mid nineties...

[@124612]

I had one from 1988 to 1994. It was a great sound and easy to dial in and edit. I haven't seen much anymore than could compete with this thing. I ran mine into a Digitech DSP-128 into a Rocktron Hush-II into a QSC 1400 power amp into 2 Crate 4x12 cabs. Easy set-up, Great tone!

[@bradspaulding442]

"What should I get next?" Two words... Kramer Baretta

[@kingbumi3418]

this

[@123nonce9]

Fender jazzmaster

[@russellzauner]

Kramer Baretta VINTAGE because it's made out of freaking MAPLE

[@dirtydave2691]

As a drummer who was playing in the 80s I can tell you these were a hot ticket item among guitar players that could afford them. Everyone thought the "Gallien Kruger" head alone could perform miracles, but rack effects were coming in to age as well. Nice vid....the opening music was hilarious!

[@scottbronder]

Oh man.. the GK that was like the size of 2 lunch boxes was such a small beast!

[@sneifert1968]

I remember seeing a GK for the first time and the guitar guy at the shop we were at was riffing some VH and we were like... oooooh

[@scottdunn2178]

I still have my GK 250RL. I bought it because Andy Larocque from King Diamond used them on Abigail and Them. Screaming lead tone!

[@BrandonEht]

@@scottdunn2178 I love the Glassy sounds Alex lifeson got from the Gk. Great amp

[@scottdunn2178]

@@BrandonEht Rush were the first two concerts I ever saw (Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures tours), so I'm biased to the clean/chorus tones he got from his Hiwatt DR103's. He started using the GK's on Signals, and other than Subdivisions and New World Man... it's not one of my favorite Rush album. I moved away from listening to Rush after Signals. But, if you dig it... cool!

[@ssolo8]

Yep. That's the sound we all needed to have, right there. Thanks for the Flashback!!

[@michaelbarber1123]

The song "One" also has that signature MP1 chorus as well, since Kirk Hammet used one on the And Justice For All album (as well as The Black Album).

[@LunaGuitars68]

I gigged heavily in the early 90's and my rig consisted of the ADA MP1, ADA Microtube 200, ADA Microcab, and a Digitech TSR24, was awesome!! Every sound i needed, all controlled with just 1 midi pedal!! Good times for sure!!!

[@tiagoandrade5826]

Dude, I have all that! I just dont know what power supply I need in order to use de midi footswitch. My gig is: jcm800 studio classic, ada mp1, Ada cabinet with a V30...

[@RJRonquillo]

How many Rockmans can I trade you ?

[@RobertBakerGuitar]

You have the market cornered!

[@anarchywon4170]

Woah, woah, how many Rockmans do you have? Lol

[@toastoftowne1076]

I got some fulltones you can use. Don’t be scared. Silly boy

[@iperfungus]

You guys are the reason why an ADA MP-1 costs 5-600 euros today! :))) Luckily, I bought mine 5 years ago. I had one in the 90's and I always regretted I sold my old rack stuff. Today, I've all that stuff back!

[@Arktiem]

Oh, wow... I remember tearing out the magazine ads for this, pinning up to the wall & just dreaming of getting one. Never did get one, but that's okay. Thanks for taking me down that 80's time warp to simpler times. Another great video, Robert!! Thank you, as always!!!

[@wulfbak]

This is a great preamp. I'm using mine with a Fryette Power Station power amp and into a Mesa 212 cab. It sounds great with a Tube Screamer in front. I do use the effects loop on the Power Station instead of the MP-1, since the ADA's effects loop does suck tone. I believe Alex Skolnick used one of these on Testament's Souls of Black. The thing that's cool about this, even today, is that they are not doing software modeling to approximate the sound of a tube power amp. They ARE tube power amps, just with presets and MIDI capability. So, even today they sound great.

[@donaldwrissler9059]

MP-1 was my first good amp that I traded my Peavey 50 watt (POS) in as down payment in early '87 @ Green River Music in Auburn, WA. I used it directly into a mixer for ages before getting a power amp to mate with it. Finally settled on a Mesa Boogie 20/20 that I still use for all my guitar pre's nowdays, Marshall Jmp-1, Mesa Triaxis and an AxeFx III. When my MP-1 finally ended up having a issue I had it modded with the 3TM mod, because you just cant have tooooooo much compressed gain sometimes. It is very amusing seeing younger players discovering 80's gear like we went through 60's - 70's marshalls and Hiwatts, etc.

[@troyalcorn9459]

I love the 80's my teenage years had a great time and the music was awesome.

[@PDXguitarfreak]

Sweet! I wanted one of those so bad when I was a teenager. I think the first time I heard about it was Vito. I believe he ran it into some sort of mosfet power amp, and he used the BBE Exciter too, I think. Anyway, killer tones there, Robert! You ROCK!

[@9dnovix]

Man Rob. I feel like you and I have so much in common. I love this new series man! Thank you for the video! Keep up the good work!

[@scottbronder]

ADA.. such classic stuff. I used to have an ADA 2FX and had analog knobs on it for all the great 80's knob spinning swooooshes and swooops. Such great gear back then!

[@tap22]

Chris Degarmo and Michael Wilton used this on their Operation Mindcrime Tour and to me their best sounding album! Great unit

[@micajones1483]

I bought one in '88. Roll back the treble and crank the presence. Total 80's.

[@seldonsinq]

That ad from the magazine! That was on every issue I had. I wanted one but ended up with a Rocktron Pro GAP. Pornogtaffiti and the first Skid Row album were my favorite tones back in the day

[@gpdaelemans]

Yep. Had one of these... Also had an ART SGX, a Carvin Quad X, and Digitech Artist 2120 (still have). Those were the days... no money and no sense when it came to gear.

[@R2R3Lockingnut]

I still own my original ADA MP 1 from 1990 🔥🎸 and my Mesa Boogie Triaxis Rack gear comeback 🙌🏼

[@RoccoPezzin]

So good!! Lost count of how many times I was about to buy an MP1 and didn't...might as well pull the trigger on one! The sound on the first Skid Row record is still one of my favorites from the late 80s!

[@SteveJohnsen]

Awesome! Great demonstration, Nuno’s Extreme II tone must be my all time favo rock guitar sound too. I still have my old school BOSS ME-5 and an early 90s N2 here. Always fun!

[@brianhelgerson3870]

Lexicon PCM 41&70 Eventide H3000 TC2290 Hamer Explorer BC Rich Mockingbird and of course DiMarzio SD,Dirty Fingers, Duncan JB or Schaller PUPs. Love this series on the Great 80's !

[@RipVDub]

Nuno for sure and Paul Gilbert’s “it’s all about the presence,” sound. Appreciate the flashback.

[@void0094]

Billy Corgan used this preamp on 1991's Gish and It's my favorite guitar tone of all time.

[@anthonylawson2788]

I still have mine, not been plugged in for years but I have it.

[@christophervincent8420]

Yes sir. I'm an 80s kid. Listened to it all weekend long elk hunting

[@hollywoodactress]

Mp1 is great !!!! I got one in my attic along with the ada mc1 footswitch. The question is whether any of the modern gear like fractal or line6 or boss gt or zoom can replicate the tone whereby you can’t tell the difference eyes closed 👍

[@countdooku1971]

Wow!! An ADA MP-1 and a Ric Flair t-shirt? WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[@andersf324]

Had an MP-1 with a Boss SE-50 in the effects loop back in the late 80s and early 90s. Ran it through the stereo power amp section of a Roland JC-120. Huge sound whith a couple of SM57s in a Y config to a 5000w PA. With the midi controller it was one of the most versatile rigs I ever had.

[@bighar1966]

Brings back good memories for me from the 80s. I need one of those lol

[@billdiaz6781]

Love it. Keep rockin the 80's!!! A piece of gear you have to try is Steve Vai's "Eventid" Ultra pre amp, processor. Looking forward to next week Brother!!!

[@docsworld1369]

Ha!! 1987 is when I graduated from high school and had my first band. I commented too soon. Love the bytes from Nuno and Skid Row. Hoped you would jump into the lead for Wait!! Has to be one of the best 80’s leads!! The cleans for Whitesnake sounded awesome. I actually thought you were going to jump in on some Jake E Lee and play Killer of Giants.

[@nmtodorow]

I have one that I bought back in the day. It's great!!!

[@BalconyMusicStudios]

That´s definitly Nuno Bettencourt Sound , well done :)

[@ct90twa]

Awesome video. Knew the ADA had to make an appearance. Love the Nuno licks. One of my huge influences. I have a couple of N4s as my everyday players.

[@RickHollis]

I just put my ADA in to get the noise mod on the ADA depot forum done to it so I can start using it live again. Love it.

[@VIDDTHEDESIGNER]

9:56 at 12 soooo good!

[@TheGuitaristFrom1984]

I have an ADA-MP1 and absolutely love it! Sometimes I like to put a Boss SD-1 in front for a boost, and man does it sound good! I also run an Alesis Midiverb in the effects loop.

[@shreyasnehru8846]

You really should be on a million subs rn....your content is gold

[@monstercadaver]

My favourite era of the 80's is from about '86 till '93.

[@ARRITDOR]

Really takes me back - I sold mine in the early 90s. Just used a DOD distortion into an Ampeg tube amp.

[@bestboy897]

The thumbnail is awesome

[@HAHb-zc2dp]

In my circle it's known as the death metal pre amp, used by disgorge for absolutely brutal tones.

[@ChristopherAllenSeitz]

I had one of these, it was friggin awesome

[@Lonewolf23-26]

Awww love that 80s sound!!!

[@CS_Murphy_R9]

First day i got my ADA MP 1 i played all day and night. could not put it down. back then they were unbelievable!

[@everrude3725]

Les Claypool (of Primus) used these preamps, modified for bass. The ADA MP-1 and MP-2 preamps played a significant role in his tone back in the day. I know this isn't a bass channel, but I had to mention it.

[@harleyhexxe9806]

Actually, Les Claypool used the MB-1 which is a bass preamp. It was released around the same time as the MP-1, it just didn't get as much notoriety.

[@everrude3725]

@@harleyhexxe9806 That's cool :)

[@chrisc6144]

"Its not a perfect match of the tone because I don't have Nuno's hands" That's Next Weeks Episode

[@chrishopkins209]

That could be a halloween episode

[@Jacksonkellyfreak]

How to get a brutal tone lmao

[@christopherguzzi8073]

Too funny, at the beginning I thought you were playing Parasite, which would be more like 70's and 80's and 90's etc. but then you changed it up. Fun video, thanks for sharing.

[@mariopigarella4099]

I used to have one for over 30 years....was a good thing

[@Art-zs6sl]

I think we all NEED to get this stuff! Great series

[@loveguitars]

Hey Robert, Check out Michael Wagener. He is a music producer who produced many artist's of the 80's and early 90's and was responsible for that 80's tone that we love!! 😎👍

[@jamesmoore4320]

I'm loving this series so far. Keep it up

[@joebalusikiii5811]

My roomie in college ('87) had an rackmount ADA digital delay. It was pretty fly. Captured the Satriani sounds on *Always With..." Really well.

[@timwhite5562]

A friend of a roommate I had back in 95 for some reason I can't remember had Nuno Bettencourt's drivers license. The guy was the first person I knew who had an actual recording studio he built at the house he grew up in that he owned at the time when his parents died. I remember that at the time, the idea of having a recording studio was so beyond the what anyone could ever hope to have. I know he put well over $100,000 to build it. It's funny how now, you could probably record an album just as good as you could there in your bedroom. Of course he had isolation booths for drums and vocals that most won't are able to have in a bedroom.

[@redsteve138mfd]

Would be awesome Robert for you to do an 80's rig with regular pedals that we can easily find today.

[@georgemorey5331]

LOVE THIS!! Thanks Robert!!

[@racrx7]

Still have my MP1 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@GreeneAlien]

Best ever!

[@Bricklinsv1970]

The greatest Pre Amp of all time. Alex Skolnick used one for a long time!

[@somtingwongwai7194]

And the bands you mentioned here were produced and mixed by "Micheal Wagner" who made the ADA sound we all like

[@danriley5848]

I loved my mp1 back in the day 👍

[@Me37368]

Tc electronic rack effects where a big part of the 80s

[@jaturi3897]

G Major user here.

[@Me37368]

@@jaturi3897 ?

[@jaturi3897]

You said tc electronic rack effects were big in the 80s. I was saying that I currently used a tc electronic g major for my effects

[@scottdunn2178]

2290

[@ibanezrg7421]

looooovvveeeeeee the 80s series. So good!!!!!

[@HighlandFifer]

Brilliant idea. Just an occasional viewer but this series is such a good idea.

[@LewisShieldsUS]

The 80's: Friday midnight dollar movies. Two hours early because the real show and the party was the line. Great show, thanks.

[@avenue6.554]

Love the Nuno intro!

[@benhuber384]

Props on the David Lee Roth Runnin with the devil intro yell!

[@ibanezleftyclub]

Hell yeah, had one, it was great, only overshadowed by the Triaxis.

[@dareangelmusic]

A nice balance of gear geeking and music history! I still have an old ART SGE Mach II from the late 80's. When I thought I would never need to buy another piece of gear! hahahaha

[@chrisggoodwin777]

Ah, my childhood.... 🤘🤘🤘

[@DrumAndStrum]

I like all your videos Robert... but I especially love all the 80's stuff!!

[@jerrik9016]

"What should i do next?" One of these, would be rad! Guitar: Ibanez 540s (with the original IBZ/USA pickups) ; Amp: Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ or Mark III head (with EQ!) ; pedal: grey DOD 250

[@markbois1713]

Had one bought it and a Rockman 2 channel preamp a wireless a rack tuner a Mosfet stereo power amp a rack and A 412 cab plus another power amp for $500.00. Traded everything in for about $900.00 worth of gear. Kept the Rockman and used it for a couple of years can't remember if I sold it or traded it. I think there was a Rockman noise gate also.

[@ryanliao2131]

Love this series!

[@juanblanco3187]

Robert that thumbnail gave me a gut laugh. TY Bud.

[@loveguitars]

Hey Robert, Awesome!! Thanks!!👍😎🧡

[@darrenwilliamsahs2211]

Still own my original ADA MP1!, Add a boost and that think rocks!

[@Hunteronix]

I heard "Hungry" by White Lion in there!!! I was gonna say Bratta used it when I saw your vid! Rober Baker always knows whats up!

[@BoyAditya]

I'm enjoying this!

[@pwnEdge1]

I love the 80's ,white lion too

[@andrewzenn1719]

We had an mp-1 in our recording studio whenever some guy came in with a real crappy amp we would pull it out. Added a GSP 5 and a boogie 50/50 tube power amp.

[@renebenton77]

Yes that GSP adds meat!!

[@shawndouglass2939]

Thanks for this one Robert, i love new, old gear😝

[@metalmig]

i like this keep the 80s comming!

[@Terribleguitarist89]

Would love to hear you try out a Mesa Studio Preamp. Edit: Welp wanted one to go with my Mesa and they've skyrocketed in price. Even the Mesa's shot up in value.

[@samueldubois9790]

Its awesome! All sound i need is in this box 😲

[@johnlannikk2701]

Hey Robert I had not realized you were putting so many videos up until I pressed the bell! I cant keep up lol!!

[@thehansongoons8975]

I was never a rack effects guy, but man you are starting to sell me on them!

[@jayartz8562]

Got a Boss ME-5 the other day, that thing is pretty 80's.