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fendermaiden
Published on 12/29/06 at 11:28
To summarize: It's a 19" rack preamp.
A tube preamp with 128 storable presets.
Midi classic preamp with 3 channels.
UTILIZATION
It's pretty comfortable to use because it's very minimalist.
In other words, you choose a channel, clean solid-state, clean tubes or distortion, you adjust the settings, and you record. Up to that point
no issues.
Getting a good sound...That's another question. It took me two hours to find my distortion, but I can say that it's just the way I want it. I didn't have any problems finding my clean sound, because I'm less demanding in that sense.
All in all, this preamp sounds always good, it's not a crappy preamp.
The manual is clear.
SOUNDS
It's time to delve into the details. This preamp is old, so the sound is a bit old-fashioned. Especially the distortion, it's not suited to play numetal, but rather hard 'n' heavy or thrash from the '80s and even '90s.
Its hard-rock sound suits me very well (Skid Row used this preamp).
The sound of the ADA is very straightforward, proper and precise when it comes to distortion. It's pretty British in spirit but with more gain.
The solid-state clean is wicked, very jc-120-like, even though at first I had a hard time achieving anything.
The tubes clean is like a clean marshall (think jcm 900), it distorts very quickly, which isn't really my thing.
Edit: I applied the 3.666 mod and it changed the sound of my ada completely. It now sounds more like a mesa boogie rectifier preamp, but neater, the grit is very similar and to be honest, I think my setup is amazing.
If you are hesitating about doing modifications, don't!
OVERALL OPINION
I haven't used it too long, but I already had some rehearsals with it and I played my first gig with it last Tuesday.
What I like the most is the distortion, which is very '80s, and the clean sound suits me perfectly, too. I don't know what I like the least, but I analyzed several preamps to choose the one that suited me better. I bought it for $250 on ebay + $45 shipping + $50 customs + $20 for the bank transfer. It is in very good shape. It cost me $365 in total, which is acceptable. I would definitely buy it again. It's great for hard, heavy, thrash metal like in the old days.
It sounds awesome with other styles, too, but I like to play hard!
It's definitely pro gear.
A tube preamp with 128 storable presets.
Midi classic preamp with 3 channels.
UTILIZATION
It's pretty comfortable to use because it's very minimalist.
In other words, you choose a channel, clean solid-state, clean tubes or distortion, you adjust the settings, and you record. Up to that point
no issues.
Getting a good sound...That's another question. It took me two hours to find my distortion, but I can say that it's just the way I want it. I didn't have any problems finding my clean sound, because I'm less demanding in that sense.
All in all, this preamp sounds always good, it's not a crappy preamp.
The manual is clear.
SOUNDS
It's time to delve into the details. This preamp is old, so the sound is a bit old-fashioned. Especially the distortion, it's not suited to play numetal, but rather hard 'n' heavy or thrash from the '80s and even '90s.
Its hard-rock sound suits me very well (Skid Row used this preamp).
The sound of the ADA is very straightforward, proper and precise when it comes to distortion. It's pretty British in spirit but with more gain.
The solid-state clean is wicked, very jc-120-like, even though at first I had a hard time achieving anything.
The tubes clean is like a clean marshall (think jcm 900), it distorts very quickly, which isn't really my thing.
Edit: I applied the 3.666 mod and it changed the sound of my ada completely. It now sounds more like a mesa boogie rectifier preamp, but neater, the grit is very similar and to be honest, I think my setup is amazing.
If you are hesitating about doing modifications, don't!
OVERALL OPINION
I haven't used it too long, but I already had some rehearsals with it and I played my first gig with it last Tuesday.
What I like the most is the distortion, which is very '80s, and the clean sound suits me perfectly, too. I don't know what I like the least, but I analyzed several preamps to choose the one that suited me better. I bought it for $250 on ebay + $45 shipping + $50 customs + $20 for the bank transfer. It is in very good shape. It cost me $365 in total, which is acceptable. I would definitely buy it again. It's great for hard, heavy, thrash metal like in the old days.
It sounds awesome with other styles, too, but I like to play hard!
It's definitely pro gear.