Pornograffiti....probably the best overlooked underrated hard rock album of the late 80's and nothing compares to it...happy poppy metal that makes ya dance and headbang too
I met Nuno on either the Pornograffitti or III sides tour and I told him I loved his tone. He was sarcastic about it and said " Yeh my tone is such a mystery , ADA preamp, cut the mids into the negative and boost the bass and highs".He was very humble and normal.One of my favorite players.
@@BigHairyGuitars and @Leon Todd I probably played more shows with, (as an opening band), Nuno in the 80's in New England more than any other band,,,in RI, up in Boston, all over..I also was a studio intern where he recorded some demo's (before Extreme got signed, he was in a band Sinful), and know with 100000000000% certainty that the one piece of this missing from the puzzle in this signal chain is a 1984 (or so), ProCo RAT pedal. It was on every pedal board he had, even when they got signed, recorded all his records with it..this is the TRUTH! You guys are both huge sources of inspiration for me, I love your videos, bets of luck!!! Joshua
@@themotocrossmodchannelWulfMX There are bunch of videos where Nuno himself said that he always use ProCo Ratt ,so it is no secret.Of course it is set as a boost (drive at zero).Ratt has a great inherent EQ curve for guitars(rolled a bit of bass,bit of highs with broad 2k mid boost).
@@themotocrossmodchannelWulfMX HOLY CRAPOLINI! that's awesome! That's for the story! Geez. I don't have a Rat, and haven't really used one since I was in HS. Time to hit Reverb and do some Rat shopping.
Nuno's playing and sound never gets boring to me. His stuff was one of the first things I really learned when I was starting on guitar and is still one of my main influences. Still can't play that shit right 25 years later. :D
You're a fantastic player! You've really got "the touch"... more than just trying to copy Nuno, you've got the swagger, the groove and the feel that not many have. And, killer tone! At the end of the day, it really is in the hands. I've seen and heard Nuno through many rigs, and he always sounds like Nuno. Great Video!!!
I toured a lot in the late 80's early 90's when I was a young lad opening for some majors and the tone at the time from many pros was ADA MP1 into the Sonic Max and then RETURN loop of a Marshall 800 or older. Did not use front input of amp or send on amp. Just the power section. The Sonic MM was important as that delayed the highs from getting to your ears so they would arrive when the bass arrives. Effects were 100% wet with a small mixer like RANE SM26 after the MP1. Still to this day I rate EVH tone then the ADA tone as some of the best.
The channel switching 800s absolutely have FX loops. I currently own 2 '87 2210s and had a 2205 years ago, all have factory FX loops. The single channel 800s did not have loops, but the reissue 2203 does
Nice video, I see you spent a lot of time digging into that, and you've got a great tone going there! I've been an avid ADA user since the 80's and I own a truckload of their gear, great stuff! On a personal note: Nuno was very specific about which MP-1's he used. Both were Version 1.38, and he had a couple of presets he used which I have written down somewhere. He also used a couple of Boss pedals through his preamps, a distortion, an EQ and a noise gate pedal (essential in the original MP-1). You can see a couple of them in the picture. Getting a cap job done on the MP-1 will quiet it down a lot! After all, they are over 30 years old.
Nice one fella!... Seen so many vids of folks trying to get 'that 80's tone'... This is the best one (by a distance) because you're actually getting it right. Thankyou for taking the time to do this.
That's great! Even if my taste is more for the more crunchy tone Nuno had on Waiting for the Punchline. More dynamic and we can here more his tremendous right hand awesome technic!
your cover at the end is incredible ! you really understand nuno’s logic in his playing. he could have played it the same as you, i would not be surprised.
I remember buying Pornographitti as a teenager and just being gobbsmacked buy the guitar on that album! The rhythm lick following Flight of the Bumblebee on He-Man Woman hater was just mind absolutely blowing. It was peak level status for that pre-grunge genre IMO. My tastes drifted with the times after that, and more towards minimalist punk/SoCal Low desert inspired stuff, but still to this day? I will always give that album well deserved props for inspiring me as a kid to casually pause & rethink the overall possibilities of what a guitar can ultimately accomplish. Wicked good stuff Mike! Freakin' love the content. Stay awesome amigo! Cheers!
I remember meeting Nuno's guitar tech at a show I was playing as I am from the same area. He was kind enough to give me Nuno's ADA settings. Wish I still had those!
OD1 4.4 • OD2 5 • Master Gain 3.5 • Bass 9 - Mid -2 • Treb 0 • Prs 4 • Loop (On) • Depth n/a • Rate n/a • Voice T.D. • Name "Main" Nuno didn't use the onboard chorus but did use the FX loop to a pedal board
Great video! To me, the quickest way to Nuno's vibe and tone is plugging an N2/N4 on the Bill Lawrence pickup position into nearly any overdriven amp and combine palm mute legatos, sixteenth-note triplets and pinched harmonics :)
That BBE setting is amazing, its harsh and the low end is exploding on my monitors watching the vid here sounds great. Love the mashup cover, sounds like the real deal no comparison to anything on the market these days even with the hiss.
You're giving away the secrets! Nice. ADA MP-1, BBE 802, (2)Alesis Quads, MXR Doubler, Global System midi switching, Peavey VXT amp. Best tone I ever had.
I remember buying Pornograffiti shortly after it came out. I was blown away. It took my guitar ambitions to a whole new level. That album still holds up today as some of THE BEST guitar playing ever.And the tone was and still is one of the best ever. You got close Michael….real close. Its got that bright,crunchy,middy zing but a nice fat but tight,focused bottom end. Excellent video!!
This is why I love your channel FAR more than any other. Only you would provide such a killer rundown of Nuno. Your knowledge and history is incredible, and so damn appreciated!! Keep up the GREAT work brother!!! PS - awesome rendition of Hole Hearted!!
it's funny, with the quarantine situation going on right now, I pulled out my old first gen ADA just to do something different and fell back in love with it. I remembered you did this video and had to go back and look at the settings. thank you for all you do. keep it up and YES, a Vito video would be bad ass. Cheers
Hey Michael, that Hole Hearted recording you did was amazing!! Would you ever consider doing a video walking through how you record, mix and master? That was outstanding!
I agree, that was a wicked version. It translates really well to the electric sound. Not to me to mention your playing really brought it to life. Great job!!!! 😃🤘🏻🤘🏻
The overarching theme to Nuno's tone (typically) is high-gain, bright, and dry (little to no reverb) coming out of Bill Lawrence humbuckers. Great tone -- whether through a marshall or a fender amp ( see Waiting for the Punchline), or when using the P4 series in Schizophonic (check out the bite on "What You Want"). Another great thing about Nuno is how low key he is with sound effects -- if he uses it, it'll be with the music in mind and not for flare (see "Air u Breathe", "Waiting for the Punchline", and the solos to "Hop the Train", "True Love in the Galaxy", and "Dedication Breakup")
Nice tone I like it. I'm using ADA MP1 since 1992 till now. Nuno was 1 of the inspiration besides Paul Gilbert and Vito on my decision to buy the MP1. Then in 2008 I mod it into high gain running 3 tube. The forum guys called it MP1 3TM. I can get a Rectifier sound out of that MP1 after the mod very versatile pre amp.
Aural exciters... those were hot back in the late 90s. They are great for adding some high end w/o adding the noise. Really makes the highs punch through. Reminds me a little of the old Eddie VH tone where his highs were cranked up but if you listened, you could hear a LOT of hiss going on when he turned the vol knob down. I use one all the time on my voice jobs. Just adds a bit more cut/bite to my voice as my voice is naturally mellow. Is that some Marty Friedman sig guitar? Never saw one b4 if that is and I can only assume it is. Nice playing!
I remember all my shredding guitar friends had ADA's. I kick myself for not getting one back in the day. I just always believed that the best way to get the right tone was an all Tube good old JMP Marshall with the classic 35watt greenback Celestians. The rest was, whatever pedal's you wanted to add on to personalize your sound. The ADA seems to be all that in a small package. Thanks for the Demo!!
Still have my MP-1, it's been collecting dust for too many years, need to bring it out and have some fun with it. I never was able to get it to sound this good but then, as you demonstrated, it's just one of several critical components to a great tone. Awesome vid Michael, always inspiring.
Dude I love this style of video you do. The Zakk Unshaved was the first video I found of yours and it was so unique. Hope this trend continues! Even though it must be expensive for you to buy all the stuff lol
The first ADA preamp I ever heard live was being played into the low sensitivity "normal" input socket of an early seventies 100 watt Super-Lead. The guy had great hands. The tone was terrifying. I mean that in a totally good way lol.
Jacob, Extreme did a electric version themselves, with horn section and all... (let me see if I can find it on youtube) Ha! Found it! ua-cam.com/video/4uZLEKlRy48/v-deo.html
Great video ! Little story about Nuno's hands: He mentioned in a video that once he tried EVH's rig, ( he was recording at the neighbouring studio ).. so Nuno walked in, and kindly asked to try Eddie's stuff...to reveal the big truth about the Brown Sound... and in his hands Eddie's guitar and rig sounded like... Nuno ... :)
Just the fact that you are rescuing lost BBE Sonic Maximizers and refusing to throw them in the trash is justification enough for subscribing for the past 4+ (?) years. Keep on keeping on, Michael! :D I know too little about audio engineering, yet I learn something new every time I watch. Thanks, amigo.
This is so great! Nuno is the one who made me want to be a guitarist. Can you deconstruct his tone in "Waiting for the Punchline" that album is so underrated.
This is one of my favorite videos you have made! You really did get close to the Nuno porno tone. I love the way you broke down the tone into the various vintage pieces of gear. After watching this, I pulled out my MP1 and lo' and behold, it is a Ver 1.38. I'm heading straight to preset 45 today :) And I have to say, your guitar playing is pretty frickin' awesome.
I still have mine too and BBE Sonic Maximize 462, different from his. I had the ADA Micro Tube Stereo Power Amp but it finally roasted one night at a gig. Thank goodness there was a DI Box handy. Now I collect 5150's. EVH and Peaveys. Would love to acquire Nuno's Randall Half stack or at least the head for my '92 N4! Happy Tone Chasing To All !!!
If your mp1 is too solid state’ish, use more od2. Od1 is a solid state booster. I think I’m one of the few guys in the us doing tech work on these. There is a great noise mod that goes a ways towards reducing some of the hum.
Luthier Vandros I acquired my MP-1 last Year and performed the “noise mod” that replaces the transformer and power supply caps. And it sound pretty good with low noise. I also replaced all the plate resistors on the tube board with metal film. Do you think it is worth replacing all those resistors around the first buffer IC? I saw a tutorial about that... Also, should I replace all the small electrolytic signal caps? Is it worth it?
overtone85 I did a full recap of all electrolytics- prob 150 caps. Very risky since the unit has many obsolete parts. I wouldn’t do it again, as the risk to reward ratio wasn’t worth it. The best thing you can do is refresh the main filter caps and the ones on the tube board. While you’re in there solder in a replaceable battery receptacle, so you can pop new ones in without soldering. Edit: I did the metal film resistor mods and also subbed in new low noise transistors in the signal path. One one of my mp1’s, this introduced a low freq oscillation that I now have to scope out. No time! The resistors around the buffer are actually fine as is. I noticed no changes with the move to metal film there. One other thing I did was upgrade all the leds. A very cool mod actually. There’s an empty socket or two that will take leds and will illuminate when appropriate. I photo document all my restorations at the gear page. I’m fdesalvo there.
Michael!...Super cool video brother! Great deconstruction of Nuno's sound - it sounds GREAT! And very cool song idea at the end. When I was 16 I used to carve Nuno's name into all my high school classroom desks... and then when I was introduced to him by his drummer years later he snubbed me haha... oh well, 'ces't la vie' 🤷♂️. Kudos to you fella, and regards from Melbourne Australia 🤟 🇦🇺
Forgive me if this was answered in the video and I missed it, but how was this sound being captured from the VHT 2150? Was it going to a mic’d up cab, or something like the UA OX? Thanks Michael, I’m really finding your channel both informative and entertaining 😃👍🏻
Love going back and watching these videos. Guitar World have just come out with their 80's edition and a few of these items get a mention. I personally love the tone of this era. Thank f... We have modelling amps today and relatively affordable plugins, noway I could build a collection for this kind of hardware.
I can play that album from beginning to end, it's a classic! My favs are He-man Woman Hater... It's a Monster... Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee... Etc
awesome video.. would be really cool to see the deconstruction of the tone of Michael Lee Firkins on Jason Becker's Perspective album, especially the track Rain. The guitar has this synthy, almost no cab sound!
Omg there is a moment in this video where Nuno popped out of my speakers because of the BBE (and your awesome playing ofc) check out 9:38 (with the BBE) compared to 9:19 (without) it seems subtle but it’s a huge discriminator. I also love the clarity of the single notes at 11:09. This is a great video thank you!
I used my ADA MP-1 Through a Boss NS-2. Then ran it through a Tube Works Real Tube II (Clean)I used a Rocktron Replifex and Intellifex together into the stereo fx loop of the Tube Works Real Tube II. Internally in the Replifex I used a parametric to further fine eq the ADA MP-1 signal passing through. The power section was a Tube Works MosValve Stereo power amp. I sometimes used a Marshall 9005 power amp. Great setup. I want to try the Two Notes Torpedo Cab M+ with the ADA MP-1 with the modeled power section. I have been wanting 2 of those Two Notes Torpedo Cab M + devices.
incredible dude the tone at the end of the video? how do you adjust to get these with the ada? If of course you can say it it will be great! thanks man and well done again 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I appreciate your approach, knowledge and time to show how artists get their tone. That was really cool and fun to see! Me personally, I go for my own tone. Unless of course I want join a tribute band.
Well done love Nuno love the record I'm wondering what distinctions to his gear were made when he played lead(?) I hear a rumor that he often used a rat pedal for over drive... just curious as to what else might have been in his signal chain back then... cheers
I built Kirk Hammett’s rack back in the Justice days with an MP-1. I knew Todd Langner who worked at ADA and designed the MP-1 so I recommended it to Kirk along with the ADA EQ. Todd was restricted by ADA to fit it into a 1U rack while he wanted a larger rack to fit large transformers. Todd hotrodded every Bay Area metal guitar players Marshall’s in the 80 and 90s. Kirk still has and uses my hotrodded 800 head on all of their recordings. He bssically “borrowed” it indefinitely.
I used my Marshall amplifiers to power the ADA and it sounded great also had the BBE as well which does make a difference. Great video as always Mike. ✌🏻
Damn Michael, making the tone spot on, but making the playing like Nuno look effortless, that’s the real takeaway here. Thanks brother, that was sweet.
You did an amazing job. Keep it up. Your video on the Dirty Shirley and how it sounded like Superunknown made that my dream amp and you really do a great job recording the sound to get a realistic sound of it. Been trying to sell my wife on it, so far no go, but did buy a DS pedal on your video and have been totally happy with it. Thanks.
I played an ADA rig forever and the only way to get this preamp to feel more tube like is to add a BBE sonic maximizer right before the power amp and especially if you are using a solid state power amp like the ADA BS 200 stereo power amp. I never used the BBE with a tube power amp. I do know I never played anything without the BBE not being ON. It somehow made speakers, any speakers, sound so much richer and fuller and alive. It made the strings on my guitar and magnets on the pickups interact beyond amazing. If you have not tried a BBE sonic maximizer 422..... YOU have not tried... at all... nuff said....
The BBE is essential with the ADA for sure, I don't think this video truly represented the sound BBE produces. When you boost the low frequency , to me it made a 2x12 cab sound a feel like a 4x12. The high frequency could either smooth your highs or give it a spacial presence. I agree with you about the strings/magnets. Every string and note had such beautiful clarity When my BBE was off, I could tell in one note.
A bit late to the party but firstly: great vid, I've always been a fan of Nuno's tone and playing style and secondly: that ending! You definitely put a killer twist on Hole Hearted!
Sounds AWESOME! Nuno's tone on III Sides To Every Story is one of my all-time favorites! That tone, Robben Ford's tone on Talk To Your Daughter and Josh Zee's tone on Protein's Songs About Cowgirls \m/
The Sonic Maximizer was amazing with the MP-1. It sounded like you lifted a blanket off that preamp. I basically had Vito Bratta's rig (ADA Mp-1, Alesis Quadraverb, BBE-Sonic Maximizer and Carvin FET 450 Power Amp) and the tones I got out that rig was insane. I really wish I kept it.
Pornograffiti....probably the best overlooked underrated hard rock album of the late 80's and nothing compares to it...happy poppy metal that makes ya dance and headbang too
My favorite. The guitar work on it is incredible. It's Nuno - and then ten steps behind everybody else.
Overlooked?
It's Funk Metal
And also just flat out one of the best albums period.
For sure, for modern young players. If you grew up with it like I did it is the opposite, though I still can’t play all of it after years of trying
It's from 1990 and it's the best album of the year without question.
I met Nuno on either the Pornograffitti or III sides tour and I told him I loved his tone. He was sarcastic about it and said " Yeh my tone is such a mystery , ADA preamp, cut the mids into the negative and boost the bass and highs".He was very humble and normal.One of my favorite players.
Dude, so glad you did this. This one is right up there with your Zakk tone reconstruction, amazing job! I'd love to hear you do some Vito stuff too.
Yaaaassssss m'lord!
Thank you my brotha!
@@BigHairyGuitars and @Leon Todd I probably played more shows with, (as an opening band), Nuno in the 80's in New England more than any other band,,,in RI, up in Boston, all over..I also was a studio intern where he recorded some demo's (before Extreme got signed, he was in a band Sinful), and know with 100000000000% certainty that the one piece of this missing from the puzzle in this signal chain is a 1984 (or so), ProCo RAT pedal. It was on every pedal board he had, even when they got signed, recorded all his records with it..this is the TRUTH! You guys are both huge sources of inspiration for me, I love your videos, bets of luck!!! Joshua
@@themotocrossmodchannelWulfMX There are bunch of videos where Nuno himself said that he always use ProCo Ratt ,so it is no secret.Of course it is set as a boost (drive at zero).Ratt has a great inherent EQ curve for guitars(rolled a bit of bass,bit of highs with broad 2k mid boost).
@@themotocrossmodchannelWulfMX HOLY CRAPOLINI! that's awesome! That's for the story! Geez. I don't have a Rat, and haven't really used one since I was in HS. Time to hit Reverb and do some Rat shopping.
Nuno's playing and sound never gets boring to me. His stuff was one of the first things I really learned when I was starting on guitar and is still one of my main influences. Still can't play that shit right 25 years later. :D
You're a fantastic player! You've really got "the touch"... more than just trying to copy Nuno, you've got the swagger, the groove and the feel that not many have. And, killer tone! At the end of the day, it really is in the hands. I've seen and heard Nuno through many rigs, and he always sounds like Nuno.
Great Video!!!
Thanks!!!
Nuno's Tone on Pornograffiti is up there for me with Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch. In that order! ;)
Michael Schenker is so cool!
Yes! Very well put.
I toured a lot in the late 80's early 90's when I was a young lad opening for some majors and the tone at the time from many pros was ADA MP1 into the Sonic Max and then RETURN loop of a Marshall 800 or older. Did not use front input of amp or send on amp. Just the power section. The Sonic MM was important as that delayed the highs from getting to your ears so they would arrive when the bass arrives. Effects were 100% wet with a small mixer like RANE SM26 after the MP1. Still to this day I rate EVH tone then the ADA tone as some of the best.
Old JCM800s or Marshall amps before the JCMs never had an effects loop…
@@helio1055 Most of the acts had modded JCM's, so yeah
@@aintchorrollmodel182 no
The channel switching 800s absolutely have FX loops. I currently own 2 '87 2210s and had a 2205 years ago, all have factory FX loops. The single channel 800s did not have loops, but the reissue 2203 does
Great video that Nuno tone back in the day was so lusted over. Still now sounds great.
Nice video, I see you spent a lot of time digging into that, and you've got a great tone going there!
I've been an avid ADA user since the 80's and I own a truckload of their gear, great stuff! On a personal note: Nuno was very specific about which MP-1's he used. Both were Version 1.38, and he had a couple of presets he used which I have written down somewhere. He also used a couple of Boss pedals through his preamps, a distortion, an EQ and a noise gate pedal (essential in the original MP-1). You can see a couple of them in the picture.
Getting a cap job done on the MP-1 will quiet it down a lot! After all, they are over 30 years old.
Man, thanks for doing this video, I love that 80s guitar tone and I didn't know about the BBE, it's definitely an essential part of the sound
Nice one fella!... Seen so many vids of folks trying to get 'that 80's tone'... This is the best one (by a distance) because you're actually getting it right. Thankyou for taking the time to do this.
That's great! Even if my taste is more for the more crunchy tone Nuno had on Waiting for the Punchline. More dynamic and we can here more his tremendous right hand awesome technic!
I saw them on this tour at a Benefit for Make a Wish and they sounded just like the record. Amazing band and guitar tone
your cover at the end is incredible ! you really understand nuno’s logic in his playing. he could have played it the same as you, i would not be surprised.
I remember buying Pornographitti as a teenager and just being gobbsmacked buy the guitar on that album! The rhythm lick following Flight of the Bumblebee on He-Man Woman hater was just mind absolutely blowing. It was peak level status for that pre-grunge genre IMO.
My tastes drifted with the times after that, and more towards minimalist punk/SoCal Low desert inspired stuff, but still to this day? I will always give that album well deserved props for inspiring me as a kid to casually pause & rethink the overall possibilities of what a guitar can ultimately accomplish.
Wicked good stuff Mike!
Freakin' love the content.
Stay awesome amigo!
Cheers!
Awesome video, loved your rock arrangement of “Hole Hearted” at the end too! 👌
I remember meeting Nuno's guitar tech at a show I was playing as I am from the same area. He was kind enough to give me Nuno's ADA settings. Wish I still had those!
OD1 4.4 • OD2 5 • Master Gain 3.5 • Bass 9 - Mid -2 • Treb 0 • Prs 4 • Loop (On) • Depth n/a • Rate n/a • Voice T.D. • Name "Main"
Nuno didn't use the onboard chorus but did use the FX loop to a pedal board
What a treat to hear this. Love this type of video and the solo bit was fantastic. Guitar tone bites and sounds great! Love it! 👍
Yeah, Nuno's unbelievable.
So glad you mentioned Bill and Ted... most excellent!
Great video! To me, the quickest way to Nuno's vibe and tone is plugging an N2/N4 on the Bill Lawrence pickup position into nearly any overdriven amp and combine palm mute legatos, sixteenth-note triplets and pinched harmonics :)
That BBE setting is amazing, its harsh and the low end is exploding on my monitors watching the vid here sounds great. Love the mashup cover, sounds like the real deal no comparison to anything on the market these days even with the hiss.
I'm loving these nostalgia rig recreations!
You're giving away the secrets! Nice. ADA MP-1, BBE 802, (2)Alesis Quads, MXR Doubler, Global System midi switching, Peavey VXT amp. Best tone I ever had.
I remember where I was when I heard this album. I love how he makes everything funky. Such a talented guitar player.
I remember buying Pornograffiti shortly after it came out. I was blown away. It took my guitar ambitions to a whole new level. That album still holds up today as some of THE BEST guitar playing ever.And the tone was and still is one of the best ever. You got close Michael….real close. Its got that bright,crunchy,middy zing but a nice fat but tight,focused bottom end. Excellent video!!
This is why I love your channel FAR more than any other. Only you would provide such a killer rundown of Nuno. Your knowledge and history is incredible, and so damn appreciated!! Keep up the GREAT work brother!!! PS - awesome rendition of Hole Hearted!!
it's funny, with the quarantine situation going on right now, I pulled out my old first gen ADA just to do something different and fell back in love with it. I remembered you did this video and had to go back and look at the settings. thank you for all you do. keep it up and YES, a Vito video would be bad ass. Cheers
The tone is pretty spot on! Nice playing man!
Hey Michael, that Hole Hearted recording you did was amazing!! Would you ever consider doing a video walking through how you record, mix and master? That was outstanding!
I agree, that was a wicked version. It translates really well to the electric sound.
Not to me to mention your playing really brought it to life. Great job!!!! 😃🤘🏻🤘🏻
The overarching theme to Nuno's tone (typically) is high-gain, bright, and dry (little to no reverb) coming out of Bill Lawrence humbuckers. Great tone -- whether through a marshall or a fender amp ( see Waiting for the Punchline), or when using the P4 series in Schizophonic (check out the bite on "What You Want"). Another great thing about Nuno is how low key he is with sound effects -- if he uses it, it'll be with the music in mind and not for flare (see "Air u Breathe", "Waiting for the Punchline", and the solos to "Hop the Train", "True Love in the Galaxy", and "Dedication Breakup")
I still Love the 3 Sides Tone. Its huge
Soldano
Santiago Dobles , but not an SLO
@@borz666 I will have to check on that my buddy was the one that sold nuno the amp for the album recording.
@@santiagodobles9843 So you have de response ? SL-60, Hot Rod, SLO ? Thanks
@@PMCGuitares SL0 100
Well done mate, any mighty fine playing I might add!
That was awesome!!I love that sound...I had an AD/A back in the 80’s.....now I want another one...Thanks..
Nice tone I like it. I'm using ADA MP1 since 1992 till now. Nuno was 1 of the inspiration besides Paul Gilbert and Vito on my decision to buy the MP1. Then in 2008 I mod it into high gain running 3 tube. The forum guys called it MP1 3TM. I can get a Rectifier sound out of that MP1 after the mod very versatile pre amp.
Aural exciters... those were hot back in the late 90s. They are great for adding some high end w/o adding the noise. Really makes the highs punch through. Reminds me a little of the old Eddie VH tone where his highs were cranked up but if you listened, you could hear a LOT of hiss going on when he turned the vol knob down.
I use one all the time on my voice jobs. Just adds a bit more cut/bite to my voice as my voice is naturally mellow. Is that some Marty Friedman sig guitar? Never saw one b4 if that is and I can only assume it is. Nice playing!
That’s a guitar made by the legendary amp manufacturer/designer Dave Friedman
No, it has nothing to do with Marty 😅
I remember all my shredding guitar friends had ADA's. I kick myself for not getting one back in the day. I just always believed that the best way to get the right tone was an all Tube good old JMP Marshall with the classic 35watt greenback Celestians. The rest was, whatever pedal's you wanted to add on to personalize your sound. The ADA seems to be all that in a small package. Thanks for the Demo!!
Still have my MP-1, it's been collecting dust for too many years, need to bring it out and have some fun with it. I never was able to get it to sound this good but then, as you demonstrated, it's just one of several critical components to a great tone. Awesome vid Michael, always inspiring.
Dude I love this style of video you do. The Zakk Unshaved was the first video I found of yours and it was so unique. Hope this trend continues! Even though it must be expensive for you to buy all the stuff lol
Ha! Yes. haha
thanks!
Great video. I would love to see one on Nuno's Waiting For The Punchline tone!!
Agreed. Incredible tone!
Your last take sounded massive. That’s the tone I’ve been looking for all my life man.
I love the graphic in the background.
The first ADA preamp I ever heard live was being played into the low sensitivity "normal" input socket of an early seventies 100 watt Super-Lead. The guy had great hands. The tone was terrifying. I mean that in a totally good way lol.
AWESOME. I grabbed both the ADA-pack and the UK800-pack. Had the Soldano since before. Really love your profiles. Keep up the good work.
Yesssss!!! Hole Hearted electric version rules Mike!! Great job on the entire video!
Jacob, Extreme did a electric version themselves, with horn section and all... (let me see if I can find it on youtube) Ha! Found it!
ua-cam.com/video/4uZLEKlRy48/v-deo.html
Never mind the tone - that playing was stunning Michael 😎😎😎😎😎
Great video ! Little story about Nuno's hands: He mentioned in a video that once he tried EVH's rig, ( he was recording at the neighbouring studio ).. so Nuno walked in, and kindly asked to try Eddie's stuff...to reveal the big truth about the Brown Sound... and in his hands Eddie's guitar and rig sounded like... Nuno ... :)
awesome I've been waiting for this video from Nuno best guitar tone channel
ADA MP-1. I remember wanting it so bad back then. 😅
amazing tone and playing. The core characteristics of what I thought was the ADA tone actually belonged to BBE! Your video rocks hard.
Killer video Mike !!! Always loved Nuno as well ... Thumbs up !
This save me A LOT of research - it's great to see guys our age still just loving the old records. Kudos.
Tremendous thanks for deconstructing Nuno's tone! Great video!
Really cool!!! You might try some new tubes in your ADA to see if that would cut down on any of the noise.
Just the fact that you are rescuing lost BBE Sonic Maximizers and refusing to throw them in the trash is justification enough for subscribing for the past 4+ (?) years. Keep on keeping on, Michael! :D I know too little about audio engineering, yet I learn something new every time I watch. Thanks, amigo.
Haha! Thanks Craig! 💙💙💙
I love this vid, but some strange reason I always loved their first album guitar tone.
Awesome playing! Thanks for the ADA45 kemper updates too
You are bending the heart strings! Well worth the effort reconstructing this iconic sound.
Excellent reproduction of the tone and really good playing too! Great Job!
Great work !! Excelent tone. Nuno rules. Greetings from Buenos Aires
Great video. I loved your song demo at the end. Nuno would be proud
This is so great! Nuno is the one who made me want to be a guitarist. Can you deconstruct his tone in "Waiting for the Punchline" that album is so underrated.
Norman Tolle fender twin cranked up. I remember reading that somewhere.
@@herecomesthemonster And a Tubeman preamp. I read that somewhere as well.
This is one of my favorite videos you have made! You really did get close to the Nuno porno tone. I love the way you broke down the tone into the various vintage pieces of gear. After watching this, I pulled out my MP1 and lo' and behold, it is a Ver 1.38. I'm heading straight to preset 45 today :) And I have to say, your guitar playing is pretty frickin' awesome.
I’m embarrassed to say I still have my ADA MP1 and MQ1 and most of my rack gear from the 80’ / 90’s
Nuno has great palm muting technique.
Locoandchooch thats not embarrassing, sounds cool to me 🤘🏻🎸
I still have mine too and BBE Sonic Maximize 462, different from his. I had the ADA Micro Tube Stereo Power Amp but it finally roasted one night at a gig. Thank goodness there was a DI Box handy. Now I collect 5150's. EVH and Peaveys. Would love to acquire Nuno's Randall Half stack or at least the head for my '92 N4! Happy Tone Chasing To All !!!
Allen Locke I have a 100w 5150iii half stack and the 30w Randall NBKING Combo. We’re on the same page brother 🤘🏻🎸
It's a great pair of gear. I tried to get one but the MP1 is still to expensive in my country. Nuno is also a great funk player.
I wouldn't be embarrassed. That's awesome.
To me the ADA MP-1 was one of the best preamps ever between 80s and 90s! I've been modifying mine so many times, I don't even remember what I've done.
If your mp1 is too solid state’ish, use more od2. Od1 is a solid state booster. I think I’m one of the few guys in the us doing tech work on these. There is a great noise mod that goes a ways towards reducing some of the hum.
Luthier Vandros I acquired my MP-1 last Year and performed the “noise mod” that replaces the transformer and power supply caps. And it sound pretty good with low noise.
I also replaced all the plate resistors on the tube board with metal film.
Do you think it is worth replacing all those resistors around the first buffer IC? I saw a tutorial about that...
Also, should I replace all the small electrolytic signal caps? Is it worth it?
overtone85 I did a full recap of all electrolytics- prob 150 caps. Very risky since the unit has many obsolete parts. I wouldn’t do it again, as the risk to reward ratio wasn’t worth it. The best thing you can do is refresh the main filter caps and the ones on the tube board. While you’re in there solder in a replaceable battery receptacle, so you can pop new ones in without soldering.
Edit: I did the metal film resistor mods and also subbed in new low noise transistors in the signal path. One one of my mp1’s, this introduced a low freq oscillation that I now have to scope out. No time! The resistors around the buffer are actually fine as is. I noticed no changes with the move to metal film there.
One other thing I did was upgrade all the leds. A very cool mod actually. There’s an empty socket or two that will take leds and will illuminate when appropriate. I photo document all my restorations at the gear page. I’m fdesalvo there.
Luthier Vandros that’s very informative! Thanks man.
overtone85 yessir! These old boxes are still my fav for modded Marshall tones!
@@luthiervandros do you do mod upgrades on other owners mp-1 preamps? Or know some one who does?
Next; comparing a/da preamp MP-1 rack vs the MP-1 pedal
Yesssss... 🤔
Michael!...Super cool video brother! Great deconstruction of Nuno's sound - it sounds GREAT! And very cool song idea at the end. When I was 16 I used to carve Nuno's name into all my high school classroom desks... and then when I was introduced to him by his drummer years later he snubbed me haha... oh well, 'ces't la vie' 🤷♂️. Kudos to you fella, and regards from Melbourne Australia 🤟 🇦🇺
Forgive me if this was answered in the video and I missed it, but how was this sound being captured from the VHT 2150? Was it going to a mic’d up cab, or something like the UA OX? Thanks Michael, I’m really finding your channel both informative and entertaining 😃👍🏻
Michael is a solid guitarist, sleeper shredder. 🤘🏼
Excellent video Michael - thank you , love this - really great attention to detail that you put in too. Nice one ! .More like this please.
Thanks Richard!
Really love the tones you make for THU. Almost got them all and the cabs are the next on the purchase goal
Thank you Kevin!!!!
I hadn't noticed that the Hole Hearted riff went that hard holy shit
Love going back and watching these videos. Guitar World have just come out with their 80's edition and a few of these items get a mention. I personally love the tone of this era. Thank f... We have modelling amps today and relatively affordable plugins, noway I could build a collection for this kind of hardware.
Met Nuno in 86, been in awe ever since.
That was my rig in the late 80's through the mid 90's. MP1 into a BBE 422A. I actually still have the BBE is pristine working order.
I can play that album from beginning to end, it's a classic! My favs are He-man Woman Hater... It's a Monster... Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee... Etc
awesome video.. would be really cool to see the deconstruction of the tone of Michael Lee Firkins on Jason Becker's Perspective album, especially the track Rain. The guitar has this synthy, almost no cab sound!
Omg there is a moment in this video where Nuno popped out of my speakers because of the BBE (and your awesome playing ofc) check out 9:38 (with the BBE) compared to 9:19 (without) it seems subtle but it’s a huge discriminator.
I also love the clarity of the single notes at 11:09. This is a great video thank you!
I used my ADA MP-1 Through a Boss NS-2. Then ran it through a Tube Works Real Tube II (Clean)I used a Rocktron Replifex and Intellifex together into the stereo fx loop of the Tube Works Real Tube II. Internally in the Replifex I used a parametric to further fine eq the ADA MP-1 signal passing through. The power section was a Tube Works MosValve Stereo power amp. I sometimes used a Marshall 9005 power amp. Great setup. I want to try the Two Notes Torpedo Cab M+ with the ADA MP-1 with the modeled power section. I have been wanting 2 of those Two Notes Torpedo Cab M + devices.
incredible dude the tone at the end of the video? how do you adjust to get these with the ada? If of course you can say it it will be great! thanks man and well done again 🙌🏻🙌🏻
You my man are a hell of a player!! Always enjoy your content.
I appreciate your approach, knowledge and time to show how artists get their tone. That was really cool and fun to see! Me personally, I go for my own tone. Unless of course I want join a tribute band.
I still have my v1.38 MP1 and BBE, occasionally break them out. Still very cool tone! Thanks for sharing!
Well done love Nuno love the record I'm wondering what distinctions to his gear were made when he played lead(?) I hear a rumor that he often used a rat pedal for over drive... just curious as to what else might have been in his signal chain back then... cheers
I love your channel so much!! It's so hard to find a channel that had all contents most of rack gear.. I'm more into rack gear myself :D
I built Kirk Hammett’s rack back in the Justice days with an MP-1. I knew Todd Langner who worked at ADA and designed the MP-1 so I recommended it to Kirk along with the ADA EQ. Todd was restricted by ADA to fit it into a 1U rack while he wanted a larger rack to fit large transformers. Todd hotrodded every Bay Area metal guitar players Marshall’s in the 80 and 90s. Kirk still has and uses my hotrodded 800 head on all of their recordings. He bssically “borrowed” it indefinitely.
I‘d love to hear some stories about how they started to develop the ADA. Do you remember Kirk‘s settings?
I used my Marshall amplifiers to power the ADA and it sounded great also had the BBE as well which does make a difference. Great video as always Mike. ✌🏻
Damn Michael, making the tone spot on, but making the playing like Nuno look effortless, that’s the real takeaway here. Thanks brother, that was sweet.
Thank brother! Haha! It wasn’t effortless!!! Nuno plays very quickly and precisely. Really took some time to get close for me.
You did an amazing job. Keep it up. Your video on the Dirty Shirley and how it sounded like Superunknown made that my dream amp and you really do a great job recording the sound to get a realistic sound of it. Been trying to sell my wife on it, so far no go, but did buy a DS pedal on your video and have been totally happy with it. Thanks.
I played an ADA rig forever and the only way to get this preamp to feel more tube like is to add a BBE sonic maximizer right before the power amp and especially if you are using a solid state power amp like the ADA BS 200 stereo power amp. I never used the BBE with a tube power amp. I do know I never played anything without the BBE not being ON. It somehow made speakers, any speakers, sound so much richer and fuller and alive. It made the strings on my guitar and magnets on the pickups interact beyond amazing. If you have not tried a BBE sonic maximizer 422..... YOU have not tried... at all... nuff said....
The BBE is essential with the ADA for sure, I don't think this video truly represented the sound BBE produces. When you boost the low frequency , to me it made a 2x12 cab sound a feel like a 4x12. The high frequency could either smooth your highs or give it a spacial presence. I agree with you about the strings/magnets. Every string and note had such beautiful clarity When my BBE was off, I could tell in one note.
Bravo Michael!! disfruté del video, pero sobre todo tu manera de tocar!! Saludos desde Perú.
one of the best preamp ever
Thanks for a great video. I seemed to have read that Nuno was using a bassman into a 4x12 during recording but I must have been confused at the time.
Awesome job! I had that ADA and loved it. Wish I still had it.
Thanks. I totally forgot how much I loved his sound
A bit late to the party but firstly: great vid, I've always been a fan of Nuno's tone and playing style and secondly: that ending! You definitely put a killer twist on Hole Hearted!
Sounds AWESOME! Nuno's tone on III Sides To Every Story is one of my all-time favorites! That tone, Robben Ford's tone on Talk To Your Daughter and Josh Zee's tone on Protein's Songs About Cowgirls \m/
Awesome! only thing missing was the Bill Lawrence.
Great work, bro. Great tone and playing. Thanks a lot.
The Sonic Maximizer was amazing with the MP-1. It sounded like you lifted a blanket off that preamp. I basically had Vito Bratta's rig (ADA Mp-1, Alesis Quadraverb, BBE-Sonic Maximizer and Carvin FET 450 Power Amp) and the tones I got out that rig was insane. I really wish I kept it.
Washburn Steve Stevens models with Duncan JB’s and a Schaller branded Floyd Rose. Washburn SS-80. Check them out...