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Mike Pope Design MPP-1 Review
- Thread starter Bassbwithu
- Start date
No, I don't. But I've used this pre with many types of basses.
Fodera Imperial
Fender Precision w/ flats
Jazz w/ rounds
jazz fretless
and a 5 string P w/ flats
It is really easy to get the preamp to reproduce the sound you need. I was Jamerson today in a session to the T. One thing I like in particular is that there is some overlap at the ends of the frequencies, so there are some cool ways of really dialing in your tone.
Fodera Imperial
Fender Precision w/ flats
Jazz w/ rounds
jazz fretless
and a 5 string P w/ flats
It is really easy to get the preamp to reproduce the sound you need. I was Jamerson today in a session to the T. One thing I like in particular is that there is some overlap at the ends of the frequencies, so there are some cool ways of really dialing in your tone.
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
You're not the first one to ask that. I'm guessing a different form factor would work better with the IP. Yes? Shoot me an email so we can discuss. At your convenience.
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
I do. I first developed the preamp in it's initial form (much more crude) when I went on the road with the Manhattan Transfer. They did a LOT of back and forth from acoustic to electric and some of the switches were quick. I needed a preamp with really easy to use muting functions. That was really all I was looking for at the time. I'd kicked around the idea of the 4 band EQ. I'd done a couple 4 band internals that came out good and I wanted to see what I could do without battery life constraints and such. I ended up really liking it. I don't mean to sound arrogant when I say that it really is an extremely flexible EQ. There are 2 DI's in the 2 channel version and a "link" switch that connects the outputs of the 2 DI level controls together and sends both channels out of both DI's. So if you use 2 basses to one channel in the house, you still have individual control over their level to the house on one cable to the house...so you're covered. If you unlink them, they are totally discrete. This is how I ran with MT and what I do with Sanborn now. I had a good friend in California who's name I'm not sure I'm supposed to mention put it on his test bench and I got a glowing report back. WoW. Flat from 20Hz to 20kHz within a fraction of a dB, NO measurable distortion, 40kHz bandwidth (within 3dB, so those highs are nice and sweet all the way up), and 98dB of signal to noise...real world MEASURED with the input gain at 100%, not simulated or calculated. I was excited! Anyway, I'll have pics and more details on the MPP-2 on the site soon. I have to send one to my web/photo guy who is getting over an illness. The features and specs are all pretty much the same except for the DI linking feature. It's a little heavier but only be a pound or so. If anyone needs more info, feel free to check the site and send me an email or PM.
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
You say, "will the EQ"...but the preamp exists NOW! The EQ circuit is the same for both channels, but the switching allows you to really tailor it's response. It just starts with your sound and it doesn't put anything on it. Just your sound. Then you have 7 possible bands, 4 at a time, to access. That's a lot of EQ power. The fundamentals of a 6 string bass (24 fret neck) go from about 28Hz to 512Hz. That's it. The rest is overtones. 7 bands covers a lot ground on a bass. Plus the chips I used are just so sweet sounding. They're like solid state without all the stuff you don't like about solid state...if that makes any sense.
bongomania
Commercial User
I GAS over nice gear like most everyone else here, but this is one of the few pieces that really sends me over the edge just speculating about it. I must try one sometime.
Very cool! Sounds a great preamp for me!
But the big question is which poweramp you should use?
Mike - Anyone you recommend? Do you use the Walter Woods?
-Christian
But the big question is which poweramp you should use?
Mike - Anyone you recommend? Do you use the Walter Woods?
-Christian
Totally agree. I about fell out of my bed when I first saw this thread. I'm not sure how or when, but I've got to get one of these in front of me.
My thoughts too. He said he's into pristine into the board sound then he use this great gear we all know is well made and thought out from a players perspective into low to mid fi cabs. Hifi is not always appropriate ie. SVT into SVT 8x10 is the bomb for certain musics. If someone is doubling DB and say a Fodera it seems a shame to use less than stellar cabs. These cabs have their fans but they haven't distinguished themselves like the amps. That Pope pre probably sounds amazing flat into comparable cabs. I almost disregarded the pre because the analysis based on the cabs. No offense intended but one must follow through.
My thoughts too. He said he's into pristine into the board sound then he use this great gear we all know is well made and thought out from a players perspective into low to mid fi cabs. Hifi is not always appropriate ie. SVT into SVT 8x10 is the bomb for certain musics. If someone is doubling DB and say a Fodera it seems a shame to use less than stellar cabs. These cabs have their fans but they haven't distinguished themselves like the amps. That Pope pre probably sounds amazing flat into comparable cabs. I almost disregarded the pre because the analysis based on the cabs. No offense intended but one must follow through.
Holy crap!
A smilie stuck at the end of that does not change that from being one of the most condescending statements I've read on talkbass.
Whatever works for any given person's tonal goals is all that really matters.
Of course, you have the complete right to your opinion, as do I, and PeterC.
Hey I'm expressing my opinion and not in a condescending way. I didn't say it didn't work for him. He might sound so amazing with this rig. It makes him quite happy and satisfies his tone goals. He's after his tone. I hope everyone who comes on TB figures that out for themselves too. It was more academic when he said "pristine into the board" tone too me. Not a personal attack. My eyebrows would have gone up if he said he got that out of an SVT and 8x10. Yet with his fingers it could sound like a Fodera through fine studio monitors. The post I referred to was a humble suggestion that he try some more, BIG QUOTES "accurate cabs" to augment this great pre and my goodness a WW head. Since this is talkbass and not listenbass we can't hear his tone. So advice is based on what people describe as their experience.
I thought I was having the best experience with OEM Pirelli tires on my car. Many folks had tried another brand and model. I enjoyed my tires. When it was time to replace them I tried the ones folks were complementing. They were a huge leap forward in every way. We learn here by sharing.
Again no offense meant to anyone especially the OP.
I guess it is difficult to be objective regarding the 'tone' of a statement made on a forum like this.
If you did not mean to be condescending then I take your word for it.
I'll never own one, being a head kinda guy, but it sure does look impressive. Also matches very well with the Walter 
Subscribed.....Mike, any plans for distribution through some dealers, so that we could "Test Drive" them ?? and/or possibly purchase ?? Your site looks great and that pre looks good too. Wishing you nothing but success !!! Tony
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
Thanks Tony! How you been? I'm working on getting a few into the hands of some dealers. It may not be the traditional dealer arrangement, but I'm aware that people would like to here this thing so I'm trying to figure something out.
Hey, to address this business of MarkBass vs. others I kind of want to point out that "accurate" is pretty hard to define when it comes to speakers (or microphones). If you want accurate, buy a pair of Martin-Logans. No bass speaker on the market that I know of is accurate. Transduction isn't accurate. In fact, it remains the least accurate and least controllable stage in sound production/reproduction. That's why you still find yourself buying $3000.00 microphones for your studio. Because cheap ones just don't sound as good. And that's because good transduction (the converting of mechanical energy into electrical energy or the reverse) is really hard to achieve.
No matter how you couch it, selecting the components of a bass rig comes down to the fact that you can have a nearly totally transparent amp, and a nearly totally transparent preamp, and cables, and all that stuff that lives in the electrical domain. But there's no such thing as a speaker that moves the same way as a bass string. In order to have transparent transduction, the amp would be driving a giant string and making it move in a hugely amplified pattern that exactly mimics the string on your bass, and the thing picking up the string would have to be capable of reproducing every component of the string's movement over it's entire length without affecting the string's movement.
If you like the sound of your bass through a particular speaker, you want to keep the components in between out of the equation to the greatest degree possible. IMO, saying that an Epifani cab is more accurate than an Aguilar cab is more accurate than a MarkBass cab is just an exercise in psychoacoustics. One simply sounds the way you're expecting it to, and one doesn't. The one that matches your personal image of what your bass is supposed to sound like is going to sound more "accurate" to you. I really don't think there's any more to it than that.
That's been my experience anyway. My $0.02.
