NEWS: Dean Eric Peterson V available

The Dean Eric Peterson signature Old Skull V starts shipping this month. According to this post on Blabbermouth.net, the Testament guitarist says "I'm very excited because I finally have a signature coming out. It's a guitar I've been playing for a while, and I think people will enjoy the action. It's got triple-binding, all-black EMG pick-ups, block inlay, and some really cool artwork. Not too much, but enough to keep it evil!"

Fans who purchase Testament's special VIP packages for their current North American headlining tour have a chance to win one of three Eric Peterson Signature "Old Skull V" guitars. The packages also include meet-and-greet opportunities, access to soundcheck, a collectible laminate, an autographed poster, Testament music skins, a limited-edition Testament messenger bag, and a chance to win a Testament Darkstar skateboard.

NEWS: ADA returns!

Those of us with a fondness for the, let's just say, larger-haired corners of the rock guitar world will be excited to know that the long missing-in-action company ADA (Analog/Digital Associates) is on the way back after about a decade or so of inactivity.

ADA's famous midi-controllable tube preamp, the MP-1, was used on a lot of recordings around the late 80s/early 90s, especially paired with the power section of a Marshall JCM800 or JCM 900 head. Notable MP-1 users included Steve Vai, Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, White Lion's Vito Bratta, and Paul Gilbert. On the bass side, Primus's Les Claypool used a modified MP-1, while Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey used the dedicated bass version, the MB-1. To this day, Gilbert uses a modified ADA flanger tweaked to create a whammy-like divebomb effect, and other notable flanger users include Pat Travers and Testament's Alex Skolnick.

The new website is at www.adaamps.com and it shows the classic Final Phase and Flanger pedals, so we can assume these will be among the first products to be reissued. Could a reissued MP-1 be on the horizon?

A member of the ADA Depot forum posed some questions to ADA, and got this answer:

"Hello,

We’re in the storming and forming phase and usually send out a canned response, but your questions are intriguing and deserve an answer.

David Tarnowski, head engineer and inventor of all things A/DA, continues to be majority owner of A/DA and chief engineer of the new A/DA. He still owns all rights to the A/DA electronic designs and trademark. A group of us have convinced him that the time is right to come out of retirement and resurrect the A/DA legacy. We’re starting with stomp boxes, most notably the Flanger and Final Phase, which will be re-released in late 2008/2009. We’ll continue soon thereafter with other legacy effects such as Battman and the Seamoon line, as well as the Rocket Amp series. We’re currently working with suppliers to source original parts so that these releases can be as “original” as possible – we’ve gone over the designs and have decided that the original designs were best. We’re in the early stages, but are confident that we’ll have a full line of products to present at NAMM 2009.

Of particular interest to the ADAForum board would be our introduction of the all new MP3. Still on the drawing board, the digital potential is enormous and we’re still hashing out potential functionality prior to full design. As you well know, the fight starts trying to decide what goes into a future MPx and doesn’t stop until the prototype has been demo’d and agreed upon by all. As of now, there is no release date for the MP3.

We appreciate your interest and would ask that you help pass the word that the original A/DA is back!!

Cheers – the A/DA staff"