Got a J-Retro Deluxe yesterday (w/passive tone control) as a last ditch effort to save a bass (Low End Jazz 24-fret 6-string) from the trading block (or woodpile). I always felt like the bass had the potential to sound great, and it seemed to have some nice qualities acoustically. However, the original pickups and electronics were definitely not translating that. It sounded kind of muffled, cheap and trashy, to be kind. I haven't taken the bass on a gig since I put the J-Retro in, but from the experimentation I've done at home I think it's safe to say that it achieved what I was hoping for and lots more.
My first attempt to improve the bass was replacing the pickups (Kent Armstrongs) with Delano narrow humbuckers, first wired up with the original electronics and then changed to passive. The Delanos helped some, but not even close to the degree the J-Retro did!
I know there has been lots written about the J-Retro in previous threads, so I won't go into great detail. I do have to say that I'm really impressed with its headroom, versatility and range, and the musicality of the passive tone control. The slap sound is great also. I kinda wish the bass control was boost and cut rather than all boost, 'cause it almost has too much bottom for me even turned all the way down. That is a minor complaint, and easily dealt with via amp EQ. Plus, the bottom end is very sweet, and it seems to sit in the perfect spot frequency-wise.

The bass boost is nice on a Retro. I had them installed on my jazz and vette. The preamp color the tone by boosting the bass, so if you want it perfectly flat then jsut turn the bass knob all the way down.

The J-Retro rocks.

Passive with no battery required?

I'm interested.

Passive with no battery required?

I'm interested.

What he meant was he wire the delano pickup is passive to try out the tone and the sound of the pickup. So i take it the bass had a preamp originally.

So i take it the bass had a preamp originally.

Yeah, it was the Low End pre originally - I don't know who builds those. You're right, I wired the Delanos passively mainly to see what they sounded like without any influence from a preamp.

I have a frankenjazz with Delano J/MM configuration and a J-Retro. I was exactly what I was looking for. Very versatile:hyper:

I have John East preamps in most of my basses....they are great! And so is John, the best customer service I have ever gotten.

people talk about the coloring sound of the j-retro vs the natural sound of others. I am completely into the j-retro. For a jazz it is equivalent to the kill switch. And if you can manage to pair them up with single coils......step BACK!

people talk about the coloring sound of the j-retro vs the natural sound of others. I am completely into the j-retro. For a jazz it is equivalent to the kill switch. And if you can manage to pair them up with single coils......step BACK!

I hear what you're saying - if there is coloration in the East preamps, it is very complimentary.
I got a sense that the J-Retro would probably sound better with
the single coil versions of the Delanos I put in - maybe someday I'll swap..

people talk about the coloring sound of the j-retro vs the natural sound of others. I am completely into the j-retro. For a jazz it is equivalent to the kill switch. And if you can manage to pair them up with single coils......step BACK!

IMO - VERY few preamps do NOT colour the sound to some extent, even flat. To me what it boils down to is does it soudn good? If so, who cares if it is coloured or not. besides, once it goes through the rest of the average signal chain, colour is added for sure :)

J

I have the east deluxe 5 knob retro preamp in a yamaha bb605 with single coils shunted closer to the bridge than the usual jazz spacings. I chose the deluxe 5 for it's full passive operation, blend, vol and tone, it really is the best of both worlds but the ability to change passive to active has highlighted to me the colouring, there's a slight but apparent boost to both bass and high treble but like most people have already said if it sounds good don't worry. I play most of the time in active mode using the sweepable mids to change my tone and leaving bass and treble "flat" and swap to passive mode for warmer tones, it's great. my only complaint is that the active treble cut is too deeply and widely voiced and tends to drop your perceivable volume a lot when used, that and the previous comment about boost only bass being a little limiting but I have found my ways of getting around these.

overall I like the preamp a lot and it's helped me get my old bass closer to salvation and further from scrapping but some new pups are needed too if this thing's full potential is to be unleashed :bassist:

Here is the beast that started this thread:

http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss169/ad9000/lejwjretro.jpg

Awesome!! You have now pushed me over the edge to try that in my Benavente. I like the basic sound but just think it would benefit from a sweepable mid to cut that 1000 Hz freq as well as a passive tone to soften it a bit.

IMO - VERY few preamps do NOT colour the sound to some extent, even flat. To me what it boils down to is does it soudn good? If so, who cares if it is coloured or not. besides, once it goes through the rest of the average signal chain, colour is added for sure :)

J

+1

Besides, I don't run flat.

I have John East preamps in most of my basses....they are great! And so is John, the best customer service I have ever gotten.

+1000

John East is the man.

FYI--he is now considering, or will at least build you a preamp without the preshape. This will eliminate any pre-coloration before the EQ process.