J-Retro Deluxe for a Fender Am Dlx Jazz

[B String]

Has anyone put a J-Retro in a Fender American Deluxe
Jazz V? I have a 2005 model. I like the pickups but not
sure about the preamp. Does the J-Retro change the
flat sound of the bass too much or just enhance a bit?
How do you like it?

[brandonwong]

The preamp does add a bit of a contour(audible enuff) to have its own character.
Some love it, and well... some hate it.

I have a J-retro in my 77 jazz and also an outboard stompbox version.
What the bass knob does is lower the boost frequencies as you turn the knob up.
It does bring the house down without loosing clarity.

IMO, the mid control is extremely helpful for turning up/down certain frequencies in a musical(slightly hifi) sound.
On the stompbox, I use it mainly in conjunction with the treble knob to get a very sharp pop attack regardless of what bass i'm using.

[LoveThatBass]

J Retro is good if you have noiseless pickups otherwise you are going to amplify the noise also.
I like the J Retro with Lindy Fralin splitcoils and imagine Nordstrand splitcoil pups are Barts would be a good choice also..

[brandonwong]

Any preamp will amplify the singlecoil hum and or noise.

[B String]

I'm also open to other preamp ideas. I just think that
the stock preamp is voiced too low at 40hz. The
highs at 7k can be a bit strident too. I'm looking to
warm up my ash/maple board without loosing the good
stuff. I might try to adapt the J-Retro I.

[Alivefor5]

I have tried a J-Retro in my AmDlx J-5 with the stock noiseless pups and some single coil Aero rewinds. I prefer the stock preamp. I had a U-Retro Deluxe in an AmDlx P-5 for about a year and put the stock preamp back in.

I dislike 3 things about the Retro. First the built in smiley face contour, you need to bump the mids to get close to flat. Second the bass is overkill and it's boost only, no cut. Third the Q (bandwidth) on the mid control is too wide. I currently own 3 Retros, 2 are in a drawer and one is in a 5 string fretless which is the only place a Retro should be - very nice for fretless.

If you want to try a good pre for your Fender 5 try the Audere. Half the price of the Retro, try it for a week, if you don't like it they will refund your money.

Disclaimer: all of the above is my opinion only - YMMV

[brandonwong]

That's a perfect exmaple why some people like it, and some dun.

I agree with points 1) and 2) and is the main reason why i liked them as i feel they sit in the mix or any situation easily.
It loads the bottom of any band perfectly... as for 2) i almost never see a need to cut bass on any of my basses.

As for 3) i agree that its too wide for boosting any mid frequency to get that burp.
I use my onboard mid control on my F Bass for that purpose.

On the other hand, it will be interesting to try the Audere.

[Wilbyman]

Originally Posted by Alivefor5

I have tried a J-Retro in my AmDlx J-5 with the stock noiseless pups and some single coil Aero rewinds. I prefer the stock preamp. I had a U-Retro Deluxe in an AmDlx P-5 for about a year and put the stock preamp back in.

I dislike 3 things about the Retro. First the built in smiley face contour, you need to bump the mids to get close to flat. Second the bass is overkill and it's boost only, no cut. Third the Q (bandwidth) on the mid control is too wide. I currently own 3 Retros, 2 are in a drawer and one is in a 5 string fretless which is the only place a Retro should be - very nice for fretless.

If you want to try a good pre for your Fender 5 try the Audere. Half the price of the Retro, try it for a week, if you don't like it they will refund your money.

Disclaimer: all of the above is my opinion only - YMMV

I agree with all this.