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East or Audere?

Inverness

Inverness

Dec 21, 2007
223
1
Marina, CA
#1
I've been reading a lot these past few months on everyone's experiences in this subforum, and all of this knowledge is fantastic - thanks a lot. I have a MIA Jazz V Deluxe, and it has all stock electronics in it. As many, many have noted, stock Fender pups are awful (I agree), so I'm going to swap them out for Nordy's split-coil five string J-bass replacements (NJ5FS). That part was easy. The difficult part for me is the preamp. I own a Zon Sonus Custom 4 that has the Bart EQ with a 3-band mid position switch. I also own an Ampeg SVT-II (an older one from the late '80s) that has a variable mid-range switch on it. I truly love this flexibility, because I play in an '80s glam metal (read: loud) cover band, and all I really need are those low low mids (or high bass?) to punch right through the mix.

I have noticed that the fan/forum favorite is the Audere, but I have also read good things about the East J-Retro preamp. The East preamp is especially appealling (to me, at least) because of the variable mid-range knob. So basically my question is what am I sacrificing if I go with the East preamp over the Audere? QC? Tone? In what way? I've read their website, and I still can't figure out what the hell they are talking about beyond the fact that Low Z Mode is really neatokeen for 5-stringers. Like me! I've listened to the sound clips, and aside from annoying fretboard chatter on the High Z recordings, I'm having a really hard time. I'm at that stage where everything is blending together.

Help?
 
#3
Cool. That's kinda what I'm looking for. I have a SansAmp PBDI that drives and shapes the tone a little bit, and on my "distortion" setting, the Zon growls and breaks up much more than the Fender does.

As a preemptive: the reason I don't use the Zon is that since we're getting ready to play college bars and I have a wireless, on the likely chance that I go out to interact with the crowd, I'd be far less upset if my Fender gets a little wear and tear. Also, the Fender has a five-string, which I need for (sigh) "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Youth Gone Wild."
 
#6
fullrangebass said:
My fav of the two is the East U Retro. The sound is full and transparent but not unusable if pushed to the extremes (and I like that)
Click to expand...

Interesting...my experience with the J-retro is about the opposite. I always felt like it had a built in bassy but scooped sound. The edge of the controls were usable I guess, but I always felt like I was fighting the preamp to not get a "hyped up" sound but just a jazz bass sound. For me it wasn't a bad sound, just not a natural or transparent one. I can understand other people liking it, but it was not for me.

I'm not sure about the built in curve of the Audere, because I've never played my bass/pickups in a passive configuration, but it seems less scooped and clearer to me. The controls seem to be more subtle; a positive for me because I think there's enough control.

I do like the mid sweep on the East pre and the passive "get out of trouble" switch. I also found both preamps to be low noise. The East is more expensive these days.

Marshall
 
#7
I have never had an East. In fact the only name brand pre I have ever had is my Audere. But I would like to say that, even though there is not passive switch on it, the Audere JZ3 with the Z switch in mid position with the pre-eq set flat is transparent enough to sound passive, so I'm happy!

Having never had a mid sweep capability, which sounds pretty flexible BTW, it is doubtful that you are giving up anything WRT flexibility. But I will say that the Z switch is like having 3 basses, a DEEP one, a standard Jazz (mine is installed in an SX SJB) and a slapper. Also, my experience is that the 3 bands are useful even on my 4 stringer, however, I use the mid the most.
 
#8
smperry said:
Interesting...my experience with the J-retro is about the opposite. I always felt like it had a built in bassy but scooped sound.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. While I do like the J-Retro in my Fender Jazz, you have to remember that the bass control in the J-Retro, and as far as I know, the U-Retro, is boost only, and that the center detent is 50% boost. So when the EQ is 'flat' the bass is actually half boosted already. Just something to consider. But overall, I am very pleased with the J-Retro, and I would recommend it.
 
#9
Inverness said:
Ahem, I echoed what was in the J-pup replacement megathread. I suppose "awful" was a bit harsh, though.
Click to expand...


People use all sorts of justifications for changing things. I've yet to play a stock Fender Jazz Deluxe with pickups that even seemed substandard. IME IMO it's more about people getting caught up in the flavor of the month than anything. No offense. The stock single and dual pole piece pickups have all sounded fine to me. Replacements typically get away from that sound.

I've been through a couple of J Retros and checked out some Audere'd Jazz basses. They're nice preamps but the stock Fender preamps and pickups worked fine. The best sounding Fender Jazzes I've played have been stock.
 
#10
+1

Nowadays i tend to set the bass all the way down, then turn the treble knob down like a passive tone knob to taste. Boost the bass if you need more afterwards. You'll get a more natural sounding bass this way.

TrooperFarva said:
I have to agree. While I do like the J-Retro in my Fender Jazz, you have to remember that the bass control in the J-Retro, and as far as I know, the U-Retro, is boost only, and that the center detent is 50% boost. So when the EQ is 'flat' the bass is actually half boosted already. Just something to consider. But overall, I am very pleased with the J-Retro, and I would recommend it.
Click to expand...
 
#11
Thanks for the input, guys.

I never really thought about the sweepable mid-range until I played with the Zon and then played with the Fender to directly compare, and with the Fender's mid range being higher (I think it's somewhere around 500 Hz), a mid boost was giving me honky with some chatter and not the smooth thunder of the lower mid-range (250 Hz) boost. Of course, that could always be a product of the Bart 'buckers/Bart preamp combo in the Zon against the Fender singles/preamp in the Jazz bass.

The East's cost (I think I saw $350 for the chrome) did make me think twice about it. Also, you guys keep talking about clear tones of a passive bass! I think the last passive bass I owned was the first bass I ever owned, a MIM Precision, a good six years ago. It is now in pieces. All my basses since then (two Music Mans, Zon, MIA Jazz Deluxe) have all had active preamps. I recently bought an Aerodyne Jazz used, so mayhaps there's something I've been missing? I suppose my concern with the Z switch is that yeah, you get three different sounds, but I'm definitely a knobbles fiddler - I just don't want to end up paying for something I might not be taking full advantage of. Yeah, my main gig is this '80s cover band which requires all of two tones (normal and ballad), but I take part in other stuff on the side which is decidedly not metal or rock.

I wish there were more basses around here that had these readily available. Tallahassee's bass musician resources are pretty limited. And finding these things on Ebay is not fun, either.
 
#12
TrooperFarva said:
I have to agree. While I do like the J-Retro in my Fender Jazz, you have to remember that the bass control in the J-Retro, and as far as I know, the U-Retro, is boost only, and that the center detent is 50% boost. So when the EQ is 'flat' the bass is actually half boosted already. Just something to consider. But overall, I am very pleased with the J-Retro, and I would recommend it.
Click to expand...

Yes, +1 to the boost only control on the bass. On paper, that makes sense to me as I never subtract bass, but I always felt like I still had some boost even when zeroed...but honestly, it's been several years so I'm no authority.

Although I prefer the Audere, I think both are good preamps, and for what the OP wants, either will work (if he still wants one after hearing the passive setup).

M
 
#16
I have the East J-Retro electronics in my Lakland JO5, and I couldn't be happier. This bass is becoming my go-to bass for its tone and playability. I love having the semi-parametric mid EQ on board for the huge versatility of tone it affords without having to go to my amp. It has a mini-toggle to go into passive mode for all you passive freaks out there, too.

I haven't played any basses with Audere electronics, but Carey Nordstrand had some at the Burbank GTG, and they sounded fabulous. Bottom line, I imagine they're pretty much similar in quality with relatively minor differences in features and sound.
 
#17
I've never tried the J-Retro because the cost of it would not be worth taking a chance on. I have the Audere and absolutely love it. Best $150.00 bucks I ever spent. Link Removed is a link to some sound samples I recorded with it installed in a cheapo SX bass with a $60 pair of GFS pickups. The first three sections are with the EQ flat, and both pickups on full. Section one is low Z. Section two is mid Z and section three is high Z. The fourth section is a custom setting that I really like. I think it shows the difference between the modes pretty well. I am currently building a much nicer bass around the Audere. Hope this helps.
 
#19
3NotesAbar said:
To the OP: Considered the East Mid Sweep 01?
Click to expand...

Actually, I had not given it much thought. I'm completely clueless about the inner guts of the electronics. My first thought, actually, was "would it fit?" Evidently, I'm not a DIY electronics guy, but I suppose I could ask my tech his feelings on the matter.

@Simon: I dig the fourth section the most. I can say that I do not like the third section tone at all - the high Z. That fretboard chatter is something that absolutely grates on me. I understand that in full-on rock/metal mode, the chatter is nigh impossible to hear, but it's just one of things that if I hear it at all when we're rocking, I immediately start thinking about my playing in a bad way. It's just something I don't foresee myself using.

I'm leaning towards the J-Retro Deluxe. Used? Still looking. Been looking. Maybe looking in the wrong places...?
 
#20
Inverness said:
Actually, I had not given it much thought. I'm completely clueless about the inner guts of the electronics. My first thought, actually, was "would it fit?" Evidently, I'm not a DIY electronics guy, but I suppose I could ask my tech his feelings on the matter.

@Simon: I dig the fourth section the most. I can say that I do not like the third section tone at all - the high Z. That fretboard chatter is something that absolutely grates on me. I understand that in full-on rock/metal mode, the chatter is nigh impossible to hear, but it's just one of things that if I hear it at all when we're rocking, I immediately start thinking about my playing in a bad way. It's just something I don't foresee myself using.

I'm leaning towards the J-Retro Deluxe. Used? Still looking. Been looking. Maybe looking in the wrong places...?
Click to expand...

I agree that the High Z is a little harsh and not something I use very much either but I did try it in a band situation and it was actually quite musical. It helped the bass cut through quite nicely. Don't think I would use it solo though. Those samples were recorded direct to my PC. Through an amp it sounds quite different but I felt they were decent enough representations of the effect the Z mode has on the overall sound.
 

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