• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

John East MID SWEEP 01 - Any users??

#2
I had the J-retro with the mid sweep. It was good.

For me the hierarchy of preamps in order of usefulness is:

-2 band
-3 band
-3 band w/ sweepable mids
-4 band

My favorite preamp these days is the 4 band Audere preamp. My second favorite is the John East preamps with the sweepable mids option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eukatheude
#3
Ric5 said:
I had the J-retro with the mid sweep. It was good.

For me the hierarchy of preamps in order of usefulness is:

-2 band
-3 band
-3 band w/ sweepable mids
-4 band

My favorite preamp these days is the 4 band Audere preamp. My second favorite is the John East preamps with the sweepable mids option.
Click to expand...

Well I'd rather not do a full preamp swap as I do love the sadowsky lows and highs...I guess i'm wondering more about installation experience and if it colors the sound when flat. I love 3 bands with sweeping mids, my last main bass had that.
 
#4
Just got an update from John East himself via email: he said it can be integrated into my current 2 band EQ (showed him the wiring charts to confirm) and that there's no coloring when flat.

Gonna try this hopefully within a month's time, will report back once it's completed: A Sadowsky NYC PJ 5'er with sweepable mid EQ... :-D
 
#5
Completely forgot about this thread but just in case anyone cared, I finished the mod: added a John East Mid-Sweep 01 module to my Sadowsky NYC Vintage P/J 5 String...WOW.

This bass was already amazing in its stock form, now with the added mid control, after a few months with it I can safely say it's a rediculously versatile tone monster!! It doesn't color the sound at all when flat, and when it's boosted it's practically the same Sadowsky sound but with a little more growl or presence depending on where you boost. When cutting the mids in a certain location, it makes this reverse P/J bass sound VERY close to a standard J-Bass config, especially when slapping. The P pickup soloed now can be more aggresssive...the J pickup soloed can get more 'burp' or more body to the sound, depending on where you boost...you can cut the mids fully to get a more hollow sound if needed...can't say enough about this, it's just amazing AND it uses the same battery as the Sadowsky preamp so no body routing required for an extra 9V.

Not saying that the Sadowsky basses "need" a mid EQ, they sit perfectly in lots of mixes time and time again. However, I believe it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it...and in the studio and live it's proven to be quite invaluable for me in a few spots.

So bottom line: anyone with a active 2 band EQ bass that loves the basic sound of it, but needs more mid control, don't hesitate to buy the Mid-sweep!

Here's pics of the bass with the extra knob, as well as the control cavity. It's wired as follows:

Pickups -> Volume and pan knobs -> tone knob -> Mid Sweep -> Sadowsky Pre -> Output


5986389713_bf12658e1e_b.jpg

5986387709_9f37b6b860_b.jpg
 
#9
J.Wolf said:
Thats a cool mod to a beautiful looking bass. I have the mid sweep module on my bass, and I love it. Does it work well with the Sadowsky preamp?
Click to expand...

Sorry been away for awhile.

Yea it does IMO...adds just the right amount of punch and articulation I need to cut through the mix well (the Sadowsky by itself usually works well but depending on the room, the amp and/or the sound of the other players, a little bit of mids does wonders). I think part of it is that the Sadowsky humcancelling J pickup in the bridge is not as mid-heavy as a single-coil; I couldnt get a really convincing jaco-like burp out of it soloed, but with the mid boost it's MUCH better now.

I'm on a bit of a busy streak right now, hopefully next week I'll post some clips on soundcloud.
 
#12
murphy said:
I want to purchase this to put in my SR5 with Nordies and Nordy music man stingray 2 band preamp
Click to expand...

J.Wolf said:
Not sure if the East module will interface with the Nord guts, my hunch is no. Carey or John would be able to tell you for sure.
Click to expand...

If you're talking about specific wiring, It's just a matter of finding a spot in the signal path where there's only one output (i.e. one wire carrying the sound). On most basses there's only one wire going to the output jack that's carrying the signal so that's always a viable spot (although I'm guessing there's the possibility of driving it too hard if the signal from the MM preamp is too much for it). On my Sadowsky it's wired on the other side; right after the blend pot and right before the Sadowsky preamp. I don't know how Stingrays are wired, but most preamps AFAIK have 1 wire for input and one wire for output...If I had to take a guess (if this is the classic 1 pickup stingray), assuming the signal path is:

pickup --> coil selector --> MM preamp --> output jack

then a good patch point would be between the coil selector and the preamp:

pickup --> coil selector --> Mid-Sweep --> MM preamp --> output jack

The tech that wired mine ran an additional line from the already installed 9V to power the midsweep; in other words, the Sad. preamp and the midsweep both share the same battery...haven't had any issues, but it's probably draining the battery slightly faster as a result (I can't confirm this, since I installed the Mid-Sweep about 2 months after receiving the Sadowsky...not long enough to kill the first battery).

Furthermore, I have yet to hear any distortion caused by boosting the midsweep to maximum at all frequencies (I just played it for a half hour to double-check)...if there's any distortion it's very low level (I guess that would be considered slight overdrive?) and very musical sounding...again, I don't hear it as distorted but opinions may vary on that (for example, boosting around the middle frequencies at maximum gives my P pickup even more midrange punch and authority; same P-bass goodness just a bit more of it, without any obvious distortion (that's the best I can describe it)...I keep promising a sound clip but never get around to it. Maybe I'll put up a youtube video and link to that (no promises, life is hectic lol)

Side note: the more I mess with this midsweep, the more I learn something new about the tones I can get from it. Today I realised boosting the highest frequency to maximum with mostly-dead strings made the strings come alive in a more "convincing" way than boosting the highs on the Sadowsky pre. Long story short: after 3 years, I can't imagine this bass without it; If all Sadowsky basses came with it standard (and I won the lottery), I'd buy one in every flavor :-)
 
#13
The EMG VMC would be another mid control to think about. My personal experience with it is extremely positive, and I don't see why it wouldn't pair well with your current preamp.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back