First time trying the John East J Retro Deluxe, and got this at a super cool price. To drop in my jazz bass, One small problem! And wanted to know what would I be losing with this problem by still installing because it still works in spite of the problem. Here is a picture of the problem, and if you don't notice! It's missing the top shaft of the top knob.
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'John East Preamp' 'What Am I Losing"
- Thread starter mustBmtd
- Start date
Without looking at a diagram, the missing part is the shaft of part of the control. It's a stacked pot, 2 pots in one. You won't be able to control that part of the pot.
Shouldn't be too hard to be repaired. Just replace the pot. Get the exact specs of that pot, though.
Shouldn't be too hard to be repaired. Just replace the pot. Get the exact specs of that pot, though.
Thanks Geri O. Only issue would be is the stacked pot itself is sealed in epoxy. Which is considered the protective covering of the mother board. And the one pot you see on the preamp is the mid, and sweep, plus pull bright on top knob.
Oh, that’s a problem.
Well, if you are like me and run all the tone controls flat, you may be able to finagle what’s left into the flat detent and use it as it is. If you don’t mind the missing knob.
John is usually very good about getting back to folks. I've emailed him several times.
I've got the exact same issue on my 3-knob J-retro. It came like this. Never heard back from John about repairs after he confirmed it was doable.
In the end I picked a mid frequency (although not ideal, may have to revisit it) and took the bottom portion out, leaving me space to screw the top knob onto what was left of the upper shaft. Works ok. I can adjust mids if needed, although they're now a fixed frequency. I'd love to get it fixed, but it'd probably be cost-prohibitive to ship from Oz to the UK and back again, on top of repair charges.
Yes I was, I actually sent it off to let Mr East repair it. Repaired it for free just paid for shipping. I was only out of about $28.00 total. Hope that helps. 
That’s awesome!Yes I was, I actually sent it off to let Mr East repair it. Repaired it for free just paid for shipping. I was only out of about $28.00 total. Hope that helps.
The J Retro Deluxe I had used the two tiny little trim pots for individual pickup output. Those little trim pots have a slot for a tweaker screwdriver. One of those slots enlarged somehow and was very hard to turn, although I didn’t need to as they were pretty well set. As I hadn’t had the preamp very long, Mr East offered to replace the trim pot for the cost of shipping only.
And I really should have taken him up on that nice offer, I just never got around to it. Then my tastes changed and I sold the J Retro preamp for something else.
