P-Retro, did anyone see this yet???

[bassguppy]

active/passive drop-in preamp for the Precision bass from John East. This sounds too good.

Following the huge world-wide success of East UK's J-Retro bass preamp and its many model specific derivatives, the company has turned its considerable talent to the P-style bass, resulting in the release of P-Retro. Based on feedback from players from around the world, EAST UK has once again designed a simple but flexible active/passive bass preamp equaliser which offers huge tonal variation to one of the most popular styles of bass of all time, without the need to permanently modify the instrument itself.

P-Retro features two stacked knobs each with a pull switch, class A FET input stage and a high quality relay for pure passive bypass. Power is provided by an internal rechargeable battery.

The normal volume control becomes the Volume/Tone Stack and works in exactly the same way as the P-style bass original controls, passing the passive signal directly to the jack. When the volume control is pulled up, the active circuit is switched in, post passive tone control and adds 2.5dB of gain with a flat response.

P-Retro operates in two main modes. The Active Stack consists of a boost control with a centre detent. Moving this control clockwise provides mid boost of up to 15dB's with the 41-click outer control setting the mid-frequency. Moving the control anti-clockwise provides the equivalent boost of both treble and bass spectrums simultaneously, with the outer control setting the frequency bands. The pull switch on the Active Stack provides Deep Boost which can be preset internally to one of four frequencies. The Deep Boost level may be set by internal trimmer too.

An on-board, rechargeable Lithium Polymer (Li-Pol) battery provides up to 40 hours of continuous use and is recharged with an external charger via the jack socket. Low charge is automatically sensed, activating an auto passive bypass relay.

P-Retro is easy to fit and uses screw terminals with no solder connections. No physical modification of the bass is required, allowing the bass to be returned to stock condition at any time.

P-Retro is available now from http://www.east-uk.com/ and many guitar outlets with a number of knob options. With Vintage-style knobs P-Retro is priced at £194.95 including VAT. (Includes UK shipping when ordered on-line) with standard J-Retro knobs the price is £179.95. Black and Gold knob options are also available.

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[Grissle]

I'm not an "Active" guy but this is uncommonly well thought out, very impressive!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Nice! I like the green aspect of the preamp that it's rechargeable. I see that he has a flat response on the preamp instead of the traditional Retro slight boost in the bass and treble.

Very interesting.

 

[plankspanker13]

Interesting. I would hope that it would fit a '51 reissue or Squier Classic Vibe 50's P.

 

[CapnSev]

It sounds like it would be really cool, but I don't quite understand how the controls work

 

[fivestringgecko]

It sounds like it would be really cool, but I don't quite understand how the controls work

+1 I'm a tech nerd gadget guy and I don't quite get it either.

5sg.

 

[Moogeddy]

Looks like a really good idea, would love to hear it.

One aspect that I really like is that you can revert your bass back to stock setup rather easily.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

+1 I'm a tech nerd gadget guy and I don't quite get it either.

5sg.

I didn't get it at first either, but now it makes sense. A P bass is all about the mids and we like the passive tone. So on control one you have volume and tone. The unit is passive until you pull up on the front knob to put it into active mode. You get a bit of a boost in signal, but flat tone response. Perfect for driving pedals. The back stack lets you boost both treble and bass when you turn it one way - scoop sound, or boost the mids when you turn it the other way. The mid frequency that you boost is selected by the outer control. The outer control is something that you probably don't want to change once you've set it, so it has clicks to stop it from freely spinning. If you want a bass boost, pull up on the center knob of the rear stack.

So without an actual hand on, it seems perfect for a p-bass. Want to play some metal or slap? Boost the lows and highs with one knob. Want to play some dub? Pull up on the rear knob and cut highs with the passive tone control. Need to punch through in the mix? Boost the mids that help you cut through.

Since a P-bass is more of a pain to remove the pickguard to change a battery than with a J-bass where you just have to pull off the control plate, the battery is built-in and rechargeable. So you don't have to alter your bass to add a battery box and if the internal battery drains, it falls back to passive mode.

Really, really cool IMHO.

 

[DanGouge]

Wow. That's a brilliant design, I can't see making my P anything but passive, but if I did, I would pick that one.

 

[bamabass]

OK, I think my Glaub needs one of these things....

 

[bassguppy]

I'm a passive P guy also, but having something like this for the tone I like (beefy and middy with some grind) may be a great option. now for the cash, and what PU to experiment with.

 

[j_nition]

I love this! I just cant wrap my head around making it work in a PJ setup.

 

[bongomania]

I am very, very interested. My only concern at this point is that rechargeable batteries gradually lose their ability to take a charge, and sometimes that drop-off is a lot faster than you'd expect (depends on the specific battery, device, and usage). Once that happens, if the battery can't be swapped out then the whole powered device becomes garbage, literally.

So I very much want to buy one of these, but only if East has made it so you can swap in new rechargeable batteries without much trouble.

 

[depalm]

Brilliant design, I just wish the active mode is ON when the upper knob is down.

 

[basadam]

I love this! I just cant wrap my head around making it work in a PJ setup.

I'd think a passive blend pot or a 3-way switch before the circuit would do the trick. Or perhaps, a U-Retro would be a better choice for PJ setup.

 

[bongomania]

A PJ definitely calls for the U-Retro instead, with its active blend.

 

[depalm]

A PJ definitely calls for the U-Retro instead, with its active blend.

Yeah, but U-retro is not a flat preamp like the P-Retro, and I'm not sure if it will fit on a P cavity.

 

[not_jason]

This thing looks so cool. I almost wish that I didn't prefer passive basses, just so I could justify dropping this into something.

I used to have a J-Retro on an old Jazz bass. I've since sold both. It did a lot to make an otherwise dull sounding bass usable. It ran on a 9v, and I got excellent battery life out of it. I changed it every year as a rule, but I never had one die.

 

[John East]

I am very, very interested. My only concern at this point is that rechargeable batteries gradually lose their ability to take a charge, and sometimes that drop-off is a lot faster than you'd expect (depends on the specific battery, device, and usage). Once that happens, if the battery can't be swapped out then the whole powered device becomes garbage, literally.

So I very much want to buy one of these, but only if East has made it so you can swap in new rechargeable batteries without much trouble.

Just to clarify this:

* Battery specified to take 300 charge cycles, but manufacturer states they are likely to take 400-500 charge cycles.

* Technology is Li-Pol type USA UL (Underwrites Laboritories) approved, simliar to the type used in later iPods.

* See pic in first post, which shows battery pack secured by two black ties, and it can be totally separated from the rest of the assembly. You can see three wires, black, red & blue, going to a small plug on the P-Retro EQ circuit. Snip the ties and un-plug to remove the battery assembly including charger electronics. Then the unit continues to works in passive only, of course.

* The idea is to be able to replace batteries easily if needs be with low cost exchange scheme. The cost can be kept down because the charger sections will be retained, and just the cells replaced. Capacity is likely to increase as time goes on too.

 

[bongomania]

Thanks so much for that info!!!