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P-Retro, did anyone see this yet???
- Thread starter bassguppy
- Start date
John East
Commercial User
The 1/4" jack serves two purposes:
* Use a standard jack lead to feed your rig for playing. Plugging a standard mono jack in turns the unit on as well.
* When you're not playing, an AC/DC unit supplied with the unit, is plugged into the jack, from time to time, to charge the battery, much like a cell phone.
If battery power should dry up while you are playing, and it shouldn't under normal circumstances, the unit switches back to the passive (stock P mode) automatically.
This is such a clever product. I used to have Marcus retro and it absolutely killed!
Because of this preamp, I need to buy a p-bass to try this on. hehe
Because of this preamp, I need to buy a p-bass to try this on. hehe
I'm still wondering about this paired with a 2-pickup bass. Which someone else asked but wasn't answered.
I specifically have a Reverend Brad Houser that has 3 knob holes. Could this be somewhat easily wired for the two stack knobs of this preamp plus a BLend pot?
From looking at the PDF it seems you should be able to simply put a blend pot before the Pickup connection to the preamp, but I could be missing something technical.
I specifically have a Reverend Brad Houser that has 3 knob holes. Could this be somewhat easily wired for the two stack knobs of this preamp plus a BLend pot?
From looking at the PDF it seems you should be able to simply put a blend pot before the Pickup connection to the preamp, but I could be missing something technical.
John East
Commercial User
You are correct, a blend pot or pickups selector could be wired directly to the input.
Interesting...
I loved your stacked two-band BTB-01 I put in a P-bass I modded. But for this bass I specifically want some control of mids.
I loved your stacked two-band BTB-01 I put in a P-bass I modded. But for this bass I specifically want some control of mids.
Could this pre-amp also be installed in a rear-routed bass (not a Precision)?
I'm looking at the PDF and it looks like the threaded bushings on the concentric pots are long enough for my bass, but I can't be sure. Are they at least 3/8" long?
I'm looking at the PDF and it looks like the threaded bushings on the concentric pots are long enough for my bass, but I can't be sure. Are they at least 3/8" long?
John East
Commercial User
I was looking exactly for this thread!
Would be glad to find some user reviews and maybe even sound clips
Would be glad to find some user reviews and maybe even sound clips
Another three battery questions: What is the voltage? Why three wires, +/- (bipolar)? Would it be possible to run an active pup off of it also?
John East
Commercial User
* The voltage, fully charged is 8.4V and discharges to 7.4V. While this seems a sizeable % drop from 9V, in terms of loss of headroom in dBs, it amounts to approx. 0.6dB & 1.7dBs respectively. Not a big deal in practise, battery low indicators are often set around 7.5V. Admittedly, most 9V batteries start out above 9V.
* 3 wires - 2 of them are ground and output, and the third is the charging path. All the charger electronics & protection are within the battery assembly and it uses a 12V AC/DC adapter.
* It could run active pickups but there isn't dedicated output, would be worth including.
Still wondering if anyone's actively using this preamp, and could give thoughts on it. Would love to get one, review it, and provide soundclips of it's tonal versatility, but at this point it's kind of an unknown.
So I guess I am the "guinea pig"...I've had one in my Fender P5 for about a month now.
Installation was made easy by well thought-out instructions with pictures. The unit fit into the control cavity with no room to spare, but fit it did. I didn't drill the LED hole; rather, it is in the cavity. When I charge I loosen three screws enough to lift the pickguard and see the charge light. This was my first East preamp and the quality is high. So far I have only run the battery out once (malfunction with the battery; see comment below).
in passive, it sounds like a passive Pbass. Very good thing, especially when the battery is drained.
In active, with the EQ set flat, it sounds like a passive Pbass with a preamp boost (with the bright boost switched on it is evident but not excessive). Another very good thing...more signal to the pedals, amp, etc.
In active with the EQ, the tone options are excellent. I am still getting the hang of the different tones, but everything is very useable. In my praise band, I use the bass active and roll the boost to B/T and adjust the "spectrum" (as John calls it) to give it a scooped mid tone...excellent in the mix, very thumpy.
The active tone boost/sweep control is well thought out and offers a lot of tonal tweeking. I have been working on my favorite tones in the band mix at practice (my key player yells out when he hears one he likes). The deep boost adds a nice boost but so far I haven't used it much. The freq adjustments are a very nice option and allow you to put the boost where you want it. The deep boost level helps keep it all in check.
I'll try and get some clips up sometime soon.
As I mentioned, the original battery had issues and failed after a couple of charges (i tested every lead and determined it was the battery). I emailed John East and he sent me a complete replacement unit including the battery and the active unit at his cost within a couple of days. Excellent customer service is a huge thing for me. John is very professional and the new unit has been working great. Thanks John!
Overall, I wanted to retain the passive Pbass tone but have the option of an onboard active preamp to tweak tones at gigs as needed without adjusting my amp or VT pedal. This unit does exactly that. Very good investment IMHO.
Installation was made easy by well thought-out instructions with pictures. The unit fit into the control cavity with no room to spare, but fit it did. I didn't drill the LED hole; rather, it is in the cavity. When I charge I loosen three screws enough to lift the pickguard and see the charge light. This was my first East preamp and the quality is high. So far I have only run the battery out once (malfunction with the battery; see comment below).
in passive, it sounds like a passive Pbass. Very good thing, especially when the battery is drained.
In active, with the EQ set flat, it sounds like a passive Pbass with a preamp boost (with the bright boost switched on it is evident but not excessive). Another very good thing...more signal to the pedals, amp, etc.
In active with the EQ, the tone options are excellent. I am still getting the hang of the different tones, but everything is very useable. In my praise band, I use the bass active and roll the boost to B/T and adjust the "spectrum" (as John calls it) to give it a scooped mid tone...excellent in the mix, very thumpy.
The active tone boost/sweep control is well thought out and offers a lot of tonal tweeking. I have been working on my favorite tones in the band mix at practice (my key player yells out when he hears one he likes). The deep boost adds a nice boost but so far I haven't used it much. The freq adjustments are a very nice option and allow you to put the boost where you want it. The deep boost level helps keep it all in check.
I'll try and get some clips up sometime soon.
As I mentioned, the original battery had issues and failed after a couple of charges (i tested every lead and determined it was the battery). I emailed John East and he sent me a complete replacement unit including the battery and the active unit at his cost within a couple of days. Excellent customer service is a huge thing for me. John is very professional and the new unit has been working great. Thanks John!
Overall, I wanted to retain the passive Pbass tone but have the option of an onboard active preamp to tweak tones at gigs as needed without adjusting my amp or VT pedal. This unit does exactly that. Very good investment IMHO.
Greetings from the North,
Thanks Jaycephas! I have a P5 as well and wondered if it would be a good fit. So it looks like I might be in for another round of 'hide the monies' lol.
Rezdog
Thanks Jaycephas! I have a P5 as well and wondered if it would be a good fit. So it looks like I might be in for another round of 'hide the monies' lol.
Rezdog
2nd guinea pig here. I put this in my DPLE2 pbass with a darkstar pup and it has turned it into a monster. This is rapidly becoming my favorite 4 string. Its amazing the tonal variations this allows with just two pots. I may turn down the bass boost which i set at 100 hz a few db's as its a little much at the factory gain level. It took about 45 minutes to hook up and its a little bit of a tight squeeze. Now want to put his mid sweep pre in my stingray as this preamp allows the original nature of my pbass to shine through.
Very different than the colored jretro.
Very different than the colored jretro.
How much will it cost to replace the batteries if you notice the charge is getting weaker?
This thing sounds so damn cool...I really gotta try it out
EDIT: And is it possible to wire a 9v battery socket in place of the rechargeable one? I dunno why you'd do that, but just wondering!
This thing sounds so damn cool...I really gotta try it out
EDIT: And is it possible to wire a 9v battery socket in place of the rechargeable one? I dunno why you'd do that, but just wondering!
John East
Commercial User
As for battery weakness, they should take 300 full charges plus, and they don't have memory effect like some battery types, where life is shortened unless they are fully run down before recharging. As with any battery, they gradually deteriorate over time.
I haven't set and exact price for replacement battery yet but expect it to be 30 USD max, including testing the charger which is part of the battery system.
9V battery could be wired in but has less capacity than this rechargeable. A relay is used for the bypass, which requires additional current, and so a 9V battery would only last around 20 hours, so not suitable. Without the relay, 9V battery would be fine.
One other point, 9V battery doesn't fit in a P bass.
