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The John East preamp club
- Thread starter datsaxguy
- Start date
Can anyone confirm or deny that the uni-pre can have an affect on the passive tone? Swapping from the stock ibanez pre to the Uni I thought I could hear a difference in tone with both active and passive modes. Compared to the passive mode with the Ibanez pre. I understand that both should bypass the pre in passive mode. But man I swear it brought out more in both modes. It was mentioned maybe the difference i heard in passive was a result of hearing so much more from the active position.
I know that read is a bit confusing. In more simple terms, active to active is apples to oranges. But is passive to passive apples to apples?
I know that read is a bit confusing. In more simple terms, active to active is apples to oranges. But is passive to passive apples to apples?
I L-O-V-E the East J Retro Preamp...!
I did a number on this Hamer putting in the J Retro with a set of Lane Poor J pickups...nice!
I have also had a '98 Warwick Thumb 4 NT with a set of Bartolini J pickups and the J Retro with the toggles inside the control cavity...sweet!
I actually stopped playing a P Bass and moved to an '04 Fender Am. Std. Jazz, with a set of Fender Mod Shop Samarium Cobalt Noiseless J pickups from Bill Lawrence, just to be able to use the J Retro-1 drop in on that Bass for a steady 5 years of gigging/road.
I've never had a problem and always sound great! (I had plans to use another last year, but that project never went through. I'm sure I will again, soon!)
Since reading a second claim that the East pre 'un-choked' pickups even in passive mode, I've been studying the Uni documentation & found this bit that might sort of explain the difference, but I still don't really get it:
"The UNI-PRE has a unique dual path Volume/Blend system where the active and passive paths are completely independent in order to optimise the control of each mode.
Many systems have a passive volume and blend which feeds an active circuit.
Although this can often be satisfactory, it does rely on the pickups and pots being a good match, but not always the case. Even so, many players are keen to retain passive for the unique differences in terms of sound compared to an active signal. But in some cases, a blend pot may perform more like a three way switch.
One method to make sure the blend is always smooth is to make it active, as it is with a number of units we already produce, such as our J-Retro and others. Systems which rely only on an active blend, either do not have a passive mode or have no way to blend the pickups in the passive mode.
So our solution in the UNI-PRE is to include separate active and passive paths, but controlled from the same knobs"
https://www.east-uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/UNI-PRE-01-4-KNOB-01-1.pdf
So, it's not even using the same signal-path for the blend in active vs. passive, but the part I can't understand is what values are being used in in there to make it sound better than a normal passive 500k Ohm volume/blend.
Perhaps it's an ungrounded blend...
Beautiful spalted top and tastefully co-ordinated appointments. You have good taste mate.
East uses a special custom made blend pot with two separate signal paths. As far as I know, these are the only preamps on the market that do this.
Hi everyone, I'm from chile and place an order for a uni-pre 5, did anybody know how long it takes to send the preamp? I already bought last week (monday 18) from the official website, i receive the order number but nothing else, and i tried to get in touch with them but nothing. If someone have experience buying from them all appreciate. Thanks
I ordered an MMSR from John in recent weeks and it came, I think, 4-5 days after my order. I love the MMSR and it is working beautifully in my 'faux Stingray' SUB Ray4. I had some troubles with the Aguilar pickup I was mating it with and John gave me excellent support and advice.
I absolutely adore the J-Tone I have in my Squier Classic Vibe bass as well. John's kit sounds fabulous! Cannot recommend his work enough.
Great thanks for asking, tell me how you get in touch with them? Because i tried using the email address and also the website contact but no answer what so ever. I'm from chile in south america, so it's a little too long the shipping.
I clicked 'respond' to the email I had confirming the sale, I think he responded about a day later. He is very good at getting back to people even if there is some delay, I've had longer delays in past when emailing but he always gets to responding.
- Apr 18, 2008
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- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
@Peter Weil is in the UK, as is John East, so of course that's going to be relatively quick.
I have ordered from John directly, and it took a couple of weeks to receive my order, since I'm in the US.
With shipping congested everywhere right now, expect further delays.
For contacting them, best would be to telephone, but that might not be convenient for you. Next best is email. Also, John is a member here on TalkBass, and sometimes responds to threads here.
I have ordered from John directly, and it took a couple of weeks to receive my order, since I'm in the US.
With shipping congested everywhere right now, expect further delays.
For contacting them, best would be to telephone, but that might not be convenient for you. Next best is email. Also, John is a member here on TalkBass, and sometimes responds to threads here.
Thanks both for your really faster answer, i receive an email fron john like an hour ago, so everything it's now clear, this thing with covid has everyone with problems but john ask all my questions.
Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot
His (John's) customer service is genuinely outstanding...refreshing these days
Hey guys, i wanna upgrade my sire m7 with a uni pre 5, however it seems the preamps comes with one toggle switch and i have three very usable switches on my bass, is there anyway to keep them operational after i install the preamp?
I broke the gain trim on my uni pre. The adjustment slots are made of a very soft plastic that marred and stripped out as I dialed in my tone. I love everything about this pre, I looked on the website and it doesn't seem I could just order that single part. Luckily it still works as passive but man what a bummer.
