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The John East preamp club

#41
5StringPocket said:
but you're the 2nd SB4000/SB5000 owner who has indicated "It ain't broke, don't try to fix it."
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I think it's true in this case. East preamps are great, but so are the ones within SBs. If it was not, I would have J-Retro(ed) it long time ago. The Bromberg & SB preamps are by far the best Carvin ever produced. BTW, nice Roscoe on your avatar...I used to own one (SKB5 with slant pickups).
 
#43
Abe Gumroyan said:
I'm sorry but with all due respect to you guys don't you think the j retro masks the true sound of the bass ?... I had one from A bass I purchased that the previous owner had installed and boy talk about over coloration
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Apparently not since most of the discussion in this thread leans positively to the brands attributes. Like everything to each his own. It's not your thing and that's fine. Plenty of options out there.

Personally I like the way they wake the bass up and the wide sonic range they offer. It makes the good noise I like and that's all that matters. You'll find the right thing that makes the sound in your head too at some point.

But seriously. You would expect the response to your question to be "yeah. These things really over color our sounds to the point that we no longer recognize what bass we're even playing! We hate that so much we just have to keep on using them. Hell, some of us hate them so much we own 2 or 3! Yuck."
 
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#44
Abe Gumroyan said:
I'm sorry but with all due respect to you guys don't you think the j retro masks the true sound of the bass ?... I had one from A bass I purchased that the previous owner had installed and boy talk about over coloration
Click to expand...

For me, as long as a preamp sounds good....I dig them. Coloring or not. I rarely do passive basses. Only 2 I ever did was a P bass and a Rick.
 
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#48
Abe Gumroyan said:
But in passive mode I like the way the j retro works
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That's cool and all but I have considered the passive mode an emergency or worst case scenario feature. Enough to get you through a set or night should something in the pre goes bad. I can't imagine anyone installing one of these for the passive mode. Certainly there are simpler passive options.
 
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#49
Love the East preamps!

BTB-01:

IMG_0051.jpg


ACG EQ-02:

DSC01095.jpg


And this guy is gonna get an MMSR when I finish him:

DSC01096.jpg
 
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#50
Have any of you needed to adjusted the gain on these john east pre's? If so, by how much, and what was your opinion afterwards?
 
#51
I set mine so that when set flat in active mode its a tiny bit louder than in passive mode. Seems to work very well with my amps and interface when set like that.
 
#52
Abe Gumroyan said:
I'm sorry but with all due respect to you guys don't you think the j retro masks the true sound of the bass ?... I had one from A bass I purchased that the previous owner had installed and boy talk about over coloration
Click to expand...

FWIW, you can order a U/J retro or SP2 circuit without the built in frequency curve (voicing/coloration) that the Retro's are known for. I have one and I love it, very uncolored and natural sounding, to my ears anyway.
 
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#53
nervous said:
That's cool and all but I have considered the passive mode an emergency or worst case scenario feature. Enough to get you through a set or night should something in the pre goes bad. I can't imagine anyone installing one of these for the passive mode. Certainly there are simpler passive options.
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I actually really like the option of a good usable passive tone on my East loaded bass. I use it quite a bit, depending on the setting. Sometimes I want a more vintage sound and I'll pop the volume knob for passive mode. If I'm plugged straight into my amp (not going through a pedal board) I get a great passive sound. And if for some reason the room or the tune calls for it, I can switch over to a more articulate active sound. Ain't nothing wrong with having usable options.
 
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#57
joeyl said:
Completed Stingray clone

East MMSR 2 band in preamp cavity
IMG_4419_zpsa2dba4a1.jpg


completed instrument
IMG_4429_zpscb176782.jpg
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Very nice! :). I love the clean finish..

I'm always amazed at the room the P has in the control cavity. In my J, with the Retro J and battery, I don't think I could fit a mouse fart in the cavity!

As far as coloration from/with a preamp, when people tell me that I'm not getting the 'true (insert bass name) sound when using a (insert preamp, pup, or whatever)', I ask them how many pedals they use and isn't that coloration? The tone and sound we try to get is very personal and should never be criticized by another. If you can achieve it with everything stock, then good for you.:hyper: I myself can never leave anything alone!
 
#60
Jly56 said:
As far as coloration from/with a preamp, when people tell me that I'm not getting the 'true (insert bass name) sound when using a (insert preamp, pup, or whatever)', I ask them how many pedals they use and isn't that coloration? The tone and sound we try to get is very personal and should never be criticized by another. If you can achieve it with everything stock, then good for you.:hyper: I myself can never leave anything alone!
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yep I agree!
 

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