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The John East preamp club

#601
EDIT: Think I figured it out! The connector from the EQ to the Volume knob was not sitting nicely and kept wiggling loose. I taped it down and seems to be back in business.

I recently installed the Uni 4 knob. When I put it in active mode it sounds great, but after 10 or so minutes it dies. After letting it sit for awhile, it will work again and then die. Rinse repeat. Have tried different batteries with no luck. I've emailed John and he is extremely helpful, so he will likely have some more ideas for me too, but thought I'd post here in case the greater bass world has come across this before and found their issue.
 
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#602
I have a couple of questions regarding the frequency windows:
1. Lower bass filter is 20Hz - 80Hz. Does this mean that if the wheel is centered, the filter is set at 50Hz? If so, does this mean than that everything below 50Hz is not manipulated by the bass control?
2. High bass filter is 40Hz - 200Hz. Does this mean that if the wheel is centered, the filter is set at 120Hz? If so does this mean that everything past 120Hz is not manipulated by the bass control?
3. Treble shelf control is from 1kHz - 7.5kHz. Does this mean that if the wheel is centered, the treble control will only manipulate 3.25kHz frequency?

The reason I'm a bit confused is because all three wheels came pretty much centered, and it is stated in the manual that they come from factory at 20Hz, 60Hz, 4kHz.
 
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#603
I would also like some information about the wheels. I suppose the upper and lower levels of adjustment are some function of Db/octave? If yes what exactly? Also I would like to know the effects applied in relation to the direction of rotation. As silly as it might sound it isn't always easy to figure out.
 
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#604
Joyscoop said:
I would also like some information about the wheels. I suppose the upper and lower levels of adjustment are some function of Db/octave? If yes what exactly? Also I would like to know the effects applied in relation to the direction of rotation. As silly as it might sound it isn't always easy to figure out.
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I have sent these questions directly via email to Mr. East a week ago, but didn't get any reply so this is why I'm trying now to get in touch with him thru this thread. Hopefully we can get a reply clarifying this. I'm sure everyone owning this preamp has this question.
 
#605
i've been on and off again with a couple of J-Retro preamps

until I put it here

20220702_112936.jpg


i've tried it in many body/neck combos, but THIS ash/maple/rosewood is mindblowing!
 

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#606
Hey all! I got a Uni 4-knob on the way for my newish Keisel Zues. My main bass of 14years has a J-Retro Deluxe and I was wondering how the Uni differs from the Retro. Thoughts?

Since getting the Zues I have been on a tone quest, the original pre was bad so they sent a new one and the instrument sounded a bit week compared to my Retro loaded jazz bass, so I swapped for an OBP- 1 and didn't care for the lack of volume, swapped for a Bartolini pre and it was much better but still lacked tone, volume and flexibility of the Retro. Not sure why I tried for so long to test 3 other preamps when I should have know I'm a John East pre sorta bass player. I decided to swap for the Uni and am pretty excited!

I have been so spoiled by John East gain, all three other preamps have way less heat even with 18V!
 
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#607
The amount of gain isn't determined by the voltage. Many/most high quality onboard preamps are unity gain, whether run at 9V or 18V. Some do have additional gain, usually with a trim pot for adjustments.
 
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#608
Yeah, I knew the OBP-1 was unity I just wasn't prepared for how much I enjoyed gain. That said, Bart & Keisel were still pretty weak in comparison to J-Retro, maybe 50% the gain. Of coarse, it isn't a perfect comparison as the pickups are also different with different heat on tap.
 
#612
5StringPocket said:
Nice! How do you like the J-Retro vs Aggie OBP-3 with those Ulyate PJ pickups?
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In the past, I have found the OBP-3 to be a little heavy handed (offering far more boost/cut than I would actually use), though in general, I've always liked its voicing. The OBP-3 pairs very well with Howard's pickups and in the JXB, overall. In fact, I'd say that of all the basses I have played with the OBP-3, that black on black JXB-4 I reviewed sounded the best. That all being said, I just love the flexibility of John's preamps, especially the sweepable mids, and so I do prefer the East pre in my personal JXB. But I have to say, in that bass, and with the Ulyate pickups, the OBP-3 does sound quite good. For that matter, so does the purely passive module.
 
#613
tombowlus said:
In the past, I have found the OBP-3 to be a little heavy handed (offering far more boost/cut than I would actually use), though in general, I've always liked its voicing. The OBP-3 pairs very well with Howard's pickups and in the JXB, overall. In fact, I'd say that of all the basses I have played with the OBP-3, that black on black JXB-4 I reviewed sounded the best. That all being said, I just love the flexibility of John's preamps, especially the sweepable mids, and so I do prefer the East pre in my personal JXB. But I have to say, in that bass, and with the Ulyate pickups, the OBP-3 does sound quite good. For that matter, so does the purely passive module.
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Thanks, I agree with your comment about the OBP-3. I had one in a Roscoe and found the bass control to be very heavy-handed - hard to make small adjustments. I wish Aguilar would replace the +/-18dB pots with +/-9dB and make sure they are audio taper and not linear.

That said I'd love to try a black on black JXB-5.
 
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#615
yutakesan said:
Hello. I want to contact to Mr.John East.
Because my u-retro deluxe is broken.
I send him email. But no response. Is there a man who succeed to contact him?
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Keep trying, he's pretty much a one-man operation.

I've had luck actually calling him on the telephone. Yeah, an international call, but he was very pleasant to speak with and I'd do it again, if need be.
 
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#616
John is extremely busy, but if you contacted him through his website he will eventually get back with you.

No, there isn't anyone else I know of to work on his preamp, I have a luthier in Scott County TN who called John and had him walk him through an issue. But he doesn't take any more work right now, he's busy too.

I think John watches this thread as well. As I said, he's really covered up with work, but he will answer when he can.
 
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#620
Geri O said:
Keep trying, he's pretty much a one-man operation.

I've had luck actually calling him on the telephone. Yeah, an international call, but he was very pleasant to speak with and I'd do it again, if need be.
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Thank you for your advice. To be honest I am a Japanese and my English talking skill is not good. I hope he will see this thread. I send him a message on a private conversation on talkbass.
 
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