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The John East preamp club

#761
redname said:
hi, was looking through the JEast website and trying to understand both the Jtone and JRetro

not really good with this but i notice that JTone has a cut in low frequency while JRetro and an additional Mids knob

not sure which one is more important as i'm looking for something tht can help me cut through the mix
Click to expand...
There are a lot of moving parts, and I'm guessing 'cutting through the mix' really means keeping clarity..? I find that, traditionally, bassists need to lay a foundation vs cut through the mix. However, a mid forward tonality or some extra zing on the top end does make a bass cut through, if that's the goal. That can be achieved with a passive bass and proper amp settings or settings on your preamp/DI/etc...
However, this is the East preamp club! :)
That said, the JTone is the more 'flat' sounding of the two and would potentially be better for presence in a mix.
I wouldn't let the boost/cut of the bass control be a decision maker. I never cut bass on my onboard preamps, they mostly spend their time set at the 'flat' detents. I do find that when I manipulate the EQ, it's usually to (in order) cut mids, boost mids, cut treble, boost bass. Because of this, I do like the JRetro better, as I personally like the mid control. The baked in mid scoop is not very deep, and easily compensated for with a little mid boost.
 
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#762
I've posted a very similar message on the Stintray club thread, wasn't sure which one would be more appropriate :)

I've recently bought a 2nd hand EBMM Stingray short scale (2020 model in vintage sunburst), fitted by a previous owner with a John East MMSR 3 knob 3 band preamp. It's great all round... except I'm getting what can only be described as exactly the same kind of hum I get from a single-coil instrument.

Firstly, I'm pretty sure this isn't a grounding issue, as the hum isn't permanent and it's not affected by touching strings or any other metal part of the bass. However it is affected by the orientation of the bass compared to my amp - almost silent when facing or back to the amp, and loudest when at right angles to the amp - exactly as my single (or split) coil instruments behave. It's not excessively loud - as in, it's pretty much drowned out once I start playing, but I never usually get any extraneous noise issues at all with humbuckers.

I'm trying to understand a few options of how to diagnose and resolve it. I'm looking for any advice on these points - I know almost nothing about electronics and modding, so please speak to me like I'm a child! :-

1) I note the control cavity has no shielding, could it just need to be shielded - but should this need to be done with a humbucker instrument?

2) The John East preamp could possibly have been connected incorrectly. I can't find anything at all that explains what the green, white, black and red wires on the stock neodymium MM pickup are for though. Currently the black & white are connected to the 'hot' input on the preamp, and the green and red to the 'cold'. If anyone can give me some pointers on the MM wiring colours here it would be massively appreciated.

3) The volume output from this bass also seems noticably lower than my other humbucker basses. Could this be some kind of clue as to an issue with the preamp?

Anything on those would be great. TIA :)
 
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#764
Thanks for the input, much appreciated :) I don't dispute that shielding may be what's needed, but before I look at doing that, I'm having a hard time logically squaring all the pieces of the puzzle with it just needing to be shielded.

As I mentioned above, the only - and I really do mean only - time that I get this type of hum which follows this completely predictable behaviour re changing with the guitar's orientation vs the amp, is when I play something with a single coil.

- I have humbucker guitars which appear to have no shielding which are completely silent, and as soon as I use their coil split function this exact kind of hum appears, as one would expect.

- I have other active basses, including my Vox A1H, which features an Aguilar preamp and MM style humbucker that appears to have no shielding, and is complete free from this type of hum.

- In fact the only other time I've ever unexpectedly got this kind of hum from a 'humbucker' was when I got my Gretsch G2220 home and plugged it in, and we all know how that one turned out!

The common denominator in my experience of playing instruments in this house across about 10 basses and 6 guitars prior to obtaining the Stingray, is that this kind of hum has only ever occurred when using single or split coils, no exceptions. The hum I'm experiencing on my Stingray sounds and behaves precisely like the hum on my Gretsch G2220.

With all this in mind, is there something specific about this bass or pre-amp that may make it behave differently to all the others? And I'm wondering, as the stock short scale Stingray controls have a 3 way switch which allows you to select single coil as an option, is there any possibility that e.g. the new wiring has somehow inadvertently connected the pickup only as single coil? (Could maybe explain the lower volume output as well?) Forgive the way I'm putting it, I'm sure you get what I mean :)

Thank you!
 
#765
I can't speak for your pickup specifically, but on my Aguilar DCB-M4 I connected the white and black wires to the preamp and the grey wire directly to ground, as per the Aguilar diagram. Perhaps yours is ungrounded and needs to be? I'd call EBMM and ask about the wiring for the pickup. I'm sure they'd help.
 
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#769
RichT said:
Thanks for the input, much appreciated :) I don't dispute that shielding may be what's needed, but before I look at doing that, I'm having a hard time logically squaring all the pieces of the puzzle with it just needing to be shielded.

As I mentioned above, the only - and I really do mean only - time that I get this type of hum which follows this completely predictable behaviour re changing with the guitar's orientation vs the amp, is when I play something with a single coil.

...snip!...
Click to expand...

I emailed John East yesterday evening and he got back to me quickly (late on a Friday night - that's certainly going above and beyond!). With some pointers from John I've been able to diagnose and completely resolve the issue. Essentially it boils down to the original wiring from the pickup to the pre-amp having been done incorrectly.

I can't find any official documentation for my pickup at all, but it turns out the wiring colours in the USA EBMM short scale Stingray match the colours used for Sterling basses, which I found on a TalkBass post here - Neck coil: Green (hot) and White, Bridge coil: Black (hot) and Red. It seems the original owner/modder had mixed up the neck coil wires, so up to now I guess that coil had been connected with the polarity reversed.

Obviously having one coil with the incorrect polarity had prevented the pickup's usual hum cancelling ability from working, and had also significantly reduced the overall volume output at the same time. Anyway, it's all working perfectly now and completely hum free. A big thank you to John East for some great advice and pointing me in the right direction, confirming the symptoms pointed to it definitely being the pickup which was the source of the hum, and unlikely related to the lack of shielding in the cavity.
 
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#770
Here's my MIJ Geddy Lee with its J Retro:
20230528_090324.jpg


20230528_090547.jpg


Here's the link to the NBD post regarding it:

NBD- Japanese Geddy Lee
 
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#772
I just found this J East thread as well as the Dimarzio thread. I may never leave my computer. My J East story:
Many years ago all I had was a 1970 Telecaster Bass and a 1977 Jazz Bass. I had the yearning to go active so I bought a Music Man SUB. I loved the sound but did not like the neck. So I took my Jazz bass to The Bass Place and asked them to make it sound like the MM. What I was looking for more specifically was that bright piano like string sound. A few weeks later I took delivery of my Jazz bass with a J Retro unit dropped in. OMG! Just what I wanted. What I didn't realize was there there was already a Dimarzio PAF Jazz pick up set installed. Together the Dimarzio/J Retro set up with round wounds thru an Eden WT400/410XLT became my go to sound and I sold the MM!

Fast forward about 20 years, and a few other basses. I retired sold everything but my Fenders and started putting together Fretless Fender parts basses. All the time attempting to keep that Dimarzio/J Retro sound. I've built fretless Jazz basses with electronics from Audere, EMG, Bartolini, Fishman, Aguilar, Fender 60's reissue and just couldn't get there.

Then I found a used J Retro and a Dimarzio PAF pick up set right here in the TB classifieds. VIOLA...there it is!
So now I have purchased another four (total of six now) J Retro drop in's! I am currently experimenting with the three different Dimarzio models.

Other than the '77 Jazz (which is retired) I have another Dimarzio PAF pick up set paired with a J Retro which has become my go to Fretless. Then I have a Dimarzio Area J set paired with another J retro and it's very, very close.

I just got a Dimarzio Ultra Jazz set along with a J Retro to replace the EGM JAX set in my white Jazz. That's next.
After that I have another J Retro I'd like to try in my Fender Modern Player Jazz Gen 1. That's enough for now. But I would like to upgrade the electronics in the MIJ Jaguar Fretless I just put together. Cheers!
 
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#773
Winton said:
I'm at a dilemma here. I bought a Uni Pre 4 and trying to fit it into my jazz bass control plate. I've been juggling it around so it would fit but I can't seem to have it fit in to it. My jazz bass currently has the minimal space of a standard passive bass. Do I have to cut out a few chunks in order to fit in this preamp?
View attachment 5080065
Click to expand...

They make a couple of preamps to fit in a standard Jazz cavity, but the Uni Pre is not one of them... so if you want to use that you'll have to get creative. Personally, I'd get the version that fits.
 
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#774
mcnach said:
They make a couple of preamps to fit in a standard Jazz cavity, but the Uni Pre is not one of them... so if you want to use that you'll have to get creative. Personally, I'd get the version that fits.
Click to expand...
Ahhh I see. I bought it used for a good deal so I had to snag it. Looks like I'll have to get really creative. Cheers for the response!
 
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#775
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#778
redname said:
Did u order it directly from the main site?

I placed an order abt 4 days ago and there's no update ever since
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I did order from the main site. I've seen other members here say it ships "within a week" which I think is pretty bad for any online business these days for something that's in stock. You could always email.
 
#780
JuanB said:
I did order from the main site. I've seen other members here say it ships "within a week" which I think is pretty bad for any online business these days for something that's in stock. You could always email.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's a very small business, with at most a few people. It's a very niche product in a somewhat niche industry. It's also a very high quality, handmade product. They probably ship out all of the orders on the same day each week.

I had to wait for almost a month for a new batch of MMSRs to get made. Once I realized that I was paying for an artisanal product and that it wasn't mass produced it changed my perspective. You'll also find that John himself will post on these forums fairly regularly and will usually respond to email.

You're going to love it, so be patient. :)
 
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