The John East preamp club

[ctmullins]

The boost-only bass is one of my favorite features of John’s designs. I’m playing bass; I never want to cut the bass control.

 

[smeet]

But if it’s boost/cut you can choose not to cut. FREEEEDOMMMMMM!!!

 

[bigtone23]

Thanks for the reality check. Really the only thing I’m leery about with the J-Retros is the boost-only bass. Seems like a weird choice. Sometimes I like to thin out the bottom just a bit.

It seems odd, but to be honest, I never cut bass at any time when playing. It's like the 'out of phase' switch that was so popular in the 70s. Sure, it gave a (passive) tonal option, but at the expense of taking the foundational heft from the bass in the mix.
However, once delving into active electronics, having bass boost made a new and useful tone come to light: soloed bridge pickup with bass boost. You get all the cut and mids of the bridge pickup, but also the low end support. I never soloed the bridge pickup before having the ability to boost bass from the onboard preamp.

The boost-only bass is one of my favorite features of John’s designs. I’m playing bass; I never want to cut the bass control.

Word! My onboard EQ mostly stays in the center detent/'flat' setting. I make small adjustments from song to song, as needed. The treble and mid control see a lot of use, but bass mostly stays flat, with the rare exception of boost.

 

[bigtone23]

But if it’s boost/cut you can choose not to cut. FREEEEDOMMMMMM!!!

Haha! Freedom on the 4th of July!
I'd rather have the full 270 degrees of pot rotation available to slowly adjust my boost. At the most, perhaps a 2-3dB cut. Bass boost is a powerful thing, it's the difference between a fat, full sound and a spiked/overdriven amp input or speakers that jumped or fused the voice coil. haha

 

[Geri O]

Thanks for the reality check. Really the only thing I’m leery about with the J-Retros is the boost-only bass. Seems like a weird choice. Sometimes I like to thin out the bottom just a bit.

With my J Retro Deluxe, the boost-only bass control is fine. I leave it all the way down, it’s plenty of bass at zero.
What threw me at first is that that boost-only bass control has a center detent, something I’ve never understood. With the preamp’s bass control set at that center detent, the tone is mighty fat!…. It actually sounds pretty good set like that, but I came to realize that all the down works best for me.

 

[Zeom]

Hello Everybody, I was following this discussion since the begining and guess what!!! I am ready for a big mod/upgrade of my Warwick Corvette $$ NT4 Bubinga. There will be the John East Uni-pre 4 coupled with 2 quad coils Delano MC4 HE/M2. It will be a good occasion to replace the straplocks by Dunlop flush mounted ones (needs drillings) and replace the pickups mini switchs by maxi heavy duty ones (needs drillings also). the original machine heads are replaced a couple of mounths ago by Schaller ones. Of course it will be the best occasion to sand the bass and oil it. My choice for the Delano quad coil is based on the hum free, the large frequencies spectrum, the non colored sounding (so the woods and the Uni-pre can do their best).

 

[Zeom]

Here's some pics of my mods

 

[XLunacy]

Here's some pics of my mods

Congrats, solid mods! Bet it sounds as good as it looks

 

[Zeom]

It sounds better than it looks, what a beast, I am still chocked by the ability to mimic almost whatever bass. I was gasing for a thumb nt, it's over

 

[-Boscoe-]

Here's some pics of my mods

Looks AMAZING! Wow, great job!

 

[5StringPocket]

Bartolini b-axis sound incredible paired with a east pre I have them in one of my Warwick corvettes highly recommend that pairing

Thinking of a set of B-axis pickups with a J-Retro Deluxe in a 5-string jazz. Really like the tone of these pickups. Just need the right bass to put them in.

 

[smeet]

I want to get a J Retro Deluxe with the flat response option. It’s out of stock at East, and no dealers seem to have that model. Is there a site that might have them?

 

[bigtone23]

I want to get a J Retro Deluxe with the flat response option. It’s out of stock at East, and no dealers seem to have that model. Is there a site that might have them?

Probably gonna have to go on a deep-dive treasure hunt.
I have email alerts set for eBay, Reverb, etc... on the rarely found stuff. It works well, the emails pop up the morning after the item rears it's head.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Thinking of a set of B-axis pickups with a J-Retro Deluxe in a 5-string jazz. Really like the tone of these pickups. Just need the right bass to put them in.

Im doing that combo in my classic vibe 5 string jazz im gonna do the p style in the neck tho

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I want to get a J Retro Deluxe with the flat response option. It’s out of stock at East, and no dealers seem to have that model. Is there a site that might have them?

I thought the newer ones are all adjustable for flat or a curved response im pretty sure mine has a internal wheel that you can adjust that and its output level with

 

[juancaminos]

Here's some pics of my mods

Very nice, another J East convert I'm sure!!!

 

[GBassNorth]

Been a while since I posted here, but thought I’d give folks a peek at an install I just did with one of my ancient East preamps in a new bass.

The bass is an Acasia Non Reverse Fanned Fret Five String Thunderbird that was originally passive with Nordstrand Dual Coil 5 Pickups. The previous owner replaced the Dual coils with Nordstrand Zen Blade 5 sidewinders, which are very clean and neutral sounding pups. I had an old custom built John East preamp from the early 2000’s laying around, so I figured what the heck, let’s make this baby Active!

Before…

After…

A close up of the install…

The custom preamp is actually a three stack dual preamp with one standard two band stacked pot BTB-01 section for the neck pickup and a MusicMan stacked pot section for the bridge pickup. The volume stack is vol/pan. The setup works great with the Nordstrand pickups with a huge range of very useable sounds easily dialed in. The 20+ year old East preamps breathed some real life into this bass.

 

[Zeom]

I thought the newer ones are all adjustable for flat or a curved response im pretty sure mine has a internal wheel that you can adjust that and its output level with

 

[Zeom]

Here's a comparative chart

 

[smeet]

I thought the newer ones are all adjustable for flat or a curved response im pretty sure mine has a internal wheel that you can adjust that and its output level with

Here's a comparative chart

I think you guys are correct if you mean the Uni Pre. But when you buy a J-retro from the East site you have to choose a flat or pre shape model. I wish I could fit the Uni in the bass, but it’s a P style body with no rear cavity.