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The John East preamp club
- Thread starter datsaxguy
- Start date
- Jan 2, 2006
- 992
- 3,070
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Curt Mangan Strings, & Formerly Wyn Guitars. RIP Randy!!
@smeet I love the Nordstrand 3b. I have custom 3b's in a Modulus with Zen Blades (thankfully also installed by Mo BTW) and my Wyn bass with fat stacks. I also have J retro's in 2 Lakland DJ5 basses, both Jazz style. One has Nordstrand's and the other has Aguliars. The pre's are different animals but both have insanely great tone. If you play a variety of styles, I believe you'll appreciate having them in your arsenal.. You nailed the 3b description, its non-hyped but very natural and all usable. For my ears and playing, I love the East pre's cause IMHO they have can get everything from Marcus to Jaco; low end beef, mids and snap. Many accurately describe it like passive jazz tone on steroids... & Ill add, when needed. Yes it can be hyped up, but that hype cuts in the mix. I just copped an all original, great sounding 77 Jazz bass but I'm looking at putting a J tone in it. The J tone is based off the Uni-pre. I just want that ability to blend the pups and add/cut low end or highs. If my previous East experiences hold true, it'll be amazing. BTW I'm also waiting on an answer from @John East to a ? I have about the J Tone, but its only been 2 days!!! Hope he's OK!!
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
If I get an East preamp now, it would be a J-retro 01 deluxe, since the feature I really want is the sweepable midrange, but the Uni-pre won't fit in the bass. I would want the "flat" version, as any built-in mid scoop bothers me. But the flat versions are all out of stock. How noticeable is the preshape eq?
In my uni pre4, I configured it with preshape so that in all knobs flat in my controls, the sound is already killer. I use my bass 99% of the time as active. The difference between preshaped and flat is luke you add a little bass and a little treble (small v curve). Not a drastic shaping as expected.
ptidwell
Commercial User
John has always responded to me fairly quickly, considering that he is 8 hours ahead of me.
Had a nordstrand 3b with selectable mids and like how natural it sounded but everything about it was more subtle. It didn't have the range of my East and the sweepable mids are my favorite part. When I need a bit more punch/cut in the mix I'll boost the mids lot and sweep the knob till I hear it in the right spot then dual back the boost to where it's not overpowering but still keeps that presence. As much as I've gotten used to having the passive tone control from my Sadowsky pres and the Nordy, I don't miss it on my East. There's so much versatility in it that I never have a hard time finding what I'm looking for with it.
As for contact, I've never gotten a response from John East in any of my attempts over the years. I bought from 3rd parties every time because of that.
- Jan 2, 2006
- 992
- 3,070
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Curt Mangan Strings, & Formerly Wyn Guitars. RIP Randy!!
@semiprohooker Sorry to hear that. Of course I have no idea concerning John's personal situation, and I'm not making excuses for him, but I can imagine that if he's a sole owner/creator of his worldwide business, it's probably extremely challenging to keep up with building pre's, emails, website orders, waiting lists, shipping, talkbass (which Ive seen him on here occasionally) supply chains, parts, etc, ect.. Plus what about just general life and health??!!! In my experience attempting to communicate with him has been a mixed bag. Numerous times he's gotten back extremely quick with info/answers. John is always courteous and detailed. He shared with me over email that he had a shortage of parts for the DJ Retro's back in June 2021. Unfortunately that lasted for like 2 years, and he also confirmed seeing me on the wait list from 21. We talked over email a couple of times after that but I never got notified from the list. I finally got one in May of this year only because I just happened to check the website and notice they were available vrs back-ordered. It came in literally in like 10 days!! I would say this. If you see the item you want marked available on his website grab it. I had an install issue with that DJ and John helped me solve it very quickly. I believe he's doing the best he can and I don't think he doesn't want to sell/support as many pre's as he can!!! LOL!!
BTW I just ordered an in-stock J tone pre and I had a mundane ? about knobs. I put it in the order notes section on his website. I had another question about tone caps but after a quick google search, I got my answers! Some right off Talkbass!!!
This will be helpful for anyone considering a East J-tone or just changing sound on your passive tone knob!!!
Tone Pot Capacitors question
For anyone interested in more, just google. jazz bass tone cap code
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Oh, I don't say it as a complaint. It's a great pre and that's what I need it to be. The company I've purchased from has always been able to help me with everything I've needed and then some. I'd highly recommend the pre to others. Just sharing my experience.
I know John watches this board on and off, I was able to connect with him this way, so don't give up. Let me dig through my old emails, I know he and I chatted a few years back.
And in his defense, he is a one man shop AFAIK, but he took time to personally address my issue!
Oh, I have no issues with it. Like I've said, I simply hit up a retailer instead of buying direct. I love the product and highly recommend it. I'm sure John is a great guy, but I've had all of my questions answered.
What are the chances anyone has a black single knob for a John East pre? I need one knob, out of stock on the site
- Jan 2, 2006
- 992
- 3,070
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Curt Mangan Strings, & Formerly Wyn Guitars. RIP Randy!!
Last edited:
- Jan 2, 2006
- 992
- 3,070
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Curt Mangan Strings, & Formerly Wyn Guitars. RIP Randy!!
Not me, but this site has lots of great knobs and switches for ridiculously low prices:
LOVE MY SWITCHES Guitar Pedal Parts and More! ALWAYS same day shipping!
I have the East UNI 3 band w/ sweepable mids, passive tone, and bypass switch installed on my Cort A5Plus singe cut. It was a perfect fit and required zero addt'l holes to install. Ive set the bass control to boost only, and it has made this bass into an entirely different instrument. Also added LeCompte triple threats. The stock electrics were okay, but now it gets rave reviews from my band mates and the FOH sound guy.
Hey I have instal the uni pre on my bass and I should say that I am really impressed by the sound and the possibilities of the preamp !
I have questions for old user of this preamp :
1- how often do you change the battery ?
2- how do you know the battery is getting low ?
3- do you have a huge difference between active mode in flat position and the passive mode ?
thanks
I have questions for old user of this preamp :
1- how often do you change the battery ?
2- how do you know the battery is getting low ?
3- do you have a huge difference between active mode in flat position and the passive mode ?
thanks
Hi guys, here's an update of my installation. After several days gigging and tweaking the preamp (uni-pre 4) I ended up with these settings in my Warwick corvette $$ nt bubinga. If I make a precision of my bass model that's because of the woods combination, and my settings can not fit other models. So to get the best of my bass, I tweaked the internal wheels and jumpers as follow. Bass jumper on boost only (in the middle position it fits my need). Treble wheel to the minimum (1khz), bass window from 40 to 80hz. Preshape jumpers in preshape position. Now my bass has a killer sound with flat eq. I have just to tweek the medium when needed, and again WOW. As precision, I replaced also the pickups with Delano quad coil to get the most neutral pickups and let the woods singing naturally. I won my bet.
Attachments
I have the John East MMSR and I haven't changed my battery in 10 months. On my previous preamp I knew it was time to change when the sound became strange or stopped. Assuming you're a home player just use it until it's weird. If you gig, it seems that most folks change it every six months. Just don't leave your bass plugged in when you're not using it.
Will periodically check Reverb and ebay — but if anyone here has a J Retro or even a J Tone for sale, hit me up! Need it for a Lakland DJ5.
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
