Another good source for pups and pre's is FAT BASS Tone. I purchased my John East Unipre 5 knob and my MMSR 3 band and pus by Nordstrand and Bartolini for my projects. They are great to deal with.
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The John East preamp club
- Thread starter datsaxguy
- Start date
I've forgotten to share this link:
My drummer and best friend François is an amateur luthier, he offered to build me a custom bass.
- I've never had a Rickenbacker - I have a strange love/hate relation with them. So I thought it would be nice to design a Ric inspired bass (trying to keep what I love in Rics, and remove what I hate).
- I'd like it to be small and lightweight like my Acinonyx
- As versatile as it can be
Pickups and electronics
Pickups
- All my others basses have 2 humbuckers, I'd like to have at least a single coil option (splittable humbucker and / or...
Few months ago, I bought a Uni-Pre 5 from John. I love these units, but it appears that the blend circuit board has failed shortly after...bummer! It was a very tight fit in the cavity of my Roscoe SKB5, so I decided put in a 4 band Mike Pope FlexCore as the circuit boards are much smaller. Very impressed with the sound and flexibility. By no means will this deter me from more Uni-Pres in the future, but I now know I have an alternative for small cavity basses. I suppose I'll use the failed unit for parts or something.
True. I did contact him about it, but shipping both way and cost of repair may not be cost effective? We'll see.
What size screwdriver do you need for the pickup connectors in a J Tone? Is it bigger than the one in an eyeglasses repair kit?
I installed my 3 band preamp two years ago and have not changed the battery yet.
- Apr 18, 2008
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The usual first comment is - are you removing the cable when not playing?
Also - can you define "a lot"?
Yes, and I do get a bit paranoid about leaving the cable connected.
I would say that with the bass fitted with the John East MM Pre I am changing the battery about every 3 months, however may I add that I do not always use this bass as I have 3 other active basses which I gig with.
- Apr 18, 2008
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
3 months does seem a bit short. You should be able to get around a year, more or less.
Next obvious thing to check - is the battery negative terminal connected to the ring or the sleeve of the jack? Should be the sleeve.
Next obvious thing to check - is the battery negative terminal connected to the ring or the sleeve of the jack? Should be the sleeve.
Not a MM, but my go to bass is nearly 2 years on the same battery and I play it a lot so I'd suggest 6months min on a battery...1 yr decent and 2 years, very very good
It's not my experience, especially the John East MM.
I did actually discuss the issue with John East, he was very helpful in trying to sort the issue out. Initially the battery was lasting even shorter than it does now but after a wiring tweak it improved things but by all accounts the battery should last quite a lot longer than it is doing.
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- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,024
- 1
- 31,755
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
It might also be the battery. Or the batch of batteries, if you're buying in bulk. There have been plenty of reports of sub-optimal "name brand" batteries available from the mega-retailers. If something seems cheap, that's because it usually is....
