John East (Bass Preamps) and Customer Service

[bh2]

Yes... cheers John, from yer old mate Bob from Oxford.

[plumbob]

I will add my thanks as well to John for offering great products and great service.

I chatted via email about a Marcus retro for my miller bass , and finally decided on calling in on John well on the way to doing some work in London.

Left my bass with him for a few days , and on the way back home picked up the miller , all done fitted and tested by the man himself!

I can highly recommend the Marcus Retro for any miller owners , it really does give you pretty much any tone you want !

Thanks for all your work John , much appreciated.

[faiz0802]

So much praise!!! Hery, is there a lot of difference between the std J-retro and the J-retro deluxe? I know physically they differ by a tone knob, but here's my dilemma:

1) I'm not fond of the tone knob in my squier. I rarely use it, though the pups are pretty decent. I'll swap them later but right now in passive i'm getting by without any complaints. However, the East preamps seem like tonal monsters by what I keep hearing. So yeah, a tone know could be another element in the arsenal.

2) I'd have to route a cavity for the jack. I don't mind, but I like having the jack where it is.

So my question is, is that tone knob worth the effort of routing a new cavity for the jack?

[chuck_stones]

[quote]So my question is, is that tone knob worth the effort of routing a new cavity for the jack?[/quote]

you shouldn't need to route a new hole, can't you just detach the jack that John includes with the preamp and attach the one from your bass?

I recently fitted a U-Retro deluxe to my Tanglewood Baron and John is such a great guy to deal with. He was really helpful picking the preamp for my bass and helped me out when I had problems with the jack on mine. I had to remove the Jack provided as my bass had a barrel jack installed which needed to be re used.

[faiz0802]

[quote name='chuck_stones' post='1160276' date='Mar 13 2011, 10:40 AM']you shouldn't need to route a new hole, can't you just detach the jack that John includes with the preamp and attach the one from your bass?[/quote]

Are you sure? Because the tone knob on the Jon East J-Retro Deluxe occupies the spot where the jack is supposed to be. If don't make a new hole, where do I keep the jack?

[xilddx]

[quote name='faiz0802' post='1160744' date='Mar 13 2011, 05:30 PM']Are you sure? Because the tone knob on the Jon East J-Retro Deluxe occupies the spot where the jack is supposed to be. If don't make a new hole, where do I keep the jack?[/quote]
You want the J-Retro 01 for a standard Jazz bass, not the Deluxe. The Deluxe is for the Deluxe Jazz.

[WalMan]

I was being tempted with something for one/both of the L2500 - mind I need a small premium bond win first I think

[faiz0802]

[quote name='silddx' post='1161037' date='Mar 13 2011, 10:06 PM']You want the J-Retro 01 for a standard Jazz bass, not the Deluxe. The Deluxe is for the Deluxe Jazz.[/quote]

Yes I've considered that. As per advice I just got from another user here (Circle_of_Fifths), I think I'll try to get Mr East to leave the jack slot unaltered and instead give me a stacked knob so that I can have the J-retro deluxe on my squier.

[niceguyhomer]

Some John East porn for the hell of it...

[dbass]

I had the absolute pleasure of spending most of my weekend in and around Johns company during the LBGS and I managed to play on a P and J bass he had fitted with his pre-amps and they did sound great. So great in fact that I am going to find out if I can swap the pre-amp in my Dingwall for an East.

I believe Sheldon was very interested in Johns pre-amps too...or did I just hear that ;-)

[xilddx]

[quote name='faiz0802' post='1163976' date='Mar 16 2011, 06:00 AM']Yes I've considered that. As per advice I just got from another user here (Circle_of_Fifths), I think I'll try to get Mr East to leave the jack slot unaltered and instead give me a stacked knob so that I can have the J-retro deluxe on my squier. [/quote]
With all respect, why do you want the deluxe on a passive Squier Jazz? The J-Retro 01 has everything you need and is specifically designed to fit the standard passive Jazz, and as far as I know, does nothing different from the J-Retro 01 Deluxe. The Deluxe is for deluxe style Jazzes which have a separate battery box and side mounted jack.

You need to speak directly to John about your requirements, other BC Members, like Circle_of_Fifths, may be labouring under misperceptions. Call John East, he will tell you that saying you want a J-Retro 01 Deluxe with a stacked knob and a bell-plate mounted jack is the same as saying you want a J-Retro 01. I'm not sure what Circle_of_Fifths told you, but I'm 99% certain it was wrong.

Here is the text from the technical sheets for both, as you can see, the text after my emboldened bit is exactly the same for both. You don't need the Deluxe.

[b]The J-RETRO 01 DELUXE is designed to fit directly into "Jazz" deluxe style basses without
modification, including a PP3 battery. [/b]Its high quality circuit uses three stacked knobs and
includes an active blend circuit plus a 3 band equaliser with bass, variable frequency mid,
treble and bright function. The active blend circuit prevents the loss associated with many
passive basses where, when both pickups are up full, the signal fromone pickup feeds into
the other and vice versa. However, a switch is included to allow a passive equal mix of both
pickups. A second switch - basic "get-you-out-of-trouble" passive mode is included in case
the battery dies in crucial circumstances, but this mode allows useable settings too.

[b]The J-RETRO 01 is designed to fit directly into standard "Jazz" style basses without
modification, including a PP3 battery. [/b]Its high quality circuit uses three stacked knobs and
includes an active blend circuit plus a 3 band equaliser with bass, variable frequency mid,
treble and bright function. The active blend circuit prevents the loss associated with many
passive basses where, when both pickups are up full, the signal fromone pickup feeds into
the other and vice versa. However, a switch is included to allow a passive equal mix of both
pickups. A second switch - basic "get-you-out-of-trouble" passive mode is included in case
the battery dies in crucial circumstances, but this mode allows useable settings too.

Edited March 16, 2011 by silddx

[mcnach]

+1 to the above regarding the J-Retro01.

My Westfield Jazz loves it

[waynepunkdude]

I had a J-Retro in my HW1 Jazz for a bit but it's only lately I have been getting into active stuff, I may buy one for my Fender Jazz.

[faiz0802]

[quote name='silddx' post='1164072' date='Mar 16 2011, 09:57 AM']With all respect, why do you want the deluxe on a passive Squier Jazz? The J-Retro 01 has everything you need and is specifically designed to fit the standard passive Jazz, and as far as I know, does nothing different from the J-Retro 01 Deluxe. The Deluxe is for deluxe style Jazzes which have a separate battery box and side mounted jack.

You need to speak directly to John about your requirements, other BC Members, like Circle_of_Fifths, may be labouring under misperceptions. Call John East, he will tell you that saying you want a J-Retro 01 Deluxe with a stacked knob and a bell-plate mounted jack is the same as saying you want a J-Retro 01. I'm not sure what Circle_of_Fifths told you, but I'm 99% certain it was wrong.

Here is the text from the technical sheets for both, as you can see, the text after my emboldened bit is exactly the same for both. You don't need the Deluxe.

[b]The J-RETRO 01 DELUXE is designed to fit directly into "Jazz" deluxe style basses without
modification, including a PP3 battery. [/b]Its high quality circuit uses three stacked knobs and
includes an active blend circuit plus a 3 band equaliser with bass, variable frequency mid,
treble and bright function. The active blend circuit prevents the loss associated with many
passive basses where, when both pickups are up full, the signal fromone pickup feeds into
the other and vice versa. However, a switch is included to allow a passive equal mix of both
pickups. A second switch - basic "get-you-out-of-trouble" passive mode is included in case
the battery dies in crucial circumstances, but this mode allows useable settings too.

[b]The J-RETRO 01 is designed to fit directly into standard "Jazz" style basses without
modification, including a PP3 battery. [/b]Its high quality circuit uses three stacked knobs and
includes an active blend circuit plus a 3 band equaliser with bass, variable frequency mid,
treble and bright function. The active blend circuit prevents the loss associated with many
passive basses where, when both pickups are up full, the signal fromone pickup feeds into
the other and vice versa. However, a switch is included to allow a passive equal mix of both
pickups. A second switch - basic "get-you-out-of-trouble" passive mode is included in case
the battery dies in crucial circumstances, but this mode allows useable settings too.[/quote]

Yeah I'll look into the J-retro. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Just getting into active electronics so thats something I tend to easily get confused about. Thanks man!