dub Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I recently bought a John East BTB-MMSR 4 Knob preamp to replace the original Musicman preamp in my 1990 Ernie ball stingray 5. Although I liked the tone of the original, I found it a bit noisy and was interested in getting a sound closer to a 70s Musicman. I had already swapped the pickup for a seymour duncan alcino a couple of years ago which was a step closer to what I was looking for. It has a fantastic sound and much quieter S/N ratio that the original. The mid sweep is ideal for cutting a bit of low mid when switched to humbucking or boosting 100Hz for a massive dub sound. It is very close to a 70s MM sound with a bit of extra boost on the bass. It's the best sounding preamp I've come across so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Sounds like the change of preamp was a really shot in the arm for your a bass. Definately something that would be on some bassist's letters to Santa. I have to admit to really liking the ACG/John East preamp. It's not "plug and play" you have to spend some time finding the best sounds for you, but it's time well spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 +1 for John East's excellent preamps - I love my J-retro [quote name='dub' post='358691' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:55 AM']I recently bought a John East BTB-MMSR 4 Knob preamp to replace the original Musicman preamp in my 1990 Ernie ball stingray 5. Although I liked the tone of the original, I found it a bit noisy and was interested in getting a sound closer to a 70s Musicman. I had already swapped the pickup for a seymour duncan alcino a couple of years ago which was a step closer to what I was looking for. It has a fantastic sound and much quieter S/N ratio that the original. The mid sweep is ideal for cutting a bit of low mid when switched to humbucking or boosting 100Hz for a massive dub sound. It is very close to a 70s MM sound with a bit of extra boost on the bass. It's the best sounding preamp I've come across so far.[/quote] I dare you to post that on the EBMM forum though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dub Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 Yeh, I'm not going to stir it on the EBMM forum, I can imagine the response. For some reason people can be very defensive about their own gear. I would never imply that what I like is right for everyone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, is always good advice. I did like the tone of the original preamp from the bass, but I like the John East more, it has such great clarity. The other danger is that the possibilities for messing with your bass are endless. I just spotted the nordstrand mm5.2 pickup and I like the idea of having the choice of a hum free single coil tone, but I usually use the humbucking mode on the pickup, so I should really just leave it alone, if it aint broke... Has anyone tried that Nordstrand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 (edited) theres a couple of ray owners on here that have nordstrands, obbm's ray 5 has one iirc Edited January 2, 2009 by BassManKev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 John's preamps are the dogs doodahs imho. I've got two J-Retro's (Overwater J & Fender J) and I've got his BTB & Mid-Stack in my Precision mutant and they all sound perfect to me. Big +1 for John's work and interesting to hear that his Stingray pre is similarly good as my next project is going to be Stingray based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 i was thinkin of john easting my stingray, but id lose the pickup switch functionality iv been told, would there be any way round that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dub Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 [quote name='BassManKev' post='368482' date='Jan 2 2009, 02:05 PM']i was thinkin of john easting my stingray, but id lose the pickup switch functionality iv been told, would there be any way round that??[/quote] I use the pickup switch in mine with no problems. The best thing to do is get the details of your bass and check with john, 3 coil pickups may be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'm pretty sure John will accommodate you with regard to the pickup switch, probably best to post over on his affiliate forum to check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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