John East J Retro Bass Preamp for Jazz Bass - Chrome w/Fender Style Knobs

FITS MOST STANDARD JAZZ BASSES® WITHOUT MODIFICATION

HIGHLY FLEXIBLE PREAMP

DIAL IN TONS OF TONES  - FROM REGGAE TO ROCK TO JAZZ

EASY INSTALLATION

BUILT WITH THE FINEST QUALITY COMPONENTS

DESCRIPTION

The J Retro Bass Preamp is a beast. One of the first preamps to be created specifically for Jazz Basses®, it’s high functionality and tone is loved by many.

From players with $3000+ custom J basses, to others that have found excellent-playing sub-$500 basses - this preamp has taken a lot of basses to a higher level. A bassist that was in the house band of a very well known late night variety show confided to us that one of his main basses was a Fender® Squire® outfitted with a set of Bartolini Jazz Bass Pickups and a J Retro.

Some unique features make the this preamp stand apart: Solder-less pickup connections, variable mid frequency selection, and easy installation.

1. Solder-less pickup connections makes installation easy and quick. The J Retro uses screw down terminals for pickup lead and ground connections.
2. A sweepable mid frequency selection knob allows you the ability to truly dial in which frequency peak to boost and cut in the mid range. Not gimmicky, this truly can help find a variety of great tones. This is not a frequency switch, but a potentiometer that allows much more nuanced frequency selection.
3. Usually, it is difficult to get a 3 band preamp into a standard Jazz Bass® without modifications. Understandably, a lot of bassists want the flexibility that having an onboard preamp gives, but don’t want to route new holes or move the output jack. John engineered this preamp in a way so that we don’t have to make permanent alterations to our bass.

Jazz cavity plate, jack, switches, as well as knobs are included with this pre-wired and read-to-install preamp.

In most cases, the required 9 Volt battery will fit under the control plate.

There is a built in “color’ to the tone of the J Retro. Most players here it as immediately adding a little thickness and oomph. Not too drastic, your bass still has ‘its’ tone, but a bit thicker.

***NOTE : John East preamps use an active blend.  In passive mode, the blend pot does not function. Therefore, a player can use the pickup switch to alternate between both pickups on or the bridge pickup on only. For most players, the passive mode is a ‘get out of trouble’ mode for situations such as live gigging where a battery failure occurs. *** 

CONTROL LAYOUT & TECH SPECS

VOLUME & BLEND (Knob stack nearest the neck pickup)

VOLUME

The Volume is controlled by the top knob of the stacked knob set.

A low impedance signal is served to your amp by initiating the active signal post volume control.

BLEND & PICKUPS SWITCH

Blend balance is controlled via the bottom knob of the stack.

Move the knob counter clockwise for the bridge pickup, and clockwise for the neck pickup. The blend control has a center detente for a balance signal of both pickups.

Using very high quality potentiometers, the blend control is well graduated.

BASS & TREBLE (The middle knob stack)

TREBLE (+12dB @ 3 kHz, -12dB @ 1kHz)

Treble boost and cut is managed from top knob of the knob set. When cut, the treble controls lower frequency for rolled off, deep tone effect.

BRIGHT (+8dB @ 7kHz)

Get bright tone by pulling up on the Treble knob

BASS (+15dB @ 50Hz)

The Bass potentiometer (bottom knob) is a boost only control. As the boost is added, the frequency band gets lower and lower. To give a reference point, the bass control also has a center detente.

MID LEVEL & FREQUENCY (The knob stack nearest the jack)

BOOST/CUT (+/- 12dB)

The Mid Boost and Cut are controlled by the upper knob. Flat mid frequency is set at the center detente

FREQUENCY (150Hz - 3kHz)

A wide range of frequencies are at hand with the variable control. This is the bottom knob of the stacked set.

ACTIVE PASSIVE SWITCH

The active/passive switch is found near the jack. Push the switch toward the knobs for passive mode, and toward the jack for active mode.

POWER

When a jack is plugged into the bass, the active circuit is engaged. Be sure to remove your instrument cable to not draw power from the bass when not in use.