J Retro

[steviedee]

Thinking of getting a J Retro for a mex jazz fretless I bought. Is it worth it or am I just upgrading for the sake of it! Opinions gratefully received !

[BassBus]

You'll get twice the power from your bass with the J-retro. Even with a 9v power supply it has a monstrous sound. Really depends how fond of active circuits you are. I'm biased of course as I have one in my Tokai jazz. I like having the control over the mid frequency as well as cut and boost.

[steviedee]

Cheers I quite fancy one to be honest.

[hamfist]

Personally, I think the full East systems boost the Bass too much, even at minimum. You may like that, but I don't. But the East parametric mids module is the best and most musical EQ adjustment out there IMO. And it is possible to squeeze in a parametric mids module in the circuit between your Jazz's tone pot and the output jack. This is my favourite layout at the moment. It requires moving one pot "up" the bass to under the pickguard. Once that is done you can fit the Eat mids module plus battery in a std J control cavity.

[BigRedX]

I had one for a while. IMO it didn't really do anything that the controls on my amp couldn't do just as well.

[DogHammer]

[quote name='steviedee' timestamp='1418074778' post='2626696']
Thinking of getting a J Retro for a mex jazz fretless I bought. Is it worth it or am I just upgrading for the sake of it! Opinions gratefully received !
[/quote]

I upgraded a MIM Jazz with a J Retro. Best thing I ever did to it. Added some great tonal options for me. Its gone now, but if I needed another pre-amp for a bass, it would definitely be considered.

On the other hand the preamp in my new Sandberg is really nice. A bit less 'overpowering' than the J-Retro, especially on the bass control. I think its a Glockenklang that they put in.

[steviedee]

Hmm food for thought!

[Truckstop]

POWER!!!

[jimmybass04]

I've got an East on a jazz bass, it s great having that control at your fingertips, The mid sweep/cut /boost, is excellent on its own and I highly recommend it, very very versatile for all styles. Money well spent.

[badboy1984]

I use to have one in my jazz bass before converting it back to default. Great preamp no doubt about that, when I do use it on the bass I hardly touch the bass, treble and treble boost knobs. Only use the 2 mid control.

Like above mention, the preamp colour the bass tone with bass boost by default. It could be a good thing depend on your taste. I always find it I need to use the mid control to blend in with the band.

[Dan Dare]

Swings and roundabouts. have one in my 72 Jazz. More powerful and wider range of tonal options are the pros. Loss of that classic warm but crisp JB sound is the con. Makes it more versatile but sounds more generic. Not sure whether I'll keep it or not.

[steviedee]

Just bought one so we call see

[gafbass02]

Lovely things and beautifully made, but, like the audere I also owned, I found I always ended up removing them and going back to stock. It just works better for me in real world gigging situations.
Ymmv of course.