Upgrading an ACG

[Bridgehouse]

Some of you may remember I have an oddball ACG Finn 4 - it’s the one Alan made for charity, and I got it from Bigwan on here a little while back.

It has one of the excellent PB pickups in, with a Series/Parallel switch and then passive vol and tone.

It’s routed for a battery box and has one installed - so I’m thinking it’s time to upgrade to a Pre-amp. 

I like the two knob arrangement so I’m tempted to put a Bartolini HR 2.2AP/918 in which means volume with push pull active/passive and stacked bass/treble. I’ll retain the series parallel switch as I really like the tonal contrast - more than you’d think tbh. 

Anyone got any thoughts or any alternate suggestions?

[ead]

P-Retro maybe?

[TheGreek]

Get Alan's input...

[Merton]

3 minutes ago, ead said:

P-Retro maybe?

I concur

[Bridgehouse]

Thanks all - not sure best way to go about getting Alan’s input - I don’t want to disturb him when I didn’t even buy this bass new from him! 

Is the p-retro Pre-amp available as a stand-alone purchase?

[ead]

I genuinely don't think Alan would mind.  John East makes the P Retros for ACG (which are slightly different I think) so worth giving him a call too.

[Bridgehouse]

Drop him an email maybe? Hmm. Worth a go. I wonder what size knobs fit the p-retro knobs...?

[Bridgehouse]

I have emailed Alan for advice. Will report back

[Woodinblack]

He frequents these forums regularly, you could just ask him here.

[Bridgehouse]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

He frequents these forums regularly, you could just ask him here.

Ah ok thanks - have dropped him an email from the website. I’ll see if he responds and if not will try here too. 

[Bridgehouse]

Spoken to Alan on email. Wow, quick response - thanks Alan!

He’s pricing me up a P-Retro harness and I’ll stick one extra hole in so I can keep the series/parallel switch, with an extra dpdt for passive/active and the usual p-retro setup. 

Should give loads of extra tonal variety and still gives me those two basic passive tones which I like already. 

Top stuff. Once ordered and here I’ll do a mini-upgrade blog here..

[Bigwan]

The P-retro was in the plans for that bass originally.  If you ever get tired of it just drop me a line. Awesome bass... 

[Bridgehouse]

11 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

The P-retro was in the plans for that bass originally.  If you ever get tired of it just drop me a line. Awesome bass... 

Well it’s back on the cards for it

I have a feeling this one is a bit special. I very much doubt I’d ever let this one go - but my policy is usually to go back to the point of origin for first dibs

[ead]

This used to be mine until I had to sell a few basses, a P bass with P Retro + active/passive switch but no series/parallel option. I'd buy it back at the drop of a hat tbh.

http://archive.acguitars.co.uk/portfolio/0252-p-type-4/

[Bigwan]

11 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

Well it’s back on the cards for it

I have a feeling this one is a bit special. I very much doubt I’d ever let this one go - but my policy is usually to go back to the point of origin for first dibs

Good man!

[Bridgehouse]

P-Retro delivered and fitted. 

Needed an extra hole for the second dpdt switch (amp on/off) but otherwise it was a simple job. 

Range of tones is very impressive - the boost is really useful and I love the split mid-boost or treble/bass boost - just sweeping that single knob gives a huge tonal range. The deep boost is really good as well.

Love it. The east stuff is really high quality and Alan is a real gent. 

Same great lightweight feel and playability but with a totally new range of tones. And flick the switch to passive and it sounds just like it did before (perhaps with a bit more sparkle which is probably the tone cap)

 

[eude]

44 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

P-Retro delivered and fitted. 

Needed an extra hole for the second dpdt switch (amp on/off) but otherwise it was a simple job. 

Range of tones is very impressive - the boost is really useful and I love the split mid-boost or treble/bass boost - just sweeping that single knob gives a huge tonal range. The deep boost is really good as well.

Love it. The east stuff is really high quality and Alan is a real gent. 

Same great lightweight feel and playability but with a totally new range of tones. And flick the switch to passive and it sounds just like it did before (perhaps with a bit more sparkle which is probably the tone cap)

 

The P Retro is an awesome little preamp, and although I love the versatility of the Uni-pre, which I have in both my fretted basses, I did find the ACG/East P Retro that little bit quicker to find the sweet spot.
Might well just be the fact that it's that little bit simpler to use perhaps.

Good news all round though

Eude 

[Bridgehouse]

I’ve been having a good play, and I’d say that if you are looking for an easy way to give a P bass a bit more tonal variety or something extra then this is the way to do it.

It’s a damn site easier than routing a bridge pickup in and it’s actually reversible (the east one has a push pull for on off and a rechargeable battery) - I do like the config on Alan’s version tho. 

Thanks for the advice chaps - you’ve steered me towards making a really great bass even better

[Bridgehouse]

Quick pic to show a nice and simple active install for a P type bass..

Extra switch (so I now have Series/Parallel and Active/Passive) and two stacked knobs..