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Best cheap bass for John East preamp project......


roblpm

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I am an intermediate bass player. Got myself a nice second hand 2012 USA Fender Jazz. Sounds pretty good. I think i am going to leave it alone. So I am obviously thinking about what's next......!!!!! 

I am also skint so more fun thinking than doing at the moment. 

My teacher has an old bass with a John East Preamp. Sounds great. 

So I am thinking trying active. Install John East when I have saved up. Maybe add low noise pickups. Basically a bass to muck about with. 

Trouble is it has to be white. Or I suppose maybe natural. Which might limit the choice to new. 

So new Sire? 

Any suggestions?

I obviously have a Jazz sound. I would like this to be general purpose lots of different options. 

Oh yes preferably under £500.

Edited by roblpm
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2 minutes ago, JPJ said:

Squire Vintage Moderns and Classic Vibes get a lot of love too, but as they are factory passives the battery will have to go under the preamp (the way John designed it)

Is it not also an advantage to have a lot of knobs for for the east preamp? 

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Just now, lemmywinks said:

Definitely consider Sire however £500 is used Lakland Skyline territory. Both of those have great necks which are outstanding for their price tags. Maybe one of the higher end Cort GB series.

Thanks. Haven't looked at cort

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17 minutes ago, roblpm said:

Is it not also an advantage to have a lot of knobs for for the east preamp? 

If you go for the J-Retro, the whole thing comes pre wired and assembled on the chrome (or black, or gold) bell plate. 

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7 hours ago, roblpm said:

Is it not also an advantage to have a lot of knobs for for the east preamp? 

Including the two stacked sets, I think the Sire almost certainly has more knobs than most East preamps need.

If I was getting an East pre for a Jazz style bass I 'd go for one of the ones that comes assembled with the relevant knobs already attached to the control plate.

Then it's just a matter removing the old plate, connecting up the pickups to the new one then attaching that to the bass.

 

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Definitely leave your US Jazz alone - at least until you have installed a pre-amp into something else first
(don't want to go adding battery chamber or hacking an expensive bass around, as it's your first attempt)

There's a lot of love for Sire basses, as others have said - particularly second-hand
A Squier Classic Vibe (second-hand) might also be a good bass to add a pre-amp to.

I've got a Yamaha 5 string, with a Glockenclang pre-amp, and that sounds amazing (and I'm not particularly a fan of active basses)
Good luck with your conversion, and let us know how you get on :)

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3 hours ago, Marc S said:

Definitely leave your US Jazz alone - at least until you have installed a pre-amp into something else first
(don't want to go adding battery chamber or hacking an expensive bass around, as it's your first attempt)

There's a lot of love for Sire basses, as others have said - particularly second-hand
A Squier Classic Vibe (second-hand) might also be a good bass to add a pre-amp to.

I've got a Yamaha 5 string, with a Glockenclang pre-amp, and that sounds amazing (and I'm not particularly a fan of active basses)
Good luck with your conversion, and let us know how you get on :)

Yes thanks. Not gonna touch the main bass! I just want to play with something! Yamaha might be a possibility? 

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3 hours ago, Marc S said:

Definitely leave your US Jazz alone - at least until you have installed a pre-amp into something else first
(don't want to go adding battery chamber or hacking an expensive bass around, as it's your first attempt)

There's a lot of love for Sire basses, as others have said - particularly second-hand
A Squier Classic Vibe (second-hand) might also be a good bass to add a pre-amp to.

I've got a Yamaha 5 string, with a Glockenclang pre-amp, and that sounds amazing (and I'm not particularly a fan of active basses)
Good luck with your conversion, and let us know how you get on :)

PS which yamaha do you have? 

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Watch out with the cheaper J style bases in particular the Squier models as the control cavity might not be deep enough to take a J-Retro and it's battery without extra routing. My Squier VM Fretless Jazz certainly needed another millimetre or two of depth before everything fitted properly. Also remember that if you do route out the extra depth you'll be removing the conductive shielding paint so you'll need to re-shield the cavity.

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1 hour ago, pete.young said:

Does this have to be a J-Retro? A decent pre-amp can seriously improve some of the cheap Stingray copies, although a decent pickup will have a similar effect.

Examples? Not necessarily a j retro. Actually in a way better if not a j at all. You mean like a Sub Ray? 

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I've got a white one of these: https://www.staggmusic.com/en/products/view/MB300BK

which seems to be discontinued but there's a natural one as well. And its the same one as this with a different logo on for some reason! :D

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/eastcoast-mb300-4-string-electric-bass-guitar-in-black

But i have seen people being very excited about how Stingray-ey they are with a pre-amp in..!

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Agreed Sires are amazing value for money I have had a V7 and a P7 both great value for under £500. Personally I would not bother trying to upgrade these as they are pretty much optimum as they come and I suspect the routing cavity may differ from a Fender for which the J Retro was designed.

A real quality but cheap alternative to upgrade would be an SX Jazz. Most players think my upgraded SX sounds and plays like an American Fender. I have just fitted a tortoise shell pickguard and Badass bridge. The original pickups are great. I would try the East J Retro before anything else. You probably won't need different pickups,  the East Retro will work wonders even for Squier or Mex Jazz pickups 

HOWEVER I do love John EAST J Retro Preamps and have fitted them to four Fender Jazzes. 2 Mexicans, an American Standard and even an American Active Deluxe. They're easy to fit and require no mods to body at all, I kept original circuits so they can be returned to original in a few minutes. I did not hesitate fitting them to a US Fender, they sound like a Fender on steroids!  I much prefer the East Active circuit to the stock Fender one. The Deluxe Jazz has the battery compartment which saves having to mount the PP3 battery under the J Retro chrome control plate. That said the batteries last for ages and there is the passive option.

So in conclusion it won't hurt trying one in your American Fender, but an SX Jazz which should cost you less than a new East J Retro, might be worth a punt! 

BEWARE you may prefer an SX or Mexican Fender with a J Retro to your American Standard!

Good Luck 

 

 

 

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