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 J Retro & J Retro Deluxe 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. If you are looking for full blend capability in passive mode, we recommend the 2 band John East J Tone preamp.