Cheap alternatives to John East onboard bass preamp?

LionAquaLooper

As title says - anyone know where I can source an onboard bass preamp aside from John East? As much as I love his stuff, 2 problems: quite expensive, and the one i need is actually out of stock! 

The one I need is the East Uni Pre 5 which is 5 knob, 3 band EQ + blend + volume (with a push pull for passive/active).

Anywhere else I can buy one of these things? 

GuyR

Put a wanted ad on Basschat? Friendly, helpful crowd there.

LukeFRC

If you want that kinda sound there’s nothing come close- I remember on another forum a right cork sniffing thread of all these high end studio preamps or di … the “control” soundclips of the east preamp sounded better than most…

cheaper but good - hifi - glockenklang, coloured - Aguilar, Sadowsky

LukeFRC

I have the 5 knob unipre too, swept mids and passive roll off in a Lakland 55-94 - it’s mint!

Funkfingers

How about the active electronics harness from a 1990 - 2003 Ibanez SR800? 

This is a four-knob system. Volume, balance/pan, stacked treble 'n' bass cut/boost, stacked mid cut/boost 'n' mid frequency sweep. 

You could easily add a combined passive treble roll off and push-pull EQ bypass.

What you don't get is the East Uni-Pre's additional push-pull bright switch, all the trim pot stuff and the bulletproof build quality.

fretmeister

MXR bass preamp pedal and put it first in the chain. 

LionAquaLooper

Funkfingers said:

How about the active electronics harness from a 1990 - 2003 Ibanez SR800? 

This is a four-knob system. Volume, balance/pan, stacked treble 'n' bass cut/boost, stacked mid cut/boost 'n' mid frequency sweep. 

You could easily add a combined passive treble roll off and push-pull EQ bypass.

What you don't get is the East Uni-Pre's additional push-pull bright switch, all the trim pot stuff and the bulletproof build quality.

Sounds interesting @Funkfingers. You selling that 4 knob Ibanez harness Im assuming? Depending on the price I might be interested. 

And yes I would need to add a push pull bypass to it, but I've never done that before. Do you have a link for where I can get one from, and ideally a wiring diagram?

fretmeister said: MXR bass preamp pedal and put it first in the chain.  Thanks but I do need it to be onboard because I'm replacing the broken one on my bass  

JayGee

If the ones Sire use in their Marcus Miller J-Style basses is available separately then that seems like it should be a good fit.

Toggling mine between active and passive modes with the eq knobs in their centre detente’s suggest that it’s pretty neutral, as a relative neophyte to bass (let alone active basses) I find the eq very easy to use and effective when you move away from the nominal flat settings, and the extra passive tone control (coaxial with the volume control) works pretty well either in passive mode or for quick minor tweaks in active mode.

Kebabkid

JayGee said:

If the ones Sire use in their Marcus Miller J-Style basses is available separately then that seems like it should be a good fit.

Toggling mine between active and passive modes with the eq knobs in their centre detente’s suggest that it’s pretty neutral, as a relative neophyte to bass (let alone active basses) I find the eq very easy to use and effective when you move away from the nominal flat settings, and the extra passive tone control (coaxial with the volume control) works pretty well either in passive mode or for quick minor tweaks in active mode.

I have 2 Sire basses with them and they're great.

Here's a Heritage one for £79 - https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/sire-heritage-3-bass-eq-pre-amp-3-band/

LionAquaLooper

I'd be keen on the Sire preamp but unfortunately it's one long PCB and the knobs are all lined up in a straight line.  The knobs on my bass are arranged in a curved line  .