I've had this bass for about seven years and I'll be sad to see it go. I bought it originally from the Bass Centre in Camden Town, London for £950. They currently cost between £1000 and £1100 new. The reason for the sale is that I need the money to put towards a PA system.

The tone is just really nice - full and rounded with no unpleasant twangs or booms. The J Retro circuitry does however allow you to experiment more with EQ giving you added freedom in sound.

I've kept it in very good condition and only gigged with it twenty or so times - not much for seven years use. The funcionality is top notch - restringing is quick and easy, tuning is easy and reliable, the jack input is secure and sound and I had strap locks put on to ensure the strap remains connected. The strap itself is a wide black quality leather strap with a soft underside. The action is - again - totally sound allowing you to relax when you play, avoiding unnecessary stress on the arms and wrists. I'm sure whoever ends up with this bass will be pleased with how good it sounds, how good it looks and how easy it plays.

J Retro Preamp Description

The J Retro 01 Bass Preamp is designed to fit directly into standard "Jazz" style basses without modification, including a PP3 battery. Its high quality circuit uses three stacked knobs and includes an active blend circuit plus a 3 band equaliser with bass, variable frequency mid, treble and bright function.

A very gentle built in contour gives immediate colour without detracting from the basic sound of any bass. The active blend circuit prevents the loss associated with many passive basses where, when both pickups are up full, the signal from one pickup feeds into the other and vice versa.

However, a switch is included to allow a passive equal mix of both pickups. A second switch - basic "get-you-out-of-trouble" passive mode is included in case the battery dies in crucial circumstances, but this mode allows lots of useful settings too.

A standard PP3 battery fits under the plate in the standard cavity in most J-style basses.

Technical

VOLUME & BLEND (Knob stack nearest the neck pickup)

VOLUME
The upper knob is the Volume which has two sections under the same knob. A high impedance for the passive path and a low impedance section is used for the active circuitry. When used active, this knob has active circuitry after it so that the feed to your amplifier is a low impedance drive.

BLEND & PICKUPS SWITCH
The lower outer knob is the Blend balance for the pickups. Turn it fully clockwise for the neck pickup alone and fully anti-clockwise for the bridge pickup. The midway position, which has an indent, gives an equal mix of both pickups. The balance between the pickups is continuously variable with progressive level compensation towards the single pickup settings. Important:- The Pickups switch (by the blend) must be set pointing towards the jack for the Blend to function.

BASS & TREBLE (The middle knob stack)

TREBLE (+12dB @ 3 kHz, -12dB @ 1kHz)
The upper knob is the Treble control with boost and cut. The central 'flat' position is indented. The cut settings work on lower frequencies compared to boost to give a deeper sound when the top is rolled off.

BRIGHT (+8dB @ 7kHz)
Pull the Treble knob for the Bright setting.

BASS (+15dB @ 50Hz)
The lower outer knob is the boost only Bass control. The frequency band of boost gets progressively lower as the boost is increased. An indent midway is included to aid the setting of this control.

MID LEVEL & FREQUENCY (The knob stack nearest the jack)

BOOST/CUT (+/- 12dB)
The upper knob controls the amount of Mid boost or cut at frequencies according to the setting of the Frequency knob. The midway indent is the 'flat' position.

FREQUENCY (150Hz - 3kHz)
The lower outer knob is continuously variable and sets the Mid frequencies for boost or cut.

ACTIVE PASSIVE SWITCH (By the jack)
Towards the jack for active, the opposite for passive.

POWER
The PP3 battery is switched on automatically when a mono jack is plugged into the socket.