I just played the Marcus Miller J-Bass at my Guitar center, and I fell in love with the sound (at least the active sound when I switched it). Is there any electronic setups that I can do to get a similar sound? I just loved the active/passive switch in case you wanted to switch into a boosted Midrange and Treble sound.

So, I'm not looking exactly for the Marcus Miller setup, just something I could do to get a similar sound.

the stock marcus miller preamp only does bass and treble, is that what you meant?

Well, not exactly. There's a switch on the bass that lets you select from Passive to Active when you want it. But the weird thing is on the Active Setting, the Mids sound awesome. Maybe it might be a combination of the active + the knob settings.

Although it may be the Jazz pickups. I'm planning on staying P- pickups. What would be a good electronic setup? And if I wated to (which I do), How would i set up an Active/Passive system like the Marcus Miller?

You could use a preamp. A U-Retro or Sadowsky would be good, but the P pickups are going to provide a good midrange, espically if they are higher quality. And what about your amp? Why not boost the mids there as well? Good luck with whatever works out!

Well, not exactly. There's a switch on the bass that lets you select from Passive to Active when you want it. But the weird thing is on the Active Setting, the Mids sound awesome. Maybe it might be a combination of the active + the knob settings.

I'd say that's probably it, IIRC the MM gets louder in active mode even with EQ knobs flat.

Although it may be the Jazz pickups. I'm planning on staying P- pickups. What would be a good electronic setup? And if I wated to (which I do), How would i set up an Active/Passive system like the Marcus Miller?
The answer is, it depends. What bass do you currently have? Your profile doesn't list any gear info

I'd say that's probably it, IIRC the MM gets louder in active mode even with EQ knobs flat.

That's probably it. Even if there is no tone change, the instant volume boost can often sound like it has a better tone to the ear.

Well, I've had my *cough* Squier Affinity for 4 years now, and I'm looking into building my own P-Bass. I'm not buying parts yet because I want to do research and see what I can do.

So is it possible just to do an active/passive switching setup for a P-bass, or what complications could be involved? And is a pre amp needed? (Sorry, I'm kind of a newb when it comes to electronic setups...)

Lowering the bass and raising the volume is like raising the "mids" and treble.