Active/Passive and your amp

Crazic · #1 01-03-2005, 06:36 PM

G'day
I have an active bass (Ibanez BTB405) and a passive bass (samick fender copy thingy). As active basses have a higher output level (as i believe is the case...is that right?) if i change basses at a band practise/gig or even just practising in my room i always have to turn up the gain to compensate for the passive's lower output.

Is this a normal thing for passive basses, or is it just because its a cheap samick?

And if this is the case, when changing between active and passive basses, particularly during a gig, do most of you just turn the gain up or down accordingly, or do you leave it alone and let the sound guy try to work out why the bass is suddenly louder or quieter, if he notices at all...

Thanks alot

Eyescream · #2 01-03-2005, 06:45 PM

Does your amp have two inputs?

If so, one is probably a high gain input, and the other is a low gain input. Use the passive in the high gain and... well, you know what I'm saying.

Mike Money · #3 01-03-2005, 06:48 PM

my amp has a "active/passive" switch.

go peavey.

RevGroove · #4 01-03-2005, 06:56 PM

I use a volume pedal...

...shouldn't this be in "Basses" or "Amps"? May get some more hits...

Crazic · #5 01-03-2005, 08:30 PM

Ive got an "Active/Passive" dial, which i think is essentially input or gain. Turning it up would essentially be the same as hitting the passive switch.

And yeah its not really specifically a bass or amp question, so wasnt sure.

RevGroove · #6 01-03-2005, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazic

Ive got an "Active/Passive" dial, which i think is essentially input or gain. Turning it up would essentially be the same as hitting the passive switch.

What kind of amp is it?

Deadworks · #7 01-03-2005, 08:46 PM

It's the active vs passive thing it's not the cheap sammick, I have one myself which actually sounds fairly decent, Theres a big difference between outputs in my three basses my 18V pre amp in my kingston is much stronger than the 9v in my active jazz and both are stronger than the passive sammick.

I'm sure there might not be as big of a difference with a higher quality passive pickup compared to the cheapo's in the sammicks but I'd imagine there would always be some difference between an active and passive.

I have a peavey with a active/passive switch as well which I'm actually fond of that feature. I used it to switch between my sammick/jazz. Works quite well.

Crazic · #8 01-04-2005, 12:23 AM

Amp is a Labsystems VP300

Its an Australian company, pretty high quality, doesn't just pump them out.

www.labsystems.com.au

And yeah i guess what I'm doing is fairly normal, just gotta remember to change back and forth.

Thanks guys

RevGroove · #9 01-04-2005, 08:46 AM

Checked out the website briefly...some pretty nice looking stuff, good specs...

Not Mark Westlake · #10 01-04-2005, 04:24 PM

I found when I plugged my passive Yamaha into the passive slot on my amp head, it's OK, then I keep the settings the same and plug my Artisan 6 into the active slot (got Bart Mk.1 pups and preamp), and there's a huge change in volume - the Artisan's way quieter. I guess that's to be expected 'cos it's going into the Active hole so it's going to be calibrated different to the Passive, but I find myself just plugging it into the passive anyway and watching the gauge to make sure I don't frag my amp...