Active/Passive/pedal distortion-fixes?..

[Jouni]

Hello!

My searches weren't very efficient, so sorry if this has been covered...

BUT

I'm one of those that have both active and passive basses. Mainly play active, but use the passive as a backup and at home-recordings.
..now into them pedals, and noticed that some of them don't work well with an active bass. (distorting in the input I presume)

Is there a way I can even out the difference??

Like, putting an mxr 10-band EQ in front (pedalboard), and adjust its input/output levels accordingly??
Could there be something that levels the signal all by itself, automatically???

So I wouldn't have to bother to check am I in the active or passive input of the amp, and the signal would be low enough to work on other pedals...

Kinda strange if there wasn't an easy answer since the dilemma seems common.

[Hookus]

It would help if you listed the pedals you are having problems with.

What you need I imagine is some sort of buffer in front of the unbufferred effect(s). You can make one easily, or you can place those effects behind a bufferred effect. I could build you a simple buffered loop pedal in an MXR sized enclosure if you need one pretty cheap, but try placing a bufferred effect or tuner in front of them first. It may be that your active bass has high output, but I would imagine the real culprit is an impedence mismatch.

The MXR would work, but I greatly prefer having my EQ at the end of the chain. I mean, why have an active bass if you just put an EQ as your first effect? The whole point of active electronics is having an on-board active EQ, which is exactly what the MXR is.

Could you post your effect signal chain for us?

[scotch]

Sounds like you should try this out:
http://www.bargeconcepts.com/glzbv.html
(you'd want the GLZ-1 model)
taken from site:
"...As a passive signal emulator: The GLZ’s variable impedance control alters the resistive output of the buffering stage, to make the output signal appear more like a passive signal. This is particularly useful for bassists and guitarists with active pickups that want to send a 'passive-looking' signal to vintage effects that may not respond well to buffers..."

It's only $99, works great and gives you impedance control as well as a passive volume control (to turn down a high output instrument) and a gain control (+15 db for low output instruments).

Another way to go is a compressor, but in my opinion, this method kills too much of the natural playing dynamics.

[mooney]

when i had a marcus miller jazz, i would use it passive with distortion & effects, and switch it to active for clean.
now i wish i didn't sell it....

[bongomania]

The solution is either to adjust the impedance with a device like that Barge, or to turn down the volume knob on your bass.

[niftydog]

Impedance mismatch is a possibility, but it's a long shot IMO - and I certainly wouldn't be going down that route as a first attempt at fixing the problem. Much more likely it's just too hot a signal from your active bass. All you need to do is bring it down to a level more akin to your passive bass.

While turning down the volume knob will work, it is somewhat unreliable and unrepeatable, and the temptation to crank it back up again is sometimes too great! Also, if you forget one day you might find you'll suddenly remember when you turn on a pedal for the first time in the middle of a song! Definitely not a good look!

My solution for this exact problem was to buy something that had two input channels and gain controls for both. This lets me find a middle ground between the levels of my active and my passive basses and leave it set there for all eternity so my pedal board always works properly with no need to tweak anything when switching basses. I bought the EBS MicroBass II, but there are other alternatives that would do the same job.

Other than that, you can always adjust your pickups down to produce less signal.

[gillento]

+ 1

I am using the Xotic BB preamp with my DJ5

Originally Posted by niftydog

While turning down the volume knob will work, it is somewhat unreliable and unrepeatable, and the temptation to crank it back up again is sometimes too great! Also, if you forget one day you might find you'll suddenly remember when you turn on a pedal for the first time in the middle of a song! Definitely not a good look!

My solution for this exact problem was to buy something that had two input channels and gain controls for both. This lets me find a middle ground between the levels of my active and my passive basses and leave it set there for all eternity so my pedal board always works properly with no need to tweak anything when switching basses. I bought the EBS MicroBass II, but there are other alternatives that would do the same job.

Other than that, you can always adjust your pickups down to produce less signal.