making my passive bass sound active?

[Rilander]

any tips on making my passive american p bass sound active without actually making it active? maybe an EQ pedal or something?

[PSPookie]

Outboard preamp.

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Outboard preamp.

+1

Or this!

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Rilander

any tips on making my passive american p bass sound active without actually making it active? maybe an EQ pedal or something?

You can always buy an outboard preamp pedal.

The Aguilar Tone Hammer is basically a stompbox version of their OBP-3 preamp. Likewise with the Sadowsky preamp. The Xotic Trilogic comes to mind as well, but it has a more natural sound.

The Aguilar might be your best bet.

[Rilander]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Outboard preamp.

hit me up with a link to something like that~!

[Rilander]

ok cool thx the tone hammer looks pretty reasonable

[FromTheBassMent]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

The Aguilar might be your best bet.

THIS ^^^^

[Rilander]

now if i use the Aguilar Tone Hammer will i be plugging in to the active input on my amp instead of the passive?

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by Rilander

hit me up with a link to something like that~!

http://bassclubchicago.bizland.com/store/page20.html
http://www.bassemporium.com/item.php...DOWSKYOUTBOARD
These are both pricey but reputedly very nice.
http://www.kksound.com/purepreamp.html
^This is quite a bit more affordable, and while not a pedal, works very nicely to add some control & boost to a passive bass. I have one for my DB's piezo but tried it w/a passive fretless & a 73 P-Bass; it really woke both basses up. Look on Bob Gollihur's bass page for a better deal tha $117.

[bassteban]

FS: Sadowsky Preamp/DI pedal

[Silent Fly]

I read somewhere that the only passive bass is the double bass. All electric basses are active. The only difference is where the first stage is.

I recommend you a good eq and new strings. If you use long cables an on-board buffer should help you.

I have a Status Graphite 6 strings (active). I can make my passive Fender jazz as active as the Status with a new set of strings and some EQ.

[Madcity Fats]

Somebody's gotta do it, so I'll put in the obligatory plug for the SansAmp:

http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sa...sdriverdi.html

These show up used here pretty frequently.

[bassbrad]

Submarine or Submarine DE sounds very good with a P-bass or any other bass for that matter.

[darius8]

MXR M80 pedal or the Tech21 SansAmp BDDI pedal has a mid scoop switch that boost the lows and highs that give you a real nice active sound.

[Bob C]

Originally Posted by Rilander

now if i use the Aguilar Tone Hammer will i be plugging in to the active input on my amp instead of the passive?

That's a good question. If you're not significantly increasing gain with the pedal, continuing to use the passive input will probably work fine. If you do boost, it still might be fine.

I would try passive first, and give a listen. Too much gain can distort your amp's input, but what is too much depends on your bass, amp, effects chain, technique, etc.