Active, Passive, EQ, Preamp...what does it all mean....HELP!

[streetknight]

Ok everyone, I'm obviously a Bass noob. could sure use some help on the terminology of these things.

1- What's the difference between active and passive pups? No battery in passives, anything else?

2- Is one better than the other?

3- What is an on board EQ? Is it like having Low, Mid, and High knobs right on the bass?

4- What is an on board pre amp and what does it do? Does this mean you can run right into a PA or something?

Sorry for all the noob questions. I'm looking at a bass that has passive/active pups with a toggle switch and 3 knobs for eq I guess. Just wondering what it all means and how to use it.

TIA

[darkstorm]

1. Thats mainly it, actives have little preamp built into the pup housing.
2. No, neither is better, is personal taste pref. The vast majority of active basses are passive pup with active eq preamp added.
3. Yup, is 3 band, bass/mid/treble. Some have stacked mid pot with one knob being boost/cut and the other knob being mid sweep or center freq selector. Some replace the mid sweep knob with less choice version of two way switch to pick between to freq choices. Some also have little dip switches on circuit board for selecting the treble freq. This can be very useful for some as it lets them better pick their desired tone freq ceneter for mid and treble.
4. It does 3 thangs that affect tone. 1st converts signal to lowZ. To me this improves the tone of great sounding passive pups by extending bass and treble a little and bringing out a little more detail to the sound. As though the lowz conversion lets the pup full potential out. Imo. Second preamp often provides a little bit hotter signal even with tone controls flat. This can be useful for better driving instrument amp and effects for some folks. Third it gives that 3 band tone control. Though some preamps are just 2band bass/treble. Some of these have selectable treble freq center.

Best way to learn about a basses tone shaping tweakbility is by twiddling with the controls a lot. To include the blend knob for 2 pup basses.

Please leave your info donation of 3 chocolate chip cookkie treats in the frig for snack bar. Lol.

[vin*tone]

It's certainly not a dumb question. I still don't get it ... and I've been playing bass for over 20 years.

Consider these 3 scenarios:
- Passive pass ----> Aguilar TH500.
- Passive bass ---> Aguilar tone hammer ---> bass amp.
- Passive pickup bass with Aguilar OBP3 Preamp ---> bass amp.

All 3 have passive pickups, Aguilar preamp and a "bass amp" to EQ, compress etc... etc... Sure there are differences in exact amps etc... but are they really that different?

Does having a long length of cable between your pickups and stomp box pre-amp make it different to an onboard "active" bass? If not.... then what if the pre is in the bass amp instead of the stomp box?

[Staccato]

1- Most pickups are passive, no matter what brand of bass...
2- Go with passive pickups. Now, all you have to decide is preamp, or passive electronics.
3- This onboard EQ will allow you (on basses that are equipped) to boost, or cut bass & treble. There's quite a few that have mids, too.
If the basses you're comparing have 2 or 3 EQ, you've got to decide if you want/like mid control onboard.
4- Think of it as a bigger sound, and start comparing some active & passive basses in the stores.