Active Pickup(s), Passive Electronics?

dmwynn · #1 11-12-2011, 06:03 PM

I'm a huge fan of Adam Clayton. No shame there, dude is as solid as they come (and I'm sure he can rip, but why do it when you don't need to?

). His tone is some of my favorite, and so I checked out his Warwick Reverso and noticed the specs listed the pickup as an MEC Active P pickup, but it had passive electronics. Is this what give him that ballsy sound that's not super hi-fi? I've never seen a configuration like that. I thought it was either completely active or completely passive.

JTE · #2 11-12-2011, 07:44 PM

"Active" simply means that somewhere in the electronics there's something that needs power. Seems recently most active basses are passive pickups feeding an active EQ section. This is how a Music Man StingRay, Lakland 44-94, etc. are set up. But it's not uncommon to have active pickups feeding passive controls. That's how the Guild Pilot was made - EMG active pickups with a passive VVT circuit like a regular Jazz Bass.

John

dmwynn · #3 11-12-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

"Active" simply means that somewhere in the electronics there's something that needs power. Seems recently most active basses are passive pickups feeding an active EQ section. This is how a Music Man StingRay, Lakland 44-94, etc. are set up. But it's not uncommon to have active pickups feeding passive controls. That's how the Guild Pilot was made - EMG active pickups with a passive VVT circuit like a regular Jazz Bass.

John

What would be the main difference in sound between the two? I mean, I know what a MusicMan and most of the common active basses sound like, but I don't really know that I've ever heard a bass with an active pickup and a passive EQ section.

JTE · #4 11-13-2011, 08:22 AM

There isn't a "main difference". It's all just design choices. Active PUPs allow the designer to build in certain characteristics inside a specific housing with less regard for output level. That's because the pre inside the housing can shape the sound and boost the level as needed. For example, EMG has a vintage-looking Jazz bass pickup that doesn't hum and they say sounds like an old Jazz.

Active EQ takes whatever the PUP offers and gives the player on-board control of the EQ. I believe most of what people tout as the "StingRay sound" has less to do with the active EQ than with the character of that big humbucking picky with those large megnets.

John

Stealth · #5 11-13-2011, 08:32 AM

JTE, in case of the Stingray the preamp is designed to work with the pickup. I'm not sure which thread that was explained in (possibly even two), but the preamp is designed so a low-impedance pickup (which a parallel-wired MM is) has that particular tone - the preamp is the key there.

Dmwynn, I have a bass with active pickups (EMGHB) and passive tone controls (Vol Vol Tone, 3-way pickup selector), and I'd say it is down to that combination.

JTE · #6 11-13-2011, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealth

JTE, in case of the Stingray the preamp is designed to work with the pickup. I'm not sure which thread that was explained in (possibly even two), but the preamp is designed so a low-impedance pickup (which a parallel-wired MM is) has that particular tone - the preamp is the key there.

Well, my comments are based on experience with three pre-EB 'Rays, one of which had a switch to by-pass the pre and run the PUP straight to the output jack. Of course the pre was designed to work with the PUP, but still a large part of that throaty sound is the PUP, not the pre in my experience. Nevertheless, it's one of the classic examples of a passive pickup with active EQ.

And I quite like active PUPs with passive controls. I had a Guild Pilot Pro which was a lovely bass, but being the Pro version, the EMG P/J pickups were connected to a mediocre pre-amp (a Mighty Mite pre). No preamp is always better than a bad one, and that bass came alive when I took out that pre and wired it with passive V/B/T (treble bleed) controls.

John

dmwynn · #7 11-13-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

And I quite like active PUPs with passive controls. I had a Guild Pilot Pro which was a lovely bass, but being the Pro version, the EMG P/J pickups were connected to a mediocre pre-amp (a Mighty Mite pre). No preamp is always better than a bad one, and that bass came alive when I took out that pre and wired it with passive V/B/T (treble bleed) controls.

John

This is what I'm interested in. Something that's ballsy sounding but not too hi-fi sounding.

walterw · #8 11-13-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmwynn

This is what I'm interested in. Something that's ballsy sounding but not too hi-fi sounding.

that to me suggests a nice passive bass through the right rig, with a little grind and compression.

as for "active pickup+passive controls", JTE's right, any EMG-equipped instrument without onboard EQ controls is exactly that.

**line6man** · #9 11-13-2011, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmwynn

I've never seen a configuration like that. I thought it was either completely active or completely passive.

When you have active pickups, it is more common than not to see passive controls. There is no need for a preamp if the pickups are active, unless you want the EQ, and if that's the case, most people opt for passive pickups.

ehque · #10 11-14-2011, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

that to me suggests a nice passive bass through the right rig, with a little grind and compression.

Certainly one way to get there. Another way is with active EQ set to a slight mid boost with the highs rolled off to taste, another way is with active or passive pickups through a passive tone section with the tone rolled off to taste...

Basically, there are many ways to get that tone.