| To me, it's the same deal as electro-acoustic guitars. Manufacturers have to strike a delicate balance between a bunch of competing factors: price, cosmetics, bells and whistles on the preamp, playability, unplugged tone, and a decent pickup. You can often get a better bang for the buck, by buying a plain-but-good unamplified acoustic, and sticking a first-class pickup in it.
Ditto with a bang-for-the buck active bass. You don't need bling, just a good solid foundation for your project. First, I'd go carefully, patiently shopping for the best-feeling, best sounding cheap passive P-bass I could find.
Then I'd blow the wad on a first-class preamp and a shielding job. In my case, that would mean an East P-Retro. The P-retro is expensive, but it manages to pack a surprising amount of control into just two stacked knobs. Best of all, it's a long term investment: it doesn't require drilling any extra holes, so if you fall out of love with the bass it's in, you can re-install the stock wiring harness, and move the P-retro on to your next bass.
Last edited by steve_rolfeca : 12-02-2010 at 03:33 PM.
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