Which one do you have?

[nintonbp]

Ok I was just wondering what the difference between passive and active pick ups is?

 

[knucklehead G]

Pickups and Electronics FAQ - TalkBass Wiki

which leads to

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/active-passive-110002/

and

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/active-pickups-110694/

 

[darkstorm]

The vast majority of basses with battery use passive pups and active 2-3 band eq preamp. I prefer and allways use this configuration.

 

[RedLeg]

The vast majority of basses with battery use passive pups and active 2-3 band eq preamp. I prefer and allways use this configuration.

what he said, except I am growing fond of the filter based pre rather than the 2-3 band.

 

[CauliColin]

I own passive pickups.
Play thrash metal on it.
STILL GET WARWICK GROWL.
Brill.

 

[truecanadian04]

I use active pickups. It gives me more range when I need to do little tweaks without having to change my amp settings.

 

[El-Bob]

As others have said, passive pickups, active pre-amp (I'm loving being able to switch to passive mode with my new Warwick though).

 

[depalm]

Both

 

[nocontrols]

Passive everything. Nothing but passive, all the time.

My tone is better when it's warmer, deeper, more old-school. I don't need EQ, I don't need gritty, metallic tone that "cuts through", I don't need glassy highs and I don't need a bunch of tonal options right there on my instrument. I just want thick, dark passive tone.

 

[funkmangriff]

id have to say both, but i gotta admit, i usually leave my active on for some extra low mid boost and a tiny smudge of bass

 

[oniman7]

Both my basses are active. My BTB has a pickup blend knob, two tone knobs, a treble knob, a bass knob, and a volume knob. I have a freak out attack when I don't have at least a 3 band EQ on my bass. Not to say I couldn't work with just a volume and a tone... but it would drive me crazy.

 

[bassfart]

I use both depending on the gig.With my Rock band, I use my G&L ASAT and L1500. I get all the tonal variations I need with these 2 basses. For my ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughn cover bands, I use P basses for obvious reasons.

 

[Flabass]

I have both. Two Precisions, one Fender Jazz, one Fender Jazz deluxe and one G&L L2000.
Love the deep, thick sound of my precisions (different pups) but depending on my mood, I like a little active at times.

Love to go passive with all bass on my L2000.

 

[dgravesweiner]

My personal tastes are passive and with a serious focus on the fundemental so the P-bass is a got for that. But since I do session work as well I'm looking to get a couple of the goto basses that are active so as to cover anything a producer might ask to have done.

 

[thetawaves]

Passive/active switching: It makes Thetawaves a happy chap.

 

[bassbenj]

Ok I was just wondering what the difference between passive and active pick ups is?

IF you want to get a sensible answer you first need to ask the question properly. First you need to include "both" in the poll, and secondly, you need to specify if you mean "active pickups" or an "active bass" (which is typically passive pickups into an active preamp/EQ/cable driver)

To answer your question the way you wrote it (which I suspect most people here are NOT doing) No, I do NOT use active pickups anymore. At one point I did have some active EMGs and they were wonderfully quiet and noise-free but I hated the tone. I haven't used any active pickups since. Active pickups have circuits INSIDE the pickups and take battery power to work.

But about half my basses are active (with passive pickups) They range from the super glassy, boosted EQed tone of my Conklin 7 to say my G&L L2500 which is basically a passive bass with a high boost you can switch in if you are so inclined. In other words it's "almost" a passive bass.

 

[WalterBush]

+1 on the "both" option. I've got EMG equipped instruments, passive instruments, and preamp equipped passive pup basses.

I prefer having tonal options on my bass, and usually gig without an amp, so I like preamp equipped basses. I don't really have a pickup preference, they should make a bass sound like you want it to regardless of brand, passive/active, etc. EMG, Barts, wierd stock Chinese off-brand, whatever makes the bass sound good. Just don't take away my onboard EQ

 

[line6man]

Where is the "both" option?
I use an active/passive switch so I can have either, at my choosing.

 

[Amok]

I have a tough time deciding which is best for me. When I need something that is more active I favor the active pup but when I am feeling more subdued the passive pups tend to be a better choice. Maybe it is just me but I am pretty tired of these stupid open ended polls by people that cant decide what they really like for themselves. JMHO

 

[Antny]

I have both, but prefer my passive Pbasses, by leaps and bounds. To me, the tone is more "honest", for lack of a better term. Plus, no batteries to worry about, less wiring connections that can fail, etc. Peace of mind at a gig is a good thing. As Forrest Gump said: "one less thing, that's good".