deeptubes said:
Strange because I think it's exactly the opposite generally. Unless it's an L2000, most actives sound much smoother and more polite than passives. Ymmv
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Active Basses: Yay or Nay?
- Thread starter Chico16
- Start date
Strange because I think it's exactly the opposite generally. Unless it's an L2000, most actives sound much smoother and more polite than passives. Ymmv
They are very reliable. Just as much as a passive really. The vast majority are passive pups with active preamp which has 2-3 bands of tone control and sometimes sweepable mids plus mid control.
If you ask me, I say yay on the Ibanez sr605. Ibanez makes awesome sounding basses. they're versatile, they're reliable, and they sound pretty cool. even the lower leveled Ibanez basses sound awesome.
Which is why I think almost all basses that are active should ALSO be passive. Even if it's just for emergencies, I think an active bass that can switch to passive is a great feature and I'm happy to say bass makers are starting to get the message too!
Some basses like the G&L L2x00 basses are designed to actually WORK in both passive and active. Usually in passive bypass, EQ controls quit. A few basses have a standard tone control that kicks in in passive mode.
And there are a few basses (like piezo pickups) which must have an active circuit to work. And when there is no emergency passive backup position, you can guess that this is where trouble will set in. My Carvin AC50 Piezo bass is the one that has given me the most electronic reliability problems.
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I don't discriminate. Mostly I use passive, but my P Lyte's been bugging me with its lack of brightness with Quarter Pounders, so I just switched to EMG PJ's with the BQC system. Gigging with it later today...first time I ever used an active bass with flats, so it should be fun.
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I don't discriminate. Mostly I use passive, but my P Lyte's been bugging me with its lack of brightness with Quarter Pounders, so I just switched to EMG PJ's with the BQC system. Gigging with it later today...first time I ever used an active bass with flats, so it should be fun.
StrangerDanger said:
I'm amazed at the wild generalizations people write here :lol:
There is such a wide range for any parameter in active and passive basses, and such overlap, that these generalizations are meaningless.
Active basses are simply about buffered signal from the bass and usually, but not always, having some EQ at the bass.
How useful this is, it's a matter of personal preference.
Now some are high output, some low, some polite and clinical, some raw and wild, some heavy, some light, some are sunburst and some are black... just like passive basses, in their wide variety of flavours.
When I choose a bass, I chose for feel and sound. Active or passive is just an anecdote. I go, personally for Stingray (I do have a passive clone as well, which I love), Jazz (active and passive), and Precision (two passive one active)...
Threads like this don't do any favours to beginners ;-)
bassbenj said:
I used to think that too.
But over the years I came to realise that the risk of having a problem is so tiny that I can ignore it.
The risk depends largely on the user and their habits. This user is reliable ;-)
The L2000 etc are great, I own one too, but it's not a good example of active with passive capability. It is essentially a passive bass, with passive pickups and passive tone. The preamp just comes as a switch: off, on and on plus treble boost.
It's not your typical active bass.
I removed the preamp in mine, I have a John East Stingray (3 band with sweepable mids control) that I will install there, but I haven't yet as I'm wondering whether to use the spare switch hole for a preamp bypass. The passive sound of this bass is fantastic.
As usual. A simple matter of preference made overly complicated............
So, so true. When I am considering an instrument purchase, one of the last things I think to consider is "Active or Passive?". Only slightly ahead of "does it come in pink coral burst?"
I'll play a bass, and if I really like it I might flip it over to see if it has a battery, but usually I don't even bother, since it won't have a bearing on whether or not I consider buying it.
Now, the result of all that is that of the 6 basses I currently own, 6 are active. Purely through natural selection. Probably also explains why I just don't like how I sound with a P-Bass. I'm okay with how other people sound on a P-Bass, but I can't get a sound I like.
We also need to remember that there is a huge difference between active pickups and active preamp/tone control.
I like active pickups, especially for playing live. They are quiet, aren't affected much by neon bar signs, and they dont "CLACK" if I accidentally get a little enthusiastic while thumping and hit the E string on the pickup the way passive pickups do.
I've never found an active preamp/tone circuit that worked for me, they all just sounded like artificially boosted passive pickups, usually accenting the tones I didn't like!
Passive pickups are great, sometimes. I think a good passive pickup is the reference standard for how a bass should sound. But they can be buzzy and noisy for live use.
So my vote is:
Yay, Nay, Yay
I like active pickups, especially for playing live. They are quiet, aren't affected much by neon bar signs, and they dont "CLACK" if I accidentally get a little enthusiastic while thumping and hit the E string on the pickup the way passive pickups do.
I've never found an active preamp/tone circuit that worked for me, they all just sounded like artificially boosted passive pickups, usually accenting the tones I didn't like!
Passive pickups are great, sometimes. I think a good passive pickup is the reference standard for how a bass should sound. But they can be buzzy and noisy for live use.
So my vote is:
Yay, Nay, Yay
For me, as I've never played an active bass, I really don't have a preference aas I don't know how they compare. I currently play and enjoy passive bases, so I see no need to "actively" (no pun intended) go looking for an active bass. For me it's neither "Yea" or "Nay" it's more of a "MayBay".
F-Clef-Jef said:
That clack (or lack thereof) is surely a consequence of exposed vs covered polepieces, not active vs passiva....
When I'm considering a bass I don't pay attention to the active/passive thing. Whether or not I like the sound, playability, etc. is all the matters to me. I own both passive and active basses and other than making sure I keep fresh batteries in the active ones I couldn't care less about the electronics.
Went pretty darn well actually
Some like rounds, some like flats, I like both, but flats just work better in my regular band, and they are, indeed, less noisy. Flats with EMG's are cleaner and clearer than what I'm used to with passives, but it's a pretty cool sound in its own right.JimmyM said:Went pretty darn well actually
Niiiice what type of flats did you get? I was right about to order Chrome flats but now I'm being told I should go with pressure wounds instead lol so now I'm in between those too :/ haha
I have the same experience. The only really aggressive sounding active basses I've played were MusicMans and a Schecter.
I got Chromes on those basses. I think they're great. Pressurewounds and half rounds sound more like roundwounds to me, so they might be what you want if you want roundwound sound but less noisy.
JimmyM said:
Well the thing is that I can't say I want a round wound sound because I've never played flat wounds so I can't say anything about their sound. Some say they're dull, others say It's a more full sound etc. Etc. Have you played pressure wounds before?
