I have a question for all of you. On the Ibanez BTB1000e it says that it has a Active EQ and Passive pickups. My question is: I dont get how that works. what exactly does that mean? please explain. I know what active and passive is, but how can you have active EQ and passive pickups? whats the advantages and disadvantages of this setup and do you need batteries? Thank you and please reply
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Active EQ? Passive pickup?
- Thread starter sk8terguy316
- Start date
i was just getting ready to ask the same question but more in genera what are the differences between active and passive....i know actives seem to use batteries!
Well to your question mainly hte difference is That active is on general more ggresive and loud (their are exeptions) and passive is more quiet (again their are exeptions) also usually active basses the controls offer drastic differences in tone (bass boost, treble boost, mids etc) while passive offers subtle differences on sound and you customize you eq more on the amplifier. BUMP but to my question. I Dont get how you can have active and passive in the same bass. thank you for any replies
Passive pickups are a magnet assembly and coil(s) of wire. They can be wired up "passively" so they just go through a volume control and tone control before the output jack. Passive pickups can also be wired through an onboard preamp.
Acive pickups, and the most common are the EMGs, are a similar magnetic structure, ie magnets and coils, but built into the case of the pickup itself is a small preamp so you get nothing out of the pickup unless it's connected to a battery. Active pickups can also be wired simply through a passive volume and tone pot, or through am onbard preamp.
Like all things, both active and passive pickups, and onboard preamps all have their positive and negative attributes and the variations on sound out of all of them is way to large to say "actives are generally...." or "passives are generally...."
Acive pickups, and the most common are the EMGs, are a similar magnetic structure, ie magnets and coils, but built into the case of the pickup itself is a small preamp so you get nothing out of the pickup unless it's connected to a battery. Active pickups can also be wired simply through a passive volume and tone pot, or through am onbard preamp.
Like all things, both active and passive pickups, and onboard preamps all have their positive and negative attributes and the variations on sound out of all of them is way to large to say "actives are generally...." or "passives are generally...."
FYI, the Music Man StingRay is an example of a bass with a passive pickup and an active pre.
Some basses with this setup also have a switch that allows you to go thru the active preamp OR to bypass the pre and run passive, giving more tonal variations. Another advantage to this: if your battery dies onstage, you can just switch over to passive (but, c'mon, there's really no excuse for a dead battery, is there?).
The Ray doesn't have a switch, so it always runs in active mode (though you can hotwire a switch into the circuit).
Some basses with this setup also have a switch that allows you to go thru the active preamp OR to bypass the pre and run passive, giving more tonal variations. Another advantage to this: if your battery dies onstage, you can just switch over to passive (but, c'mon, there's really no excuse for a dead battery, is there?).
The Ray doesn't have a switch, so it always runs in active mode (though you can hotwire a switch into the circuit).
I sometimes read that some effects (mostly fuzzes) don't work to well with active basses. Does this mean: active pickups or the active preamp???
