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active > passive

#23
pappabass said:
Every time I play my passive p bass at my gig, wife compalins that it is muddy. When I play one of my active eq basses, wife says it sounds better.
Go figure....(yes, the p bass is nicely set up with emg's)
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I have wondered if the benefits/drawbacks are different when performing live versus recording in a studio.
 
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#24
A completely passive instrument can have that "burp" or "grunt" to it that cannot be duplicated with an onboard pre-amp.
I've been told MANY times in the past to just throw a pre-amp box after X pickups to make them sound aggressive like I need, but it's not the same as having the sound you want from the pickups themselves.
You can diddle that EQ all you like & it's not going to have the growl of good passive pickups.

Sure there are pre-amps out there with that growl baked-in, and every instrument you play through them sounds similar.
When does it become playing the pre-amp box instead of playing the instrument?

Yeah yeah, plenty of players out there have a shelf-full of different pre-amps for different situations, but I'm a one size fits all type & a minimalist.
 
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#25
scottfeldstein said:
So my question is: Is there any benefit to having an active bass if you never use the EQ? Does it give higher signal strength even if you leave it all flat?
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No, unless the preamp was designed to boost it :)

At the minimum active means you have a buffer which changes high impedance to low impedance. It you don't crank tweeters, and plug straight into an amp you will likely never hear a difference. The buffer can reduce a tiny loss of highs that I cut all off anyways. It can also reduce noise in some situations. A unity gain buffer will not be noticed.

If you have an eq section that can change tone, and boost can also be added. Most preamps have EQ and many have boost so we tend to assume that is part of being active but it's more of an addition.

Then you have designs with low output pickups that require an active boost. Original EMG for example.

Ken Smith preamps used to boast with the eq flat active and passive had identical tone. Other preamps will color the tone even with EQ flat but that is part of the design and not simply from being active.
 
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#26
I like active EQ for the convenience. But once I got about a dozen basses I could never remember how old a battery was, sometimes I'd write the date on the battery, others I'd forget and I just don't want to use that many batteries. So now I'm down to 2 active and a truckload of passive. If a bass sits in a gig bag for a year I know it is fine. Anything I want from active I can get from a pedal or amp. My Guild Pilot with EMG Js still worth a battery to me.

I found going passive has me changing my sound with fingers more than knobs which is nice.
 
#29
My favorite bass is active but all my other basses a passive. I tried a bunch of onboard and stompbox preamps in my jazz basses and after a couple years of obtaining installing and trying, my jazz basses all have stock control sections and stock pickups or Dimarzio humbuckers and i’m a happy camper.
 
#30
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The only practical difference it makes to me is that I make a habit of never leaving them plugged in. That and I have to keep a couple of 9v in my bag. (Actually have the coolest flashlight. It's just a little plastic thing that holds 6 LEDs and it clips right on to the top of a 9v.)

The only reason I have an active Fender Jazz and an active Ibanez is that I liked them independent of their active status.
 
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#31
Killed_by_Death said:
A completely passive instrument can have that "burp" or "grunt" to it that cannot be duplicated with an onboard pre-amp.
I've been told MANY times in the past to just throw a pre-amp box in front of X pickups to make them sound aggressive
Click to expand...

Who told you that, and what does putting a stompbox in front of your pickups do? :roflmao:
 
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#32
I prefer passive myself and have "de-active-ated" basses in the past and always felt they sounded better passive. I prefer the no-muss-no-fuss nature of passive electronics. I'm not a big EQ tweaker and I don't like too many knobs to fiddle with. I prefer to EQ via my amp, and even then I like "plug in and play" simplicity.

Oh, and after the one time a 9v died on me in the middle of a gig, the bass I was using then did not have an easy-access battery box, and I didn't have a spare battery I said, "Never again. Passive for life!"
 
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#33
Killed_by_Death said:
Almost every time I've complained about the demure sound of Bartolini pickups someone will comment that all you need is a good o/d pedal, DOH!
What I want is pickups that I like, not something I need to massage.
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Whoosh! Wouldn't a pedal work better placed after the pickups though? :cool:
 
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#34
Passive for me although I’ve had a few actives and will continue to keep my 10 yr old Fender Am Dlx because I really like the way it fits me (although I have replaced the pups with DiMarzio Model J’s and continue to debate taking the Preamp out). I’ve taken the battery out of my G&L L2K and all else is passive (save for the bass I have for sale). I prefer it this way and use outboard Pre’s on my board as needed. Not sure if I’ll ever buy an active bass again. I just don’t want to be tied down to the Electronics in my Bass. Having a passive bass actually gives me more options in my mind.
 
#35
I'll take a blend knob with a center detente over 2 volume knobs any day of the year. Same with onboard bass, treble, and (ideally) a mid control that can boost or cut.

If you forget to write the date on and check your battery before it dies on stage... You'll likely never make that mistake again, and if you don't carry a spare after that and learn to make a habit of unplugging it's totally on you.

However, I'll concede that having multiple basses where some are active and some are passive can get confusing... so simplifying to one or the other makes sense.

Some people act like changing a battery once or twice a year is a huge inconvenience. I just don't get it :thumbsdown:
 
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#36
Thum5b said:
Maybe I should put it on the calendar, generally I remember to swap them before they go flat but sometimes life gets in the way.
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Maybe. I write the date on a piece of tape attached to each battery at when I installed them. I open up the electronics plate every few months and check. Once I hit 6 months I replace them.
 
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#37
scottfeldstein said:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The only practical difference it makes to me is that I make a habit of never leaving them plugged in. That and I have to keep a couple of 9v in my bag. (Actually have the coolest flashlight. It's just a little plastic thing that holds 6 LEDs and it clips right on to the top of a 9v.)

The only reason I have an active Fender Jazz and an active Ibanez is that I liked them independent of their active status.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I liked everything about my tmb100 except the active circuit. Then a friend made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and out the door it went.
 

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