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active pickups
- Thread starter kreed
- Start date
knuckle_head
Commercial User
- Jul 30, 2002
- 2,621
- 58
- Disclosures
- Owner; Knuckle Guitar Works & Circle K Strings
Yes and no.
There are both active pickups and active preamps - there are as well preamps (more appropriately tone circuits) that are meant for active pickups.
Simplest answer is that anything within your bass that requires a boosting of signal is 'active' and requires a battery. This includes boost tone shaping.
Yes. Active pickups require battery power.
No. My Peavey Cirrus has active pickups and an active tone shaping circuit.
EMG sells a line of active pickups. i cannot think of anyone else who does. Their pickups require a power source, usually drawing it from the EMG-preamp.
which, of course, is also active, so i dont see how actives dont work together. im not sure how you would get active pickups to work with passive tone circuits, tho.
which, of course, is also active, so i dont see how actives dont work together. im not sure how you would get active pickups to work with passive tone circuits, tho.
knuckle_head
Commercial User
- Jul 30, 2002
- 2,621
- 58
- Disclosures
- Owner; Knuckle Guitar Works & Circle K Strings
FWIW - Duncan offers an active set or two, and preamps that go with them. They also offer the same tone circuitry for passive pickups.
The difference between them is the resistance and capacitance values in the components.
Active pickups work perfectly well with passive volume/tone circuitry - my 4 string is exactly that.
But it doesn't need to be drawn from their preamp (which is getting it from the batteries anyway). Just supply power to the pickup and it'll work fine.
EMG also sell most pickups with a set of pots, battery clip and jack etc so you can run the pickup 'passive', ie without a preamp, just a V/T. Done this several times myself.
