LOL@ Inactive!
LOL@ Less finger noise.
LOL@ Less finger noise.
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Active vs. Inactive
- Thread starter BSGBass
- Start date
Different basses require different amp settings to get same output and close to same tone.
Easy solution is to get 2 of the same bass. Cheap solution is a pedal you can engage when bass is changed.
Best, turn up volumn when changing basses. Takes an extra second to turn a nob as you grab other bass
EMG's are always active.
I think the easiest route to go is just to turn down the volume on your EMG bass to match your Squier. It doesn't affect the sound in a negative way to turn it down, unlike passives, and I hate hate hate active jacks or switches on amps because they almost always change the sound in a negative way.
BTW, let's ditch the "inactive" and call them the industry standard term "passive." "Inactive" makes us sound lazy for using them 
Jim Carr
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Others may have noted this, but seriously, I don't find either of these assertions to be the accurate.
Less finger noise with passive basses? No. It all depends on strings, technique, and overall EQ, not just the settings on an internal preamp.
Better sound? Nah. That is totally subjective. As much as I love my external preamps, not one of them is inherently better sound-wise, than the onboard preamps in my active basses. More features? Usually. Do I care about those? Not usually, but sometimes. Irrelevant.
Ric5
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Most active basses actually have passive pickups and a preamp.
inactive basses are usually called passive
I would use a clean boost pedal. But putting emgs on that passive ("inactive") would be better, because you're used to the active low impedance tone. Depends on whether your guitarist will accept to mod it or not
A. OP, check the pickup height on the passive (the accepted term for what you called"inactive") bass. It is false that active basses are inherently louder than passive.
B. I have played active instruments of a types- passive pickups with active EQ (Music Man StingRay, Lakland 4-94 and 55-01, Duncan PUPs and pre), active PUPs with passive EQ (Guild Pilot), and active PUPs with active EQ (Guild Pilot Pro) since '79. Not one of the had/has more output when set fault than my passive basses (Fender VS '62 P, Fender Sting, Geffy Lee, etc.). And none of the activites are as loud as a G&L L-1000 with the MFD PUPs.
B. I have played active instruments of a types- passive pickups with active EQ (Music Man StingRay, Lakland 4-94 and 55-01, Duncan PUPs and pre), active PUPs with passive EQ (Guild Pilot), and active PUPs with active EQ (Guild Pilot Pro) since '79. Not one of the had/has more output when set fault than my passive basses (Fender VS '62 P, Fender Sting, Geffy Lee, etc.). And none of the activites are as loud as a G&L L-1000 with the MFD PUPs.
Right now, there's any number of ways to 'skin the cat' when it comes to pickups. Stick with any of the known good pickup brands (including good OEM's like the Music Man, G & L, and a number of others) and it's hard to go 'wrong'. Whatever suits you the best IS the correct answer.
Over time, I've played just about everything, and my only personal observation would be that real low-impedance active pickups and tone networks (think Alembic, some of the EMG's, some of the Barts, etc.) were more quiet electronically at the expense of a certain coolness to the tone, no doubt a by-product of their construction. By their nature these are pickups with fewer turns of wire that make up the output difference by having a preamp in the pickup shell, so I'm sure that's part of it. On the other hand, passive pickups can sound hotter to me in a way, because of the more winds and a far simpler signal path, just pots and resistors, straight to the jack.
It's not a huge difference, but it's there, as you've found out, and you'd still hear it with a great aftermarket passive pickup in that same Squier, albeit a bit better possibly. You just have to decide which direction you'd rather head into.
Over time, I've played just about everything, and my only personal observation would be that real low-impedance active pickups and tone networks (think Alembic, some of the EMG's, some of the Barts, etc.) were more quiet electronically at the expense of a certain coolness to the tone, no doubt a by-product of their construction. By their nature these are pickups with fewer turns of wire that make up the output difference by having a preamp in the pickup shell, so I'm sure that's part of it. On the other hand, passive pickups can sound hotter to me in a way, because of the more winds and a far simpler signal path, just pots and resistors, straight to the jack.
It's not a huge difference, but it's there, as you've found out, and you'd still hear it with a great aftermarket passive pickup in that same Squier, albeit a bit better possibly. You just have to decide which direction you'd rather head into.
Your issue is not between active and passive basses, both are good, it is with the difference in signal level.
So if like me you like to swap basses and not have to change amp settings you can either;
use a preamp/pedal to boost the gain and EQ the passive bass.
put an active system in the passive bass so it has similar output.
My Eden amp has aux inputs on the back that essentially bypass the preamp and go straight to the power amp.
I can use the Eden preamp for one bass and a Sansamp BDDI or Alembic F-1X for the other. If the basses are similar in output I can get away with an A/B switch. On most amps you can use the effects loop return jack for the same purpose as long as it doesn't interrupt the signal from the amplifiers preamp.
So if like me you like to swap basses and not have to change amp settings you can either;
use a preamp/pedal to boost the gain and EQ the passive bass.
put an active system in the passive bass so it has similar output.
My Eden amp has aux inputs on the back that essentially bypass the preamp and go straight to the power amp.
I can use the Eden preamp for one bass and a Sansamp BDDI or Alembic F-1X for the other. If the basses are similar in output I can get away with an A/B switch. On most amps you can use the effects loop return jack for the same purpose as long as it doesn't interrupt the signal from the amplifiers preamp.
I have two G&L SB-1 basses. They are of the passive P bass type, like your Squier. But they have the highest output of any bass I've owned including several active ones. You never know. The biggest difference is in the sound. Passives sound different than actives. Cheap actives tend to not sound great, be aware.
That's the squeak sound your fingers make when you slide them on the strings. It's true that you may hear it more with an active bass because they don't lose treble over the guitar cable like passives do. But of course you can always turn down the treble knob if it's a problem.
Don’t want to tell you what you should do but I’ll tell you what my experience is with active EMG pickups without any kind of additional electronic sound control device associated to them.
I got an EMG PAX pickup on my super-roadwork Fender Classic ‘50s P-bass.
Two controls, as usual, volume and tone; everything is solderless and provided by EMG with the exception of the knobs.
The pickup has got AlNiCo V magnets and the newest model of active pickup preamp developed by EMG, the so-called X-series preamp.
The pickup is powerful and clear at all volume and tone levels; it is sparky and gnarly when required, all-in-all producing a sound which I’d define reminiscent of the pickups Fender installed on their mid-‘70s P-basses.
Probably it’s not much period-correct for a ‘50s bass but my intent was not that of preserving the instrument’s integrity in this regard.
Coupled with a set of flatwound strings, this pickup sounds really good and cut very, very well through any kind of mix with a tone spectrum easily ranging from “It’s on” from George Duke (studio record version) to what can be heard on Herbie Hancock’s “Hang up your hang ups” on the “Man-Child” album.
So, at least in the case of a P-bass, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend getting one, also because of the interesting retail price.
On the other hand, I own a second P-bass with a rather cheap Seymour Duncan SPB-1 pickup installed on it and it sounds really vintage, which I like as well.
There is a lot of other very good passive and vintage-sounding P-bass pickups on the market (generally more expensive that the above one, however).
In the end, the one to choose has to be to your liking and the choice is up to you.
I got an EMG PAX pickup on my super-roadwork Fender Classic ‘50s P-bass.
Two controls, as usual, volume and tone; everything is solderless and provided by EMG with the exception of the knobs.
The pickup has got AlNiCo V magnets and the newest model of active pickup preamp developed by EMG, the so-called X-series preamp.
The pickup is powerful and clear at all volume and tone levels; it is sparky and gnarly when required, all-in-all producing a sound which I’d define reminiscent of the pickups Fender installed on their mid-‘70s P-basses.
Probably it’s not much period-correct for a ‘50s bass but my intent was not that of preserving the instrument’s integrity in this regard.
Coupled with a set of flatwound strings, this pickup sounds really good and cut very, very well through any kind of mix with a tone spectrum easily ranging from “It’s on” from George Duke (studio record version) to what can be heard on Herbie Hancock’s “Hang up your hang ups” on the “Man-Child” album.
So, at least in the case of a P-bass, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend getting one, also because of the interesting retail price.
On the other hand, I own a second P-bass with a rather cheap Seymour Duncan SPB-1 pickup installed on it and it sounds really vintage, which I like as well.
There is a lot of other very good passive and vintage-sounding P-bass pickups on the market (generally more expensive that the above one, however).
In the end, the one to choose has to be to your liking and the choice is up to you.
A Fender Rumble 350. I got a buzz that wouldn't go away when I ran direct and was told by a tech that the circuit board was fried. He said the biggest culprit was not engaging the -db limiter but also said that the line out volume was connected to the main volume as opposed to having a separate electrical path/knob which meant that every time I turned the thing on, I was doing damage to the line out signal. This is a problem many combo amps have apparently which is a big reason I switched to a separate head unit. I use the limiter but I also made for damn sure my main volume and line out volume were separated.
Same here. My P bass pickup is so hot you'd almost think it was active.
"Sedentary" basses sound mushy compared to active basses.BTW, let's ditch the "inactive" and call them the industry standard term "passive." "Inactive" makes us sound lazy for using them
