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Active vs. Inactive

#86
BSGBass said:
The two basses I own have active EMG pickups. I love my sound from them. When my band plays songs that require a tune-down, I play my guitar player's Squier.

Just wondering why you change basses to tune down active to passive?
Is it just for convenience?(not having to detune & retune, for a song)?
if so I would stick with what you like or get something you want to get. personally I would get something I'm curious about. I have & love both,but I shy away from Active because i don't like worrying about carrying spare batteries with me(my 2¢). but you do you GL.
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#88
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#89
David Jayne said:
I almost never slap or pop but still generally prefer roundwound strings. Playing flats compared to rounds is like playing two entirely different instruments. IMO.
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Different is different but it’s a matter of getting used to things ... after trying TI JF344 there are no other strings whatsoever (rounds or flats) I’d like to use but they aren’t cheap :crying::crying::crying::crying:

Edit:

Luckily, I’m giving less importance now to a a-la-Jaco tone .. in fact, I believe that, using flats, it’s difficult to get a cutting bridge pickup tone with a J-bass, especially with full passive electronics
 
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#91
jlepre said:
Kind of defeats the reason for an active bass for me.
Click to expand...
Why? You get the same controls as of your usual passive setup .. on the other hand, the signal is more powerful and super clean/clear, whereas the battery has got a very long duration (often more than one/two years, depending on the bass’ usage modalities) if compared to that of basses equipped with passive pickups and an onboard parametric preamp!
If the pickup sounds good (as in the case of the EMG PAX for example), the active pickup approach may represent a truly solid and effective solution, especially for bass players involved in studio recording.
The only real problem may be that of trying to install a battery in a bass that will not take it without routing the body; in that case, I’d look for a suitable passive setup.
 
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#92
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Why? You get the same controls as of your usual passive setup .. on the other hand, the signal is more powerful and super clean/clear, whereas the battery has got a very long duration (often more than one/two years, depending on the bass’ usage modalities) if compared to that of basses equipped with passive pickups and an onboard parametric preamp!
If the pickup sounds good (as in the case of the EMG PAX for example), the active pickup approach may represent a truly solid and effective solution, especially for bass players involved in studio recording.
The only real problem may be that of trying to install a battery in a bass that will not take it without routing the body; in that case, I’d try to look for a suitable passive setup.
Click to expand...
I use my active basses for more tone shaping. I sing lead and am the front person, so I can't go back to the head very often. Helps when I need more during a set.
 
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#93
jlepre said:
Kind of defeats the reason for an active bass for me.
Click to expand...

You can box an onboard preamp, or multiple preamps, and run them on the floor. There were guys that racked them to incorporate into their switching scheme back when that was a thing.

EMG active pickups always had a preamp built into the pickup housing, eq controls were an add on.
 
#94
jlepre said:
I use my active basses for more tone shaping. I sing lead and am the front person, so I can't go back to the head very often. Helps when I need more during a set.
Click to expand...
Very often, just adjusting the tone control can do miracles with the right combination of pickup(s) and strings.
However, this is subjective and I do understand your particular requirements.

Edit:

However, as @somebrains stated, EMG, for example, markets a whole set of onboard preamps for their active pickups.
The same does Seymour Duncan.
 
#95
There seem to be a lot of generalizations and half-truths in this thread.

Just on the subject of EMGs alone, I'd like to point out:
  • The definition of what we mean by "preamp" can be "a simple gain stage", or "tone controls that can boost as well as cut", or both
  • Active EMG pickups contain a small(ish) coil and magnet assembly, which by itself would have a low output; the internal preamp is just a gain stage to bring the level back up to that of a healthy passive pickup
  • There are two versions of this internal preamp - the original, and the updated "X" series, which was designed to have more headroom and a more "organic" response (whatever that means)
  • Active EMG pickups are sold with a volume pot, a tone pot, knobs, a jack, and wiring to connect them all
    • The ones using the original preamp typically come with a passive tone knob
    • The ones with the X series preamp come with an active tone knob, called a VLPF (Variable Low Pass Filter)
  • Active EMG pickups can be used with:
    • The volume and/or tone knobs that they come with
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") that EMG sells (two-band BTC/BTS, three-band BQC/BQS, etc.)
    • Nearly all of the active tone circuits ("preamps") sold by other manufacturers (Nordstrand, Bartolini, East, etc.)
    • Or any combination of the above
  • EMG also makes passive pickups, such as the HZ line, the GZR, and others
  • Passive EMGs are sold with a volume pot, a tone pot, knobs, a jack, and wiring to connect them all
  • Passive EMG pickups can be used with:
    • The volume and/or tone knobs that they come with
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") that EMG sells (as above)
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") sold by other manufacturers (as above)
    • Or any combination of the above
  • Active pickups require a battery(*)
  • Passive pickups do not require a battery
  • Active pickups with active tone controls require a battery; the battery can power both
  • Passive pickups with active tone controls require a battery to power the tone controls
  • Active pickups cannot(*) have an active/passive switch
  • Passive pickups with active tone controls can have an active/passive switch
(*) technically you could run an active pickup passively, but the output would be so low as to be unusable
 
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#96
ctmullins said:
There seem to be a lot of generalizations and half-truths in this thread.

Just on the subject of EMGs alone, I'd like to point out:
  • The definition of what we mean by "preamp" can be "a simple gain stage", or "tone controls that can boost as well as cut", or both
  • Active EMG pickups contain a small(ish) coil and magnet assembly, which by itself would have a low output; the internal preamp is just a gain stage to bring the level back up to that of a healthy passive pickup
  • There are two versions of this internal preamp - the original, and the updated "X" series, which was designed to have more headroom and a more "organic" response (whatever that means)
  • Active EMG pickups are sold with a volume pot, a tone pot, knobs, a jack, and wiring to connect them all
    • The ones using the original preamp typically come with a passive tone knob
    • The ones with the X series preamp come with an active tone knob, called a VLPF (Variable Low Pass Filter)
  • Active EMG pickups can be used with:
    • The volume and/or tone knobs that they come with
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") that EMG sells (two-band BTC/BTS, three-band BQC/BQS, etc.)
    • Nearly all of the active tone circuits ("preamps") sold by other manufacturers (Nordstrand, Bartolini, East, etc.)
    • Or any combination of the above
  • EMG also makes passive pickups, such as the HZ line, the GZR, and others
  • Passive EMGs are sold with a volume pot, a tone pot, knobs, a jack, and wiring to connect them all
  • Passive EMG pickups can be used with:
    • The volume and/or tone knobs that they come with
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") that EMG sells (as above)
    • Any of the active tone circuits ("preamps") sold by other manufacturers (as above)
    • Or any combination of the above
  • Active pickups require a battery(*)
  • Passive pickups do not require a battery
  • Active pickups with active tone controls require a battery; the battery can power both
  • Passive pickups with active tone controls require a battery to power the tone controls
  • Active pickups cannot(*) have an active/passive switch
  • Passive pickups with active tone controls can have an active/passive switch
(*) technically you could run an active pickup passively, but the output would be so low as to be unusable
Click to expand...
Factually correct.
Somebody should also try to make something with the thread’s title ...
 
#97
Here's another one for you, active pickups tend to require 1m pots or you get an/off effect with volume and/or unique tone stack interactions ala running a Haz preamp.

So since you guys are trying to inflate ideation by decoupling preamp from tone controls, I will state that you can take a raw tone control module and add pots of specific values to suit your install.

Just in case someone finds a rare preamp or a screaming deal on a preamp they think is only for active/passive. You can also add a blend pot or 2nd volume to a P/MM marketed preamp for dual pickup use.

Bartolini, Aguilar, Sadowsky, and others have marketed their onboard preamp in a pedal box
 

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