I was watching a video in which the bass player said he preferred playing his passive Fenders through his Tone Hammer while playing his active Fedora and Warwick through the AG. I’ve never owned both an active and a passive bass at the same time, so it made me wonder: does whether your bass is passive or active dictate your amp choice?
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Active vs. passive bass: does it dictate your amp choice
- Thread starter Maurice L
- Start date
No.
I own both active basses and one passive bass.
All of them sound equally great through my rig (Mesa Subway 115s and WD-800). Just very minor tweaks are needed.
I own both active basses and one passive bass.
All of them sound equally great through my rig (Mesa Subway 115s and WD-800). Just very minor tweaks are needed.
No.
It's conceivable I would choose based on how well a bass and amp work together, but I does not have anything to do with active VS passive.
The speaker is another significant part of the equation. Ideally, bass, amp, and speaker combine to produce gestalt. So you really need to consider all three.
It's conceivable I would choose based on how well a bass and amp work together, but I does not have anything to do with active VS passive.
The speaker is another significant part of the equation. Ideally, bass, amp, and speaker combine to produce gestalt. So you really need to consider all three.
Amp, no. Settings, yes. Another WD-800 player here. It has an active/passive switch, but I leave it set on passive because that amp sounds great with a hotter input. I’d rather have one versatile amp than several different ones, which certainly factors into that opinion.
I put yes, but it's really" sometimes "
It'll often be an active bass into my Berg BAmp and HG410, but quite often not...
And usually be a passive into my tube amps, but quite often not.
It'll often be an active bass into my Berg BAmp and HG410, but quite often not...
And usually be a passive into my tube amps, but quite often not.
well, I do own both passive and active basses, but probably don't own that many amps (that's 6 ATM tho), so I don't have a different favourite amp for different basses. all my amps sound good with active or passive basses, but that's just me.
I can imagine someone having a situation like "this bass sounds best in this amp and another in another one", but I think, it's more relevant for heavy colored amps, which I don't have. the TH is one of them, so that explains a lot.
I can imagine someone having a situation like "this bass sounds best in this amp and another in another one", but I think, it's more relevant for heavy colored amps, which I don't have. the TH is one of them, so that explains a lot.
Not exactly. I usually play active basses all the time, but have a variety of 9V and 18v, and some are much hotter (or have much less headroom) than others. Sometimes that means I’ll grab the higher wattage amp card the lower wattage amp.
I.E. I don’t use my V4B and Spector together, I’ll usually grab my SVT instead. Both sound awesome, but I can’t get the clean volume I need with the V4B/Spector combo.
However, the V4B sounds amazing with plenty of volume with my J basses.
I.E. I don’t use my V4B and Spector together, I’ll usually grab my SVT instead. Both sound awesome, but I can’t get the clean volume I need with the V4B/Spector combo.
However, the V4B sounds amazing with plenty of volume with my J basses.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Nope, since I don't ever use passive basses. My DIY amps are all optimized at least a bit for actives though. Not for hotter levels so much, more for lower input impedance.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
I try to pay attention to the transducers at each end of the signal path, e.g. pickups, loudspeakers; pay attention to gain matching in between; and the interactions between the loudspeaker and it's environment at the far end of the signal chain.
I find that simple connections between high-quality components works best for me. The more I add, the worse things get.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
"This bass sounds best with this amp and speakers" is often true with double bass.
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
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I haven't found a reason (for myself) to select different amps depending on whether I'm using one of my own active or passive basses. However, I could see where depending on your bass and amplifier options someone could find one combination better than another.
i voted "no."
I flip the toggle thingy on my amp sometimes but the dB pad isn’t a perfect solution because some of my passive basses are hotter than some of my active.
I added a Source EQ2 and dialed each bass I own plus my baritone so the signal that hits the amp is close enough to uniform level.
Plus any problem that can be solved by buying a pedal is a good problem.
I added a Source EQ2 and dialed each bass I own plus my baritone so the signal that hits the amp is close enough to uniform level.
Plus any problem that can be solved by buying a pedal is a good problem.
Input impedance is what I thought of, reading the OP, though I play mostly passive instruments.
I am mindful of the effects that too low (at least for my taste) an impedance can have with some passive setups (and especially piezo pickups), but haven't given much thought to the benefits a lower impedance might have for active instruments. I always thought of it as something you could "get away with," but perhaps there are benefits of which I'm unaware. Care to clue me in?
Aside from that (back to the OP), no, I don't think "I'm going to use this amp or the other because this bass is active/passive," though I'll acknowledge that some instruments pair better with certain rigs than others. I probably wouldn't play an active six-string through a B-15, for instance (though, for all I know, it might sound great -- I'd watch those low notes, though).
Re. tube amps (though I don't know how much this has to do with the "tube" part), I've noticed that putting a pedal between a passive bass and my Shaw B-150 (or the Jule Monique I used to have) reduced the interaction between the instrument and the controls on the amp (or preamp, in the case of the Jule -- I recall this with regard to the Sensitivity control, in particular). I guess that's the point of a "buffer," though, and I guess that's some of what you get with an active bass!
EDIT: Re. the Sensitivity control on the Jule Monique, I believe that one of the parameters it influences is input impedance (there is some discussion of that starting here, in the Monique thread). That might explain some of the (for me, positive) effect I noted with a passive bass straight in (vs. an active bass or with some sort of buffer in-between), but it's been a long time since I played through one.
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I'm just a passive-P guy myself, but it makes sense to me that if you're using an active bass because its preamp colors your tone in a particular way you'd probably want a more transparent amp, but if you're using a passive bass you might choose an amp that colors your tone in a particular way.
Input impedance is what I thought of, reading the OP, though I play mostly passive instruments.
I am mindful of the effects that too low (at least for my taste) an impedance can have with some passive setups (and especially piezo pickups), but haven't given much thought to the benefits a lower impedance might have for active instruments. I always thought of it as something you could "get away with," but perhaps there are benefits of which I'm unaware. Care to clue me in?
AFAIK the impedance has less effect on active basses.
Most modern amps have an input impedance of 1M or higher.
Interestingly, Radial chose an input impedance of 220K for their J48.
From the J48 FAQ:
My guitar amplifier has an input impedance of 1-Mohm. The J48 has an input impedance of 220-kohm. Why would there be any difference?
Traditionally a 1 meg-ohm input has been used on amplifiers and DI boxes, as it was the standard on TUBE amps. Back in 2001, we discovered that a 1 meg load on a tube circuit sounds very different than it does on a solid state circuit. This is likely why so many players dislike solid state gear! We noticed that when given a choice, 220k tends to be the choice that most players prefer with solid state direct boxes. Because of this, we set the input impedance of the J48 and Pro48™ at 220k.
Traditionally a 1 meg-ohm input has been used on amplifiers and DI boxes, as it was the standard on TUBE amps. Back in 2001, we discovered that a 1 meg load on a tube circuit sounds very different than it does on a solid state circuit. This is likely why so many players dislike solid state gear! We noticed that when given a choice, 220k tends to be the choice that most players prefer with solid state direct boxes. Because of this, we set the input impedance of the J48 and Pro48™ at 220k.
I own a Radial JDI, which is essentially a J48 with a different feature set to include user selectable input impedances: 220K, 1Meg, 10Meg. I tried all three with my #1 active bass and preferred 1Meg. However, the difference was barely discernable, and I could see why someone might choose a different impedance. IMHO it depends on your tone goals. In a live mix I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference.
