Active Vs Passive basses. Is it even worth caring about?

[Ric5]

I'm shopping for a new bass. Currently I'm looking at an active bass. I have bad experiences with an active bass in the past. Came from factory with a defect that rendered the bridge pickup un-usable. I also found it's tone to be excessively bright even when backing off the treble.

I'd like to not let one bad experience ruin active basses for me so i thought I would get some opinions.

I have 15 basses ... 7 are active ... 6 of the 7 have a 4 band audere preamp. John East also makes good 3 band preamps with sweepable mids. Some preamps, especially 2 band ones, do not sound good to me.

I also like my passive basses, I have basses that I took out the preamp and I like it better passive. Getting a bass to sound good is an art ... pickups, tone pots, capacitors, preamps, tone wood, maple vs rosewood, etc ... so passive and active basses can both suck and can both rock.

 

[fhm555]

My #1 is an active bass, but when I bought another active bass, the stock preamp failed just over a year in. My repair guy suggested I replace it with a better preamp so I bought a popular drop in and discovered it had too many options. I could find good tones but i couldn’t quickly return to the same settings short of lots of practice with the thing, a luxury I did not have at the time so I tried another, and another, and…
LSS, I burned through a bunch of preamps before giving up and putting humbuckers in a standard Jazz with stock Fender controls. I’ve now got two such j basses each with a different set of humbuckers but both running through stock Fender VVT control circuits. When compared to my #1 they are both one trick ponies, but they do what I need them to do and I’ve still got an active bass with a simple control layout that covers anything my other two basses can’t.

 

[Altitude]

They're mainly redundant.

An onboard preamp is an EQ section with varying effect upon strength of the output signal. You have an EQ section at your amp and maybe one on a pedalboard too. If you play gigs with FOH, once your signal goes out your DI it ends up in a soundboard where the FOH guy has yet another EQ section. Those all do the same thing as a preamp, other than when the preamp EQ curve is very specifically intended towards the instrument, like with a Stingray.

 

[bassliner50]

Always passive for me. Active is an unnecessary rabbit hole. And *YES* it is worth caring (aka thinking) about.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

I have both active and passive basses. All of my active basses (except my EBMM Stingray5) have an active/passive switch.

That said, let me dispel some myths:

1. Your battery will die on a gig: No it won't if you are diligent about changing your batteries. Two of my basses have a low battery indicator on them that will blink when the battery is getting low. I've tested to see how long it will blink before the battery goes completely dead. It was a LONG time. Secondly, batteries don't just "die", they slowly fade away over time. You might notice you get some distortion or lower output. That's an indicator that your battery is on the way out. The only way your battery will die on a gig is if you never change it until no more sound comes out of your bass. That's pretty foolish.
2. Passive basses are more "vintage" sounding / active basses are "modern" sounding. Complete and utter hogwash. An active bass typically has an EQ. My preamp of choice is the John East preamp. You can configure his preamp to have a flat response or a preshape. The preshape has a great vintage tone. Warm and fat. If your active bass sounds "modern" it's because you have a preamp that is coloring the signal to make it sound that way. It has nothing to do with active/passive. An active bass will typically have a volume increase (although quality preamps allow you to attenuate the active output to match it to the passive) and you will get a little brighter top end as the pickups won't be loaded as much and the cable length won't come into play. But most of us are plugging into a buffered pedal of some sort. If you don't want the extra top end, roll off the treble control or use the passive tone control many preamps include. With a passive bass, you get what you get. You might be able to cut top end using a tone control and some passive basses have a bass cut function as well...but you're very limited. An active bass can be whatever you decide it is.
3. Active basses are too much to fiddle with. Again, it's your choice. You can fiddle with it, or you can set it and forget it. That's what I do most of the time. I seldom use the onboard EQ except for minor tweaks. I run an external preamp as well and that is where my major EQ comes from as well as my DI. If you want to fiddle with the EQ and the myriad of internal DIP switches and pots some preamps have...you can do that. Or you can just play it the way it comes out of the box. That's all up to you. You DO NOT have to fiddle with an active bass to make it sound good. Set everything at noon and go play. You will get a great tone if it's a good bass.
4. I'm old school and I don't like active basses Great. I'm 50 years old, so I'm old school too. That's why I love active basses. They have been around since the 60's (perhaps earlier??). That's pretty old school. A good quality preamp will have a passive switch. Why? Well, it's not a "bail out" switch if the battery dies (see point #1). It's just another tonal option. The John East preamp I mentioned above has two circuits in it. One is active and one is completely passive. The two share nothing. The volume has two circuits. Same with the tone control which works in active or passive mode. You can set the bass up to have a great passive tone, the flip the switch to dial in a different tone with your EQ. Then you can go between them with the flip of a switch (or the pull of a knob). An active bass can do everything a passive one can do...and more. Not true the other way around.

I love my passive bass. I've owned many, but currently only have one. A P bass with LaBella flatwounds. It's my one trick pony. The rest of my basses are all active. Two of them have the John East preamp. One of them is a G&L L-2500 and the active mode on that bass doesn't impact the EQ which is cut only. It does have a treble boost mode, but that's it. It's really more about pushing a stronger signal. It's very transparent. My Stingray preamp is very usable. Not super flexible as there is no passive mode, no selectable EQ points, etc. It just a bass, mid, and treble control. It works. But John East does make a Stingray preamp which might find its way into that bass some day.

It's really not about one being better than the other. There have certainly been a lot of hit records made with passive basses. It's about options and the ability for a bass to cover more tonal ground. If that appeals to you, go active. If not, then passive is your huckleberry.

Excellent post and explanation, very thorough

As a topical sidenote, I also hear naysayers complain about how active basses react or interact with pedals or other preamps, causing distortion or negatively affecting the tone in some way.

IME, that's typically been a volume issue which can easily be solved by using....

wait for it...

THE VOLUME KNOB!


But to turn down the snark knob for a minute, using the volume knob on an active bass is actually a better situation than trying to do the same on a hot passive bass, as volume knob adjustments on passive basses will usually change the tone of the signal overall, and not just attenuate the volume. A workaround for a passive bass like that is to get an active volume adjustment pedal of some kind, but the point I'm making is the active bass would actually be the easier option in the given scenario.

And yes, many reputable onboard preamps will either have a passive switch or have the tone unaffected with the EQ knobs set to middle. That's been my experience with the Audere preamps, which I highly recommend for any bass.

 

[chadhargis]

Excellent post and explanation, very thorough

As a topical sidenote, I also hear naysayers complain about how active basses react or interact with pedals or other preamps, causing distortion or negatively affecting the tone in some way.

IME, that's typically been a volume issue which can easily be solved by using....

wait for it...

THE VOLUME KNOB!


But to turn down the snark knob for a minute, using the volume knob on an active bass is actually a better situation than trying to do the same on a hot passive bass, as volume knob adjustments on passive basses will usually change the tone of the signal overall, and not just attenuate the volume. A workaround for a passive bass like that is to get an active volume adjustment pedal of some kind, but the point I'm making is the active bass would actually be the easier option in the given scenario.

And yes, many reputable onboard preamps will either have a passive switch or have the tone unaffected with the EQ knobs set to middle. That's been my experience with the Audere preamps, which I highly recommend for any bass.

Ah yes...I forgot about that myth. That active basses are too high output. Yeah...duh...turn it down. Never quite understood the need for amps or pedals to have an "active" input. None of my active basses, even ones running an 18V preamp, have ever overdriven an input stage of a device. They might push a compressor a little more, but turning up the threshold usually solves that issue.....or....using the volume knob.

 

[E2942]

If I'm going for value-for-money, I'm not going to buy Active, because they usually just tack a crappy preamp onto some crappy passive pickups to accomplish the version for cost effectiveness.
Ibanez is very very guilty of that!

 

[HazeGray]

I prefer passive with an EQ pedal near last in the chain if I am playing through effects. I want my signal to be consistent when it hits comps, filters or drives. Adjusting an onboard preamp can throw all of that out of whack.

 

[Jazzdogg]

So, this is just my experience, and like i said, the bass has electrical problems, but if I use the bridge pickup I have to change the battery every other week if not more

I wouldn't spend too much mental energy conflating the behavior of a defective active instrument with other active instruments.

 

[bobdabilder]

I prefer the ability to cut highs and boost the lows a little when we need that sound. Can't do that on a passive bass only. So I prefer active basses.

I'm shopping for a new bass. Currently I'm looking at an active bass. I have bad experiences with an active bass in the past. Came from factory with a defect that rendered the bridge pickup un-usable. I also found it's tone to be excessively bright even when backing off the treble.

I'd like to not let one bad experience ruin active basses for me so i thought I would get some opinions.

 

[Dave W]

I only play actives these days on gigs. Out of 20 basses I have 2 that are passive and they usually only see rotation in the wood shed.
I’ve never had a battery die on me in 25 years of playing.
I don’t fiddle excessively with the controls. I dial in my sound during soundcheck, then make small adjustments during songs if I need a slightly different tone (I.E. to dial in a slap tone or similar).

 

[GroovyBaby]

I'm shopping for a new bass. Currently I'm looking at an active bass. I have bad experiences with an active bass in the past. Came from factory with a defect that rendered the bridge pickup un-usable. I also found it's tone to be excessively bright even when backing off the treble.

I'd like to not let one bad experience ruin active basses for me so i thought I would get some opinions.

If you don't have a strong opinion, then probably not. Myself, I strongly prefer passive basses. This means that if it is active, I like to have a passive bypass option. But really, I just don't use active and have sold everything that is. That said, there are some benefits playing live in shaping your tone from the stage. I tend to set it and forget it.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I have some of both, but I prefer passive.
The only advantage of the active is having the eq close at hand for live playing.

 

[JRA]

I'd like to not let one bad experience ruin active basses for me so i thought I would get some opinions.

i agree with you and others: don't let one blip define the whole experience. (give pres a chance! )

i've had long periods of preferring one system (passive vs. active) over the other, but as it turns out: i want to use them both. passive axes seem to be straightforward, no fuss, always reliable, and actives are fun for the options that passives don't inherently possess. in that "what if you could only pick one" scenario, i'd have a rough time choosing, but the top two or three contenders in my stable would be passive.

that said, i agree with all of those who are suggesting that you pick an instrument based on feel/balance/'ergonomics' first.

good luck with any/all of them!

 

[MisticoRitualista]

Ive owned an active bass (music man stingray) but I sold it & prefer passive basses, have a jazz style that I built myself with Bartolinis & precision style fretless with Dimarzios... active basses tend to have a hotter signal which can change the sound of effects pedals vs passive basses, sure you could dial them in accordingly but I prefer the passive output.

 

[Cave Puppy]

Yes it's worth caring about if you are considering a new bass. Active/passive is becoming the standard. As others have mentioned most of them have active/passive switches to switch between the two.

 

[sonojono]

Bought this bass for the looks. I can choose to get a different preamp that’s active/passive and will not lose sleep over the decision.

 

[SJLee]

People always throw batteries out there when discussing the cons for active basses like it's the black plague, yet nobody is saying that about the remote control in their living room, their smoke detectors, their vehicles, etc, etc.

I find that odd.

It’s not odd if you leave a bass accidentally plugged in overnight and come back to a dead bass.

 

[Cave Puppy]

If you're only looking for pure output an active bass provides, there are lots of passive pickup choices that are high output, passive G&L MFDs come to mind first. They are HOT!

 

[drumvsbass]

I think a passive P-bass (or a J if you're fancy) is all the bass anyone really needs, yet currently all of my gigging basses are active...

Curious, of the people that play active basses, how many use the eq to drastically change the tone of the instrument, either as a momentary thing or a 'this is my tone' kind of thing. I'd bet that 50% would say they have an active bass that they use the EQ very sparingly. A little boost here a little cut there. Just to sweeten the sauce. The next largest percentage would be the 'pin the bass' types. 2 band Stingrays do this brilliantly. Then the 'knob twiddling, never happy' types. These are usually boutique basses with custom EVERYTHING, that the owner is trying to make sound like a Jazz Bass. Then the real tone shapers who are chameleons and tone magicians. These dudes always have killer tone and it has to do with control in the moment of listening and could probably care less whether it was active of passive, it's just a tool. And coming in last would be the 'I've got the oldest flats in the world on my strange home built fretless Carl Thompson tribute 6 string and I have the Treble CRANKED!!! These are a dangerous sort of bassist, to be avoided. Les Claypool is one for sure. ***

The only real thing going against an active bass is if the battery dies and there is either no Passive/active switch, or worse the bass sounds like terrible when in passive mode.

*** I forgot one type. The Korny Feildy. Their tone is