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

[Rob Curry]

My first bass was a passive SG copy - nearly 40 years ago - everything else since then has been active. Early encounters with P basses helped steer me this way. Subsequently I’ve never owned a Fender or Squire bass because of my initial impressions. Maybe if there had been a Jazz bass around for me to try back then, I might have diversified a bit! I wouldn’t let one bad experience with an active spoil it for you.
Battery life has never been an issue for me. I can always hear when the battery is fading regardless of the brand of bass. I’ve never had any that just suddenly died. Never been drawn to passives assuming the lack of tone variation to be a big limitation for what I play. That’s just my preference. If you get a tone and a neck you like, then go for it!

 

[tvbop]

Passive for me only. I'm only interested in weight and what my fingers do.....These threads are kinda academic and only matter if you play ur own amp without support. Once you go in the studio or use FOH it dont matter what u play.....the sound/producer dudes will do their thing rendering the nuances of ur particular bass redundant.

 

[Boomer777]

My passive 96 J bass is a beast as far as output - I dont get it - ditto for my Squier Vintage P bass - My old 95 Peavey TL-5 is an absolute beast as well as it is active only - I also have a Squier 51 P bass that has sitting in it a Semour Duncan Phat PU that is so phat n creamy - in fact the last three gigs I have used that 51 (passive) - I am blessed that any bass any day/night works magically. Now, my sort of problem child is my new Sire P7 a wonderful instrument - lots of knobs n half positional switches and is both active and passive - I took it to rehearsal the other day and had been playing it at home in passive mode sounded amazing with my Fender Rumble 200 n Rumble 500 - When I get to practice there is a high end boutique set up and I plugged in and practically had no signal in passive - flip the switch to active and like WOW! - Obviously I did not check the box of checking amp to see if it had been set on active mode - I am like 75% passive minded n as always at a gig as it gets progressively louder am never left short going active

 

[willddd]

My passive 96 J bass is a beast as far as output - I dont get it - ditto for my Squier Vintage P bass - My old 95 Peavey TL-5 is an absolute beast as well as it is active only - I also have a Squier 51 P bass that has sitting in it a Semour Duncan Phat PU that is so phat n creamy - in fact the last three gigs I have used that 51 (passive) - I am blessed that any bass any day/night works magically. Now, my sort of problem child is my new Sire P7 a wonderful instrument - lots of knobs n half positional switches and is both active and passive - I took it to rehearsal the other day and had been playing it at home in passive mode sounded amazing with my Fender Rumble 200 n Rumble 500 - When I get to practice there is a high end boutique set up and I plugged in and practically had no signal in passive - flip the switch to active and like WOW! - Obviously I did not check the box of checking amp to see if it had been set on active mode - I am like 75% passive minded n as always at a gig as it gets progressively louder am never left short going active

There's a little attenuation dial thingy on the preamp (take the pickguard off) for getting unity between passive and active. Dial it back until active and passive are the same or similar output.

 

[tvbop]

Just to get off the tech stuff for a moment. If ur gonna play in a 10 piece jazz fusion outfit with lots of keys, horns and the "kitchen sink " thrown in then active will cut thru in its own space kinda Jaco honk style...Everything else, passive.

 

[pjbassist]

Active