Well J basses are passive, and I love those. I didn't say p-basses sucked. I said, and I quote "every p-bass I play sounds like mud." They are okay for certain types of music. Maybe it's just not the type of tone that fits me....
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Active vs. Passive
- Thread starter RAM
- Start date
Well I guess we can argue about output level (but then why do most amp manufacturers give you the choice of inputs with different sensitivities?); but any half decent active preamp signal will always have a better s/n ratio than a passive o/p, because they're designed that way; and are you really claiming that you can boost frequencies with a passive circuit? I'm afraid they don't work that way. ( I can give you a trip round the electrics of a passive circuit if you'd like me to...)
I am NOT an electric engineer, by no means, but I understand the basics (and some more). I do not claim that I understand how certain circuits work, but when the input indicator of my amp, as well as my ears tell me that there is a signal boost from a passive device, how can I ignore the hard facts?
I perefer passive, personally. Active basses that I've played have a too.. articulated tone. It's as if each note is it's own individual entity, while with a passive bass, the notes work together a bit better and seem more like a part of a song as opposed to each being their own individual entity and this allows them to groove a lot better.
IMO, IME, etc, of course.
IMO, IME, etc, of course.
BAH!! Active, passive, is not material. What's material is the ultimate sound of THIS BASS. I have both (4 active, 2 passive) and I'd never consider one "better" than the other. They're different but the basses are great either way. That means I find my Lakland Deluxe 4-94 to be just as great as my 26 year old Precision. They just do different things.
John
John
Done right, either sounds good. I have both and love them both, but I don't like worrying about the battery running out at the wrong time. I usually go with the Passive and leave it plugged in all the time at home and throughout the entire Gig. The Active I unplug when I am not playing it.
Active is preferable if I am playing with someone elses amp, it gives me more control. When I play with my amp I like the passive because the preamp in my Genz Benz head powered by 115V is far superior to the 9V preamp in my active bass.
Active is preferable if I am playing with someone elses amp, it gives me more control. When I play with my amp I like the passive because the preamp in my Genz Benz head powered by 115V is far superior to the 9V preamp in my active bass.
what I'm saying is i could make you a active preamp that reduced the output level introduces a ridiculous amount of noise and has no tone shaping what so ever. it would still be active
And I am I the only one who thinks doing your taxes is less complicated then adjusted all the settings on your gear? Damn, there are tone adjustments to made on the bass itself, your effects rig (cabs, modeling, effects), your EQ , your AMP, and then the PA/Mixer?
It's enough to make your head spin!
I realize that all this gives us more flexibility in to suit our preferences, and I personally do like the tone I get out of my active bass over my passive. But certainly would not blame anyone (given all the above mentioned adjustments) for just wanting to keep it simple when it comes to the bass itself, regardless of whether anything is lost in an active bass or not.
EQ is what my amp is for. Honestly, if I liked the pickups, I think I could probably play a bass with no volume or tone knobs at all and just a pickup switch.
Passive does NOT always mean SIMPLE. It means no batteries required. One of the basses that I frequently use, I run it in passive mode 99.9% of the times, yet, I am allowed to have more than 12 coil combinations, resulting in different tonal and output approaches.
I have an active bass which sounds great recorded and I love it, but I definitely prefer passives for no real particular reason. When I get on stage I just want to plug my bass in and go! I don't care to nitpick over EQ settings before/during/after every song... I'm more of the type to just set my amp where it seems to sound good, turn up the volume and just ****ing play my bass. Volume-Volume-Tone will get you where you need to go 98% of the time anyway, and if you absolutely need to tweak EQ, just do it at your amp inbetween songs.
I love the tone of an active bass when someone else is playing it. I've tried to embrace active electronics, and I have no problem sitting in with someone elses band and playing a Zon, or a Musicman, or a Modulus, but at the end of the day I prefer the tone that I can get out of a Ric, or a P bass.
I guess I don't really care about the versatility and tonal options so much as finding a tone that I really like and sticking with it.
I guess I don't really care about the versatility and tonal options so much as finding a tone that I really like and sticking with it.
I tend to stick with passive basses just to keep things simple. Especially when playing live. If I need to tweak my tone I can do that with the preamp in my amplifier. Many of the factory preamps I've tried seem to be there to compensate for poor pickups and design rather than improve the tone.
That said, high quality active bass preamps can really offer more and can also give an instrument its signature sound. For instance would you buy a Sadowsky bass without its preamp? How about a Wal? The preamp in a Wal is really part of the sound of the instrument and I doubt it would be the same without it. The MM Bongo I tried has a great preamp that I loved and gave it a lot of flexibility. I've never played an Alembic but they also have a sound I doubt would be there without its preamp. There are lots of good reasons for active basses but like anything else it can be done the right way, like a Sadowsky, or the wrong way, like my MIM Urge Std preamp, which really sucked (its gone now.)
One final point, no matter what bass you've got if you are playing through an amplifier then you are going through at least one preamp. There is no passive bass, unless you are playing an unamplified acoustic that is.
That said, high quality active bass preamps can really offer more and can also give an instrument its signature sound. For instance would you buy a Sadowsky bass without its preamp? How about a Wal? The preamp in a Wal is really part of the sound of the instrument and I doubt it would be the same without it. The MM Bongo I tried has a great preamp that I loved and gave it a lot of flexibility. I've never played an Alembic but they also have a sound I doubt would be there without its preamp. There are lots of good reasons for active basses but like anything else it can be done the right way, like a Sadowsky, or the wrong way, like my MIM Urge Std preamp, which really sucked (its gone now.)
One final point, no matter what bass you've got if you are playing through an amplifier then you are going through at least one preamp. There is no passive bass, unless you are playing an unamplified acoustic that is.
I tend to drink lots of cheap beer. I mean lots of beer.
Invariably at least some of this beer ends up on my bass and I've found through experience that a passive setup will hold up better through multiple beverage dousings. Funny thing that nobody's mentioned yet is that PBR and three-band EQs don't get along so well it turns out.
None of those coffee-table woods for me either. I need a thick and strong poly finish for the inevitable bar brawls. Those fancy woods don't hold up very well when stored behind the seat of my pickup too.
Also, a little-known fact, multiple applications of PBR to the strings gives them a very sweet vintage tone. Multiple applications of PBR to the player results in awesome vintage tone and perfect groove.
Yep, passive for me, and who needs more than four strings and maybe 20 or so frets. As we all know, there's no money in those higher registers.
You aren't a real man unless you're playing an ancient passive Precision with flats that's all beat to *&^% and smells like an old wh0r4house.
Invariably at least some of this beer ends up on my bass and I've found through experience that a passive setup will hold up better through multiple beverage dousings. Funny thing that nobody's mentioned yet is that PBR and three-band EQs don't get along so well it turns out.
None of those coffee-table woods for me either. I need a thick and strong poly finish for the inevitable bar brawls. Those fancy woods don't hold up very well when stored behind the seat of my pickup too.
Also, a little-known fact, multiple applications of PBR to the strings gives them a very sweet vintage tone. Multiple applications of PBR to the player results in awesome vintage tone and perfect groove.
Yep, passive for me, and who needs more than four strings and maybe 20 or so frets. As we all know, there's no money in those higher registers.
You aren't a real man unless you're playing an ancient passive Precision with flats that's all beat to *&^% and smells like an old wh0r4house.
Has to be some other reason. Pickups generate a small electrical signal (varies according to the design of the pickup but is a few tens of millivolts). The electrics pass that signal on to the output. If the signal at the output jack is bigger than the one the pickups are sending, there has to be an extra dose of electricity coming from somewhere. This is basic physics. Passive circuits by definition don't add anything. However it might look, a passive circuit will never, ever, produce more power than you already have from the pickups themselves for the simple reason that it is not physically capable of it.
Well yes you could, but with all due respect why would you want to? I was assuming that we're talking about real circuits that are used in real instruments, rather than creating circuits deliberately designed badly just to prove you can.
