All basses should have a passive tone control. Period.

[MrLenny1]

All 4 of my axes are Active. I wish I had Active/Passive.
So now my wish list is a Sadowsky.

 

[timendous]

I agree. And I'll go one further: I don't like active treble at all. So for me, having mid and bass controls with passive tone is ideal. @Passinwind sent me a 2B preamp with mid and bass, I installed it with PTC and bypass and the results are great. @timendous knows what I'm talking about!

(all that said, I have 3B preamps in basses with PTC because it's easier to keep them like that than to "bypass" treble wiring)

This man tells no lies.

I am absolutely loving have active bass and mid control with a passive tone. It is awesome.

 

[ctmullins]

Perhaps one of you fervent advocates can describe why you are such fans of a PTC?

'Cause, I just don't see it.

 

[Killing Floor]

The more I think about I’ve decided to throw my old MM basses in the waste bin. No passive control, no rock’n’roll, mom always says.

 

[rojo412]

Perhaps one of you fervent advocates can describe why you are such fans of a PTC?

If you have bypass, it allows for softening the passive sound.
If you have it in active with PTC, you can "mellow out" the sound a bit.
It's practical, what else can I say?
Of course, everyone has their own tastes. I could ask why people put green peppers on pizza instead of jalapenos... to each their own!

 

[ctmullins]

If you have bypass, it allows for softening the passive sound.
If you have it in active with PTC, you can "mellow out" the sound a bit.
It's practical, what else can I say?
Of course, everyone has their own tastes. I could ask why people put green peppers on pizza instead of jalapenos... to each their own!

Thanks, but more specifically - what does a PTC do that an active treble cut doesn't do?

Is it the resonant peak when the PTC is rolled all the way off? Or something else?

 

[rojo412]

I hear a difference between "cutting active treble" and "rolling the tone back." Not sure of a better way to quantify it, but you may have it right.
Mostly I use it to just have a simple "taming" of the dialed in active sound.
(And it's not like I dislike basses without them, my 89 SR5 is not going anywhere for lacking of PTC, I guarantee that)

 

[Snert]

"You vill ave ze passive tone pot and you vill be happy..."

But I believe all of them should have an overall tone knob in addition to fancy EQs.

Good for you. I've never found the need for one.

 

[J Wilson]

Active is just fine with me. If you don't like it, that's fine too.

But often I really think where active gets the bad rap is you take this:

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Not singling out the wonderful Audere products, just a handy image of onboard EQ

. . . . and run it into something like this:

One of @agedhorse's finest: Note the very complete EQ suite.

Often with something like this between them, if not the usual pedalboard full of who knows what . . .

. . . . and then guys wonder why they prefer passive. Hell, stack that all up in a row, no wonder. Then they wanna know if changing strings will help their tone. . . . I'm no fan of passive pickups hooked up to random preamps, I far prefer genuine LoZ setups like OG EMG's and their circuits or one of Alembic's setups for active. With good cables, thank you. On the other hand I have passive axes, and a Squier Cont Act Jazz 5 with add-only treble/bass and a passive tone. They all work just fine.

 

[FunkHead]

No thanks, the last thing I need is another knob.

Worst setup ever for a that’s what she said joke.

 

[Snert]

Hell, stack that all up in a row, no wonder.

Why? You can use it all or only part of it and jno one is holding a gun to your head to use it all.

As for MFX, my personal experience is that they are predominantly used for FX, not EQ, but even so, if having a bunch of knobs on gear is too triggering for people how do they cope with modern smart phones or PCs? Or when they go into a studio to record? Or a large gig with a plethora of controls and maybe outboard gear?

 

[BlueTalon]

Also on my bucket list is the Glockenklang onboard pre w/ a similar idea - the treble knob becomes a tone knob in passive mode.

That's how it works on my Maruszczyk (with Maruszczyk's own preamp).

 

[pcake]

i agree.

years ago, i was playing a friend's ibanez at a jam when the battery gave out. the bass had no passive mode, so that disappointingly ended our jam for the evening, cut short because he didn't have any extra batteries.

 

[jj.833]

If you don't understand how the EQ works, how could adding more knobs help?

 

[Polfuste]

The preamp of my Markbass Kimandu is equipped with an active 3 bands correction, two volumes and a passive tonality. This feature is really cool: i set the 3 bands as i like, i play with the two volumes setting as a traditionnal jazzbass for sound definition, and the passive tonality helps me to set up the overall presence of sound: if i need some cool moment, i roll off tonality. If i need more treble-medium presence, i open it. I don't touch the 3 bands setting when it's ok. I play only with the tonality.

 

[timendous]

I just picked up a Sire v7 last night which has a PTC. I haven't had a ton of time to play it yet, but between the bass that Adam put together for me and the Sire, I am becoming a big fan of passive tone control.

I don't have the frequency analyzing software or ability that some do on here but there is a definite difference between rolling back the tone knob and cutting the treble.

Now, this may sound like nonsense and I am very aware it may be all in my head, but I enjoy the sound of the tone knob rolled back and the treble boosted.

 

[Passinwind]

Now, this may sound like nonsense and I am very aware it may be all in my head, but I enjoy the sound of the tone knob rolled back and the treble boosted.

It's not all in your head, read up on the classic Pultec EQ for a different take on something similar. And lots of people have come to enjoy using a variable high pass filter and a boosted bass control to find different play feels on the low end side as well.

 

[bass12]

I’ve never really thought about it, but I agree that the passive tone control on the Sadowsky preamp is very useful (partly because the treble control on that pre is boost-only). I often find myself rolling off the passive control and boosting the treble control.

 

[landrybass]

I have an active bass with a tone knob that only works in passive mode. Problem is, the pickups are so low output that passive mode is sort of an emergency last resort mode, and I guess you might want a tone control then but it’s a fairly unlikely scenario for me. I’d probably have a backup bass to use first. But it’s a stacked knob on the volume pot so at least it’s not another extra stand alone knob that I never use. It just hides out under the volume.

 

[ClusterFlux]

I believe all of them should have an overall tone knob in addition to fancy EQs.

I prefer passive. But...

There is no magic to a tone knob. It's just a low-pass filter. There are lots of ways to add that function to your pedalboard.