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Anyone going back to passive basses?

#103
Munjibunga said:
No.
Click to expand...

Ha, same here.

In fact, I went from active pre and passive pups, to all out active pups and pre. Which bothered me at first, because of the need for batteries.
But the clarity and evenness in the volume of the notes, high and low, make me want to stay with actives.

I haven't played enough passives in music stores, or maybe not high enough quality ones to convince me otherwise.

I installed a preamp bypass switch on all my basses, and I have all of them wired volume - volume, so I can enjoy a preamp free sound, which I guess is not really passive...but I wish it was.
 
#107
On my Carvin Icon I just pull a nob outward and it switches into passive. I tend to play active for alternative worship music so that I can get real nice, controlled low tones that I can easily shape between each song. But for punk rock and such, I usually go passive since there seems to be a bit more clarity between each note. Being able to switch back and forth is pretty sweet. But I doubt I'd buy a bass if it didn't have an active mode.
 
#109
I never really played an active bass that I could afford. I played a 70's Musicman Stingray (3 band eq) for a while that I liked, but it never got a fair shot, wearing SS Rotosounds probably as old as the bass. It was definitely my favorite of all the actives I have ever come across and I can't seem to find a contemporary Stingray that I like as much, even the Classics. That said, the tone was still too much of "one thing" and it left me unsatisfied in many regards after playing it a while. I was fortunate to have the pick of a pretty impressive stable of basses for a while and another from that batch was a Fodera Yin-Yang, which just did not do it for me at all. EMG PJ setup, Pope pre, the whole nine. After having what some may consider some of the best examples of Active basses at my disposal, I figured that if I didn't get comfortable with those, there probably weren't many that I would be with. Before and since then I owned my share of cheesy, sub par onboard pre's: TonePump, Phat EQ, MEC, Fender...

Would love to try a Sadowski but the outboard pre I tried failed to impress me as well. So I guess you could say I never really went 'active' in the first place. If I happen to come across one I like, then I shall rock it. I'm certainly not predisposed to like passive only, just haven't found an active I like yet.
 
#111
MrUsefulAlien said:
...the clarity and evenness in the volume of the notes, high and low, make me want to stay with actives.

I haven't played enough passives in music stores, or maybe not high enough quality ones to convince me otherwise.
Click to expand...

Try a bass with Harvey Citron humbuckers in a passive wiring harness, it may make a believer out of you. My Martin Keith Elfins sound amazing for a passive bass. But then again, my March '73 4001 with it's original toaster pickup in the neck position along with the '60s rebuilt magnetic horseshoe pickup sounds really amazing, too. :bassist: :bassist: :bassist:
 
#114
I just got an American Standard Jazz, my first passive bass in over 25 years. I'm having a GK3B pickup put on it to use with the Roland V-Bass. I'm looking forward to playing this bass as it played nice and was also easy to play during the little time I spent with it in the store.

Wally
 
#115
I enjoy passive basses. However, whenever I have a gig or session, I always bring my two 18v active basses, every engineer and sound guy has loved my tone and never complained about handling it. I totally prefer playing active basses.
 
#116
I couldn't afford a StingRay, so I got a used older S.U.B. instead. After driving a couple hours to buy it, I brought it back home, flipped it over, and thought: "Huh. There's no 9-volt cover back here."

"Well, damn."

I expected myself to get all disappointed, grow tired of the lack of EQ/preamp and sell it for money towards a "real" StingRay.

Instead, I love it to bits. It's probably just my ear playing tricks on me, but the tone on it sounds sharper, as if the highs have better definition. The difference really seems comes out when I'm using a pick or heavy fingerstyle, and REALLY comes out when I start strumming chords or slapping with the tone all the way open. Sounds very natural, and I love that I still get an instantly recognizable Ray voice with it.

I'll have to compare a StingRay to it to really get a feel for the difference, but in the meantime, I'll be playing with all the knobs dimed. Awesome tone. Probably never selling the thing. Now to get rid of that fugly pickguard for some nice natural woods!
 
#118
To go further with what someone else posted earlier, I like active basses....but I hate the onboard EQs.

The active circuitry is great to combat the capacitance problems inherent to long cables, but I don't need so much EQ in my chain, especially when I get it from the amp and pedals. All that EQing just adds phase cancellation and other gremlins.

That new ESP bass, the Frank Bello model, has it right - an active pickup, no EQ.
 
#120
kirkm24 said:
Has anyone else recently made the switch from active back to passive? What was your reason for switching?
Click to expand...

I really don't understand the "all active" or "all passive" mindset that seems to prevail here. :eyebrow:

While all my bass guitars happen to active, and while I happen to prefer the many advantages of active electronics, I would have no problem adding one or more passive instruments to the mix - if I had a perceived need to do so.

It's not an ideological thing. You simply use the tool you need. That's all... :hmm:

MM
 

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