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Anyone going back to passive basses?

#121
My Lull M4V has the best of both worlds I have the option of switching between active and passive without changing instruments.

Been running it mostly passive these days, but on occasion I'll use the preamp when the song calls for tone tweaking. But what a versatile bass, I love it
 
#122
I tend to favor my passive jazz with Bartolini stacked humbuckers over all of my other basses. However, I bought a Warmoth fretless jazz bass a few years ago, which has EMG pups and preamp (I don't know what kind) and I'll be damned, but it sounds amazingly good. It's set-up vol, vol, tone. One of the few active set-ups I've ever had where it doesn't sound like there's anything between the bass and the amp.
 
#123
Wow, this thread generated some discussion. I just wanted to be clear, I wasn't advocating for one over another. I have owned and played both and like them both. I'm using a Sansamp VT Deluxe a lot right now and that unit seems to like passive basses better (at least in my opinion). If I want a completely clean sound though, I think actives are tough to beat.
 
#124
For many years I've played active basses, but now I've found a few passive ones that I dearly love and am using them nearly full time. I have two 5 strings that are both passive. One is a Cliff Bordwell Performance model w/Delano pups. The other is a semi hollow 5 string Jazz bass by Dan Atkinson (it has an F hole). that bass uses Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pups. There's something about the way they sound in big places or outdoor venues like festivals....etc.
 
#126
I missed this thread first time 'round.

After some two decades with actives only, I ordered my first and only custom job. Lefty, deep red mahogany body pore filled with ebony dust, maple/carbon fiber sandwich neck, ebony f/b, P/J, passive Knuckle Tremor. Exactly what I wanted, with the old, vintage tones but also pretty bright with the J pup. IMHO, it is nearly perfect. I have nothing against actives, nothing against passives - both have a clear purpose. But, given an ultimatum, I'd go with passive.
 
#130
Interesting timing. As we speak I have a set of Nordstrand PJs in transit. They will be retrofitted to my 78 Precision which has worn EMG actives for about the past dozen years.

Reasons?

1) The "EMG sound" doesn't work for the majority of my current gigging needs

2) Tired of taking off my strings and PG everytime the battery needs changed

3) Don't want to worry about running out of battery on a gig sometime

4) Wanting to get my bass back more to its "natural" state
 
#131
TheFenderBender said:
I never switched.

I have a completely unreasonable and irrational hatred for active pickups.
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Funnily enough, only a couple of days ago I had a conversation with the guy mixing our album about using P-basses for funkier tracks. The account of his experience began with "funk does love a P-bass" and then became a wide-eyed rant about funk bassists turning up with active basses and the strange humps that would crop up in the EQ from these instruments. A bit of a sod to mix, apparently.
 
#132
I own passives, actives, and switchables, and play what makes sense to me for the situation. Which is mostly actives, lately, but I just don't see it as a big deal. Yeah, you have to set your pre-amp gain and your EQ differently when you switch, but that's often true switching between different passives or different actives. I can see that maybe, if you want to be a standard, replaceable bassist-unit, you might need to walk into the room with a passive Precision, but it's a pretty silly excuse for a culture war.
 
#134
Played a Steinberger for 15 years, nice to play but was just getting too heavy to stand for more than half an hour. Went back to a Jazz, sounds more like me anyway. Shame though because the Steinberger has the easiest neck to play then any bass.IMO.
 
#135
chadds said:
Personally I prefer very little coloration yet available boost and cut when and where I want it.
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+1 for this. For many years, all my basses were passive, mainly because I didn't like the color of the tone the preamps added.

Then maybe about 6 years ago I dropped a J-Retro into my JO, based on some reviews. The J-Retro boosted the right frequencies right where I like it, but did not add any color to the tone of the bass. The bass just seemed to spring to life.

Any color I want to add I do with a Sansamp and/or at the amp itself. I sometimes forget how much the J-Retro adds to the natural tone until I either switch it off, and all of a sudden a ton of ASS disappears from the tone. Or, I plug in my passive Duck Dunn P, and I'm finding myself boosting bass/treble, etc on the sansamp and/or amp to compensate for the drastic tone change. It is nice to be able to dial in a mid-range boost in the middle of a song too, if I find I need it. Active controls make that easy.

Whenever I start thinking I'll go back to completely passive, I just shut off the J-Retro, and within seconds I turn it back on.
 
#136
I went from an 82 PBass Special (active) to an Alembic Persuader (active) to a Musicman Stingray (active) to Tobias Classic 5 (active) to a Modulus Q5 (active); Still have the Modulus, however, I now play a Ric (passive) and a Fender MIA Jazzbass (passive) and am building a Warmoth J Bass fretless and it will be passive w/Lindy Fralins.
 
#137
When I have active electronics in my bass, I get used to that sound and rely on it... even if I have an active passive mode. My basses now are designed, strung and set up to give me the optimum sound of the wood/hardware/string/setup/technique interaction. If a gig calls for and active sound?... Two words:
OUTBOARD EQ!!!!!
 
#138
I was playing a Alleva for a while. I used the pre as a buffer and did not use the EQ.

Lately it's been a passive jazz.

New bass is in the mail and I'm going to install a Creation Audio Labs “Redeemer” Circuit. See how I like that. It's just a simple buffer. Plus I'm hoping it will volume match the P bass better.
 
#139
Ric5 said:
Anyone going back to passive basses?

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I have 12 basses ... 3 passive, 2 are active and passive, 7 are all active all the time.
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Update ... I sold a couple of active basses and built a couple of passive.

I think I will always have some of each. They each have benefits and drawbacks. For active having a 4 band eq on the bass is great for changing tone on the fly, but sometimes the organic tone of a passive bass rules.

I used to be old school passive only, 4 string only, vintage basses only. That was back in the 20th century. Now I like the old and new technologies.
 
#140
I used to own a G&L L2000 that could be switched between active and passive modes.

I found myself playing in passive mode more than active. The main difference that I saw was that active mode gave me more upper mid and treble sizzle, but I could easily EQ in the same sizzle in passive mode if I wanted.

I now own 2 basses, both passive.
 

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