• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone play only Active?

Now I'm solely passive pickup/active preamp, but have had full passive basses in the past. Come to think of it every 34" scale bass I've owned has been passive, and every 35" scale bass has been active. Odd.

Some days (like when my 2x batteries are needing a change - my basses are 18V now) I long for a full passive bass. LOL
 
Now I'm solely passive pickup/active preamp, but have had full passive basses in the past. Come to think of it every 34" scale bass I've owned has been passive, and every 35" scale bass has been active. Odd.

Some days (like when my 2x batteries are needing a change - my basses are 18V now) I long for a full passive bass. LOL
Awww, Batts aren't that pricey every six months when you buy a 10 pack:thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan Bass
Awww, Batts aren't that pricey every six months when you buy a 10 pack:thumbsup:
Admittedly I don't like spending the money, but its not really the money... its the fact that the battery connectors feel so flimsy, but snap onto the batteries so tightly. I'm waiting to break one, and I'm just dreading the day I have to relearn how to solder because I broke a battery clip.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
downloadfile-1.jpeg
All but one of my basses are active... the odd passive one is a Gibson Thunder Series V from 1987, basically a "studio" Thunderbird. I love it for just what it is and isn't. The rest are either Alembic, or Rick Turner active electronics.
 
Please school me. Are these basically 3 different types of bass setups? Passive, Active and Passive with an internal preamp?

And passive with a pre requires no 9v power correct?

Passive pickups with a preamp is not passive. All preamps are active, so having a preamp in the circuit makes a bass active.

Think of pickups and control schemes as two completely different things. Either may be active, or passive, and in any combination with the other. (So there are four combinations. Passive pickups with a preamp, passive pickups without a preamp, active pickups with a preamp, and active pickups without a preamp.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ctpunk
Passive pickups with a preamp is not passive. All preamps are active, so having a preamp in the circuit makes a bass active.

Think of pickups and control schemes as two completely different things. Either may be active, or passive, and in any combination with the other. (So there are four combinations. Passive pickups with a preamp, passive pickups without a preamp, active pickups with a preamp, and active pickups without a preamp.)

So does a passive pickup with a preamp require a 9v? Or is a battery solely for active pickups?
 
With the exception of my newest bass, a fender 50's reissue precision, all my basses are "active", meaning they have a powered onboard preamp with passive pickups, rather than powered pickups with passive tone knobs, which is your other option. I love the sound of fully passive basses sometimes, but Having quality onboard preamps is so useful and sounds sooooo polished! My personal favorite is John East. I've got a couple basses with his U-retro pre and they freakin KILL. Heres some examples of my active basses.
 
With the exception of my newest bass, a fender 50's reissue precision, all my basses are "active", meaning they have a powered onboard preamp with passive pickups, rather than powered pickups with passive tone knobs, which is your other option. I love the sound of fully passive basses sometimes, but Having quality onboard preamps is so useful and sounds sooooo polished! My personal favorite is John East. I've got a couple basses with his U-retro pre and they freakin KILL. Heres some examples of my active basses.
You're children are beautiful!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Herrick
Three of my five basses are active.
I didn't choose them because they were.
And I wouldn't have avoided them if they weren't.
They just happen to be.

Now that I think about it,I like active electronics for the option of being able boost and cut.
Whereas passive only cuts.
But then I like passive because you don't have to unplug the bass when you aren't playing it for long spells.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ctpunk
All active for me:

Sadowsky NYC Will Lee 4 (primary instrument for my funk/pop/motown/disco cover band)
Sadowsky NYC 24fret 5 (primary instrument for my classic/modern rock cover band)
Dingwall AB-II w/ Glockenklang (hard rock machine)
Rob Allen MB-2 (piezo only fretless)

Later
Rob
 
Just curious what part of this population only plays (or prefers) active pickups?

If so what kind of music are you playing and what is your bass/pu setup?
I have been a Bassist for 32 years now and for a long time I only jammed passive Basses because active wasn't really as popular then, but nowadays almost every brand of Bass guitars are active, and I like the sound of active better. For me I jam everything but mostly Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Funk, Nu-Metal drop tuned stuff, I like a lot. Active pickups to me are the best, like 2 active EMG 40DC double humbucking pickups on a Bass guitar sound the most awesome, with an active 18v 3-band EQ preamp. My experience with passive pickups are not that good because a lot of the time I have a bunch of rack effects and put my treble knob on my Bass pretty high and then it starts to hiss, hum & buzz when its totally grounded and shielded properly, so I use active pickups and active preamps and when I put my Bass treble knob up pretty high to clang and clank on my Bass its totally silent with no hissing or buzzing sounds at all because active pickups are grounded themselves with no ground wire to the bridge, the ground wire goes to the negative of the battery, so you can also let go of your Bass after plucking a string and its silent, not like passive pickups you have to always be touching something metal on your Bass or it will make noise and on headphones you can really hear it. So from now on its active EMG 40DC pickups with active 18v 3-band EQ Basses for me. But don't get me wrong, I will pick up a passive Fender P-Bass and jam the hell out of it with some stainless steel round wound strings on it, I love the sound of a Fender P-Bass. Now if I owned another Fender P-Bass, I would just put an active EMG split P-Bass pickup in it with some round wounds and that's it.
IMG_20150704_092317.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: ctpunk