Are on board active preamps really necessary ?

[MCS4]

I play my bass in passive mode, and it sounds good. I play my bass in active mode, and it sounds better. Pretty simple for me.

Side benefit: Active basses generally have volume and/or gain pots that allow you to set the output, which means that if you take more than one bass to a gig (like I always do) and at least one of them is active, you can adjust the pots to make sure that the volumes will exactly match if you swap basses.

 

[-Stingray]

Usually I find one tone I like and stick with it, so having actives at my fingertips doesn't hold much value for me. I have both style basses, but lately have been gravitating more towards the passive ones. As a matter of fact, my Sterling Sub had some issues recently, and on that bass I opted simply to yank the electronics out and install a new passive pickup.

 

[Dr_Benway]

This is funny... I especially love all the BH bassists giving the OP grief about even bringing it up. As for all the "tone-searchers" out there who need to constantly adjust things to get the perfect settings for every song...

It reminds me of the guitar player I just fired. He would go on and on about constantly adjusting his tone to get it right for the song. He always told us, he wasn't just a two tone kinda guy. On the few gigs he did before I fired him, he would go through the entire set list (at volume, mind you), checking his tone for the room. Of course this pissed everyone off. The funny thing about it, was that his tone was poopie. He ran two of those crappy multi-effects pedalboards (I think Boss and Zoom), into a really nice Hughes and Kettner tube amp, which I bet would sound brilliant without all the crap added. As it was, his tone always sounded like an over-processed pile of dookie.

Over the years I've found that those who diddle the most, have the least impressive sound.

 

[Dr_Benway]

I play my bass in passive mode, and it sounds good. I play my bass in active mode, and it sounds better. Pretty simple for me.

Louder always sounds better at first listen.

 

[Dr_Benway]

Up until very recently, all of my basses save one, had active controls. I really didn't understand that when I bought my first bass - what do you men my battery is dead? What battery? But I learned on them and because my only passive bass didn't feel like it put out like the actives, I just thought it was needed. I got my sound where I liked it, and basically never adjusted anything because it was to difficult to dial it back in - got a multi-effect peddle board so I could easily stomp to a new sound.

Fast forward three years and I "got" the P bass. Now that's all I want to use. I love the ease of being able to quickly and easily modify my tone on the fly and not have to remember where three or more knobs need to be set to get back to my baseline. I can (and sometimes do) easily change my tone mid-song. Only pedal in my chain is a DI with compression and EQ - it never gets adjusted.

Wish I'd have figured this out about 5 basses ago....

You got that right. I currently have two P-basses. An American pro and a TF signature. The TF has so many tonal options with a flick of the blade switch and/or a bit of roll-off that I rarely take the fretted out these days. I tried using a pedalboard for about two rehearsals and these days just go straight into my amp, which has pretty much everything I need on board. I do add a bit of verb in the pa, just for ***** and giggles.

 

[flojob]

Active with passive toggle. Suits the styles I'm playing. I just don't see enough benefit to a get a passive only bass.

 

[MCS4]

Louder always sounds better at first listen.

It isn't louder. I keep the active circuit's trim pot set to match the passive volume so that I can use them interchangeably if I want a slightly different tone. I've also gigged this bass for more than 15 years and changed the preamp once, so I'm fairly well familiar with how it sounds at different settings.

 

[brianrost]

I just listen to the bass while playing it. How does it sound? Active vs. passive is not something I think about at all. I've owned active PUs with passive EQ, passive PUs with active EQ, active PUs with active EQ, passive PUs with active gain only. Some had a passive bypass, some did not. As long as I can get the sound I want, I'm happy.

 

[Silky Johnson]

I'm beginning to notice more & more people saying they have stopped using their on board preamps,because they prefer the sound in passive mode. I have used numerous on board pre amps for many years but always end up switching them off & going passive. To my ears, I have yet to hear any benefit whatsoever over & above what my main amp EQ can achieve. IMO, they are an interesting gimmick & toy, which colors the sound & finer subtleties of good pickups & strings. They are a waste of money, which could be better spent on other parts of the signal chain. If you are not happy with the sound you are getting it's probably your amp, speakers,pickups or strings. I'm sorry to say this, as I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone who is of a sensitive nature but that
is what I hear & I also understand , that others can disagree.
I am interested in why they might be considered necessary ? Your thoughts, please.

I've felt this way for the last year or so, I used to only buy active basses but they never sounded right to me. Then I found what I wanted in passive designs...to each there own but I've never encountered an active system I liked.

Granted there are some high end ones I have not tried like glockenklang, Nordstrand and the like. But I get everything I want in passive and a nice amp gives all the tweaking necessary.

 

[bucephylus]

I'm beginning to notice more & more people saying they have stopped using their on board preamps,because they prefer the sound in passive mode. I have used numerous on board pre amps for many years but always end up switching them off & going passive. To my ears, I have yet to hear any benefit whatsoever over & above what my main amp EQ can achieve. IMO, they are an interesting gimmick & toy, which colors the sound & finer subtleties of good pickups & strings. They are a waste of money, which could be better spent on other parts of the signal chain. If you are not happy with the sound you are getting it's probably your amp, speakers,pickups or strings. I'm sorry to say this, as I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone who is of a sensitive nature but that
is what I hear & I also understand , that others can disagree.
I am interested in why they might be considered necessary ? Your thoughts, please.

Your basic premise is conjecture. There is a trend towards P Basses the past decade; and the P Bass does its thing quite happily without a preamp.

But, at the same time, you see more and more preamps in pseudo entry level Ibanez etc; and sales remain strong in the better boutiques market, most of which are active. So, I’m not sure it makes any sense whatsoever to draw any conclusions from any of that. I am curious why you care one way or the other?

Certain basses are designed passive and certain basses are designed active. Ron Wickersham’s preamp in the Alembic Series I/II Basses is phenomenal. Just one of the things those particular basses do well is sound amazing into almost any amplifier / signal chain. If you haven’t gigged one of those, then you might not get what active onboard preamps can do.

The Jazz Bass, unlike the Precision, needs a bit of signal chain support to get everything out of it. You can do that with outboard circuits; but, folks like Roger Sadowsky have developed the onboard circuits which address that aspect and are a whole lot more convenient.

So, the question of onboard preamps or not really depends on the instrument. And the gig. Rather than taking a digital view of the matter, better to take the Bruce Lee perspective: “My style is no style;” by which he means it is all styles.

 

[Silky Johnson]

the majority of my hero's bass tones were achieved with passive instruments.

 

[Element Zero]

Interesting. I suppose if you spent more time using an active pre amp as a means to fine tune your sound song per song you’d understand easier. But, it seems you’re a “set it and forget it” type of player and hey that’s cool. However, you really should learn (as many others have stated here) how most players use them instead of dismissing it as a gimmick.

 

[BoomBoomOGTL]

Active for my use for sure. There are many more tonal possibilities with an active preamp as you can actually boost desired frequencies. With a passive setup, all you can do is cut them. I've never seen a passive bass with anything more than a single tone control. I love sweepable mids and highs to control from the bass in an instant to achieve the exact sound I have in my head.

 

[nilorius]

An active preamp is always a solution in finding right tone better.

 

[stingray78]

Whether they are really necessary or a waste of money is a question of taste, I say No to both; there is great bass sounds to be had in both camps. An internal preamp is certainly not a replacement for the eq in your amp (if you use an amp that is). I am a firm believer into letting the sound guy do his job, so I only use the onboard preamp to make temporary adjustments needed for the song that should be heard in the FOH. If I want to make permanent adjustments to my stage sound (e.g bass sounding to thin), I will make them at my amp which always goes to the board pre-eq.

 

[spencer096]

I've never seen a passive bass with anything more than a single tone control.

PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR MIND BLOWN!

 

[Marcus Willett]

Does a piezo pickup rely on an active system?

Yes, always.

If you want to be pedantic about it, you can use a piezo without a preamp but it will sound absolutely appalling.

Neither of those answers is correct. Piezo equipped basses usually have a preamp or at minimum a buffer. It is not essential, however. Dave Wendler (electrocoustic) makes fantastic sounding basses that contain a piezo and magnetic pickup and are completely passive and have output levels similar to any regular passive bass.

No affiliation at all, just a satisfied customer and friend of Dave. His basses sound great, worth checking out.

 

[Altitude]

Not sure whether or not they're necessary but I can vouch that it's a PITA to go back and forth between active and passive basses.

I always have to adjust the gain settings on my amp and, to a lesser extent, the sensitivity settings on my effects, otherwise the active basses push harder than the passive ones and everything sounds different.

I have three passive bass guitars and only one active.

 

[Dr_Benway]

Your basic premise is conjecture. There is a trend towards P Basses the past decade; and the P Bass does its thing quite happily without a preamp.

So, I’m not sure it makes any sense whatsoever to draw any conclusions from any of that. I am curious why you care one way or the other?

Probably for the same reason you care so much about letting him know that it makes not sense.

 

[Dr_Benway]

An active preamp is always a solution in finding right tone better.

So is a passive. They're both solutions.