Are on board active preamps really necessary ?

[Clark Dark]

To me onboard tronics' are an acquired taste I believe many use to fill in the holes in their sonic space. Take the quality EQ's i.e. ones that provide three bands with switching option on the mid frequency, or four band that offer lo mid, hi mid on a pot, or a parametric (Noll) or your filters (Alembic, East). Not all onboards are created equal. There are some that do not go down to 40hz on the bass side, lots of lower priced pre's suffer from this. An onboard pre is just another implement in your tool box.

 

[lermgalieu]

I didn't vote because I think that I like passive not because it's more "articulate" but because I don't think articulation is the best metric of what makes bass sound good to me. I like a hit-you-in-your-chest, deep, funky tone. I think passive does that better than active. Active has its uses, but not for me these days.

 

[Artman]

They are more necessary than this poll and the ridiculous options that it provides as answers.

 

[ArtechnikA]

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 can't speak to all active basses, but all of mine have a master gain trimpot so achieving consistent unity gain is a matter of a few minutes and a small screwdriver.
There are also buffered A/B boxes with individual gain settings to make matching easy - the EBG/Upright guys use them all the time.
"Some" passive basses actually have hotter pickup output than 'most' actives.

 

[superdick2112]

Most of my basses have single-coil pickups and passive electronics. I generally prefer basses like this for the majority of my playing, mainly because this setup usually offers good clarity and articulation.
The basses I own that have active electronics - especially my USA Spector - I chose because their preamps & active pickups are an integral part of their signature sound.
IMHO, that famous Spector punch & growl wouldn't sound the same without active EMG pickups and Spector/Haz-Labs preamps.

 

[bucephylus]

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

I’m just exchanging info with another bass cat. I don’t actually care what other people decide to do. Diversity is a good thing. All I was trying to get across is the context.

 

[lz4005]

It’s just another tool for creating tone. One nice thing about active electronics is that you can plug directly into a board and control your sound on an ampless stage.

Exactly. I play both passive and active basses. Each is right for different things.

The actives are good when I need to sound different from one song to the next. The passives are good when I don't, or if I want to change my tone with a pedal instead.

Active basses are also better if I need to use a long cable.

 

[Altitude]

I can't speak to all active basses, but all of mine have a master gain trimpot so achieving consistent unity gain is a matter of a few minutes and a small screwdriver.
There are also buffered A/B boxes with individual gain settings to make matching easy - the EBG/Upright guys use them all the time.

I agree, though even then unity gain is a moving target if you adjust the tone controls on the onboard preamp much. And if you leave them where they are, maybe it's better to just run passive and EQ at the amp. My thinking anyway.

To be clear though, that one active bass I have is a Valenti J with a Sadowsky pre and it sounds fantastic.

 

[BassGeekJack]

What's really necessary? Nothing. Everything. It's all up to the player. I find myself more attracted to the simplicity of a passive bass, although active basses certainly create a "boosted" sound. That's why I'd like to keep one active bass in my arsenal, I believe that it does things a passive bass simply cannot, no matter the amp adjustments. And I love twiddling lots of knobs.

 

[nilorius]

So is a passive. They're both solutions.

A passive, too, but only tone, active will be different eq.

 

[Michael Jewels]

I used to like the on board pre amp on almost any bass, but then, I started to like the passive tone of the instrument much better.

A big example is my 1979 Ibanez Musician.

The pre amp sounds very good, and in my opinion, was far ahead of its time, especially with the boost it had.

Then, I began to play it in passive mode, and liked the sound better.

If you need an analogy, the on board pre amp is like drinking very sweet soda; who doesn't like that?

But, when you embrace the idea of playing a bass which has an active pre amp in it, and playing it passively, it's like switching to seltzer. It may take some time to get used to, but, overall, you get a cleaner tone.

The one bass I would say does not fall into this category, is a Stingray; the pre amp is its sound.

An effect I am absolutely smitten with, is The Empress Para EQ.

It is as clean as mountain water, and its uncolored voicing brings out the best in whichever bass/pickup combination you're using.

I know it's a little steep at a street price of $250, and it does have a long learning curve, but I can't say enough good things about it.

Check one out if you can.

Mike

 

[socialleper]

It is convenient, and I prefer the sound of basses with active preamps.

 

[HolmeBass]

A couple bands I play with do some genre hopping: rock, funk, reggae, even some “acoustic”. If I didn’t have an active EQ at my finger tips I’d need to use pedals of some sort to switch up tones. As it I can run my amp close to flat, use it to adjust for the room, and switch up tones with the active EQ onboard my bass. Super convenient and I like the punch and depth active electronics seem to provide for me.

If I need a “classic” tone that won’t change through the gig then using one of my Fenders becomes a possibility. Like when I subbed in a friend’s reggae band, I brought my jazz and more heavily EQ’ed my amp. The very minor tonal shifts from song to song could be managed by the tone knob, hand position, and how much bridge pup I used.

But switching to a glassy funk tone with the jazz would have been tricky with just the amp’s tone controls, especially switching and staying at roughly the same volume.

And switching tones from the Bass means FOH gets those changes even if they refuse to take post from my amp’s DI. It just gives me way more control much more easily.

 

[InhumanResource]

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 didn't answer your poll because the responses don't make any sense. I don't think they are a waste of money, they are a good tool to hedge at your disposal. I mostly use an active bass because I like this particular bass and I spent money on a good preamp that has a very wide amount of flexibility on tone.

I like passive basses too.

 

[JW56789]

The great thing about an preamp-equipped, three-band, active bass is the great range of tones available on the bass itself.

The bad thing about an preamp-equipped, three-band, active bass is the great range of tones available on the bass itself.

What I think I'm observing is that you've got LOTS of EQ possibilities on the bass itself . . . . . . which runs down the wire to bass heads that have LOTS of EQ possibilities, resulting in gain, EQ, and outputs which are way too dense or filled with crazy frequency spikes and dips . . . . . running down the wire to the speaker cabs who are now very unhappy . . . . . . which I think then leads to the threads:

" . . . . . nah, I didn't like active EQ, active preamps, active pickups, etc., I prefer passive . . . . ."

I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like from my seat behind the goal post. What the hell, I remember in the old preamp/power amp rig days that some guys would run 31-band EQ's !

 

[jw23mind]

Objectively, onboard active can mitigate tonal change due to variations in cable or interface loading, and help to preserve s/n by lowering signal impedance (and also boost) at the source. That said, active is not important to me personally and I'd rather not deal with batteries ever.

 

[logdrum]

I like active pre-amps on the bass. My first electric bass in 1987, I put Bartolinis and Bill recommended a pre-amp. When I added a passive mode it sounded too quite. I do like passive basses specially if you use an all tube amp. I cannot imagine a MusicMan/Ernie Ball with passive pickups

 

[REV]

Active preamps originated because companies like Alembic were using low impedance pickups which don't have very much gain. These days a company like EMG puts the preamp in the pickup to boost the gain but the low impedance pickup doesn't loose highs over long cable lengths and they have a wider frequency response than "normal" high impedance pickups. There aren't many low impedance pickups being sold today and the onboard preamps are mostly about boosting gain and increased tone options. vive la difference

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I have passive basses that sound perfect as they are. I have active basses that also sound perfect as they are.

Legendary careers have been built on both active and passive instruments. Pretending that one or the other is the only possible correct answer is illogical.

 

[Callused Finger]

I like the preamp on my Custom classic jazz V but all my other basses are passive. For a modern sound a preamp really can make a difference.
With that said it seems that I can usually make the same active sound when passive using the amp/eq.