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Are on board active preamps really necessary ?

Are on board active pre amps a waste of money ?

  • 1. No, I need it ,cos my main amp/speakers need a boost

    Votes: 3 1.2%

  • 2. Yes, my bass sound is more articulate in passive mode

    Votes: 86 34.1%

  • 3. No, it is more convenient

    Votes: 137 54.4%

  • 4. No, I like twiddling lots of knobs

    Votes: 26 10.3%
  • Total voters
    252
#122
Marcus Willett said:
Neither of these occur with the Wendler system, the low end is huge and it most definitely does NOT sound scratchy or nasal. The level comment was added just to let people know its output is comparable to a standard passive bass.

My original post was merely to dispel the common misconception that a piezo must have a preamp to sound good, it does not.
Click to expand...

I remember having a discussion about this with Dave Wendler on the acoustic guitar board. Many years ago. He was making a lot of sense. But how does it work?
 
#123
I used to ONLY ever consider new basses with 3 way eq. circuits.

One day I noticed I never touched the middle control (it sounded unnatural and nasal) and I always slightly boosted the bass and treble controls from their centre detents.

It then occurred to me to boost the bass and treble controls on the amplifier itself.

Now I don't have to check my bass has working / leaking batteries and also enjoy the weight loss.

I sometimes use a preamp pedal if I want frequencies unavailable on my amp's eq section. IME. IMHO.
 
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#124
Are onboard active preamps really necessary?
Click to expand...

No. Everything is a choice based on preferences, but I only see onboard preamps as positive things. Active and passive are just choices we make to get to the sound or tone we like. I don't use a pre amp for volume. The amp does that, but they are very good for tone.

I seem to prefer passive Precision basses with flats and active Jazz basses with rounds, but that could change. Nothing is fixed in stone.

If you understand your instrument then you'll know when to change the battery and you'll never have one run down on you.
 
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#125
I use both I have an active and a passive. I like to leave my amp settings alone and set to the stage acoustics. But usually I have iem and no pedals so changing the tone at my fingers is handy. But I find the tone of my active fantastic and when I turn off the eq it just doesn’t sound right...
 
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#126
Andy Daventry said:
I remember having a discussion about this with Dave Wendler on the acoustic guitar board. But how does it work?
Click to expand...

It could be as simple as using a transformer. That's how passive DIs lower impedance for the balanced out. You can think of a transformer as a passive buffer. You can change impedance with a slight loss in signal.

The Epiphone Jack Casady basses use a 3-tap transformer to offer different output impedances (50, 250 or 500 ohms), a circuit that Les Paul had developed for Gibson...the Casady is based on the 1970s Les Paul Signature bass and the 70s Les Paul Recording and Triumph basses had similar wiring.
 
#127
I used to hate pre amps on a bass. I did like my sans amp pre with a passive bass thou. The #1 thing I found out is the inboard pre needs to be of good quality. The low and even mid range priced pres are not good. A good quality preamp can make any bass sound amazing.
 
#128
Andy Daventry said:
I remember having a discussion about this with Dave Wendler on the acoustic guitar board. Many years ago. He was making a lot of sense. But how does it work?
Click to expand...
TBH I’m not completely sure how it works, I just know for a fact it does.

I know it employs a piezo and magnetic pickup, that you can blend between the 2 although you cannot completely isolate 1 pickup. Close enough for government work tho.

Dave has a patent on the system, so it’s unsurprising that it’s not something more people are not familiar with.
 
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#132
Andy Daventry said:
And you're still wrong.....I mean you're right, but in the eyes of God and the essential truthiness of bass playing grooviness, you're wrong.
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I know I'm right... otherwise if you put a scope on the amp's input you'd see a difference between the signal of a bass with an onboard preamp and that same preamp outside the bass. No real need to overthink it... still.

:D
 
#133
Brad Johnson said:
I know I'm right... otherwise if you put a scope on the amp's input you'd see a difference between the signal of a bass with an onboard preamp and that same preamp outside the bass. No real need to overthink it... still.

:D
Click to expand...

But all you'tr really saying is that a scope is unable to detect the difference. I mean, we all know that a Fender decal on a headstock makes a bass sound better. And so do tort pickguards. Just because it's in your head doesn't mean it's not real.
 
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#139
Depends on the bass and the applications. Sometimes a passive is a better option . Other times it’s an active. A waste of time for you doesn’t slways apply to everyone else.
Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is needed. Basses are not one size fits all. Play what YOU like and LIKE what you play. :headphone:
 

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