are You a passivist?

[mikeyjm2]

Passive for me. Once I got my ADE Fender P last year I was sold on the simplicity and tone. Played my Deluxe J last night (which I've had for a few years) and kept the toggle flipped to passive position even though previously I would have been playing it active. Keep it simple. I have enough to worry about being the "tech" guy for the band I'm in with mixing and recording us on the fly.

 

[SteveHeissner]

All my basses are passive at this time. However, I love the sound of a Music Man stringray and that bad boy is active all the way.

 

[Jared Lash]

Personally I've found that I like the sound of passive basses when recording and active basses when playing live. I'm not sure why that is - maybe the low impedance output resulting in less tone suck on the gig? The ability to tweak on the fly?

But it's why when I do have active basses I try to make sure they (1) have an active/passive switch and (2) sound as transparent as possible when active and set flat.

 

[shawshank72]

Ive played both and the only active bass i enjoyed was a Fernandes (TEB?)
So im passive.

 

[ariwax]

Six basses, all passive except one: my CIJ Marcus Miller J, which I got recently but am really liking in active mode. That said, I got it for one purpose, to finally learn slap. For gigging, passive all the way, one less thing to worry about.

 

[groovatron]

I just got my first true "active" bass. That being a NY Spector NS 5H2 with 2 EMGs. I have some vintage Musicmans and a couple Bart equipped customs, but I wouldn't consider those "active" basses. They have active preamps, but the pickups still have enough magnetism to run passive. In fact, they both have push/pull pots to turn the preamp on and off. I like the way a Bart preamp sound flat. I generally set and forget.

On to the EMG's. These pickups require juice to even work. Essentially electromagnets. My 5 string Spector has an OPB3 in it which is also a first for me.

I can see why folks think these pickups can sound "sterile." They also play WAY different with my effects and pedal boards which has been quite challenging. I also find that I need to tweek the frequency knobs a tad to get the sound I'm after.

The advantages/differences I found with the true active pickups, was the crazy detail and clarity in all the nuances and overtones. Especially during intricate slap/tap exercises. I do wish the tone knobs has detents for level as it's a pita to keep a knob in the right place and reset it all the time. It wold be good to have a consistent reference point.

I do kind of miss my Barts, but I will give this EMG thing it's full trial run. I can definitely see a use for it, especially in the studio.

When it comes to gear and music in general, I don't discriminate. If it sounds good, it is good and a good bass player will find a way to make everything sound it's best. Why limit yourself?

 

[Big Hoss]

My current basses are both active, and I am seriously chomping at the bit for a passive PJ bass, maybe a Jazz too...

My current rig... Both Ibanez Soundgears, the SR500 on the left has EMG actives, the SR480 on the right has the stock Ibanez active pickups.

Can't seem to find pics, but I am trying to fight off GAS for a Squier Jazz in Lake Placid Blue, or possibly a Vintage Modified PJ in Lake Placid blue. I do have some trouble justifying buying another PJ bass though...

 

[VWbug]

I've been back to passive for a while now. It's an individual thing. I really liked my Zon Sonus and the Warwick Thumbs were/are works of art but what sounded good to me from them was just a certain kind of smooth, warm clear tone that had to be adjusted just right. I didn't want to miss out on something that would make me a better and appreciated bass player. I guess I wanted to be "serious" too and not have a bass like everyone else.

Years later I'm primarily back to passive Fender Jazz basses. It's a pleasing tone to my ears and it sounds pretty close to what I'm looking for easily and has plenty of room for diversity with where you pluck and how you pluck. I like the body shape of the P bass better but pretty is as pretty does. I guess I also appreciate the simplicity too.

 

[TMARK]

Active can work if its really transparent, or active is the inherint sound of the bass, like a Stingray or Sterling.

 

[wmhill]

Active all the way. I gave up on passives 20 years ago. If I'm gonna slap, I add a little highs, something more aggressive....I roll up the mids, funky? I'll scoop the mids back a bit. I like having all that right at my finger tips, and leave the amp alone once I have it set. Some cats get a good tone that they like with passive, and that's great- but I'm not one of em.

 

[fendermademygibson]

I'm an optimistically pessimistic passivist.

 

[lomo]

A battery unused is a small gift of omission to all living things on this crazy flying rock. Besides, I've got eq on my amp and for all the talk of buffering and long cable runs, my cable is never more than 12' long and I have never had any issues whatsoever in this regard. If I ever want something between my pups and the head, there are a gazillion pedals available.

 

[furym]

I've tried a couple of actives. I kept adjusting the preamp to get the tone that I liked. What I found though, was that as soon as I had "my" sound, I would pick up my passive P and it would be that same tone. I gave up on the actives and went with a really good passive P.

 

[Dave44]

I have always owned passive basses, tried out the actives and was never satisfied with the sound. My amp is usually set flat and I just let the J bass do it's thing.

 

[Dave Siff]

I have one of each. But the active bass has single-coil pickups and I usually leave the on-board EQ flat, except for the occasional mid boost.

 

[Mike A]

I like having both active AND passive options available (multiple G&Ls and a Hoyt w/ push/pull preamp bypass.)

I probably play in passive roughly 75% of the time, though.

 

[Doug Parent]

Going active gives you more options. It doesn't require you to use them.
MM

Sometimes I think it's like giving a 60's muscle car to a 16 year old newbie driver. The resultant sonic car crash being the inevitable.

 

[Rich Emme]

I've got 4 active basses and a passive '70's Fender Jazz, but I'll be installing a J-Retro that I just bought from a fellow TB'er . I prefer to leave the amp flat and tweak at the bass to get different sounds.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I like the concept - and keep meaning to get at least one fully passive bass... but all of my instruments are currently active.

 

[Jack Butler]

Passive, P-Bass at that. I will say that every time I play a Stingray at guitar center I enjoy the heck out of how it sounds. Not sure it would be anything I'd need for a band, but I like the solo sound.