Define Active & Passive

[maturanesa]

Will someone kindly explain to me the meanings of active & passive where bass guitars and amps are concerned. Thanks & take care. Bob

a pure Active bass/guitar needs a battery to produce sound because the pickup´s coil have just a few turns of wire, with the benefit of a clear signal and a high output

 

[line6man]

a pure Active bass/guitar needs a battery to produce sound because the pickup´s coil have just a few turns of wire, with the benefit of a clear signal and a high output

That would be active pickups.
You can have an (outboard preamp unit which is a circuit that is separate entirely from the pickups) with passive pickups, and it would still be considered active.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

this thread is great!
lets try not to hit each other with our swinging d***s, m'kay?

 

[countrybassist]

This is a more interesting topic than I had thought it would be when I starting reading it. I have a question now. How would an NYC Sadowsky with VTC be defined?

 

[greenboy]

If you are drawing power from elsewhere, your bass is active.

One battery is elsewhere. Two batteries? Elsewhere. So is "phantom power".

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I throw this one in there for giggles...
"what about if I have an Active/passive bass....and I take out the battery....is it still an active bass?"









lol...

 

[greenboy]

I think that would make it a passivelyactive-nonaggressive bass ; }

 

[gregwatts2008]

Next.........?

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Next.........?

party-pooper

 

[bongomania]

This is a more interesting topic than I had thought it would be when I starting reading it. I have a question now. How would an NYC Sadowsky with VTC be defined?

I really, really don't mean any offense by this--but how was that question not already answered? The Sadowsky preamp uses a battery, regardless of VTC or not.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I throw this one in there for giggles...
"what about if I have an Active/passive bass....and I take out the battery....is it still an active bass?"

Well it's still an electric bass when it's not plugged into the amp, right? (for that matter, electric basses are never passive, it's just where the first gain stage is.)

What do you call a TV set when it's unplugged?

 

[countrybassist]

I really, really don't mean any offense by this--but how was that question not already answered? The Sadowsky preamp uses a battery, regardless of VTC or not.

No offense taken. But I don't believe that it was already answered. Yes I know it uses a battery, but it can also do passive.

 

[line6man]

This is a more interesting topic than I had thought it would be when I starting reading it. I have a question now. How would an NYC Sadowsky with VTC be defined?

It's both, depending on which position the switch is set to.

Also, IIRC, the VTC control is simply the addition of a passive tone control, but the non-VTC equipped basses still have the active/passive switch.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

It's both, depending on which position the switch is set to.

Also, IIRC, the VTC control is simply the addition of a passive tone control, but the non-VTC equipped basses still have the active/passive switch.

Yeah the VTC is a passive tone control for when the pass is in preamp-by-pass-mode (Notice I didn't say "passive"?)

countrybassist, a bass with a preamp is just a regular passive bass with an added tone shaping circuit. Since most preamps use their own low impedance volume pots, and use active tone controls, they wont work is the preamp is by-passed. So other schemes have been devised such as having a high impedance volume control before the preamp, and a passive tone control like the VTC. Passive tone controls also sound different from turning down the treble on the preamp, which is probably why it's called a "vintage tone control".

 

[eastcoasteddie]

What do you call a TV set when it's unplugged?

I.....don't know...!

 

[line6man]

What do you call a TV set when it's unplugged?

You call it a collection of components and cheap plastic occupying space in the universe.

 

[countrybassist]

Thanks SGD and L6M.

 

[Zapp]

this IS a more interesting question than the average thumper would estimate.

I have been shopping pickups to replace 'active' emg's in a 90's era cruisebass. I gave the serial to the Hamer folks to trace, and they really couldn't tell me anything definitive about the pickups, other than, 'yes', 'we used some emg's as factory option. when i looked in the cavity, there is no separate pre-amp obvious to me, but it is powered, so I assume the PUP's themselves are 'active' in some sense.

in shopping around some the PUP maker sites, I don't see that they are clearly explaining whether the particular model PUP is "active" or "passive". I do see some giving standard comments to wit: "can be wired as active or passive"... that would imply to me that it is a passive pickup. heck, ANY pickup CAN be wired either way [to be used with a separate preamp or not].

Are active-PUPS out of vogue? that's the impression I get from the folks on this forum... not directly but by what is preferred.

I note that the EMG's i speak of sound pretty good run flattish, but when you crank up the bass EQ, you get what I would describe as a "washing" effect - a big blossomy bass sound but which lacks clarity, lacks precision... a bit like playing a bad MP3 through a cheap subwoofer turned up too high

 

[line6man]

in shopping around some the PUP maker sites, I don't see that they are clearly explaining whether the particular model PUP is "active" or "passive". I do see some giving standard comments to wit: "can be wired as active or passive"... that would imply to me that it is a passive pickup. heck, ANY pickup CAN be wired either way [to be used with a separate preamp or not].

Active pickups are so rare that generally, manufacturers will advertise when a pickup is active, but it's safe to assume anything else is passive.

 

[Deathblade Eric]

What do you call a TV set when it's unplugged?

Anything you want... it can't hear you.