Do you mostly play passive or active basses?

[prndltech]

BOTH. So carrots…

 

[el jeffe bass]

Passive basses but I also play synth bass so I guess that’s active

 

[JC BASS 91]

No option to select 'both'...I have both and utilize both.

 

[SteveC]

My P bass has been my go to for the last year or two. Before that I played my active 5. I have both and use both at almost every gig.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Both. Active is great for bedroom jamming and recording. Passive is easier to get good sounds playing live.... in my experience. But... I've achieved great live tones with active basses.

 

[JRA]

Curious what the percentages are

8 axes:
active = 12.5%
passive = 87.5%

 

[markjazzbassist]

Passive.
I’ve not found an active bass I like the tone of

this for me as well

 

[dave64o]

Mostly active, but I have passive basses I really like.

Funny that I've owned three active basses with a passive mode option - Warwick FNA Jazzman 5, G&L L-2500, and Musicman Big Al 5SSS - and I played them in passive mode at least half of the time because they sounded really good that way, especially the Big Al. But I'm primarily a Stingray guy, so I voted mostly active.

 

[BassAgent]

Primarily passive, but also play active basses. Both are good - no biases.

This exactly. I primarily use Fenders and FSOs and a few of those are active. So is my Stingray.

 

[MartialDylan]

I play passive because I'm not gigging.
When I was gigging, I preferred Active.

 

[Ostie]

Seven basses all passive. I owned one active and didn’t like it. Different strokes.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I used to play passive basses almost exclusively, but in the last couple of years I've been using StingRay Specials and Sadowskys more often than not, partly because of the lighter weight than a lot of my passive basses.

 

[Nedmundo]

I played passive basses exclusively for many years, but now I'm almost always playing my fives, a G&L M-2500 and Sandberg TT-5, and both are active so that's how I voted. But I often play the Sandberg in passive mode.

 

[Muggs]

Always passive for me. My only active bass was a Gibson RD Artist that I worked all summer to buy back in '80, then spent months borrowing basses as it sat in someone's service department with Moog issues. I ended up trading it for an Electra with a P p'up plus cash. Still have the Electra - good bass.

 

[2saddleslab]

All passive, but have played active in the past.

 

[JazznFunk]

I play active basses for the sound of the active bass. I play passive basses for the sound of the bass without a preamp. I also - gasp- sometimes play passive basses through an outboard preamp which uses a 9V, because I also like to live 'dangerously.' The moral of the story: Play the bass you like because you like the sound of the bass, regardless of its circuit, and don't obsess. And change your batteries before they fail. Also, the myth of 'passive sounds better live' is just that.... a myth. Active and passive basses can both be made to sound great, or like crap, depending on the player and the FOH engineer. You can leave an active bass flat and ONLY touch the EQ in situations where you really need it. The preamp still colors the sound of the bass, and you should like and be familiar with that tone going in.

 

[MonetBass]

BOTH. So carrots…

Same here.

 

[Pings Bass]

However they come

 

[LowActionHero]

I voted passive but my main bass is active, but I play it passive most of the time. I only go active for an easy volume bump.

My number 2 is active but I'd probably run it passive if I could.

I'm not opposed to active basses. I'm just a weirdo...

 

[Cleezmo]

Both, so Carrots in the poll for me. I have several of each, love them all, they get selected based on the tones I need or the mood I'm in. I can easily play a passive or an active for most of my gigs and be fine. I'm more concerned about the overall package - playability, feel, tone, tonal range - of the bass than whether its Active or Passive. If I like a bass, I like a bass. And with Actives, yes there is the ability to tweak things mid-set or mid-song, but in real life I find that I usually like the tone of the bass flat or mostly flat, so for me if I like an Active bass it's because I like it's character/tone, not necessarily because I want or need to tweak the knobs constantly.