Do you prefer simple or complex controls on your bass(es)?

[scuzzy]

disclaimer: This thread is a great excuse to post a pic of my favorite basses.

I believe that the majority of the folks on this forum will likely say simple, ala Precision bass with a volume and tone, or simply a volume, or perhaps straight to the jack. I have one p-type bass, and I do love to play it on occasion due to it's simplicity and versatility within that simplicity. But although I own and enjoy playing several passive basses, I still default to basses that are primarily active, with the ability to go passive.

I think that I now have my primary 4 basses. They are all 4 active with passive options. I would group them into "boutique" -style 4 and 5 string, and more "traditional" (non-coffee table) -style 4 and 5 string.

Between these 4 basses, there are....

• 10 pickups
• 23 knobs
• 14 switches
• 8 batteries
• 38 pickup combinations

All can go from active to passive. 3 out of the 4 have a passive tone control, which has proven to be a very useful thing. One of them, the passive tone control works in active or passive mode.

It has taken quite a bit of exploration and tweaking to learn each up to this point, and how I can utilize their potential. I certainly have more learning to do. I primarily play at church and at home. Playing at church is comparable to playing in a cover band (but with less booze) so you never know what bass or amp might show up on a recording. Versatility has been good for my mental state, as I like to sound as close to the recording as possible, although I'm sure most people don't know or care.

So what do most of you prefer?

Simple Active - no switches, simple 2 band EQ or similar
Simple Passive - no switches, tone control
Complex Active - Lot's of knobs and switches
Complex Passive - Lot's of knobs and switches

 

[andronik]

I like master vol + tone (or a varitone) + pickup switch (3-way). (on a jazz basses which I play)
Also I like passive design but never tried buffer only, so that is the only thing left to try for me.

 

[micguy]

I'm in the "middle passive" area - all of my basses have one switch (a "mode switch", exactly what it does depends on the bass, but it's not as simple as a pickup switch), and 2 or 3 knobs - a master volume, and one or two tone controls - what the tone controls do depends again on the specific bass and the mode you've selected on that bass. I do custom circuits for a few select clients as well - my avatar is one that, while it has one mode switch, it's a 4 position multi pole switch.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Simple active.
But with a 3 band EQ.
Five knobs.

 

[kodiakblair]

Simple passive. Volume up,tone rolled back.

Pots never move from those postions.

 

[Standalone]

Complex passive is great. Two hum buckers, balance, coil taps, passive tone -- that's my #1. To add to the insanity, the coil taps are push/push with no way to tell what you've selected. And the controls go BLEND/VOL/TONE -- Wild!

Actually, the blend knob is really more important in heat of the moment gig situations -- the volume happens at the beginning and end of the set, because in general, wide open is the way to go for me.

My favorite active bass is my 886, which has Volume, Blend, and two band Treble/Bass boost & cut.

 

[Standalone]

Simple active.
But with a 3 band EQ.
Five knobs.

Tune basses need minimal tweaking; they just sound great. So that 5 knob setup is simpler than some of, say, Ibanez's more fiddly 5 knob setups. If my Tune had been less of a surfboard, I'd definitely still have it.

 

[garp]

Set it, and forget it.

Come to think of it: Why do I even have "speed knobs" on this bass?!? I don't do anything fast.

 

[kinopah]

Volume/Tone
Simplistic and minimalistic. I prefer to do my tweaking outboard (though I don’t like a lot of that either lol).
(If it sounds good, what’s to adjust?)

 

[scuzzy]

Volume/Tone
Simplistic and minimalistic. I prefer to do my tweaking outboard (though I don’t like a lot of that either lol).
(If it sounds good, what’s to adjust?)

i can't argue with that logic.

i just happen to like 100+ variations that sound good

 

[scuzzy]

the cool thing about these EBMM basses, with passive mode engaged, and only using the middle pickup, they are straight precision. and the second knob is a passive tone roll-off. it's a tone I'm enjoying. but even with active engaged, it sounds very open and natural, not overly compressed like many modern actives can be.

 

[Vodyanoi]

Complex active all the way! I want choices, choices i tell you.

Except when i don't want any, so that's where a passive/active switch comes into play. Yep. Because, in reality, i don't really *need* complex things. But nice to have them nonetheless...

 

[Killed_by_Death]

All I really need is two Big-Singles with two volume knobs:

 

[GIBrat51]

Yes, I'm one of "those" people who likes -and appreciates - the simple controls on a P-Bass. I have - and like - other basses with more complex controls. But, they can be a pain, sometimes...
This is just about as complex as I want to deal with. Especially with a push/pull treble tone switch... But, the knobs are labled, and the layout is pretty common, so...
My Alembic Epic's controls seem simple enough...if you're a mind reader, or know everything there is to know about Alembics. Nothing is marked, and there's no written explanation I could find. I had to ask over on the Alembic thread - and take notes...
If you think these controls are simple? You know nothing about Gretsches. There is a very nicely drawn and labled cheat sheet that lives in this Broadkaster's case...
Fortunately, my G&L ASAT bass came with a cheat sheet. I tend to just set it up beforehand - and leave it that way... But, glutton for punishment that I am?

I just ordered one of these EBMM Stingray HH's. After looking at the cheat sheet from the factory? I think their cheat sheet needs a cheat sheet. I get a headache just thinking about it... where's my P-Bass...?

 

[dhagopian]

I prefer the bass sound good. I have simple and complex.

 

[BoomBoomOGTL]

Complex and active for. me. The more knobs, the better!


I love being able to fine tune the bass EQ exactly as I like it. I’ll often do it between songs in a setlist.

 

[bassicmike]

I'm a set-it-and-forget-it player.

 

[Quap]

Had an ASAT. Great bass but too much for me. A drummer I played with was always giving me grief for looking at my phone during practice. I was just checking the settings for the various knobs and switches so I could find the sound I wanted.

Of course I just picked up a Godin A4 with three different outputs, knobs and sliders so maybe I'm a masochist.

 

[HG1180]

Just as long as it works and sounds good its good to me!

 

[NecroticImbecil]

There's no option for me. Another vote for "Sound Good." I like both of these basses. Granted one is pretty crude, but it came to stripped and I wanted to get it working with parts on hand (and no skill). Sounded great though. Active, sole control on pickguard is a tiny slider on/off because stock output jack was mono.

And the controls from the bass at the other end of the scale: