Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,066
- 45,997
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
The active element in the pickup already is a preamp and/or buffer, but yes, you don't have to use separate one on top of that.
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Does Active Preamp automatically mean...
- Thread starter mchljhn90
- Start date
The active element in the pickup already is a preamp and/or buffer, but yes, you don't have to use separate one on top of that.
Passive pickups and no preamp = passive bass.
Passive pickups and preamp = active bass.
Active pickups and no preamp = active bass.
Active pickups and preamp = active bass.
Thankfully, with my 3 basses, I don't care how the electronics are described.
I know I change the batteries every few weeks and I'm golden.
I know I change the batteries every few weeks and I'm golden.
You should be getting at least 6 months to a year out of a battery, unless you play bass all day, every day.
You are absolutely correct.
I do play a lot every week, but I should get about the same battery life. I don't leave the bass (Stingray 5, not a big battery eater) plugged in when it's not in use. I say a few weeks, that translates to 6-8 weeks.
I've witnessed players in the middle of a tune and the battery dies. I'm uber-paranoid about that happening to me. I've actually handed my bass to a player onstage when his bass quit and (
) he didn't have a spare battery.9Vs are (relatively) cheap. It's just a choice I made a long time ago with active basses.
Believe it or not, I have on hand one of those John East battery life LEDs. They really do work. I installed them in two basses that I no longer own. I really should install it in this Stingray, but I just haven't gotten around to it for whatever reason.
Line6man, you keep on being correct. I'll keep on being paranoid...
Take care...
Turnaround
Commercial User
Don't forget Sadowsky Basses with the VTC. The passive rolloff works in both active and passive modes.
Question to the moderator: Could we get a sticky on this active/passive/preamp/active pickups topic? It is at the pickup/electronics section what the "what is the best bass for metal?" Is at the bass section.
In theory, yes, but i don't think you'll find anything which qualifies for an active bass but does not use a preamp circuit somewhere in the setup.
If you have a bass with passive pickups and active EQ and you're this paranoid, it's not a terrible idea to, you know, wire some sort of a bypass.You are absolutely correct.
I do play a lot every week, but I should get about the same battery life. I don't leave the bass (Stingray 5, not a big battery eater) plugged in when it's not in use. I say a few weeks, that translates to 6-8 weeks.
I've witnessed players in the middle of a tune and the battery dies. I'm uber-paranoid about that happening to me. I've actually handed my bass to a player onstage when his bass quit and (
9Vs are (relatively) cheap. It's just a choice I made a long time ago with active basses.
Believe it or not, I have on hand one of those John East battery life LEDs. They really do work. I installed them in two basses that I no longer own. I really should install it in this Stingray, but I just haven't gotten around to it for whatever reason.
Line6man, you keep on being correct. I'll keep on being paranoid...
Take care...
Having gigged with an active bass for a while, I don't like to play bypassed. However, it's a really good idea to have one. One time, my guitarist ran out of 9V for her overdrive pedal. I popped the battery out of my bass, and didn't have an extra that day because I had just changed the battery the other day before a set and hadn't packed a new spare battery yet. I was able to complete the gig with my bass on bypass and the guitarist had a working overdrive pedal. It didn't sound ideal, but it was a pretty important gig and we got through it.
I can't think of a production example in the bass world, in the guitar world, active pickups + no preamp is pretty much the norm for an EMG installation.
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But I would think that active bass with no preamp is pretty common for modded basses. For instance, when someone goes out and buys a set of active EMG Jazz Bass pickups for their Fender, and this is not that uncommon, chances are they're just going to install it with the bundled EMG 25k passive control pots and not install a preamp.
Yes, a number of active-passive basses have that feature. Personally I think all active basses need to be able to switch to passive if only for emergencies. And if you have a passive mode it's really nice to have a passive tone control that works too. I've been on a gig where the active battery died and that bass (Ken Smith) had all EQ quit with no passive tone. Well it makes you feel absolutely helpless to be playing like that with your fingers the only control you have over your tone (I heard it's all in the fingers anyway). How much would it take to add another pot and cap to the bass? Of course the coolest bass (and I forget the brand) actually has an arrangement that when you go to passive mode, what was the active treble EQ knob is now the passive tone control! An absolute wonderful idea except that if you have stacked bass/treble knobs you end up with a custom triple decker pot that someone is going to have to fork out to have made!
Turnaround
Commercial User
In many cases it's not a big deal to add a passive rolloff pot and cap. However, it depends in part on how the preamp is designed. If the passive switch really bypasses the preamp, then it's not a big deal to add the tone pot. However, when the preamp is engaged the impedance of the preamp may be affected by the tone pot with less than desirable results. More complex active/passive switching may be involved to remove the passive tone rolloff when the preamp is engaged. But then, a passive rolloff while the preamp is engaged also has some usefulness.
I don't know if I'd want a passive tone that was always in circuit on an active bass. The Sadowsky website seems to indicate that theirs is on a push-pull switch so you can turn it on and off which makes sense to me (or one could have it turn on and off when you switch to passive bypass mode).
On the other hand, my L2500 has passive tone controls that stay operational in both active and passive. The downside is it doesn't have normal cut/boost active EQ like an M2500 does. But I don't think the M2500 has a passive tone knob in fact I'm not even sure it can be put into passive mode even for emergencies.
Turnaround
Commercial User
The Sadowsky VTC is always in the circuit whether using active or passive mode. The push/pull switch simply bypasses the preamp, but always leaves the VTC in the circuit.
But that's my point, an active EMG pickup always contains a preamp, so you have an active guitar/bass that uses a preamp circuit.
I guess...or if you have a battery-powered fan installed on the upper horn of your passive Jazz Bass, it does not make it an active bass either...
Hey I like that idea! With modern Lithium ion batteries you might be able to pull that off!
Of course you would run the risk of headlines like: Club burns down from bass catching fire...
