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Does anyone here only play passive basses?

#21
I do have an active bass, but I haven't played it at all in over a year.

I had a guy over for band practice last night that's going to be filling in for me a few times this summer (I'm trying to have a life). He plays a Sammick. I gotta say, that sound just isn't for me, but I thought it sounded damn good when he was playing it.
 
#24
The first few basses I owned were passive, and the last couple have been active. I even owned an active 6-string which I converted to passive a few years ago.

My main player is an active 4 and I am building a passive fretless 4. I find the active bass to be easy to use. I have had it since October of 2010, and I have not yet had to change the battery. I definitely wouldn't call battery changes a hassle or expensive. It has a 3-band EQ, and I have enough time using it that I can dial up whatever change anyone I am playing with wants in just a few seconds. It's tonal flexibility surprises people, given the appearance of the thing. Together with my amp's EQ, it can get almost any sound I want.

That said, it is definitely a hi-fi bass. It doesn't cop a passive sound and that doesn't really bother me. That said, I build a little filter box that drops the signal strength some and bleeds off a good bit of treble. The result is a very fat, low-fi bassy sound that is strongly reminiscent of a passive P if I use it with just the neck pickup on the bass.

The passive fretless 4 I am building has two Bartolini narrow humbuckers (X44CBJD set), a blend control, a master volume, and a tone control with a Sprague Orange Drop capacitor. It's getting close to completion and I am pretty stoked about it. I decided to go passive on it purely as an economic choice. Adding a pre-amp and battery box would have added $150 to the cost of the bass, and that would have put the total cost outside my budget for this project.
 
#26
I'm not a knob twiddler at all. On my fretless J, the pickups are wired in series direct to the jack. None of the knobs do anything cause they pots aren't connected. If I need to lower the volume, I play softer. If I need a more thumpy tone, I pluck near the neck. If I need more attack, I pluck near the bridge.

My five is active, but I leave everything flat, all the time. I'd be fine if it were passive.
 
#27
I am "one gig - one sound" guy, so i don't need second EQ — i adjust it on the amp and don't need to change anything after that.
One of four basses I've owned was active and*I've always set it flat when playing live.
Maybe someday I'll find out the advantages of active bass but now I'm just fine with passive.
By the way, at the same time i like multi-pickup basses, and would like to try 3-pickup bass someday :)
 
#28
I have a couple and honestly don't see what the big deal about active electronics is. They don't seem to be any more versatile tone wise than their passive brethern.

I do think the battery thing is way overstated. I play one of my actives almost every day for about 30 minutes a sitting and for a couple of hours at gigs every other week and have only changed the battery once in the past year - and then not because it was dead; only because after a year I figured I SHOULD change the battery.
 
#29
All my basses are passive (MIA Jazz, 80's Yamaha, Carvin B40). To say I run passive wouldn't be completely fair. I use a Sansamp Para Driver to get the tones I want for DI and then use an amp as a monitor. So in effect even though my bass is passive, my Sansamp acts as the active, is that fair to say? However my blend is usually more towards the bass rather than Sansamp. My blend is usually at 10 o'clock rather than full Sansamp at 4 o'clock or so.

This gives me pretty good flexibility, can use the SansAmp or swtich it off for straight passive bass and rely on the tone of the amp. The Para Driver with the bass, treble, and importantly the sweepable mid, I get lots of tonal flexibility with the passive bass without having to rely on whatever amp is available for tone.
 
#32
I've evolved from all passive to another level (both). This is with the idea that I will be taking this bass or that to gigs in the not-too-distant future.

The passive basses are now lined up next to an active/passive bass, and one all active Hot Rod aka SRX.
 
#33
I prefer passive instruments, but a good bass is a good bass.

In my opinion, simpler is better. I like pedals and molding a tone through them, but a tone can be recalled by simply stomping on them. Playing with knobs is a hassle to me. I own an active bass and leave everything flat. Depending on where I'm playing it, I adjust it accordingly... but I prefer the tones of passive instruments.

It seems to me a lot of active instruments (with 2-band EQs at least, not much experience with 3 bands here) don't sound as 'balanced' as passive instruments. As in, the lowest string sounds too boomy and the highest string sounds too treble-y. I mean a low E is a low E, but some basses don't sound 'uniform' to me and that drives me up the friggin wall; it can be fixed via the amp's EQ, but a lot of active basses seem to fight with me for a smooth tone. Which is a shame because I dig that burpy/growly hi-fi sound. In my experience passive basses are just more responsive to my plucking hand's attack and it's easier to get a more uniform, smoother sound. They have more mojo.

EDIT: I have read that the signal strength of an active bass is much stronger than a passive one, and running a passive bass through multiple effect pedals will drain your tone. I'm thinking this is false -- does anyone have any insight?
 
#34
Another passive player here, MIA Highway One Jazz. I sculpt the tone a bit here and there with an Aguilar Tone Hammer and with the eq on my SVT4. It's what I like, though I am getting tired of hauling that SVT and 410 cab around, especially now that I'm playing upright in my second band.
 
#38
John Wentzien said:
Can't get past the "processed" sound of active...tried to like it...but passive for me, no doubt!~
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Active tone, to me, sounds like it's coming from a machine, too cold and sterile. Passive tone sounds like it's coming from a thunderous guit-fiddle and that's how I likes it.

Stacatto said:
I've evolved from all passive to another level (both).
Click to expand...

What's with the use of the word "evolved"? Does this imply I'm further down the evolutionary ladder? ;)

smilinggorilla.jpg


hehehe
 
#40
John Wentzien said:
Can't get past the "processed" sound of active...tried to like it...but passive for me, no doubt!~
Click to expand...

Yup...me too. The kind of music you play is certainly a factor though. I play mostly blues, soul, classic rock, and old school funk.

I've owned a couple of Musicman basses, and while that is definitely my favorite active bass, I still couldn't really get an "organic" tone out of them. It always sounded electronic and didn't feel right in the mix.

The only real use I have for an active bass now is ye olde jam session or gig with provided backline where I have to use somebody else's rig. It's handy to be able to dial in a usable tone without messing with the amp.
 

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