Fodera (passive vs. active)& studio

[duderus]

Greetings Lowend Friends,

I recently picked up a Fodera standard and it plays like a dream. It is surely on the brighter side with light strings. This evening I went all passive mode and used a "vintage" switch on my Epifani head and the tone was sick. I can see myself using both, but had a few questions if you have had these experiences and would recommend something.

1. Does anyone here prefer their fodera in passive over active? (I understand time and place though for each)

2. Studio Work: anyone here bring their fodera into the studio? Generally I would bring my Vintage P bass with flats & a Valenti 5 (jazz tone/slap if needed). If you have, would you still go passive or did active sit well in the mix?



On the verge of bringing the Fodera bass out to gigs and studio but would like recommendations on where to start. The above should help give me an idea on whether or not I sound check and play a gig passive or whether or not it's worth it to even try the fodera in the studio to replace the other Basses.

thanks friends

 

[Flaked Beans]

I prefer the passive mode on mine with the passive tone pot rolled off usually, in the studio, but the active pope preamp works just fine too.

 

[Lackey]

Firstly - I own own no Fodera.

Secondly - isn't an active circuit technically just a signal boost, typically paired with onboard eq?

I'm a bit of an onboard preamp denialist - seems that 90% of iconic music was recorded with passive instruments, I don't really see the need for active. Of course I'm being very subjective here. And probably a bit of a jerk, if so I apologise.

 

[flojob]

Firstly - I own own no Fodera.

Secondly - isn't an active circuit technically just a signal boost, typically paired with onboard eq?

I'm a bit of an onboard preamp denialist - seems that 90% of iconic music was recorded with passive instruments, I don't really see the need for active. Of course I'm being very subjective here. And probably a bit of a jerk, if so I apologise.

Depends on what you consider iconic, really. Also I don't think you sounded like a jerk

 

[stuntbass77]

With my music I find that sometimes my active bass works bout really well ( as did my Warwick and US Masters ) in active mode. I'm not making pro recordings so I don't mind committing to a active tone that I shaped at the bass as opposed to using software later. If feel i nailed it the first time I don't find a need to go back and do a lot of eq'ing the already recorded bass track. I find that sometimes i need/prefer using the onboard pre for recoding. My favorite tone is a passive jazz but my acoustic 6 string is a mid level instrument and it's tone is really warm and can make nailing the bass tone to fit tricky. Congrats on the Fodera, rock on !!!

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

To me; active vs passive is a tonal choice in the studio (live: different story). In loose terms, active mode compresses the sound and make the bottom end tighter. Therefore; like any tonal change, it also effects the way I play. Those are more important than the signal getting boosted.

If I feel like the current song asks for the sound & my play style of a passive bass, I record in passive mode.

If I feel like the current song asks for the sound & my play style of an active bass, I record in active mode.

There are stories about studio engineers insisting on passive basses. If you encounter one as a session musician, you would do what he/she says. If you are the boss though, there would be room for discussion.

You better bring all candidate guitars with you and decide together.

 

[oldfretless]

Active for live. Different songs are very easy to adjust the tone, or even tweak during the song.

 

[Shlabotnik]

Active is great for live but in the studio I prefer to record in passive mode. Most often, I wouldn't record using a EQ'd line output from my preamp outside of my bass so I don't want to do it with my bass preamp either. Prefer to have as raw and unmodified a tone as possible so it can be mixed ITB. YMMV of course.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Greetings Lowend Friends,

I recently picked up a Fodera standard and it plays like a dream. It is surely on the brighter side with light strings. This evening I went all passive mode and used a "vintage" switch on my Epifani head and the tone was sick. I can see myself using both, but had a few questions if you have had these experiences and would recommend something.

1. Does anyone here prefer their fodera in passive over active? (I understand time and place though for each)

2. Studio Work: anyone here bring their fodera into the studio? Generally I would bring my Vintage P bass with flats & a Valenti 5 (jazz tone/slap if needed). If you have, would you still go passive or did active sit well in the mix?



On the verge of bringing the Fodera bass out to gigs and studio but would like recommendations on where to start. The above should help give me an idea on whether or not I sound check and play a gig passive or whether or not it's worth it to even try the fodera in the studio to replace the other Basses.

thanks friends

I much prefer passive anything compared to active.

 

[nostatic]

The last three albums I've done have been done with Foderas (and the last 500+ gigs). I know some (@steubig ) who have ripped the preamps out of their Foderas (or had them built without) as they vastly prefer passive. Since my Yin Yang Deluxe has EMG PJs, "passive" still isn't really that passive. My other Fodera has Nordy Big Rigs (and past ones had SDs, even put Smith pickups in one 5'er). I still prefer active even in the studio but that is me. There are times that passive sounds a bit sweeter to me, but typically it "feels" better to me active. I also love the EMG PJ setup in 4-string but oddly didn't like the 5-string version.

Lots of variables, no right or wrong answer. Use what works for you. Invariably I'm an active guy, others are passive, others swing both ways. And that's...ok.

 

[nilorius]

I think on Fodera both modes are good. Only if You know the model has some strange electronics.

 

[steubig]

an active circuit sounds compressed to me, even when it's bypassed.

another thing is that there's always a "new, better" preamp. if you like your basses to be basically be the same (i do), that can mean a lot of money. i'd be more inclined to go with an offboard/pedal pre if i wanted that sound.

 

[PaulCISSA]

I have an Emperor Classic and can only reiterate what's already been said before me.....I prefer passive in the studio and let the E1 do what needs to be done but almost always use the Pope in live work (not that I have much of that anymore). I learned early that a little of anything on the Pope can deliver more than is needed if not careful.

 

[Element Zero]

I purchased a YY5S a couple years ago and LOVED the way it played but was needing more from it tonally. It came with EMG PJs, and the standard Pope preamp. It came standard with a active/passive switch and realistically, it wasn't really a bid difference. As the EMGs themselves were active the switch was more or less a preamp bypass. Just didn't do it for me. So...

I had Joey install some Seymour Duncan NYC dual coils in it and hard wired it for full active and changed the active/passive switch to a coil tap.

Passive, active... whatever. As long as it sounds good, it is good in my book. YMMV of course.

 

[fishdreams]

I once spent an afternoon at their joint trying out every bass in their music room. I always ended up playing passive, which sounded great, especially their fretless model. To me, their active system is a utility tool to help with annoying/difficult/unforeseen backline or pa situations, a NYC thing where you typically never know what you going to be plugging into with 5 minutes to set up for your set

 

[kinopah]

My Foderas are ONLY passive, so...
But yeah I adore the tone (live or recorded) and I can always use an outboard pre to give a little extra shine.

My 1st Fodera was active and sounded lovely, but after 10 years of mainly playing Fender P's and J's, the guts and simplicity of a passive bass make it easier for me to sound like "myself". (And Fodera's version of "myself" is the best I've heard so far.)

 

[packhowitzer]

Active is great for live but in the studio I prefer to record in passive mode. Most often, I wouldn't record using a EQ'd line output from my preamp outside of my bass so I don't want to do it with my bass preamp either. Prefer to have as raw and unmodified a tone as possible so it can be mixed ITB. YMMV of course.

^ +1 to this. These days, I rarely play a passive bass live and I never record with active basses any more. YMMV indeed.