Is it just me?!

[lbbc]

I have owned and played some of the nicest basses IMHO.... Alembic, Pushic Custom Bass, Spector, Rickenbacker, Fender Custom Shop and the list goes on and on for the past 44 years...and have loved them all.

But, I find myself gravitating to the simplicity of my Carvin TBS4 and Squier CV 50's Pbass. Is it just me, or have others found the "plug and play" with passive basses more attractive? I set the EQ on my amp and am happy!!

 

[dabbler]

Well not to wax philosophical, but I find as I get older (59, now) that I value simplicity in life more in general, rather than novelty.

When I pick up a bass, I listen to see what it does, and simply go with it, rather than trying to EQ it into something I want it to be. Oh. I may try the controls on the bass, and see how it responds to hand placement, but I'm not chasing some sound in my head. And if it's not working for me, I just grab another bass.

 

[Stumbo]

Yep.

I picked up an active, 3 band eq, Ibanez a few years ago. I had played passive basses for a few decades before that. Never thought I'd care for it.

With the Ibby, I can adjust the volume and pretty much leave the backline eq. alone. The bass has enough eq. to get the tone I want.

My passives sit nicely in their cases. Probably bring out the '63 or '78 J for recording.

 

[dmt]

Passive for me.

A good ol’ Precision — that is the sound in my head. J on the neck sounds good too. Thunderbird, Mustang...

If it’s too bright, back off the tone a little...voila!

 

[mesaplayer83]

I typically prefer the sound of passive basses over actives - the exception to that is EBMM - I really like the sound of their preamps...

 

[buldog5151bass]

Different strokes and all. Passive works best for me.

 

[muddycreek]

I think I have always approached bass with simplicity in mind (strangely counter to many other facets of my life....). I also think it's why I used to mow through amps and cabinets. In general, all set flat, I want hands -> bass -> amp -> cab to be 95%+ of my tone, with EQ applied for correction of room or stage issues. Maybe a little unrealistic, but hey, "realistic" and "ideal bass tone" and probably "GAS in general" might not comfortably share the same sentence anyway.

 

[Marko 1]

...but I find as I get older (59, now) that I value simplicity in life more in general, rather than novelty.

Yep!

 

[MrMe]

I typically prefer the sound of passive basses over actives - the exception to that is EBMM - I really like the sound of their preamps...

Totally agree. The MM basses are something special.

I usually like to set the EQ on the amp, not on the bass. I find there is more than enough variation just in the technique, where you pluck e.t.c.. I rarely feel the need to EQ during a song.

 

[bluesblaster]

The one active custom that I have has a two band and its most always set flat, I have bumped the bass up a tick from time to time but Live you wouldn't hear the difference. I have nothing against active pre amps but you do have EQ on most amps, how much EQ do you really need ?

 

[nixdad]

I’ve also come full circle. I’ve owned about 50 basses over the past 40 years, including many of the top active/boutique basses throughout the 80’s and early 90’s (I was fortunate and had access to everything at the time.)

I now play a Ric and a Fender Starcaster (made in China, and is superb.) Both strung with flats, of course!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Totally agree. The MM basses are something special.

I usually like to set the EQ on the amp, not on the bass. I find there is more than enough variation just in the technique, where you pluck e.t.c.. I rarely feel the need to EQ during a song.

I prefer passive basses, and my favorite bass is a passive MusicMan Caprice!!

 

[bluesblaster]

There is a very funny story Lee Sklar tells about the great studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco where the producer keeps asking Tommy to try different instruments on a track, like "how about a mandolin" or "how about this instrument or that instrument" Tommy was sitting behind a baffle wall about 3 feet tall and just pretended to set his guitar down and pick up said instrument and play that for the producer, Mr. Producer finally heard a sound he liked however Tommy never had any of those instruments with him, he only had an acoustic guitar, he just played different places on the neck with a different attack and style, everyone's happy, and Tommy didn't have to go back out to the car and bring in a bunch more instruments.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I have four main basses, two are passive and you guess what other two are. So, the basses that are being used are the ones that fits the requirements the best depending of the project they're going to used for.

 

[mongo2]

Yes, I switched back to only passives several years ago, never looked back.

I prefer a single pickup wired straight to the output jack. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

[mpdd]

it makes sense, i use the LB100 unless i feel like i need the extreme output of the L2000 dialed in to sound like a very loud LB100

 

[Flaked Beans]

Passive fender basses are fine. Paassive six string basses are also fine.

 

[Burwabit]

Simplicity is why I like the Sadowsky preamp. It basically gives you a passive bass plus ability to boost bass and treble. That’s it. None of this fancy cut/boost across three bands stuff. Just simple. And still has passive tone rolloff. Best of both!

 

[Hevy T]

I have several Ibanez Basses and thinking about doing an active passive mod to my main players. I prefer passive but love the feel and playability of the ibanez

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Glad it works for you, not for me