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Is it just me?!

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.
Hey @Stumbo I too recently bought the "stealth" charcoal metalflake SR400 with the new PowerSound pickups. Three bands eq, blend control. Very powerful bass, much authority, and it really sounds like ME! The way I want to sound! Glad you found your bass too. I do have an older walnut SR500 but I don't like the Bartolini's as much as the new Ibanez PowerSound pickups. I think they're Ibanez version of the new Nordstrand pickups. Anyway, I've been getting a lot of compliments on my new bass.
 
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If it weren't for those holes that would be left in the controls area I'd gut it & make it completely passive

maybe just change the knobs you don' t use? :D:laugh:

skull.png


greetings

Wise

edit:snaggletooth pots, for the ones you use would even be cooler!!!
 
Im actually going the opposite way and making things more complicated for myself. Ditched my passive jazz basses ('64 and a '72) years ago and left myself with an Alembic SCSD, and recently picked up two Fender Elite jazz basses (ocean turquoise and sunburst). When it comes to tone control i like having options available on the bass itself.

In addition, I'm also someone who in the past has pretty much ignored effects on bass, always just preferring a clean signal, and the plug and play simplicity of not using any effects, but in the past few weeks have picked up a couple of effects. An echolution and a ditto x2. After playing around with them both at home and in a full band setting, I sort of wish I hadn't been so lazy/stubborn when I was younger and had gotten into pedals more...
 
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I prefer passive basses, and my favorite bass is a passive MusicMan Caprice!!
I really want to try one of those! Hard to come by in Norway though.
I like to have an active with me when I gig both a 4 string and a 5er on the same night - that way, I can EQ my amp for the passive bass, then dial in the active with those amp settings... This kind of approach makes for seamless bass changes during a set - and has worked really well for me...

Regarding EBMM preamps vs others - I also have a Schecter Hellraiser-5, but don't like it's "active sound" nearly as well as that of EBMM - same thing with all the Ibanez 5ers I've owned, and there have been many(over a dozen)... To me, passives have a more "real" sound than most actives - more organic, and less "electronic", if that makes sense...
Sounds like a good way to do it! I absolutely agree when it comes to active v. passive. I haven't tried enough expensive active basses to clearly say, there is just a feel about the passive ones I really enjoy.
 
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!!
For discussions sake. Isn’t it “plug and play” too, to leave your amp flat and use your bass’s eq.?
 
Operating a bass preamp is not rocket surgery. And just because you have the knobs doesn't mean you need to twiddle them. I typically am flat eq settings a lot of the time, but when I do want to tweak the sound...I want to tweak the sound. And the amp may or may not do what I want, plus I have to move and deal with that as oppose to just reaching about 2" with my right hand.

But as they say, "there's a butt for every seat..."
 

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