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Is this Corvette Active?

Ryan Mohr

Ryan Mohr

Oct 23, 2007
3,032
26
#1
I was looking at Corvettes on guitarcenter.com, and noticed that there was a "Warwick Corvette Standard Electric Bass" priced at $1279, but the "Warwick Corvette Standard Bass" is only $1039. Both of the basses are electric, so I don't understand GC's logic when labelling them like that. The one priced at $1279 says passive MEC J/J pickups, as does the other. The only thing that would logically acount for the price difference would be that the one priced at 1279 is actually active, and they have made a mistake on the site. I looked at Dana B Goods, and the active corvette is priced at 1599 retail, as opposed to the passive corvette which is priced at 1299. What are your opinions

Here are the two links:

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#4
All Warwicks have passive pickups (like most basses). It's the preamp that makes it active or not.

With that said: They both say they have passive electronics. There is no mention of the word active at all. The more expensive of the two does has a stacked pot though...which IME means it has treble/bass knobs...which means it's active.

My advice. Look on a few different sites. Head to the store and check it out to make sure it's what you want.
 
#8
+1 on the first link being active, the second passive.

In the picture of the first bass, there is a pretty decent angle of the knobs. The furthest knob from the neck has the tell-tale stacked active treble and bass controls. The second picture is harder to tell, but it appears to be a passive tone. This is just my best guess.

I ended up using the passive mode of my corvette standard around 98% of the time. Not the active guts suck...more that the passive mode was very quiet and seemed a little more "responsive".

Whatever the case, if you go warwick, you're getting some monster growl.
 
#10
BFISHER1970 said:
Not true! The first one has active pickups (at least in the picture)
Click to expand...

How are they active pickups? It looks like it has an active preamp to me. I know that Warwick says it has MEC Active JJ's or whatever, but the pickups don't have a battery to power them. The batteries power the preamp...

I'm not saying they are the only active pickups around...but EMG's are one of the only active PICKups that I know of. Most active basses have an active preamp...not active pickups.
 
#11
bassgod0dmw said:
How are they active pickups? It looks like it has an active preamp to me. I know that Warwick says it has MEC Active JJ's or whatever, but the pickups don't have a battery to power them. The batteries power the preamp...

I'm not saying they are the only active pickups around...but EMG's are one of the only active PICKups that I know of. Most active basses have an active preamp...not active pickups.
Click to expand...

man, if it isn't written dynamic correction on the pickup, it is an active mec. I'm 100% sure about this.
 
#18
They make three configurations of the Corvette.

1) Passive pickups and passive electronics.
2) Passive pickups and active electronics.
3) Active pickups and active electronics.

Going from the pictures in your links, the first one is active/active. Passive pickups have "dynamic correction" written on them and these don't. There's a preamp in there, since one set of knobs are stacked (bass/treble).

The second link is passive/passive. The pickups have the dynamic correction script and the knob layout is Volume/Blend/Tone.
 
#19
Azoore said:
They make three configurations of the Corvette.

1) Passive pickups and passive electronics.
2) Passive pickups and active electronics.
3) Active pickups and active electronics.

Going from the pictures in your links, the first one is active/active. Passive pickups have "dynamic correction" written on them and these don't. There's a preamp in there, since one set of knobs are stacked (bass/treble).

The second link is passive/passive. The pickups have the dynamic correction script and the knob layout is Volume/Blend/Tone.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying. By the way, I love your videos on youtube!
 

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