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J basses that are fully functional BOTH as passive as active AND passive

Pacodelivery

Pacodelivery

May 25, 2014
883
960
Baltimore
#1
TL;DR Looking for J fiver that works well in passive mode and the pre is more like the icing on the cake than the cake itself.

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So I recently bought a used Lakland dj5 with a john east dj-retro in it, and yeah, I get why there's all the hype about that preamp, it sounds sweet.

I've always played passive basses, however, and what I was hoping for was that I could use the preamp kind of like how I use the ews trilogic preamp pedal that's on my board, which is for maybe 30% of songs to add a little bit of extra tone shaping to my pickup selection.

The John East really doesn't seemed designed for that, tho. It seems like the philosophy is, passive is there as a backup if you absolutely need it or if you have a picky engineer in the studio but otherwise it seems to me like the idea is that most users will leave the pre engaged most of the time. Like, for instance, in passive mode, you can't solo the neck pickup, you either get a 50/50 blend of the two pickups or full bridge. Blah that doesn't work for me, neck soloed is my favorite j bass setting.

I'm wondering, what basses or preamps are out there (or are there any) that are designed for the player who wants to run the bass in passive mode most of the time and then add in the active control in a way that integrates with the existing passive sound well. I think ideally it would allow for the same pickup blending options on a standard j (esp since I like adding the series/parallel mod), and would be easy to set flat with no boost compared with passive (another thing that's tricky with the john east) and then tone shape from there.

I played a Fender Marcus Miller once with a two band sadowsky pre in it that worked well for this. In passive mode it sounded great (no tone control but I could live without that) and hitting the switch for the pre with both knobs flat changed the sound only minimally, and then you could affect bass and treble afterwards. I looked into buying that bass however and they seem really hard to find, and especially in five string versions.

What have you seen out there in the wild?
 
#3
bass12 said:
You can get the Sadowsky preamp with a passive tone control (what Sadowsky calls “VTC” - or “Vintage Tone Control”). The VTC can be used in both passive and active mode. This is what I have in my Lull M5V and it works great.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've looked at that and been interested. Is there much of a volume jump when switching from passive to active? Also is the blend pot functional while in passive mode?
 
#4
Roscoe Century Standard with Aguilar pickups and OBP-1 preamp. Passive bypass (of course) and a passive tone knob.
That 18V 2-band boost-only preamp is badass and I’ll never do a major purchase (or makeover) again without the passive tone. Tone rolled off with the preamp engaged with just a dash of low boost is sublime. (It pretty much negates the treble boost I dial in - which means I can snap right back to “modern” with one quick knob twist.)
 
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#5
Pacodelivery said:
Yeah I've looked at that and been interested. Is there much of a volume jump when switching from passive to active? Also is the blend pot functional while in passive mode?
Click to expand...
The blend pot is functional in both active and passive mode. There is definitely a noticeable difference in volume when changing between active and passive. How many dBs I couldn’t tell you but you could always post your question in the Sadowsky Club thread and possibly get a more detailed answer.
 
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#9
Two examples I have owned and liked.

John East J-Tone - I am a little surprised this is not as popular as the J-Retros. Two band active EQ when in active mode. Typical jazz bass passive (V/V/T or V/B/T) when in passive. Passive controls work when the active mode is engaged. Rear mounted controls to set the Bass and Treble Voicing. Setting for Bass knob to be boost only (I use it in boost/cut mode). Also comes with interchangeable tone caps to set the voicing of the passive tone rolloff. Rear controls take a little time to dial in, but once everything is setup the pre is fantastic. I use it as OP outlines passive J bass except when I need some EQ and switch to active. I still have this preamp in a G&L JB5.

Nordstrand 2B/3B preamps when optioned correctly (not all configurations have passive tone knob)- I had the 2B-4C. Works similar to the J-tone (active EQ with typical passive controls) only is available with a mid-band and mid switching options in the 3B configurations. It does lack some of the user configuration of the J-tone as the only control on the preamp board is for overall gain in active mode. I had this preamp in an Ibanez SR885LE that I sold on here.

For both preamps, setting the active EQ passive and turning on active mode sounds like passive mode (except it may have a boost on the Nordstrand depending on the gain setting on the preamp board). My preference between the two is for the John East J-Tone due to the voicing controls. However, the Nordstrand was right there with it on quality and Nordstrand offers a mid-band that you cannot get on the J-Tone. I personally do not like mid controls in an on-board preamp, but I know that most people do.
 
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#11
Mayones jabba classic. I was looking for a jazz bass, preferably fender, but then this mayones popped up on a Website. I traded my old bass for it, and didn't regret. I like playing passive, so I actually didn't want active, but since it is there, it really is a nice feature for occasional boosting. It has passive mics with normal jb control and active on off switch plus 2 band eq. Both tone controls are independent from each other
 
#12
I play mostly passive basses, but currently have the Audere in 4 basses.

Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, (there is no MODE switch) but to me the Audere is the pre-amp for people who maybe aren’t fans of active Basses.
Controls set flat = Passive, and I don’t deviate much from that.

It’s not advertised, but If you call David at Audere, he offers a passive tone control add-on option.

Also, the Audere blend is active, meaning it isolates the pickups from one another, so it technically acts different than a Passive J, but gives a broader range of tone options. I can achieve all the tones that i want on a passive J-bass, and more.

The last Audere I ordered was for a Tony Franklin. I thought I’d try keeping it with the original “2-knob” look, so I got the V/B, B/T & Passive tone, and left the B/T control in the cavity set flat – figuring I could always add it later if needed. It turned out better than I could have hoped, and 3 months later, I don’t miss the B/T at all.
 
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#13
I think if you gave me an hour to answer and a $500 prize I don’t think I could come up with a close second place behind that East. So you’re on your own. Since you aren’t being reasonable haha (East is only option) why not use a standard passive J with a really nice foot switch type preamp? That ticks all the boxes and doesn’t negate the onboard controls.
But if there was only a single update to the East a passive backup tone would be it. They do chew batteries faster than others. So it’s certainly possible you’d need it.
 
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#14
_One//Man//Mutiny_ said:
I would throw up the Sadowsky 2 band bass preamp pedal for consideration. It’s very much an on board preamp in pedal form with a mute and a D.I. Not only does it give my passive Jazz a different flavor, it can be used with all of my basses!
Click to expand...

Killing Floor said:
I think if you gave me an hour to answer and a $500 prize I don’t think I could come up with a close second place behind that East. So you’re on your own. Since you aren’t being reasonable haha (East is only option) why not use a standard passive J with a really nice foot switch type preamp? That ticks all the boxes and doesn’t negate the onboard controls.
But if there was only a single update to the East a passive backup tone would be it. They do chew batteries faster than others. So it’s certainly possible you’d need it.
Click to expand...

What I'm hoping for here is an onboard solution, I have a preamp pedal I like already (the EWS trilogic), but I've definitely looked at and wondered about trading up to the sadowsky. I was hoping to have more tone shaping on the instrument itself so that I can make changes on the fly more easily and can gig or go the studio without bringing my board.
 
#15
J-Bass RMR said:
I play mostly passive basses, but currently have the Audere in 4 basses.

Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, (there is no MODE switch) but to me the Audere is the pre-amp for people who maybe aren’t fans of active Basses.
Controls set flat = Passive, and I don’t deviate much from that.

It’s not advertised, but If you call David at Audere, he offers a passive tone control add-on option.

Also, the Audere blend is active, meaning it isolates the pickups from one another, so it technically acts different than a Passive J, but gives a broader range of tone options. I can achieve all the tones that i want on a passive J-bass, and more.

The last Audere I ordered was for a Tony Franklin. I thought I’d try keeping it with the original “2-knob” look, so I got the V/B, B/T & Passive tone, and left the B/T control in the cavity set flat – figuring I could always add it later if needed. It turned out better than I could have hoped, and 3 months later, I don’t miss the B/T at all.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've seen people say things like this, that the audere is the pre for people who usually prefer passive basses. What is the output like, compared with a passive bass? Do pedals respond the same way to it as they would a passive? Part of the reason that I want a passive option is because certain pedals seem to respond differently (usually in ways I don't like) to active basses as opposed to the passive ones I'm used to, specifically compressors, analog octaves, and distortion pedals.
 
#16
Pacodelivery said:
Yeah I've looked at that and been interested. Is there much of a volume jump when switching from passive to active? Also is the blend pot functional while in passive mode?
Click to expand...

I don't know the Sadowsky preamp specifically, but one thing you might want to keep in mind is that a lot of active circuits have a trim pot that can be utilized to adjust the preamp's output in active mode. On my Carvin LB70, which is active/passive, I usually keep the trim pot adjusted so that there is no volume difference between active and passive mode, although there have been one or two occasions in which I bumped the active volume because I specifically planned to use the bass in passive mode with active mode available as a "boost" that I could drop in when needed.
 
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#20
I haven't sampled anything from Xotic yet, but their XJ-1T looks like an interesting active/passive Jazz. The control layout puts the passive controls front and center with the preamp controls down closer to the bridge. When I first saw pictures/videos of these, I got the impression that they were going for a passive bass with a preamp on the sidelines that's ready to chip in. Not one with a preamp that's usually on, but can be bypassed in a pinch.
 

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