Matching passive bass with active sound

[SteveLo42]

It SOUNDS like your pedal chain is set up for the Ibanez, and you don't change them for the Surveyor.

Here's the way to tell where you're at:

Take each bass
Skip the pedals
Plug each bass on a cable straight in, leave the pedals out entirely, one after the other (i.e., bass-cable-amp, and leave the settings on the amp alone)
Then see relative to each other if and how much difference there is in output between the SDGR and the Surveyor.

NOW you know where you're at, and what to do to use them both. It's not unusual going from one axe to the next to have to tweak things a bit, you just want to be sure there's no big, night and day difference between the two.

This has to be the best advice yet... thanks! I will give it a try.

 

[40Hz]

The Seymour Duncan Vintage P and J pickups on the ESP are not going to have the same output or sound as the Nordstrom Big Break pickups in the Ibanez.

Using a boost like a Spark Mini or a full preamp with the ESP should make it hotter sounding. But whether it makes it sound beefier is another matter. Only way to find out for sure is to try it.

 

[Derek Kay]

Sorry but it all sounds completely illogical...

You "wanted something different" and that's what you got!

Messing about with it to sound like the one that already works for the situation, defeats your whole starting point and costs you a wad of cash to boot..
Perhaps you should've just bought the same Ibanez in a different colour?

Yes, you might try a completely different approach.

Many prefer a passive bass for the wide clean top end (provided the bass is well shielded)

Why not get a good simple sound out of the passive bass if that interests you? It will take some experimention. IMO the PJ is excellent.

It should be easy to dial down the active bass onboard, to an equally usable sound. If you can then you should be able to use the benefits of both basses without having to reset every time you swop.

 

[poochiecheeks]

I've used this, basically a passive volume knob that only needs power for the LED. In bypass you have your gain and pedals set up for the passive bass, plug in the active bass with those settings and increase the pad until it sounds right. Mark where that is on the knob and you get consistant tone out of both basses.

Signal Pad | DISCONTINUED 2025 | Passive Attenuator - Electro-Harmonix

Instantly switch to a different preset volume, with a fully-passive and color-free circuit!

www.ehx.com

 

[SteveLo42]

I've used this, basically a passive volume knob that only needs power for the LED. In bypass you have your gain and pedals set up for the passive bass, plug in the active bass with those settings and increase the pad until it sounds right. Mark where that is on the knob and you get consistant tone out of both basses.

Signal Pad | DISCONTINUED 2025 | Passive Attenuator - Electro-Harmonix

Instantly switch to a different preset volume, with a fully-passive and color-free circuit!

www.ehx.com

That is pretty cool!

 

[SteveLo42]

So I had a play around today with both basses. Lo and behold, I thought the LTD sounded better than the Ibanez did in passive mode.
The Ibanez seems to engage more mids when it's switched into active, although I cannot claim to have a particularly good ear for this kind of thing. Either way I think it sounds sick.
I've ordered an MXR M80 from ebay so looking forward to experimenting with that to see if I can work out a sound I like.

Cheers for all the advice.

 

[SteveLo42]

Here's an interesting update: I took the passive LTD bass to band practice today (with no preamp/boost pedal), after having spent some time playing around with EQ settings on my amp at home to get the bass sounding nice. I set the EQ similar on the studio amp and adjusted the volume to suit, and hey presto, it sounded pretty damn good!!

Side update, the MXR pedal arrived but one of the pots needs cleaning and I don't have the right size Allen key to get it open. I got a refund because it passed me off.

Anyway, todays experience at practice, I think, highlights my total lack of experience. At least I've learnt something.

The only other possible problem is the limit LED was lighting up constantly on the studio amp, so I had to turn the volume down. Would a preamp pedal still be of benefit? As in to ensure the amp doesn't have to work so hard?

 

[SteveLo42]

Also, probably should have been clear from the start that I don't need to change basses mid way through a set!