Let's say you have your P bass needs covered but you have to choose between a modern active jazz style - Schecter, Warwick, Spector, Ibanez or a passive Jazz - Fender. What do you pick and why? You can only have 1.
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Modern Active vs Passive Jazz - If you could only have 1?
- Thread starter Groovin1122
- Start date
“No more government subsidies for active basses!”
Bad jokes aside, I’m currently going to all passive basses. I’m too OCD to manage anything more than three knobs so the passive Jazz just does it for me these days. I think passive is doing it for me mainly because I play rock/older music and am a horrible slapper.
“It’s not versatile......YOU’RE not versatile!”
Also with a passive, I think about how I’m playing, not how the eq knobs are playing. Also with passive, I think with my hands, my touch, and positioning. I think about all the good things that make music great (the drummer, the mix, my attack). With active I just go knob crazy and don’t have fun. Keep in mind this is a criticism of myself and not active basses.
If I was playing gospel and/or metal? Active jazz.
Bad jokes aside, I’m currently going to all passive basses. I’m too OCD to manage anything more than three knobs so the passive Jazz just does it for me these days. I think passive is doing it for me mainly because I play rock/older music and am a horrible slapper.
“It’s not versatile......YOU’RE not versatile!”
Also with a passive, I think about how I’m playing, not how the eq knobs are playing. Also with passive, I think with my hands, my touch, and positioning. I think about all the good things that make music great (the drummer, the mix, my attack). With active I just go knob crazy and don’t have fun. Keep in mind this is a criticism of myself and not active basses.
If I was playing gospel and/or metal? Active jazz.
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- Jun 30, 2010
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Depends on the type of music you play.
Old school = passive.
More modern = active with passive capabilities .
You can always get a passive and add outboard preamp.
I really dislike the VVT setup on passive jazz basses. Which is one of the many reasons I love my active Warwick Corvette. 2 jazz pickups Vol bal and stacked bass treble setup. It also has an eq bypass. It fits in any genre. That’s why I voted active.
^ This is a good answer, but unless you get or do the single coil mod (mine are Tributes which do not have it) it doesn't give you a J tone. My advice to anyone deciding for themselves is to consider the music you are playing.
That said, IF I were to limit myself to one, I would go Sire. They go active and passive and include a passive tone knob in the mix. My only complaint with mine is I prefer flatter fretboards. But I still play it and it plays fine!
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If we're considering a two-bass lineup, with a P4 and some sort of J, I'd want a J5 with active/passive operation including a passive tone control. In my own herd, my J5 is passive, because I normally prefer passive basses and my M-2500 does the active five thing extremely well.
I've owned three actual Fender Js over the years, one active and two passive. The active one I had didn't play well for some reason, but I prefered the overall tone to the passive ones. In fact, I eventually rewired both passive Js to series to get more grunt.
Active is only too many knobs when there are too many knobs. I owned an active P with only V and T, my Steinberger L2 is V-V-T.
Active is only too many knobs when there are too many knobs. I owned an active P with only V and T, my Steinberger L2 is V-V-T.
I voted active because>Sadowsky. Plus they have a passive mode.
There’s nothing wrong with a passive Fender either but Sadowsky Jazzes are the schnizz.
There’s nothing wrong with a passive Fender either but Sadowsky Jazzes are the schnizz.
I haven't owned an active electric bass for over 10 years and haven't missed it. My Ibanez Acoustic has a 9V battery for the preamp but I don't plug it in so I don't really consider that.
Active. I rarely use the extra EQ options, but I'd rather have them than not considering I have not noticed any significant tonal difference to going passive. I also like having the ability to match the output volume of multiple basses for live purposes by using the trim pot included with most active units.
I voted "passive".
I've had a handful of active basses. It's the idea that I can change tones on the fly, right at my fingertips. Sounds great...except I never really used it. For me, I've found that the passive tone knob changes what I need, and 3-bands of EQ is just overkill.
My current Jazz Bass is a 2020 American Ultra, complete with the 3-band EQ, but also has a passive option with a passive tone control. When I actually use that bass, it stays on passive. I don't even have batteries in the bass. For the record, I tried it on the first two gigs...but by gig #3, it was back to passive, and it's stayed there ever since.
I've had a handful of active basses. It's the idea that I can change tones on the fly, right at my fingertips. Sounds great...except I never really used it. For me, I've found that the passive tone knob changes what I need, and 3-bands of EQ is just overkill.
My current Jazz Bass is a 2020 American Ultra, complete with the 3-band EQ, but also has a passive option with a passive tone control. When I actually use that bass, it stays on passive. I don't even have batteries in the bass. For the record, I tried it on the first two gigs...but by gig #3, it was back to passive, and it's stayed there ever since.
I've had both - I will stick to passive. You can make all sorts of scooped boom'n'tizz come out of the active one, but the tone controls always end up in the middle position. So rather than have the extra distraction of batteries and circuits, I'll stick to passive. The VVT knob set-up of the Jazz sounds intuitive, but in practice doesn't seem to be that much liked.
