Passive vs Active, what do you actually gig with?

[logdrum]

Active. Yes I adjust the EQ or Q filter. It seems to me that a good 2 band or a single filter works better than adding more bands.

The passive bass and treble that some G&L have is a great system

 

[Ostie]

Passive. I owned one active bass and it wasn’t for me. I know that’s not a representative sample, but I’m happy with my half-dozen or so passive basses, and I don’t see an active in my future,

 

[iqi616]

I've used both without thinking much about it. Admittedly my active bass isn't sophisticated - a single tone knob.

 

[KohanMike]

Which ones do you use? I tried some and they lasted a month or so. I gave up on them, but I would like to come back.

I buy from Amazon, Krayax 850mAH. They charge in a base. I tried the kind that have a USB-C port in the battery, but those caused terrible interference with the active electronics. Mine last a very long time, especially because I had my repair place Eric's Guitar Shop in Sound City (THAT Sound City), Van Nuys, CA add a battery on/off switch to each of my basses, so I can leave the wireless pods plugged in between sets. Leaving a cable plugged in will deplete the battery quickly.

 

[groovepump]

I use both, but my choices are more about the whole package than just active or passive. I also use an outboard preamp/EQ (several), and I'll use the onboard EQ if I have it.

same. I quickly tweek everything to see where my sound is going, and use what sounds best. Just whatever sounds the best for that venue.

 

[JoeyFab]

Active...ALWAYS active. I do have one bass that I can pull on the volume knob to go into passive if the battery dies mid-song, but I alway have spare batteries with me. And, I ALWAYS fiddle with my tone and pickup blend knobs (I HATE having 2 volume knobs...won't do it!) to dial in the tone I want.

I mostly play a Peavey Cirrus 5, which has an 18 volt pre-amp and is SOOO versatile in tone, but I have and had several others, both 4- and 5-string, but ALWAYS active.

 

[bassbrad]

Most of my basses are passive especially the ones I gig with. I also have several basses that had preamps that have been modified to be passive. If active sound is "needed" can always add a preamp or EQ pedal.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Active. When I need a little punch i can very easily bump up the highs on the bass without having a pedals to worry about or walking back to the amp. Then we play. Big lows country song 2 seconds later, i easily bump up the lows on the bass. No waiting on me to click in a bunch of pedals or walk back to amp.

 

[BioDriver]

I abandoned active and went full-passive. Should have done it years ago.

 

[JIO]

Only used an active bass a few times for rehearsal & live - primarily passive. When I use active, I do use the onboard setting. I adjust my amp setting mostly flat and never touch it at rehearsals and minimally tweak it for live depending on the room sound needs.

 

[FearNoEvil65]

I have active and passive basses and gig with both. The whole "battery dying" thing is overrated, I've never once had a battery die during a gig but I have a spare battery and could change it out in minutes flat if that happened. Neither have I experienced any noise with any of my active basses, my only "noisey" bass is a passive single coil Jazz bass. The being said, I'd like to have a few more passive basses, I like to leave a bass plugged in for practice around the house and that isn't so good with an active bass.

 

[chris_b]

If you don't do timely maintenance then you'll have problems and your gear will let you down. That'll be User error.

Since buying my first active bass I've carried a spare battery and changed batteries every 12 months. The old batteries get used in tuners, my practice bass and elsewhere around the house. I've never had a battery problem on a gig, or at any other time.

 

[brianrost]

I gig with both and have ever since I got my first active bass, a B.C. Rich Eagle, around 1983. I’ve owned at least one active bass ever since.

Currently I have two active and four passive basses.

 

[2saddleslab]

All passive basses played actively.

 

[Nedmundo]

My fours are passive and my fives are an active G&L M-2500 and active/passive Sandberg TT-5. I use fives for the vast majority of my gigs, and I run the Sandberg in active mode on stage, so it's active for me.

On the G&L, I don't boost anything. I cut the treble significantly, and the lows are so massive that I cut the bass too. The level of bass cut depends on the rig, but it can be considerable. This is probably why my batteries last so long!

On the Sandberg, I cut treble and run the bass flat most of the time, but I've boosted the bass occasionally.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I own 8 basses...7 of them are active. They all get gigged.

 

[Moving Pictures]

I use both. Actives are Stingrays and Spectors. The passives are mostly Fender. I pick based on the music I’m playing.

 

[RickDeckardCain]

My Ray35 and fretless Maruszczyk are active. My G&L Tribute L-2500 has an active mode, but I rarely need the extra volume or treble boost, so I leave it in passive mode almost all of the time. I use the onboard EQ for certain songs because I don't want to fiddle with the amp, but, most of the time, I have the knobs at the center detent. I've never had a battery die on me during a gig since I try to preemptively replace all the 9V batteries once a year. I still bring a pack of batteries with me to every gig, which came in handy recently as the 9V in an acoustic-electric guitar died during soundcheck. For that reason, I dislike battery compartments that require a screwdriver to access.

 

[mpdd]

the schecter - we use the treble boost with the emg pickups
the L2000 - i will use this in active if i can't drive the venue's amp the way i can drive my mesa

 

[bass12]

Active, and I use the onboard EQ.