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Passive vs Active

#22
Let me clear up my comments for you Bryan,
my comments are directed completely at passive pickups with passive tone networks and passive pickups with active preamps such as the Marcus Miller bass.

True Tom Kennedy and many other players get a jaco-like sound from active basses, to my ears, the passive bass does that better. IMO of course.

Thank you for pointing out the lack of concise description, I assume others may be unsure as to my references.
 
#24
Dbassmon said:
Thank you for pointing out the lack of concise description, I assume others may be unsure as to my references.
Click to expand...

I figured you knew what you were talking about- the phrasing just came across sounding a bit off :)
 
#27
Munjibunga said:
Why worry? When the battery dies, replace it. Happens maybe once a year, anyway.
Click to expand...

The JRetro preamp has a passive option - just in case the battery dies on you.

And, the Audere preamp has a "low-battery" light that comes on when your battery is dying. However, it doesn't have a passive option.

Both of these are "drop-in" options for a jazz style bass and require no permanent modifications to the actual instrument.
 
#29
A variety of sounds, and options is a luxury that many of us want? This can include:

-Passive (a good thing for many of us) vs Active (home recording in 'active' mode-may bring special challenges);

-P vs. J (as opposed to a P/J which does not capture the sound of two Jazz pups);

-Fretted vs. Fretless;

-20 Frets vs. 24 or more Frets;

-Short Scale vs Longer Scale.

Accumulating different basses can open up more possibilites, and if you're concerned about cost, go used! ;)
 
#31
I generally prefer using passive mode live, and active when recording. Not a rule or a religion or anything, just the way it usually works out. For whatever reason, passive usually seems to sound and feel better to me in a live situation, but I've been much happier with the sound of my active basses to tape.

/rick
 
#32
I use 'em both. Depends on the bass's material makeup and your personal technique and the amp/cabs used. I'm a right-hand pick banger, so I can use EMGs and get away with it. If I put some passives too close to strings, then it wreaks havoc through the speakers. So I'll screw my passives much farther into the body. I can compensate with the right amp settings. Seems actives have more range by design, but I can really work my amp with passives. I may get better lows/highs with actives, but growlier grit with my passives and a tube head. I'm a loyalist to whoever wants to give me some free ones.
 
#33
I have been loyal to passive with an added PIO cap. In the past I have gutted my active basses and installed 6 way "vari-tone" switchs (a Spector NS20004 and a Hohner BB-4). Dead easy mod, 5 caps, one 6 way: one tiered, and 2 wires: onto the hot output and to the ground). I have felt active colored my tone and gave me too much high end. I usually set the EQ flat lowering the highs (I play hard rock/busy power trio stuff) and lowered my amp when I had an active set up in my past old Kramer era Spectors (with DiMarzio or active EMG P/Js... night and day), Ibanez and Stingrays. I let the amp do the work. My friend swears by actives and claims it gives him that scooped Hi-Fi sound for metal with boosted bass and treble to cut though his blackened metal guitar assault (he's a one man band) ... an avalanche of EQ. Another player I spoke to scoffed and scolded me, as if he was a child, for me not liking actives, claiming it gives more control over dynamics, some added compression and not having to crank the amp. From speaking to many others about this topic there is one answer: it's about how it works for you. Personally, when it comes to fussing with passive repair you know if you have no sound or something is wrong when you work on it: it's mostly your mistake. With actives, besides the battery, it could be a bad cap on the board, resistor, broken preamp or other. For the past 20 years of going in and out of basses, I have dropped the actives and passive vari-tone mods and just went back to a Precision (and I do like Jazzes with S/P switching). It works and has worked for Steve Harris, Ray Schulman, John Wetton, and tons of others... but that's just my opinion and my experience with the topic. Thanks for reading.
 
#35
i cant ever get a passive to punch through the mix, so i always use active. but i do know some guys that can get passive to cut through really good. i guess its all in what your hands sound like.
 
#37
I got fed up with the 'tone' of electronics' overlaying the tone of wood, a few guy's in London dropped the circuits when they realized it colours the natural sound and detracts a bit/lot from the character of your wood, the pre I liked best was Warwicks (though I couldn't get on with the bass), my advice would be, get a passive with an outboard Pre/E.Q., you have a better choice, if you don't like what the E.Q. sounds like, you can try another pedal without re-routing the inside of your bass just to find out your not happy with that circuit either, just my op.;)
 
#39
chump stain said:
I have both. I'm really digging passive lately. I think passive has more of an aggressive, growly tone. Actives seem more smooth.

EMGs sound like EMGs to me.
Click to expand...

Yea I noticed the same thing, passives seem more agressive on the low end and smoother on the top, from my experience it is hard to get an active to sing smooth like the passives do up on the 15th-20th frets on d and g string unless you do some serious tweaking on amp or bass settings, actives seems a bit twangy and you hear more of the string rather than a smooth note, but like I said thats my experience, that doesn't mean it will be like that for everybody. I do like how smooth and boomy the actives can be on the low end though. I'm a bit indecisive myself between the two but they both got their advantages.

The huge difference for me I can notice between the two is how modern the actives sound and how old school the passives sound when blended in with the rest of the band, but I believe that either can fit into any situation and there shouldn't be any perameters or rules about which should go with what, imho that would be like comparing using fingers or a pick and saying one is better than the other. I think any of them is great and it is a matter of what you as a bass player can do with it.
 

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