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Prefer a Passive Bass?

R

Russell L

Mar 5, 2011
5,620
1,363
Cayce, SC
#1
I do. First off, I don't want to keep up with a battery in my bass. Secondly, I've played a couple of active basses and wasn't that turned on. One was a Sting Ray, and although it had an awesome tone and feel, for some reason it didn't get me to wanting to go active. The other was a high-end Ibanez that just didn't have anything to offer me except that it had a huge signal. I guess it sounded good, but again, I just wasnot going ga-ga over it. I realize that just because I feel this way that there are many who feel the opposite, and that there are a ton of active basses that kick butt. Just not for me. My basses are an '87 Jazz Bass Special and an '01 American Jazz Bass, both passive.

Sigh, I guess I'm just old school and like things as simple as possible. Heh, I also ride a Harley-Davidson for the same reason.

Comments? Cheers, ya'll.:bassist:

EDIT: Oops, wrong forum. Somebody move it "Basses," please. Thanks, and sorry.
 
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#5
I've owned and still own both active and passive. I have a MIA Jazz that I installed an Audere in it. It did imporve the tone and flexibility IMO. however, I recently picked up one of those midnight blue RICs from the MF sale. I have to admit its sweet passive sound has impressed me to the point where it's my main gigging bass now.

I guess I like both and like to use both when needed.

FYI, changing the batt with an Audere is nice because there is no guessing, the Audere will let you know when it's time to change the battery. Usually every 9 months or so.
 
#8
Plenty of basses which switch between both. A friend of mine has a Warwick rock bass with musicman electircs and it is set as passive. It has two of those musicman beast pickups though but possibly a nicer bass than any other I have played or owned. He bought the rock bass for it's neck and asked a luthier to do the rest. Worked out fairly affordable for everything he got.
 
#10
The Stoke said:
For me, both. Depends on what sound I am looking for. I like the flexibility of an active EQ at my fingertips to tweak anytime of needed. Changing batteries doesn't seem like that much to deal with.
Click to expand...

It's not - as long as you don't leave your bass plugged in overnight, a battery should last a year or so - even if being played ALOT... I change mine 2x per year - when the clocks change, actually - and have never had a battery failure...

I play both actives and passives - one way I make use of actives is to EQ my amp for my passives, then balance out those EQ settings with the active's on board EQ so that I can switch basses without changing my amp's settings...


- georgestrings
 
#12
AntAir267 said:
The only thing I like about active basses is the output. Usually pretty loud and gnarly. However, I don't need the tone controls, nor the battery.
Click to expand...
Same here, so with my EMG Js, the only tone control is the standard treble roll off. As for the battery, I have one on board for emergency backup, as when I don't use my own amp, but I equipped my amp with a 3 wire phantom power rig, so the power comes from the head.
 
#14
I choose my instruments based on how they feel in my hands, and how they sound through my amps. Makes no difference whether or not they're active. The one active bass I own, an American Deluxe P bass, takes 2 9 volt batteries, and lasts about a year.
 
#18
There's really not a huge difference, in my opinion - but I do prefer passive basses. It's nice to be able to leave a bass plugged in (sometimes) and also not worry about changing batteries (not a big deal either). Effects pedals tend to 'play nicer' with passive electronics, particularly fuzzes. Some older outboard gear like vintage preamps respond more predictably with a passive signal.

Honestly, I used nothing but active basses for years. When I started doing more session work I found that my active p's and j's just didn't 'nail' the classic sound that I was going for. After switching to primarily passive instruments, I'm much happier! I would even argue that passive basses exhibit a dynamic range I haven't found in active circuits. I do have an active p-bass still, but installed a passive defeat. Naturally, piezo-equipped instruments really need active buffering - so that's an acceptable exception for me as well.

Active has plenty of advantages- ability to drive longer cables without treble loss, on-board eq convenience, etc... But for me, passives just work out better.
 
#19
I used nothing but EMG's for a long time, then I got back into passives about 12 years ago. Now I use and enjoy both. I'm considering putting EMG's in my P Lyte but I'll likely leave the rest of my basses alone.
 

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