Question about active pickups.

[Stupid Jerk]

On a guitar (as opposed to bass) forum, they were saying that active pickups sound like active pickups no matter what you put them in. As in, tonewood, construction, etc., have much less to do with it than they would with passive pickups. That's why you'll see active pickups used in weird-shaped novelty guitars made out of unconventional materials that are built for showmanship.

I don't know how accurate that is, and if it is, I'm assuming it's a much different story for bass. I asked them on that thread why it was so different for bass, and nobody knew.

So what's the deal? Does tonewood, construction, etc., matter differently for active than passive? Enlighten me.

 

[mikezimmerman]

Don't confuse "active pickups" with "active electronics".

There are actually very few active pickups for bass--EMG and a couple of specialized Duncan and Bartolini models are all that come to mind. There are even fewer active pickups for guitar--I honestly can't think of any besides EMG.

EMGs are the original active pickups, and they are by far the most common ones for both bass and guitar. EMGs did tend to have a fairly characteristic "sonic signature", especially when they first came out. That's probably changed a bit in recent years since they now offer so many different types of pickups (passive as well as active, different magnet materials, different coil arrangements, etc.), but there's still the impression that EMGs sound like EMGs no matter what you put them in.

Mike

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

The wood and construction of the instrument affect how the string sings regardless of whether it's a guitar or a bass.

I once owned a PRS Santana SE that I installed EMG Zakk Wylde pickups in. It responded in a manner similar to how my EMG equipped 5 string bass does. Very clean and exacting...no wooliness like passive pickups.

The low output impedance of active EMGs and active preamp circuits interact differently with the input of an amp than do passive pickups, which would affect your tone. Keep in mind that once you put some solid state stomp boxes in the signal chain, you're really no longer passive and the low impedance output of your last stomp box is what the amp sees.

Use what sounds best to your ears!

BTW, some prominent players who use active pickups are David Gilmour, Zakk Wylde and Kirk Hammett...to my knowledge none of those guys use weird guitars made from unconventional materials.

 

[levis76]

I have a Jackson C20 4 string. It cost me $150 brand new. Nothing on this bass is special. It's a very basic PJ style bass that had Jackson passives in it. It was noisy and sounded very flat and dead. None of the notes rang out, even with the tone and volumes wide open. I spent hours changing strings, tweaking the setup, adjusting and rewiring the pups, but nothing seemed to work. So I called up my guy and ordered some EMG active PJ pups. I got to tell you, the thing sounds amazing now. It's quiet, has nice deep lows, bright highs, and it even has significantly increased sustain, probably due to the weaker magnets that actives use. The only downside is I have to maintain a battery. So to open a huge can of worms and start the flamefest, no I personally do not believe that woods and such will make as much of an impact on tone as some would have you believe. I had a Spector Legend 4 Bubinga, which has a bubinga top laminate, and I played a Legend 4 that was not a bubinga, and they sounded exactly alike. You know, some guys can tell you exactly what kind of tubes they have in their amp, or what the core material of their strings are made of, or the five types of wood that makes their bass "special", but guess what, nobody else can tell the difference and they don't care.

 

[erikbojerik]

...no I personally do not believe that woods and such will make as much of an impact on tone as some would have you believe. I had a Spector Legend 4 Bubinga, which has a bubinga top laminate, and I played a Legend 4 that was not a bubinga, and they sounded exactly alike....

It is well known by builders that the top laminate won't begin to contribute to tone until it exceeds 1/4" thickness. Wood type absolutely makes a difference, and you don't have to be Eric Johnson to hear it either.