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Something about passive mode..

#21
I Have a Fender Active Deluxe 4 strings. and a Sire V7 four strings. Never use them in active mode.

I run them through a MXR M80. It's redundant to use two pre-amps. The passive mode in both basses translate what the bass really sounds. I prefer to colour that sound with a pedal or with the amp. Sometimes I use them in active mode when I go direct, no amp, no pedals, straight into the stage DI in some gigs, but only in that situation.

I find the passive sound to respond better to the pedals and overall mix in general..
 
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#24
For me it depends on the instrument, but given how little interest I've had in picking up my EBMM since I started playing passive Yamahas I may be in the same boat. For the basses I'm playing these days at least, passive just works and works really well.
 
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#25
Geri O said:
However, I don't understand the desire to post about that love as though your love is extremely narrow and very few in numbers and you are a neglected and maligned group.
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It's important to pay attention to what people actually write, because no one made that claim in this thread. I agree with your statement, but that didn't happen in this thread. You've made a strawman argument about a strawman argument : )
Peace out and happy TG
 
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#26
I am a passive fan. My main player is a fender p. Years ago I was a last second fill in at a church. I played the beat up house Ibanez with active eq. Was asked to play the next night. "Hey, I will bring my fender jazz! We will really sound good!" I could not get the jazz to sound as good as that beat up Ibanez. After then I have a passive & active. When I want a nice clean sound I play my active LTD
 
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#27
So what's the usual input impedance for an onboard preamp? Is that where the difference lies?

Where the pickups themselves are passive, I see only two significant differences between the pickups being connected to a preamp built into the bass, and one on the far end of a guitar cable: the impedance, and the tone circuitry. OK, three, if you count the output impedance going into the bass amp. But I'm speculating (wildly, on no actual evidence) that onboard preamps generally have higher input impedance than the ones on bass amps.

I'm not sure the case is all that different with "active" pickups, except that they're specifically designed such that they can't be used without the onboard preamp.

At least one of Radial's DI boxes feature variable impedance (I think they call it drag) because they've recognised that it affects the sound. So now I'm wondering how feasible it could be to tweak the impedance on onboard preamps, and whether that could give both the "passive tone" and the flexibility and buffering goodness.
 
#28
bearfoot said:
It's important to pay attention to what people actually write, because no one made that claim in this thread. I agree with your statement, but that didn't happen in this thread. You've made a strawman argument about a strawman argument : )
Peace out and happy TG
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If you had followed your own advice, you’d see that I didn’t, either.
 
#29
Skybone said:
Let's face it, "Active vs Passive" will be a topic of conversation in a bass forum for many, many years to come.

I appreciate that some prefer Active instruments over Passive instruments, and others likewise. It's just one of those things. Like "Flats vs Rounds", "Long Scale vs Short/Medium Scale", "Tube/Valve vs Solid State/Class D", "Analog/Analogue vs Digital" etc., etc.
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I know. And old curmudgeons like me will still play along as I have...Makes the place fun to watch...:D
 
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#30
I have a passive jazz bass. I like it. I play it. Then I play my my Roscoe and I wonder why I was playing my jazz. I think part of it is what you are used to. I have been playing my Roscoe for years. It's "the sound in my head" so it's what I like. I'm sure if I played a passive bass for a while, it would become "the sound" and I'd be fine with it. I think sometimes there is much adu about nothing, but it gives us something to talk about.
 
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#31
equill said:
So what's the usual input impedance for an onboard preamp? Is that where the difference lies?

Where the pickups themselves are passive, I see only two significant differences between the pickups being connected to a preamp built into the bass, and one on the far end of a guitar cable: the impedance, and the tone circuitry. OK, three, if you count the output impedance going into the bass amp. But I'm speculating (wildly, on no actual evidence) that onboard preamps generally have higher input impedance than the ones on bass amps.

I'm not sure the case is all that different with "active" pickups, except that they're specifically designed such that they can't be used without the onboard preamp.

At least one of Radial's DI boxes feature variable impedance (I think they call it drag) because they've recognised that it affects the sound. So now I'm wondering how feasible it could be to tweak the impedance on onboard preamps, and whether that could give both the "passive tone" and the flexibility and buffering goodness.
Click to expand...

There are circuits like that. Audere makes preamps with the Z-mode as they call it.

The Radial PZ-DI is an excellent sounding box by the way with an impedance switch. I have used it a ton with upright.
 
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#39
Certainly have tried my share of active basses over my almost 40 years of playing, and have had no use for active basses for maybe the last decade. I prefer passive, and for what I do they sound "right" and record better(and I play a lot of different genres). Other producers I work with all also prefer passive basses. The only active I'd consider using now would be a 2-band Ray for "that sound". Otherwise, all passive for me.
 

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