Something about passive mode..

[jd56hawk]

Of course, my Dean Exotica is active and the tone is incredible, but that’s due in part to it being an acoustic and having the Aphex System preamp, so...

 

[FlyingV73]

Active here. Bring the thunder! Nordstrand Big Blademan's, EMG's, F-Bass active/passives, Music Man Sterlings. It goes better for rock for me, plus popping/thumb/slap actives deliver. Even 50/50 on records, sometimes passive, but mostly active driving a pre/speaker into some harmonic distortion/edge.
I can plug into anything and get my sound, but prefer Active for most things. No better or worse. Kind of the Neve/API debate,...no right or wrong a tool box, like em both. JPJ/Zender/Trujillo/Geezer/Bernard Edwards/Louis Johnson/Alex Al/Paul Denman.. mostly active sometimes passive, MMV.

 

[Nino Valenti]

The Valenti is active....

...with a preamp bypass switch.

 

[TomB]

...with a preamp bypass switch. ;(

I run my Valenti PJ5 passive, but active is there when I need it. ...wonderful!
Quick question @Nino Valenti - Does the active / passive switch disconnect the battery, or is there a power draw any time a cable is inserted?

 

[Altitude]

...with a preamp bypass switch. ;(

Yep, and it sounds pretty good passive, too.

 

[Altitude]

This is the only one I could find in my phone. 19mm spacing. Nordstrand neck pickup. Duncan NYC5 bridge pickup. Right at 8 pounds. Love. This. Bass.
View attachment 3221691

Well, hello there.

 

[Runnerman]

What pickups can we name that are active? EMG is the only one I know.

off the top of my head...

Seymour Duncan....Dave Mustaine set comes to mind but they have several others
Bartolini
Peavey VFL's
Kiesel (Carvin)

 

[B-line]

This bass is as passive as it gets; and that's a good thing!
It's made by KILLER, a division of ESP Japan.

Duncan SPB-3 and SBJ-3 pups; nothing but Volume and Balance knobs. That's it. that's all it needs.

The bass has an ash top and a maple back with "breath holes":

This is no gimmick; that design element adds very strong mids and punch.

This model was built as a signature bass for the late Taiji Sawada, bassist for X, among others.
TBT, I knew nothing about him, but I thought that the camo finish was off-the-chain cool, and I (correctly) figured that the specs would make it an awesome instrument.

It is, and proves to me that although I have some great active basses with STRONG pre's, inc. a Bongo and a bass with an EAST pre- that a good combination of woods and electronics can make Passive tone the deal!

 

[jazzyvee]

As it happens my basses are all active, and when I was choosing my first decent bass I never even considered whether it was passive or active I just went for the one I liked the sound of best in my price range which happened to be active. Since then I have stuck with active basses.

 

[michael_t]

A former die-hard "passive 4-string Fender only" kind of guy, I finally ventured into the world of active 5-string bass last April. One of the must-have features I looked for when shopping for a new bass was the active/passive dual-mode capability by way of a simple toggle switch.

I instantly bonded with the organic tone I got from the passive mode, while it took me a few months to start appreciating the versatility of an onboard active EQ. Even with all the knobs set to flat, the active mode seems to add a little something to the tone - extra body and evenness across all five strings. I'll probably be switching back and forth between active and passive, depending on what any given situation might call for or even solely depending on my mood.

I probably could have kept on grooving happily ever after with my two passive 4-string Fenders (P & J), but having an active/passive 5-string has certainly opened up a whole new world of tonal possibilities for me.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

So I recently got this amazing Fender Jazz Deluxe V. Cant put it down, love it.

Yesterday, I decided to switch passive mode.This was my first time really playing in passive mode in this bass other than a function check of the switch and there is something about it...

I have been playing exclusively an active bass for 4 years now, and ibanez sr400. This was the first passive J bass I have played in probably 10 years and it was a strange experience for me. I love the active mode, and switched back and forth and set flat there really only seemed to be a volume boost and a treble boost going to active. I can only describe the passive mode as delicious. I cant even explain the feeling and sound, and dont know what it is.

Anybody else feel this way? I love what active electronics give to you, but dang if passive isn't just awesome. I think I've just been away for too long.

Might be just the difference in basses. I have both, a passive PJ, and a Warwick Corvette. While I play the Corvette in active mode, the EQ is set to flat with no boost or cut. Frankly, other than the slight tonal difference, played through my Eden rig with the same EQ, they are a horse a piece.

 

[scraig]

I prefer passive mode on my Fender deluxe Jazz five string - it sounds better and I have never switched back to active. However, my Fender deluxe four sting does not have a passive option switch.

 

[Dr. Love]

In experimenting with Audere and Glock pres, active and passive settings in a practice environment sound identical. In a performing environment with a long cable, not so much.....

I’m curious. How do they differ in performance? Better/worse/just different?

 

[superiorpine]

Perhaps an inelegant expression. I was trying to say that passive mode with long cables, IME, can cause a loss or smearing of signal. With the two pres, no loss of signal, no loss of high end, no loss of detail or focus.

 

[7615]

So I recently got this amazing Fender Jazz Deluxe V. Cant put it down, love it.

Yesterday, I decided to switch passive mode.This was my first time really playing in passive mode in this bass other than a function check of the switch and there is something about it...

I have been playing exclusively an active bass for 4 years now, and ibanez sr400. This was the first passive J bass I have played in probably 10 years and it was a strange experience for me. I love the active mode, and switched back and forth and set flat there really only seemed to be a volume boost and a treble boost going to active. I can only describe the passive mode as delicious. I cant even explain the feeling and sound, and dont know what it is.

Anybody else feel this way? I love what active electronics give to you, but dang if passive isn't just awesome. I think I've just been away for too long.

Recently obtained 2 active basses - a Sadowsky MV4 and a Carvin SB4000. I am trying to get used to them and they have great versatility and tone BUT - passive has a better tone. I play a bunch of different basses, short hollowbody, short solidbody, Long hollowbody, long solidbody and with a variation of glue on, bolt on and single neck thru body constructions. All the same style pick ups - but they sound different. I think passive is more microphonic as the body impacts on the sound. Active is like I a bass keyboard wherein the body plays almost no part in the sound. I often put them into passive mode at gigs.

I don't have a lot of hours on the actives so I am reserving judgment and those 2 basses are beautiful construct but after an hour on active the other day I picked up my 1978 passive shortscale and felt home. Less versatile and a limited tonal range but the tone it has is better than all the sounds I can get from the actives.

 

[Iofflight]

Well I sold off one of my active/passives a PJ bass and ended up getting EBMM StingRay Special. I just love that bass. It sounds great active. I also have a bartolini preamp with bart soapbars in another bass and I think that bass sounds closest to the passive in active mode but with a bit more of the mids pronounced when active which is a really good sound. The other 4 basses I have all passive and I like em that way.