I like active because of the versatility. Love being able to tweak my tone on the fly. Other than that, it's all about the instrument.
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What do you prefer? Active or Passive Bass?
- Thread starter raygo
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FInd it peculiar that people thinks you're buying active pickups to sound like another bass. It's not their main incentive at all. You can put any EQ onboard any passive equipped bass and make it "active". You're just moving a preamp/EQ pedal up into the cavities of any bass. However, there's active pickups like EMG which can't be run without batteries and that's another ballgame. So it's not as easy as you think to just divide them up into passive or active BASS. You should state Active or passive PICKUPS.
Now the main incentive for active pickups, such as EMG are:
1. No noise at all. Some have 120db headroom.
2. No 60 Hz hum at all in spite of single coil.
3. Long cables can be run without losing signal.
And in cases such as EMG it has a fringe benefit:
4. Thanks to the special wiring, and grounding, the ground isn't made through the bridge, but routed in a different way, making you not being exposed to certain hazards, if you should play at a dodgy power grid, with bad grounding. I e the risk of you having a jolt while playing is virtually nil. You may fry batteries and actual pickups though, but that you can take as the "filter" for taking the blow first, rather than yourself.
Then you can bicker all day, about the tone and sound they produce. Which IS a valid point too of course. But it's not their main incentive. I know NUMEROUS people who makes the above a priority over anything sounding vintage or this or that. These days you play at dodgy places, and pickups are picking up dimmers, fluorescent lights, neon beer brand signs at a bar, and you can never get rid of that when using vintage passive single coil pickups. The only thing I can think of is the environmental doubts about having to use batteries all of the time. But as I said before in another post, using EMGs and 2 9v batteries of the lithium kind, got me 9 years lifetime, before they crapped out on me. 9 years. playing constantly on that bass. The two batteries wasn't connected to run at 18v but on 9v for longer time. If I want some vintage vibe to any sound or song, I have to rely on old passive stuff. It's as simple as that.
Now the main incentive for active pickups, such as EMG are:
1. No noise at all. Some have 120db headroom.
2. No 60 Hz hum at all in spite of single coil.
3. Long cables can be run without losing signal.
And in cases such as EMG it has a fringe benefit:
4. Thanks to the special wiring, and grounding, the ground isn't made through the bridge, but routed in a different way, making you not being exposed to certain hazards, if you should play at a dodgy power grid, with bad grounding. I e the risk of you having a jolt while playing is virtually nil. You may fry batteries and actual pickups though, but that you can take as the "filter" for taking the blow first, rather than yourself.
Then you can bicker all day, about the tone and sound they produce. Which IS a valid point too of course. But it's not their main incentive. I know NUMEROUS people who makes the above a priority over anything sounding vintage or this or that. These days you play at dodgy places, and pickups are picking up dimmers, fluorescent lights, neon beer brand signs at a bar, and you can never get rid of that when using vintage passive single coil pickups. The only thing I can think of is the environmental doubts about having to use batteries all of the time. But as I said before in another post, using EMGs and 2 9v batteries of the lithium kind, got me 9 years lifetime, before they crapped out on me. 9 years. playing constantly on that bass. The two batteries wasn't connected to run at 18v but on 9v for longer time. If I want some vintage vibe to any sound or song, I have to rely on old passive stuff. It's as simple as that.
Is passive or active good?
Well, do you like fiddling with knobs? If you do, then active will be your thing most definitely. If you like to shape your tone on the fly and your amp doesn't do the trick, an active preamp will make you very happy.
The main things I've noticed are: active basses cost more, sound differently, and have higher output. Batteries can last a very long time and its not hard to carry a spare in your case, so that's not a huge deal.
The overall difference I would say is most important is that active basses have warmth, and passive basses have clarity of sound. The preamp in active circuitry will color the sound, and that is what gives the warmth. Passive sounds more clear because it is just pickup signal direct to the amp. It isn't a question of what is better, it just sounds different.
I will say that if you're looking for overdrive or fuzz sounds, active will be much easier to control and will generally sound more. Not better, just MORE.
Well, do you like fiddling with knobs? If you do, then active will be your thing most definitely. If you like to shape your tone on the fly and your amp doesn't do the trick, an active preamp will make you very happy.
The main things I've noticed are: active basses cost more, sound differently, and have higher output. Batteries can last a very long time and its not hard to carry a spare in your case, so that's not a huge deal.
The overall difference I would say is most important is that active basses have warmth, and passive basses have clarity of sound. The preamp in active circuitry will color the sound, and that is what gives the warmth. Passive sounds more clear because it is just pickup signal direct to the amp. It isn't a question of what is better, it just sounds different.
I will say that if you're looking for overdrive or fuzz sounds, active will be much easier to control and will generally sound more. Not better, just MORE.
I used to play passive, but then 17 years ago I purchased my first active bass and after a few months I sold all my passive basses. I have gone through many since then and as of right now, I own 17 basses and all of them are active. Actually now that I think about it, last year I purchased a passive ESP LTD TA-204FRX because I really liked the body style and thought I could deal with it being passive. I was wrong, I HATED the tone on it. Rather than returning it, I purchased an EMG BTC Control for it and the difference was like night and day. That bass sounds terrific now. Looking at all the posts, I guess I am in the minority. That's cool, I don't mind being different.
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I think basically the question is something like "do you prefer single coil or humbuckers?" like it would be that easy. It isn't. As if passive has a distinct sound just because they're passive. Or that active pups have a certain sound JUST because they're active. I tell you, it's like any other bass. You have a few basses because of their different traits, and you'll have one passive and one active and so on. There's a different flair, and I can't tell if it's an active bass while just listening to it. Passive, the only thing that is a giveaway is the noise, or hum if it should be loud enough. And some of the newer neo-pickups with rare earth magnets are still getting close to "active" sound, regarding frequency range and output, and hum, noise, so it's kind of meeting in the middle. I've tried to change out my EMGs to some passive ones, like the Q-tuners, Villex and the like but no...there's something to them that ain't right. While they really have something good (beneficial) going on for them, I think the choices of alnico, ceramic magnets, pole pieces or rails play an even more crucial role to the overall sound, than dividing them just between active and passive pickups. It's too shallow and superficial, and it is not that simple. I can very well sense that people don't want to dabble with the batteries at all. Me myself couldn't care.
so I can - if going to be anal - say "yeah I prefer passive, if they're ceramic, rails, and humbucker..." but not if they're "alnico II, pole pieces and single coil, with fewer winds..." See, we can get bogged down in an unwieldy maze of differences that makes a pickup really tick. When considering all this, the active or passive becomes quite moot. How the rest of the pickup is made, and what it is made of makes of a significantly more difference, me thinks.
And I could say the above too, but changing out passive for active and still produce way more difference in sound, than anything just passive/active. BTW, if push comes to shove, the one passive pickups I've heard who gets closest to the output, and frequency range of actives, are - actually - Joe Bardens P and J pickups. Without noise or hum. For some strange reason. But they are not the cheapest anyway.... I don't like that I can't rest my thumb on their casing, because it's wide open, yo can see the coils beneath, and you have to rest your thumb on a thin plastic edge. But each to their own. I can very well think that most neodymium pickups rivals these ones too. But boy, are they prone to magnetic string pull... they can even throw compasses around...
so I can - if going to be anal - say "yeah I prefer passive, if they're ceramic, rails, and humbucker..." but not if they're "alnico II, pole pieces and single coil, with fewer winds..." See, we can get bogged down in an unwieldy maze of differences that makes a pickup really tick. When considering all this, the active or passive becomes quite moot. How the rest of the pickup is made, and what it is made of makes of a significantly more difference, me thinks.
And I could say the above too, but changing out passive for active and still produce way more difference in sound, than anything just passive/active. BTW, if push comes to shove, the one passive pickups I've heard who gets closest to the output, and frequency range of actives, are - actually - Joe Bardens P and J pickups. Without noise or hum. For some strange reason. But they are not the cheapest anyway.... I don't like that I can't rest my thumb on their casing, because it's wide open, yo can see the coils beneath, and you have to rest your thumb on a thin plastic edge. But each to their own. I can very well think that most neodymium pickups rivals these ones too. But boy, are they prone to magnetic string pull... they can even throw compasses around...
I started out playing passive basses, then after a few years moved up to an active. Stayed with active's for a good number of years, going through a good number of different basses, but grew more and more frustrated with them as no matter how much I tweaked them, I couldn't get a satisfactory sound out of them. The best sounding active's I owned were a Westone Thunder 1A and a 1989 StingRay.
I decided to spend some time trying different basses out & buy the one that sounded the best. Went to my then local music shop just after they opened for the day, and spent a good few hours going through 75-80% of their stock, both passive and active (thankfully, they carried a large stock of basses). The rest of the stock was either way out of my price range, or stuff I'd tried before.
After trying many basses out that day, I walked out with a passive MIM Jazz. It was the best sounding and best playing bass in stock on the day. Been playing passives ever since.
I decided to spend some time trying different basses out & buy the one that sounded the best. Went to my then local music shop just after they opened for the day, and spent a good few hours going through 75-80% of their stock, both passive and active (thankfully, they carried a large stock of basses). The rest of the stock was either way out of my price range, or stuff I'd tried before.
After trying many basses out that day, I walked out with a passive MIM Jazz. It was the best sounding and best playing bass in stock on the day. Been playing passives ever since.
FWIW I favor active pickups on basses more than on electric guitars. On electric guitars, there's more importance to the high mids, and mids and the plucky punchy attack, so I am slightly more passive-biased there. Don't know why really, but it has something remote, and ambiguos things to do with low frequencies requiring more energy, and that "compression" and "limiting" an active pickup induces on the sound. FWIW, I can't really put my finger on it, but I do have gotten better results with actives on a 5er with a low b-string, than with passive pickups. I do think that it has to do with this slight compression or liming of the strings, and the low B, so it "projects" a tad better during playing to a dense backing track. But I'm not sure about this rationale behind it all. Just a whim...
Although I play an active I still prefer a passive bass. To me is just easier to EQ and its a more of a pure bass sound. I had to put about $200.00 into a preamp to get my Lakland to sound more passive with a preamp.
I like basses that are neither too passive nor too active,
that's why I have 2 passive- and 2 active- basses (the 2 actives can be played passive too) and I am active, playing the 2 passives.....
hope that's not too much
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
that's why I have 2 passive- and 2 active- basses (the 2 actives can be played passive too) and I am active, playing the 2 passives.....
hope that's not too much
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
My point is that worrying about dying batteries is being overly paranoid.
I've been using active basses for 35 years and never had to swap a battery mid-gig. I have done so with pedals, though. I bring spare batteries and a screwdriver so it's no hassle swapping a battery on set break. On actives with a passive bypass, batteries are even less of a worry.
I wish more basses had battery check LEDs that blinked when you plug in your cord the way some pedals do, that way you know if the battery is weak.
PS I've had tubes that lasted 50 years. One time I decided to swap out the 30 year old tubes in an amp I had promoted from rehersals only to gig use. About a half hour into the first gig with the new tubes, one of the power tubes blew. I put the 30 year old tubes back in and gigged that amp for another 5 years until I sold it. You never know when something will break down so just be prepared.
You have to know that batteries on EMGs lasts ages! they are not even in the milliAmpere range, but microampere. It's like a smoke detector. And when did you change out your lithium battery on that one, the last time. Do you even remember it?
BTW recycling batteries, and the enviromental "strain" they make: Lithium batteries doesn't. They don't contain any mercury at all, they contain lithium. They are even disposable. And has a 10 year shelf life, hence they're expensive pricing.
BTW recycling batteries, and the enviromental "strain" they make: Lithium batteries doesn't. They don't contain any mercury at all, they contain lithium. They are even disposable. And has a 10 year shelf life, hence they're expensive pricing.
I prefer basses with character and nice cut thru'. Some are passive, some have onboard preamps. Active pickups don't do it for me, usually too clear/hi-fi/modern (sterile to me), but I'm doing a generalization, I'm sure there's some I could like, I just have never digged that deep into them (good OTOH, as I don't need any more GAS sources).
