When did you go active and why?

[MrLenny1]

1991, bought a Pedulla Active 5. Every band I played with said it really cut thru in the mix. My ears said the same thing. All 5 basses are active.
Played a passive J & P lately and found them really lacking on output and tone.

 

[brianrost]

I went active when I bought my first active bass (for the record, a B.C. Rich Eagle)

Active, passive I don't care as long as the bass sounds great and plays well.

 

[LucienBel]

On my Warwick. For the most part I've always stuck to passive pickups on my basses. When I picked up my first Warwick and played it though I couldn't get over the tone. I really like that Warwick MEC sound, and any time I have a passive bass I always wonder what it will sound like with those pickups. Haven't actually ended up swapping any of the passive basses for MEC's, but I do think about it quite often on and off.

 

[drummer5359]

I currently own two active basses (a Peavey Dyna and a Schecter C-4) and one passive (a Peavey Fury).

I love the feel of the Schecter, but I really feel a split coil passive P is the sound for me. I put the Dyna up for sale and will hang on to the Schecter. I have a passive bass on order. I play mostly blues and I like a less agressive tone than I get with an active bass.

 

[deeptubes]

My first active bass was a 1980 Precision Special. Got it in March of '88 as an 18th b-day present. Picked it because it was a Fender P and a huge step up from my first bass, a Kramer Aerostar I'd been playing for 2 years. Played awesome and sounded great. Had knobs for volume, tone, and pre-amp level, as well as 2-way switch for toggling between active and passive. Pre-amp was always on at 100%. Still kicking myself for letting that one go.

Currently, 3 of my 5 basses are active, including my #1 - an '84 P Elite II. She's the one! My next 2 faves are both passive - Fender HM and MIM P Special Deluxe. I really like the jazz necks on those 2. HM has 3 lace sensor jazz p'ups and a 5 way switch. I'm in the process of refinishing the HM to a 3 step silverburst. When I picked her up, she was kind of beat up. I've toyed with the thought of converting my MIM P to active, but haven't followed through. I probably play that one the most. My Maestro fretless - with nylon tapewounds - and ESP 5'er - tuned to DADGC - are my other 2 actives.

I think I'm partial to active basses. I think they generally sound richer and more aggressive. The aggressiveness compliments my style rather nicely.

 

[mpdd]

still waiting to get a deal on an active aria sb or active g&l, will be active some day

 

[Mike 257]

My first bass not even a year old is active , although I practice mostly in passive , but I like the option and will probably always own an active bass.

 

[Wallace320]

Finishing my University yr, awaiting for military call of duty, I entered my present band NOWHERE, a Metallica Tribute Act in those early days

A fan of Jason Newsted myself, I switched to 5 string, pick and active electronics all in one move.
I sold my Jackson Dave Ellefson Concert XL and (intrigued by the NuMetal scene in general - and Fieldy's Ibanez SR885 in particular - don't tell my bandmates...) I bought an active Ibanez Soundgear SR405 - maple body - natural finish.

Cheers,
Wallace

 

[JoelFT]

I went active in 1993 when I was 17. Still have the bass too. It was a Hohner 5 with EMG Selects and an in-house pre that really sucked in retrospect. Early on I thought it was just the pups I didn't like so I switched the to Barts. The sound improved a little. Fast forward to three months ago I installed a brand new pre from Bass Mods. Whoa, that really woke it up. Also, on a wild hair I turned into a piccolo. I'm never going back.

My Simonetti five-string used to have EMG 40DC's and a BTS system. I had it that way for ten years. Then, last month I sent it back to Ray for some serious upgrades: an Audere pre and Ray's own custom made dual-coils. Dear lord, this is what a bass is supposed to sound like. The Z-mode switch alone is reason enough to go active.

Next week I'll be picking up a Clement with Nordy Fat Stacks and Bart pre. So, as you can see, active is the only way for me. (for now anyway)

 

[danomite64]

I started playing bass in '83. In '89, I bought a used Ibanez Roadstar II 850, and most of my basses ever since have been active. I wanted one since '86, when my friend's bassist let me try out his Peavey Dyna-bass and it blew away my '83 Precision.

 

[AtomicPunk]

My first active was some Ibanez SR something or another, I liked it but really went to the "other side" when I got my hands on a Stingray. That was all I needed to hear and since then it's become Bongo-mania at my house.

 

[NAtterberry]

I had an active Ibanez BTB for awhile. It was nice to have so many tones on hand, but I find I can get all the variation I need with hand placement and different blending of pickups.

That was my first quality bass, got it a year after I started playing. As soon as I got my two Fenders, hardly touched the BTB. Then all of those got stolen, now strictly passive.

 

[Bassmunnky]

Active since 1991..StingRay 5. Won't leave home without it..

Passive to record all day long..but live...I have to be twice as loud with passive bass to cut or bring a load of outboard gear. The Ray will work any rig, and I can control it from the bass. Too easy. And it works for everything.

 

[calebbarton]

I had a Schecter with an active EMG system a long time ago. maybe...8 years or so. I did not like active at first mostly because I used crappy amps and did not have anything to go off of.

My wife bought me a Fender Marcus Miller 4 maybe 3 years ago that has an active system. I upgraded the electronics and its now my main bass along with my Squier passive P. They both are unique because of the difference in tone.

I like active systems because they can sound great, have a nice hi-fi edge plus all the tone control you need at your fingertips. It works great for recording and live shows. I take the passive P when we need to gig in bad parts of town

 

[Blankandson]

I agree that you gain so much and lose so little. My bass is active or passive so I still can play passive if I want (or the battery dies). But there are some other things to consider that you might not be aware of. On some active basses, you can flip a switch to go from two jazz pups to one humbucker. That type of options is out there. Look online at the big retailers - they all sell electronic kits that you can swap out with what you have and you end up with 'your sound!' Honestly, I probably won't go back to passive. I love the sound of my Warwick MECs.

 

[KeithAlanK]

I didn't care much until last year when I started doing a lot of direct recording.
It was just way too easy to get sounds I loved with a Korean SR500 and maybe a Universal Audio tube compressor.

The only GAS I have is for higher-$$ Ibanez SRs now.

 

[88persuader]

I went active in the 80s because it was the new thing and also it added more volume to my then nothing special Peavey bass amp rig. I don't remember my 1st active bass but I assume it was an Ibanez. I stayed with active basses (and still own several) until just recently when I rediscovered the beauty of passive pickups in my new 2011 Fender American Standard P bass. Of course now I'm using much nicer Markbass amps that don't require the addition of a powered preamp in the bass to cut the mix.

 

[whitefuneral]

That P-bass like growl with the same clarity as a passive P+J.

 

[bassist4dalord]

My second bass. Started on a Squier P, 6 months later traded that in for an Ibanez GSR200 with the Phat EQ. Every other bass I've owned has been passive, but I've certainly toyed with the idea of going active.

 

[73jbass]

In 2003 I played my first Music Man 5 string. I've been hooked ever since. I don't use the onboard eq except on rare occasion. I set my tone at the amp and leave it alone. But it's there if I need it.