active vs passive

[Doddy]

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1355529907' post='1899770']
I only own passive basses. Sold all of my actives, and I actively avoid anything which has active electronics.

I find that I don't need the amount of tonal versatility that some can offer. A pickup selector, volume and tone is all I need, and all my other sounds are at my feet.

In my experience, my aggressive picking technique has caused problems with the majority of active basses I've played. I end up clipping the preamp, or just getting WAY too much attack (Especially with Warwicks!). Passive pickups tend to be more... forgiving? In fact the tone in general tends to be either over trebly, or completely devoid of mids.

Also, the battery and the preamp are just extra things which could go wrong. At least if my pedalboard breaks down I can bypass it and go straight to the amp!
[/quote]

If you are clipping the preamp,just back off the gain so that it doesn't clip or only does so on your loudest of
notes.I've got a really aggressive plucking technique,and only clip the preamp when I seriously hit the strings.
The battery problem that a few people have mentioned I think is a non argument.It doesn't take long to change a battery
and it makes sense to change them fairly regularly.If it is going to die on you,you'll hear the drop in output or the crackle
long before it actually goes.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1355842731' post='1903509']
If you are clipping the preamp,just back off the gain so that it doesn't clip or only does so on your loudest of
notes.I've got a really aggressive plucking technique,and only clip the preamp when I seriously hit the strings.
The battery problem that a few people have mentioned I think is a non argument.It doesn't take long to change a battery
and it makes sense to change them fairly regularly.If it is going to die on you,you'll hear the drop in output or the crackle
long before it actually goes.
[/quote]

You're right about the battery thing, I ALWAYS forget though

With everything else.. I dunno, passive basses have always just worked out great for me

[Doddy]

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1355871715' post='1903994']
You're right about the battery thing, I ALWAYS forget though

With everything else.. I dunno, passive basses have always just worked out great for me
[/quote]

Passive basses work great for me too,I just prefer the extra control I get from an active preamp (even though most
of the time I run it flat).

[JTUK]

It is like everything.. you get to know your kit.
1 bass will run a battery for a year or so... and even then, I'll change it
on the basis that a year is easily about time I can afford to change it ..ha ha .

The other bass really goes through batteries and I am having it serviced /sorted
but I prepare for the gig so I don't get caught out.

Both basses sound good passive as well....but I start the soundcheck with a view to going active..
and if I run passive it means I liked it in that room.

But if you spike the sound it means you haven't sound-checked very well at all...

Edited December 19, 2012 by JTUK

[Angel]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1314193187' post='1350300']
The argument bus no 25 will be along in a moment
[/quote]

Oh no it won't.


Sorry, did I get the wrong end of the stick there?

My favourite bass tones are active Status, really zappy, punchy etc. but my next bass will be a passive Jazz bass. Horses for courses, as already said.

[BASainty]

For me it depends on what config the bass is, I prefer active humbuckers to passive ones and passive split coil P or P/J to active ones.

I guess if you want to cover all bases (excuse the pun) would be to play passives but have an outboard preamp to plug into if you do want to start shaping the tone ect.

[JamesBass]

I've got 1 active and 1 passive bass and honestly I prefer the playability of my active but I HATE that it's active because no matter what I find myself constantly checking my tone during practices and fidiling with it on stage, it drives me nuts! The passive bass I just roll the tone up and down depending on what I'm playing, such an easier feeling as I don't have to think about how well my EQ is balanced or if I just tap the Bass/Mid/Treble nob that bit to boost or drop it I might get a better sound!

My next bass is going to be a Ricky, played one yesterday and just simply loved it! Felt utterly fantastic, all I'd change about the one I played yesterday is the action and maybe the strings

[morsefull]

I set my warwick passive, with a nice growly middle for finger funk, and active, with bass and treble boosted a bit and middle cut completely for slap and a more aggressive sound if I need it. No fiddling with the amp, I just push/pull a pot.
Surely this is what active electronics were designed for, to make switching between sounds easier ?

[GreeneKing]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1314203509' post='1350506']
All people are different.
Some like to plug and play and not worry too much of the nuances of "tone", while others enjoy an understanding of "tone" and like to play about with it and use it as an expression of the music.
Sometimes a passive bass can fall into the hands of an aural-ist but although being slightly limited by it's passive tone, fits the players criteria perfectly well.

Sometimes an active circuit is added to correct or give headroom to an unenjoyable tone (often with less than spectacular results), sometimes it is added to enhance an already good tone and sometimes it is there by design. Sometimes the active circuit is taken away entirely because the player doesn't grasp the concept of their active circuit.

The most fundamental thing to remember though is that with a passive circuit the rule of thumb is that you can only remove frequencies (tone) but with an active circuit you can boost and cut frequencies (as defined by the circuit) giving the player an expanded pallet to play with.

I like basses which can do both.
[/quote]

Nice response, sober then Rich?

[GreeneKing]

There's more to this than a simple active vs passive thing.

I've played passive basses that were poor. Poor pickups and that's the end of your tone. Active basses have an ability to rescue poor inherent tone imo.

Generally I prefer active but my Yamaha BB2024MX with the Hollywood pups is huge in terms of tone and just doesn't need a boost.

[skej21]

I have three basses and all of them are passive but I always run them through my aguilar tone hammer outboard preamp. Get the added tone options of a preamp without the temptation to fiddle for every song. Ideal for me.

[Raslee]

My past active basses never seemed to work that well through my Orange Terror Bass amp...although it accepts passive basses better...to my ears anyhow..and I am deaf