Toadonroll Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I'm always lending my amp out at gigs and kindly ask users that the active/passive switch is observed. I was not so diligent myself the other night and realised halfway through a gig I was playing my active bass with the amp in passive mode. Is there any danger that my amp could break if I play an active bass when the amp is in passive mode and visa versa? Why can't I just have 2 inputs (active and passive) instead of a bloody switch, which no one ever notices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 It shouldn't matter, as long as you're not overdriving the preamp too hard it'll be fine. Use your ears I always plug my active (18V) Status into the passive i/p on my Trace, always have and always will, coz there's enough headroom. On an Eden Nemesis head I had for a short while I had to use the active pad or it would overload the preamp too much. Each amp is different, so just use your ers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 As above really, if it didn't sound overdriven then it wasn't a problem. I run my Skyline into my ABM under the passive option, gives greater sensitivity to any changes I make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadonroll Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Cool. That's great stuff. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 [quote name='Merton' post='357662' date='Dec 18 2008, 11:01 AM']It shouldn't matter, as long as you're not overdriving the preamp too hard it'll be fine. Use your ears [/quote] Even if the preamp is overdriven to ridiculous levels you won't damage it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 [quote name='bremen' post='357689' date='Dec 18 2008, 11:17 AM']Even if the preamp is overdriven to ridiculous levels you won't damage it.[/quote] Good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 And I generally find that most active basses work fine in the passive input. From an engineering perspective it doesn't make sense to make an active bass with tons of gain in the preamp because it just means you're asking a relatively noisy high distortion battery powered circuit to do what a circuit within the amp could do much better. Unfortunately from a marketing perspective an inexperienced bassist will always prefer the tone of the loudest instrument so if you make your preamp output louder you'll sell more basses. Shame... Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadonroll Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Interesting. Thanks for your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Dont assume that active basses are always hotter than passive basses either. Some passive basses can have really hot pups and outputs. Some active basses dont have super hot outputs either just the ability to drive long leads or sometimes a balanced output. Its always best to use your ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 [quote name='bass_ferret' post='358653' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:26 AM']Dont assume that active basses are always hotter than passive basses either. Some passive basses can have really hot pups and outputs. Some active basses dont have super hot outputs either just the ability to drive long leads or sometimes a balanced output. Its always best to use your ears.[/quote] Indoodly. My cheap Vester J copy had a hotter output than my old Groove 5 and pretty much matches my Retroactive; my Groove fretless in passive mode has the hottest output EVER. Honest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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