bluesparky Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 As most of us do, i've got a big ol' bunch of effects which have been lovingly tweaked over the years to get the sounds i want. I play active and passive basses and I use a Boss line selector to keep the input levels into the first pedal / effects chain the same. As with most amps, mine has an active and passive input with a switch to select which the input is (which adjusts the input level). My question is - when i take the output from the last pedal, it is better to put it into the amp passive input, OR as an active input with the button set to the appropriate setting. Is there a difference or is it just the amp's input level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 As far as I'm aware it's just to pad the input for hot signals so it doesn't overload the preamp. If you're not hearing any distortion then it doesn't matter which setting you're using, just leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Thanks mate, kinda what i thought - nice one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Fly Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 It depends on the amp. For some amps the switch just changes the gain of the input stage. In this case it doesn't make a huge difference which position is used. In other amps it bypasses a boost stage. In this case it is slightly better going with the "active" setting as the signal goes through fewer stages. As a general rule I would use the switch position that requires the less extreme position of the gain knob. If it makes no difference I would go with the "active" position as the output of a pedal as an impedance close to an active bass. I hope the above helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I have a very high output from my board, but I prefer the sound of going into the passive input on my peavey. Leave it up to your ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Active/Passive inputs can also have a different impedance, which may affect the sound depending what's in the chain. As a general rule of thum I use the passive input and move over to the active if I get nasty clipping happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Lovely, thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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