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Active/Passive Pups?


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Active pups have less wire in them and therefore induce a weaker signal.
You then need a preamp to boost[b] all [/b]frequencies (before going into any tone circuit active OR passive).
Active pups therefore have a built in preamp.

With Traditional pickups.....the more wire wound on the 'hotter' it gets, the bass frequencies become stronger at the expense of higher frequencies, you get a 'louder' pickup but with a limited frequency range.

Active pups however, give a flatter, broader range of frequencies which you can then go on to cut/boost to a greater extent than you can with more traditional wound pups.

Maybe someone clever could explain it far better.. er :)
Ian

Edited by scojack
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Scojack I think you've explained it very well!

Passive pickups usually have a very distinct resonant peak at some frequency which gives them a characteristic sound. This resonant peak (and the frequency response in general) varies depending on the pickup windings, coil configuration, magnets etc.

Active pickups on the other hand have a flat and broad frequency response which provides a fairly neutral basic sound. They responds more linearly to tweaking with active eq across a wider frequency range (hence more hifi, greater clarity etc).

Active pups can also be used with passive eq. To my ears though they can sound a bit characterless in this configuration.

Edited by ikay
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