Single tone control active - do they exist?

[landwomble]

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1476651654' post='3156060']


I'd say the 'point' of an active bass is whatever the designer of the circuit wants.
[/quote]

It's more what's marketed and bought. I'd wager a very small number of active basses are bought due to this reason compared to the number that are sold due to active EQ

[TrevorR]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476630261' post='3155768']
No it isn't, the whole point of an active bass is to provide a buffered low impedance output to the bass so that the capacitance of the lead doesn't cause high frequency attenuation in the cable. Having active tone is just a by product of it being powered
[/quote]

+1 on this too.

My formerly passive Aria SB700 has an active buffer preamp (the now defunct but nonetheles wonderful Hollis GX-10) added into the circuit. It just makes the whole bass sound rather more "present" without changing the actual tonality of the bass. And both volume and tone act as standard passive controls. Still it brings an already great sounding bass to life. In fact, at the SE Bass Bash, when Wolverinebass tried it out he was quite befuddled at its snap and clarity of tone until I confessed the mod to him...

[Kiwi]

The HAZlabs eq featured on the Steinberger XL2 basses is back in production. It features bass boost and treble cut in one direction and the opposite in the other direction. What impressed me most were the frequency centres. It did a great job of fattening things up on my Steinberger.

[url="http://hazlabs.com/"]http://hazlabs.com/[/url]

[fretmeister]

EMG's come with a standard Tone control.

EQ systems are optional extras.

My ray5 has EMGs in it. 2 vol, 1 Tone. Lovely

[ead]

P Retro is a fine tool and not complex. Volume/blend on one stack and then a cool mids control on t'other. Active/passive too.

[Ajoten]

Here are some stats from Thomann:

Misc 5 string:
- Active 114
- Active/passive 69
- Passive 25

J-bass:
- Active 15
- Active/passive 48
- Passive 19

P-bass:
- Active 1
- Active/passive 3
- Passive 6

Of the P basses, apart from the Harley Benton there are just 3 models... Fender, Squire and the Sandberg California which is nothing like a P bass.

So it seems there is very little appetite for non-active 5 strings. And even if you ignore the type of electrics, there is very little appetite for 1-knob oo er 5 strings. Given that 4 string P-basses are quite popular, I surmise that either that a low B simply sounds "better" when active or

1. Your average 1-pickup-with-1-tone-control chooser doesn't want a low B
2. Most people who want a low B also are happy to faff about with tone a lot more
3. Any P-bassist who insists on a low B is fiercely loyal to the Fender brand

Or at least that's how manufacturers and their marketing departments perceive things.

[FlatEric]

[quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1476613228' post='3155581']
Being a bear of very little brain who likes Precisions, if I had to buy something with active electronics I wouldn't want 25 knobs to faff about EQ. 1x tone control to change from bassy to trebly please. Never seen such a thing. Have you?
[/quote]

Aria Pro II LAser Heritage Active.

I Vol I Tone - bassy one half trebleeeeee, the other.
FAT sound LOADS of power.

Sorted!

[Sammers]

[quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1476643911' post='3155941']
FWIW my question arose from casting an eye around for a nice 5 string, and most are active. I don't care if active or passive TBH, I care about a lack of complication.
[/quote]

Off the shelf it might be difficult but as someone suggested above, Sadowsky's pre-amp do have a "proper" passive tone pot so if you have the money, they could be an option for you.

Or you could buy an active bass with a 3 band EQ and swap it out for a 2 band EQ and add a passive tone pot before the pre-amp. This is what I did with my Lull and the pre rarely moves from flat.

[ras52]

Sounds like you want a Tilt EQ- plenty of software options (e.g. http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2016/5/9/three-tilt-eq-plug-ins-i-love) but rarer in the real world!

[Bigwan]

Big muff style tone control mounted on the back of a pot maybe? Something I've been mulling over building for a while!!!

[pete.young]

I have an old-style Nordstrand 2b-4c preamp in one of my basses which has an active/passive switch and a passive tone control. Very rarely use it in passive mode, the battery seems to last for years.

[fretmeister]

I don't think 5 string P bass players are "fiercely loyal" to Fender.

It's just there is very little choice in the 5 string P bass market under about £1500

Above that and there is quite a bit of choice. Lull, Sadowsky, Sandberg etc

[mcnach]

[quote name='dyerseve' timestamp='1476642069' post='3155912']
Surely if your lead is producing that much capacitance it is either broken or been terribly designed.
The capacitance of any competently built cable should be so low as to be negligble.
[/quote]

But it isn't. Just try it with any 'good' cable... you can easily tell the difference between a 2m cable and a 10m cable.

[mcnach]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1476647058' post='3155986']
Bollocks.
[/quote]

you're so eloquent...

[Wolverinebass]

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1476657353' post='3156139']


+1 on this too.

My formerly passive Aria SB700 has an active buffer preamp (the now defunct but nonetheles wonderful Hollis GX-10) added into the circuit. It just makes the whole bass sound rather more "present" without changing the actual tonality of the bass. And both volume and tone act as standard passive controls. Still it brings an already great sounding bass to life. In fact, at the SE Bass Bash, when Wolverinebass tried it out he was quite befuddled at its snap and clarity of tone until I confessed the mod to him...
[/quote]

That's an evil bass. Sounded fantastic as well, hence why I was curious as I was sure that model was passive and it didn't sound like one as it had much more snap. It still weighed enough to anchor the QE2 though. Ha!

[drTStingray]

[quote name='Wolverinebass' timestamp='1476809086' post='3157472']


That's an evil bass. Sounded fantastic as well, hence why I was curious as I was sure that model was passive and it didn't sound like one as it had much more snap. It still weighed enough to anchor the QE2 though. Ha!
[/quote]

Whilst this doesn't help the OP with their query I am puzzled by this issue.

I've been used to having more than one tone control on music equipment like amps, record/tape/CD players since the late 60s/early 70s. Treble and bass controls don't cause me a problem though the more you add (eg pick up volume/blend; mid; selection of mid frequency etc etc) the more there is potentially to think about and confuse, I'd agree.

The idea of a bass guitar with only one tone control came about in the 50s and 60s at a time when most people listened to music on radios or record players which usually had...... one or no tone controls. Music was also recorded using minimal multi tracking and multiple bouncing of tracks.

However, multi track recording, stereo sound reproduction, sophisticated hi fi systems, tape, CD and micro processors all followed this often in the quest for ever improved reproduction and quite simply the world has been revolutionised.

So do you guys who prefer one tone control, with all the limitations that brings, hanker after 1950s style recording, listening to music on early transistor radios and Dansette record players also, because bass and treble controls for instance, for listening to music, are more confusing?

I just find this whole issue quite curious. I do accept that some passive tone controls are well engineered and actually quite useful - some appear archaic to me however.

Edited October 18, 2016 by drTStingray

[fretmeister]

That post could be the very definition of false equivalence.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1476816624' post='3157573']
That post could be the very definition of false equivalence.
[/quote]

Do you mean before or after I corrected the Apple spell gremlins? Damned technology eh lol!! 😉

[therealting]

My Dingwall Super P5 has a special tone pot wiring that acts as a normal passive tone roll off below the centre detent, and a passive mid cut above the centre detent.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1476687273' post='3156193']
P Retro is a fine tool and not complex. Volume/blend on one stack and then a cool mids control on t'other. Active/passive too.
[/quote]

Why would a P need a blend? I thought the stacked knobs on the P Retro did the following:

1: Top - volume (pull for active mode)
Bottom - passive tone

2: Top - mid boost one way,bass&treble boost the other way
Bottom - variable frequency

[Ajoten]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1476816420' post='3157569']So do you guys who prefer one tone control, with all the limitations that brings, hanker after 1950s style recording, listening to music on early transistor radios and Dansette record players also, because bass and treble controls for instance, for listening to music, are more confusing?
[/quote]

No, believe it or not. But most of my music listening these days occurs through headphones in the mobile phone, and I don't even know whether tone controls are available on a basic music player app. Also I always use the bypass button on the graphic EQ of my amp. Because otherwise I'd be relentlessly faffing and tweaking and not being sure and thinking something wasn't quite right and that I could never nail it and generally be frustrated and disappointed. In a thread elsewhere on this website someone referred to "option paralysis". I'd rather try to use my fingers to create the sound I want (although of course I fail with that too).

Perhaps I phrased my original post poorly, as it wasn't supposed to be any musing on the superiority of passive over active or vice versa. I really don't care.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Ajoten

[mcnach]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1476857516' post='3157761']
Why would a P need a blend? I thought the stacked knobs on the P Retro did the following:

1: Top - volume (pull for active mode)
Bottom - passive tone

2: Top - mid boost one way,bass&treble boost the other way
Bottom - variable frequency
[/quote]

and this is correct

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1476697035' post='3156291']
Big muff style tone control mounted on the back of a pot maybe? Something I've been mulling over building for a while!!!
[/quote]

Have you seen Albert Kreuzer's design for an onboard preamp? It's a nicely thought out FET preamp with a single knob tone control. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be be any commercial preamps with this topology, as it would also suit the OP's requirements nicely.

www.albertkreuzer.com/preamp_onboard.htm

[markstuk]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1476647070' post='3155987']
Spot on.
[/quote]

You're agreeing with your own post ? :-)

[Byo]

Didn't the lower range Ibanez SR's used to have an active 1 tone control?

EMG do a concentric bass & treble tone control that would fit in a P-Bass too.

The East p-Preamp is full of features and seems you need an engineering degree to understand how it operates but they're so hard to find 2nd hand and they are not making them atm.

An EQ pedal might be easier to fit into your existing setup also, there are so many options out there too.

Good luck mate!

Edited October 19, 2016 by Byo