[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1428864073' post='2745449']
Sometimes, the almost limitless pallet of sounds an active bass allows you to use works against you, in that you always feel there is a better sound somewhere else in there. It gives you a feeling of not being satisfied, or missing out on that elusive killer tone. With a passive, you are far more limited, and learn to make do, which forces you to create in a much more focused way. I have found after years of various active basses, I was relying on the bass to find me 'that sound', and sometimes I was lucky enough to drop on it...( this with ref to all venues need a different sound, and no setting suits all.) A few weeks ago I blew the cobwebs of a Yamaha BB 2024 after giving up on it as being inferior to my active Mike Lull. After a half hour or so, I began listening to the bass, instead of what was missing compared to the active sound, and I realised I was hearing a much more 'real' and open sound rather than that almost overworked and hyper sensitive sound I was used to from actives. Perhaps my perception has always been (without knowing it) that active basses had to be better because they had 'more' of everything. I have now deliberately painted myself into a corner, and have chosen to limit myself by using my passive again, and the difference is little short of amazing. I feel I am far more responsible for how it sounds, rather than a part owner of it. There is far more to active or passive than just the bass itself... It's far more about what's in your head than in the bass itself.
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Interesting stuff, well said mate.