Plugging an active bass into the passive input.

[fatgoogle]

I left the lead plugged into the passive input after playing my jazz and plugged in my Yamaha which is active.

Well i loved the bigger tones that i got from having it in the passive especially because i have to practise at lesser volumes. But what i wont to know is if im causing any damage to the amp at all. Its a hartke lh500.

Also if its ok at lower volumes will it be ok at higher volumes?

Thanks
Sam H

[sockdeluxe_mikey]

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='1013822' date='Nov 5 2010, 10:37 PM']I left the lead plugged into the passive input after playing my jazz and plugged in my Yamaha which is active.

Well i loved the bigger tones that i got from having it in the passive especially because i have to practise at lesser volumes. But what i wont to know is if im causing any damage to the amp at all. Its a hartke lh500.

Also if its ok at lower volumes will it be ok at higher volumes?

Thanks
Sam H[/quote]

This is an interesting area! I almost always use the passive input for active or passive basses (with obviously sometimes gain adjustment). On some amps, I think the active pad can border on attenuating a bit too much and I would rather adjust gain to taste/requirements.

I have a passive bass, a 9V active bass and an 18V active bass but it's fairly rare that I use them on the same gig I suppose so I maybe haven't come across any issues because of this. The 9V and 18V I do on occasion, but that's more a master volume adjustment than a gain adjustment.

On your amp, as long as the gain clip light isn't showing when you switch to your active bass then AFAIK you should definitely be okay, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody corrects both of us!

[4 Strings]

Unless I've missed something there's a resistor on the active input to attenuate it to allow some meat on the gain control before the pre-amp clips. No damage, especially if its not clipping.

Like Sockdeluxe I use the passive input all the time, mine with a Stingray. Never been a problem, been doing it a long time.

(Not really sure why, just means the volume control is set a little lower. Feels punchier but I doubt that it actually is.)

[bassmachine2112]

I,ve been pluggin in my musicman and an active t-bird pro into the passive one for years and they are no louder than my ricky and a wizard thumper equipped p-bass so either it is ok to put an active in the passive or I should be puttin the passives in the active one due to their high outputs-14k on the thumper.

[rmshaw37]

i do this all the time!

the sansamp has a -20db pad switch, but i like to drive it a bit harder. From what i understand, there are various stages of gain within a bass/amp/pedal situation anyway.

there are guitar pedals at least designed to do just that! i think the only problem is if you drive it too hard! but with a 500w amp and appropriate speakers, you'll never struggle to get over a drummer driving the gain a bit harder than designed!

just consider it to be running a little more "hot", which is the aim behind active basses anyway!

[JPJ]

I find that only active basses with 18v preamps need the built in pad on the active input. All my 9v actives run better through the passive input IMHO. That said, I tend to leave the eq on the bass fairly flat and use little tweaks to compensate for room dynamics etc. This might not be the case if you whack everything on full on the bass.

[markstuk]

Agree with this - my 9V SR765 works best in the passive input, my BTB470 (18V) was a little too hot for the passive input..

[warwickhunt]

If it sounds OK... it is OK!

The separate inputs are there to help if you have a very hot output but as most amps (maybe not the LH500 IIRC) have an input gain then the separate inputs are almost a gimmick. I always try the passive and active to see what's what but I invariably end up using the passive input on most amps with the gain set accordingly.

[warwickhunt]

If it sounds OK... it is OK!

The separate inputs are there to help if you have a very hot output but as most amps (maybe not the LH500 IIRC) have an input gain then the separate inputs are almost a gimmick. I always try the passive and active to see what's what but I invariably end up using the passive input on most amps with the gain set accordingly.

[chris_b]

Active and passive inputs on an amp are there to help people who haven't managed to master the gain control.

[fatgoogle]

Thanks very much everyone. So im ok then.

[Conan]

[quote name='chris_b' post='1014200' date='Nov 6 2010, 01:02 PM']Active and passive inputs on an amp are there to help people who haven't managed to master the gain control.[/quote]

Maybe... but there IS no gain control on the LH500!!

[Conan]

[quote name='JPJ' post='1014155' date='Nov 6 2010, 12:22 PM']I find that only active basses with 18v preamps need the built in pad on the active input. All my 9v actives run better through the passive input IMHO. That said, I tend to leave the eq on the bass fairly flat and use little tweaks to compensate for room dynamics etc. This might not be the case if you whack everything on full on the bass.[/quote]

Totally agree. Even my 18V Status is fine through the passive input on my LH500 - but I tend to have the tone controls set flat (i.e. centred - no cut or boost). Some active basses seem to have pretty low outputs while some passives can be pretty loud!

As WH says - use your ears. If it sounds OK it's highly unlikely that you are doing any damage.

[Alfie]

I have always wondered whether I should be plugged into the active or passive input when using pedals.

[Conan]

[quote name='Alfie' post='1017145' date='Nov 9 2010, 08:01 AM']I have always wondered whether I should be plugged into the active or passive input when using pedals.[/quote]

I guess it depends on how high you have the gain set on your pedals?

[4 Strings]

Same rules apply as to active basses discussed above.

I agree with Warwickhunt that active inputs are provided more 'because we can' than anything else. The no frills but serious Hartke mentioned is a prime example showing that its unnecessary.

In actual fact, the workhorse HA350 is a little like it in that the 'gain' controls are there to provide the selected blend of valve and tranny pre-amp. I never move these. (But then I never use the graphic, compressor or anything else, only on rare occasions will the wrongly named 'lo pass' get a tweak for the room.)

[lowhand_mike]

been doing this recently myself, figured the gain would do the same as the active pad anyway, and you have control over it rather than having to drive the gain higher fo the same volume.
glad i'm not doing anything thats likely to cause problems, i know my passive bass seems to have very hot pickups.