M@23 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) Just got my first decent active bass after years of passives! Just playing around with my Aguilar TH before this weekends gigs and noticed that it is unbelievable loud without the 10db pad engaged, but doesn't clip. I play with quite a light touch so am used to cranking the amp with my passive basses. The volume is barely on with the active and its much louder. I guess a lot is dependant on how hot the basses pre is and how hard people play, but, do people use the pads on their amps? The bass doesn't seem to lose any volume in passive mode either, which I wasn't expecting. At the moment I'm thinking of not bothering with the pad and just keeping the master volume down. Edited July 2, 2015 by M@23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 It's there if you need it I suppose... I've got 4 active basses and 1 passive (which is my Squier VM P bass) and I run them all through my Zoom B9 in front of the amp... the B9 has a setting to switch between active or passive instrument input but I haven't bothered to change it because when the P bass arrived it was putting out as much signal as the actives pretty much (in fact a little louder compared to some of the instruments). My Genz Benz combo has no switchable input pad so I guess it's expected that you vary the input gain as required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 It's not just the pre in an active bass, but the pickups too. I have an Ibanez which was an active bass for about 20 years, I then decided to rip out the electronics & make it passive. Tone wise, it's different, volume wise, it's about the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 I think my old passive basses must have had a very low output compared to the new Sandberg. Even in passive mode it's output is much higher, the pole pieces are huge, if that's any indication of output! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No lust in Jazz Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Does this active bass have a trim pot on the pre amp, to cool down the signal? My active basses have this feature.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 [quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1435917747' post='2813547'] Does this active bass have a trim pot on the pre amp, to cool down the signal? My active basses have this feature.. [/quote] I don't know to be honest. There is nothing obvious, could be internal though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 If you have a Sandberg then the preamp is Glockenklang (or Sandberg, designed by/inspired by Glock). That preamp is very flat, it doesn't pump the gain, so with flat EQ you get the same aoutput as you get if you turn the bass to passive. You can try it, put everything flat and see the diferences between passive and active mode, it's incredibly close to nothing. I love Glock preamps because of this feature. If you use your Sandberg without boosting too much EQ i'm sure it will handle very well without the need to push in the pad in the amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 i run my active bass into the passive input on my ashdown as the active input lowers the level too much, never had a problem, just use your ears. i have a passive squire jazz that has a montrous output which is louder than the ibanez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 [quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1435931078' post='2813759'] If you have a Sandberg then the preamp is Glockenklang (or Sandberg, designed by/inspired by Glock). That preamp is very flat, it doesn't pump the gain, so with flat EQ you get the same aoutput as you get if you turn the bass to passive. You can try it, put everything flat and see the diferences between passive and active mode, it's incredibly close to nothing. I love Glock preamps because of this feature. If you use your Sandberg without boosting too much EQ i'm sure it will handle very well without the need to push in the pad in the amp [/quote] Great. Thanks for that. I was really surprised there was no drop in volume when popping it to passive. I do like the pre alot. I lied in my original post, I had a Stingray 2eq which slipped my mind and the pre in the Sandberg isn't as hot, but is very useable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Yep..it is just signal into the amp... and I always run my active thru passive pads.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 [quote name='M@23' timestamp='1435871197' post='2813297'] Just got my first decent active bass after years of passives! Just playing around with my Aguilar TH before this weekends gigs and noticed that it is unbelievable loud without the 10db pad engaged, but doesn't clip. I play with quite a light touch so am used to cranking the amp with my passive basses. The volume is barely on with the active and its much louder. I guess a lot is dependant on how hot the basses pre is and how hard people play, but, do people use the pads on their amps? The bass doesn't seem to lose any volume in passive mode either, which I wasn't expecting. At the moment I'm thinking of not bothering with the pad and just keeping the master volume down. [/quote] I tend to not bother with the pad, and simply adjust the input gain as required. To be honest, my active basses don't seem louder than my passive ones. Only of of my J-Retro equipped ones, whose preamp I keep meaning to turn down a bit but I haven't yet. My G&L L2000, passive, is probably the loudest of the lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1435949812' post='2813990'] Yep..it is just signal into the amp... and I always run my active thru passive pads.. [/quote] Cool, I think we have similar, if not the same, rigs too! First gig of the weekend down, only a quiet one, but I didn't use the 10db pad, and ran the pre on the bass flat. Well; treble and bass sitting at the centre detents, don't know if that is flat... Gain and drive in their normal settings on the TH500 but the master at half what it would have been with my last P bass. It sounded great. Really full and clear in passive mode, but better in active. Not hugely different, mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1435958204' post='2814065'] I tend to not bother with the pad, and simply adjust the input gain as required. To be honest, my active basses don't seem louder than my passive ones. Only of of my J-Retro equipped ones, whose preamp I keep meaning to turn down a bit but I haven't yet. My G&L L2000, passive, is probably the loudest of the lot! [/quote] The amp doesn't have an input gain pot in the traditional respect. So I wasn't 100% sure on how it was going to react. Turns out that without the pad engaged, I'm still not clipping the pre but it is putting out alot more volume. Edited July 3, 2015 by M@23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 [quote name='M@23' timestamp='1435958736' post='2814072'] The amp doesn't have an input gain pot in the traditional respect. So I wasn't 100% sure on how it was going to react. Turns out that without the pad engaged, I'm still not clipping the pre but it is putting out alot more volume. [/quote] if it sounds good, then that's alright! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1435961066' post='2814091'] if it sounds good, then that's alright! [/quote] That it does :-) Setting up for tonight, I just had a bit of a play. Decided to unplug my cabs and give the amp some. Obviously there was no sound, but just wanted to see how hard I could push the amp before the clip light started. Aguilar say you can pretty much disregard the clip light anyway, but even with the basses bass and treble maxed, I still had to push the master, gain or bass pots on the amp before I saw the clip light. This was the same in active or passive. So, the Tone Hammer 500 can take a good amount thrown at it before it clips, even without the 10db pad. Also, I'm really liking the Sandberg pre, as even on full boost it isn't outrageous. It's really nice and subtle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 [quote name='M@23' timestamp='1435958600' post='2814071'] Cool, I think we have similar, if not the same, rigs too! First gig of the weekend down, only a quiet one, but I didn't use the 10db pad, and ran the pre on the bass flat. Well; treble and bass sitting at the centre detents, don't know if that is flat... Gain and drive in their normal settings on the TH500 but the master at half what it would have been with my last P bass. It sounded great. Really full and clear in passive mode, but better in active. Not hugely different, mind. [/quote] I practise at 12, 12, bass on 10, mids and treble around 2 or more and that is in the house @4 ohms. Not a lot of signal into the amp from me. I think I'll need more headroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Played a louder gig last night, smallish room with probably not a lot more than 100 people in, but it is wall to wall and packed. Had a bit of PA reinforcement but ended on these settings:[URL=http://s1240.photobucket.com/user/mattdigweed/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150705_115558_zpswfumqhzt.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/mattdigweed/Mobile%20Uploads/20150705_115558_zpswfumqhzt.jpg[/IMG][/URL] With my two tks S112, it was the best sound I've had at this venue, and I've played it probably 50 times over the last 3 or 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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