thisisswanbon Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 Howdy all, not sure if this is a bass guitar, effects, or accessories issue but hear me out! So I recently took on a 2017 MIM Fender jazz deluxe; and while it's a boat anchor, it's a thing of beauty and tremendous all around. It's the one with the active 18v 3 band eq and active/passive switch, and if there was one thing I'd change on it, that'd be it! The pre is a bit lacking. There's no passive tone control, there's still quite a bit of top end even at full treble cut, and it sort of feels a bit one dimensional compared to passive. With previous basses, I've always bought passive, or converted to passive (ibby ehb excluded) as I prefere the immediate weight and responsiveness of a passive bass. This one feels a bit more important though with the inherent mid scoop and thin-ness that comes with a jazz. Long story longer, is there an active pre out there with the responsiveness of a passive bass, that'll also allow a control to double as a passive tone in passive mode? If not, am I better off looking at an external EQ pedal? Any advice from the absolute fountain of knowledge that is the basschat community would be much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxelF Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Have a look at the John East J Retro, I have the Uni Pre in one of my basses which includes a push/pull passive/active pot, but the passive tone knob works even when in active mode. Thoroughly confused me when I first got it but Is actually really useful. Having a quick look at the J Retro I don't think the same will apply, but it sounds likeone of the knobs acts as a passive tone control in passive mode. They're pricey though so there may be a cheaper option that does what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 16/10/2022 at 15:22, thisisswanbon said: Long story longer, is there an active pre out there with the responsiveness of a passive bass, that'll also allow a control to double as a passive tone in passive mode? If not, am I better off looking at an external EQ pedal? Any advice from the absolute fountain of knowledge that is the basschat community would be much appreciated! Yep, Noll sells a dual section pot that can be switched from active to passive funtionality, or you can just set it up to do both things in active mode and act like a normal passive tone control in passive mode. It comes standard on some of their preamps too. What's really slick about it is that the passive section only works from noon counterclockwise, so when using active boost the passive section won't mess with that even if you leave it wired in all the time. I used that pot with one of my DIY preamps for a customer build and it worked great without any need for a switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Glockenklang do this for clean pre style… Sadowsky for less clean style has the passive tone control as well as boost only bass and treble John east as meantioned makes amazing stuff but if you know you like passive instruments that and some external preamp might be the best idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 (edited) I just happened upon a video for an Audere Pro z (I think it was that model) last night and I was really impressed. It’s got a 3 position mid switch but it’s not a typical freq selector, low mid and high mid controls and a bass and treble along with pick up pan too. Not sure about passive tone though. I’m not usually an active bass guy but if I had a jazz bass I’d put that Audere pre in it asap if I could recreate the tones I heard in that video. The bass had Bart jazz pick ups too which can be a bit darker which would have added to the overall sound in that video but I really dug it. As for an external unit the Alien Audio Tidal Wave Pre is good or a Basswitch if you want that clean semi para mids type unit with some bells and whistles. I suppose it depends if you have a preference for where the lows and mids are set as some folk don’t see the point with a 40Hz bass freq when many amps have their bass set here. I know 80-100 Hz can be a bit more useful for many folks but that’s getting into proper geek territory 😀 Edited October 22, 2022 by krispn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobothy Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 … I’d probably go with a nice external preamp. That way if you move the jazz on you’ll still have a nice preamp pedal. You can also use the pedal with other basses etc 👍🏼 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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