Active or Passive

[dudewheresmybass]

Passive

Quite simply - I've never played an active bass I really really loved the tone of. Every single one has sounded artificial in some way.

Above this, I don't like J pickups. P pups where poss. lol

[Stub Mandrel]

39 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

It's called preventative maintenance and being prepared. Or in 2 words; being professional.

 

The problem I have is it's impossible to know how quickly the Sire preamps run batteries down. There's just no consensus, and at about for two quality pp3s I'm not going to swap em out every gig, as I know they've lasted several gigs snd rehearsals.

 

So... I've ordered four rechargeable PP3s and I'm going to convert the battery cover to a magnetic cover.

[NickA]

51 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

how quickly the Sire preamps run batteries down

Should last months if you unplug after playing.

 

Rechargeable won't work for as long (lower capacity) or as well (lower voltage); plus they die quite suddenly so you get no warning.  Decent quality alkalines.. change when it goes quieter or fuzzy.

 

1 hour ago, dudewheresmybass said:

Every single one has sounded artificial in some way.

Don't all electric basses?  My ( very active) fretless Wal is the nearest thing to a "natural" sound of any electric bass I've played.  Weirdly organic and flexible sound, packed with harmonic overtones.

 

[warwickhunt]

8 minutes ago, NickA said:

Rechargeable won't work for as long (lower capacity) or as well (lower voltage); plus they die quite suddenly so you get no warning.  Decent quality alkalines.. change when it goes quieter or fuzzy.

 

 

Not all rechargeables are created equal!    Get a very good brand and they will match the best + you don't have to last as long if you have 2 sets and swap them out.

[SimonK]

I love how many people on this thread have said "passive" followed by something like "I don't twiddle/touch the knobs on the bass" - no shit Einsteins 😀(NB said with humour and affection) - demonstrates why active pickups were created in the first place - precisely so that you could control EQ better on the bass itself!

 

Thus said I don't like the faff of remembering to change the battery, albeit at the moment play two Stingrays both with identical active pickups through identical signal chains, but tweak the EQ a bit on the fretless to get the mwah - currently gassing over a passive p-bass though...

[ped]

I don’t care, if it sounds good it’s good. I’ve had good and bad versions of each. 

 

I really like mechanical things and for that reason the passive setup appeals to me. What the magnets and wires do feels like magic, instead of powered by electricity. Probably makes little sense but nevertheless…

[NickA]

1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Not all rechargeables are created equal

Fair point.  I'm thinking old school NiMH and NiCd.  You can get lithium ion now 👍

 

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/9v-rechargeable-batteries/0152257

 

Might try some myself... but I can use the cast offs from work, we have piles of semi spent Duracell pros.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

you don't have to last as long if you have 2 sets and swap them out.

 

This is my plan.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, SimonK said:

I love how many people on this thread have said "passive" followed by something like "I don't twiddle/touch the knobs on the bass" - no shit Einsteins 😀(NB said with humour and affection) - demonstrates why active pickups were created in the first place - precisely so that you could control EQ better on the bass itself!

 

The irony is that my active basses have multiple pickups, giving plenty of tonal flexibility just with pickup selection and blending.

 

I've never felt the need to make changes to active eq on the fly. Setting up an active bass is just a more complex/flexible way of setting up my basic sound.

 

[BigRedX]

12 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

Passive

Quite simply - I've never played an active bass I really really loved the tone of. Every single one has sounded artificial in some way.

Above this, I don't like J pickups. P pups where poss. lol

 

Weird isn't it? Technically a good on-board pre-amp should be little different to the pre-amp in your amplifier.

 

In fact I would go so far as to say that a very good on-board pre-amp such as one designed by John East will probably be sonically superior to a lot of pre-amps in the actual amp.

Edited November 26, 2024 by BigRedX

[dudewheresmybass]

Quite possibly. However I can only talk based on my experience. 
 

[Beedster]

Passive sometimes, active others, depends on the music, and just occasionally the band/venue. But mostly the music 👍

[Beedster]

48 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

In fact I would go so far as to say that a very good on-board pre-amp such as one designed by John East will probably be sonically superior to a lot of pre-amps in the actual amp.

 

I've always assumed that's the case 👍

[Beedster]

9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've never felt the need to make changes to active eq on the fly. Setting up an active bass is just a more complex/flexible way of setting up my basic sound.

 

 

There's a lot of truth there also, was certainly the case when I had a P-Retro, just allowed me to always have the core Precision tone that was in my head, with small tweaks - usually in the mids - for the environment 👍

[NancyJohnson]

13 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

Passive

Quite simply - I've never played an active bass I really really loved the tone of. Every single one has sounded artificial in some way.

Above this, I don't like J pickups. P pups where poss. lol

 

Could you identify a J from a P in a blind test?  Seriously, now.

 

I hate to keep dredging up the shootout I conducted with @cetera at one of the SE Bass bashes four or five years back.  Look on You Tube, video exists.  It was quite apparent that attendees couldn't tell a Jazz from a Precision from a Rickenbacker (and anything else for that matter).

[dudewheresmybass]

I’d like to think I could, and from recordings I normally can and also a Ricky. 
 

[neepheid]

"Oh yes it is!"

"Oh no it isn't!"

 

Repeat ad nauseum.

[Muzz]

Active, but exclusively John East's preamps - I know them inside out, and I can dial in what I want on the go when required (and without looking); I have no amp, and I wouldn't want to be turning round and fiddling with it mid-set anyway.

 

Having said that, my main gigging bass (a very cheapo but crucially very light Squire Sonic P) is passive right now, but mainly because I'm waiting for an East P-Tone to pop up somewhere...

[Woodinblack]

Active. Don't even adjust the tone generally

[bremen]

11 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Could you identify a J from a P in a blind test?  Seriously, now.

 

I hate to keep dredging up the shootout I conducted with @cetera at one of the SE Bass bashes four or five years back.  Look on You Tube, video exists.  It was quite apparent that attendees couldn't tell a Jazz from a Precision from a Rickenbacker (and anything else for that matter).

I'd like to see that, can you link?

[fleabag]

Why not have both passive and active in the same bass.

 

Like me 😁

 

 

[warwickhunt]

1 minute ago, fleabag said:

Why not have both passive and active in the same bass.

 

Like me 😁

 

 

 

You mean like play an active bass and turn the treble down a smidgen?  🤣

[fleabag]

Nope.  Just pull the active / passive knob

[Lozz196]

12 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Could you identify a J from a P in a blind test?  Seriously, now.

 

I hate to keep dredging up the shootout I conducted with @cetera at one of the SE Bass bashes four or five years back.  Look on You Tube, video exists.  It was quite apparent that attendees couldn't tell a Jazz from a Precision from a Rickenbacker (and anything else for that matter).

I could probably tell my Precisions & Jazzes apart if recorded by me, then played back. Any others I don’t think I’d stand a chance. I found this out when hearing a mate play with the best ever Precision sound, was literally awesome classic punky P-bass at its best, only to find out it was a 70s maple necked Jazz. 

[NancyJohnson]

10 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I could probably tell my Precisions & Jazzes apart if recorded by me, then played back. Any others I don’t think I’d stand a chance. I found this out when hearing a mate play with the best ever Precision sound, was literally awesome classic punky P-bass at its best, only to find out it was a 70s maple necked Jazz. 

 

Go and watch the video from the Bash.  We had 15-20 basses that we put through my old rig, playing the same piece on each.  Active, passive, flats, rounds, various makes.

 

It was quite sobering given the - and I want to say nonsense, here (oops, I just did) - rhetoric that circulates here about tone, pickup selection, grunt, grind, ponk etc.  I'm fairly certain that many Basschat members thought identifying basses would be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.  

 

If nothing, this exercise really shaped my opinion on all this nonsense (damn!) about the perception of how certain basses are supposed to sound and what they actually sounded like.  All this idiocy that just because a £120 bass looks like a Stingray, that it sounds like a Stingray.

 

If we get a Bash in next year, I'd love to repeat this.