Active Bass Question

[spongebob]

I'm over the moon with my new Fender Jag - in red!

Sounds fab, variety of tones, played great straight from the box.

My question is - the active mode.

I'm aware that other basses have this option as well - but when do most people use it?

As soon as I select it, my Markbass speaker seems to be poundng and working overtime, even at practice levels! - but it does sound great!

I've got a gig next week, and I'm a little reluctant to use the setting as it may well shake the venue into tiny pieces!

Do most people with an active option find the right level and gig with it? Or just stick with the passive?

Or is there even an answer to this??!!

[mrcrow]

the 64,000 euro question
active signals can travel further in cables without loss
i dont really understand why but iirc that is one advantage
the active sound is supposed to be more 'modern' and you will have eq on the bass to control it since i think it has a brighter top end

i used passive but distinguish active passive from true active pup basses
my musicman was a passive pup but fed through an active system...with 3 band eq..but no option to use passive
this is what i think you have but with the passive option

for which to choose i would choose passive for a traditional retro sound ...rock or jazz
active for the greater output and clean sound and able to be easily scooped from the bass eq

i am interested to see what others say as i have also used emg active basses and cringed at the sound...really sterile
and they used passive tone cut!!!

Edited July 19, 2009 by mrcrow

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='spongebob' post='544650' date='Jul 19 2009, 01:02 PM']As soon as I select it, my Markbass speaker seems to be poundng and working overtime, even at practice levels! - but it does sound great![/quote]
You need to lower the gain on the amp and increase the master volume.

Unless you want the pounding sound you describe.

[pietruszka]

I have a Stingray, which i active, and i love it. I also have a fretless which has a passive option on it, I never use it, I dont like the sound as I feel it sounds weak. I also have a Mark Bass cab and if you find the output is really loud lower the input gain and raise the master as the previous poster mentioned. Active will always be louder than passive. Like ive mentioned, I dont like passive, I dont see the point but it will give you that more of a retro sound if thats what you're after. Hope this helps.

Dan

[stingrayfan]

Couldn't gig with a passive bass - wouldn't sound lively enough for me. But it's horses for courses, everyone's got a different sound in their heads.

[Musicman20]

I prefer vintage passive tones, apart from Stingrays. A passive P or J bass pounds away just as hard...sometimes some active basses sound far too clinical and overly eq'd.

I will eventually get another active instrument, but it will have to have a passive option.

[LukeFRC]

Ok, someone may need to correct me on this....


A string vibrating over a magnet induces a current in it, this can then be fed through through a volume resistor and a tone capacitor into the pre amp section of your amp.
The pre-amp then amplifies the signal to put it through the Eq and whatever other gubbins your amp has, then the signal is fed into the power amp stage where it is amplified again and sent to your speakers.
This is your passive bass.
The tone control can only ever cut out frequencies. on a P bass it rolls off the treble.

An active-passive bass, which is what you have is different. The signal from the pickups is effectively put through another pre-amp on your guitar. The tone controls have 9 (or 18) volts which they can use to boost the signal from the pups. The tone controls can add volume to frequencies as well as cut like on the passive system.
Generally this means the active bass will have a higher output than a passive bass. You need to compensate for this on your amp. Either it will have seperate active and passive inputs or by using the pre amp gain control. Ashdown amps for instance have the little VU dial and trace have a set of 3 lights to help you do this.
Generally play as hard as you can, and turn it up till the pre amp is just peaking- and then turn it down a smidgen . This will mean you get a good signal to the rest of the amp.
Valve preamps will over-drive quite nicely if you turn the preamp up too loud. Solid state will not sound as good!

A fully active bass will have active pickups which put a current through the pickups too.

Active and passive a both good, you need the amp set up slightly differently for each though.

[warwickhunt]

Active/Passive... matters not a jot! Turn them up full whack and adjust the input of your amp accordingly.

Of course if the resultant sound is not to your liking go back to turn everything down to zero and start adjust everything up incrementally and according to taste... until you get to full whack!

[Mr Fudge]

I'm a passivist .... I play aggressively with fingers. I've tried active a few times, just settled on some meaty wizzard jazz passive pups. All depends on your playing ... but 99% of tone is how you play IMO.

[Happy Jack]

I play both and, from a purely empirical point of view, the chief advantage of active basses IMO is that you can do something about the dreaded [b]cutting through [/b]issue.

I routinely play my active basses in passive mode (if they have one, most do) or with the controls set to neutral if they can't be bypassed.

If I can't hear myself in the mix with a passive bass, then all I can do is choose between turning the volume up (Guitarist: [i]"Oy! I saw that!" [/i]) or fiddling with the EQ to try to set myself apart

In the same situation with an active bass, I can drop into active mode or turn up the Boost and suddenly I'm there in the mix. (Guitarist: [i]"Oy! You've turned up!" [/i] Me: [i]"No I haven't. Look at my amp." [/i] )

[mrcrow]

passive...no battery
activated.. passive pup feeding through an onboard preamp with eq
active...as in emg...active preamp in the pup...eq can be either a tone cut 0.100 for emg
or separate tone pot from emg run off the battery giving 2 or three band eq.
i think active should be classified really on the signal attributes
passive = no batt
active = batt and altered signal characteristics

[thisnameistaken]

To me a passive mode switch is for use when your battery is going flat. Otherwise I'd use the actives.

[davidmpires]

I'm an active guy, but I do have the choice of the passive one, but in order to use the switch one would need to be able to adjust the gain in order to make the most of it.

[fingerz]

The key is you can't chop between the two whilst playing without effecting your level.

Get to the gig, decide which sound is more suitable and then set up the gain on the amp accordingly. Once you start playing you will have to commit to the mode chosen, unless you have a mo to reset your gain between tunes...

Edited July 20, 2009 by fingerz

[Spartacus]

[quote name='fingerz' post='545610' date='Jul 20 2009, 06:57 PM']The key is you can't chop between the two whilst playing without effecting your level.[/quote]

True but with a good preamp set flat there shouldnt be any real change in level except more dynamic range and better top end, like Aguilar preamps which give almost totally flat unity gain when the controls arent cut or boosted. its only when you start boosting frequency bands that you should notice a real difference. A lot of basses use cheap actives singly to make theor weak pickups sound louder and punchier.

I like basses with the choice of active/passive but some basses like classic Jazz and Precisions dont sound 'right' when active, they lose something so its nice to have the passive option available but you often have to live with the difference in output.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='545307' date='Jul 20 2009, 02:01 PM']To me a passive mode switch is for use when your battery is going flat. Otherwise I'd use the actives.[/quote]


I always thought that way too untl i got the Zoot. The Aero pickups in that sound immense in passive mode. Still better in active though