Active and passive inputs on an amplifier

[northstreet]

Will I damage my amp if I plug my bass into the "wrong" input? I presume the active input is to prevent a really hot bass overloading the preamp. My Ibanez is an active bass (in that it has a battery-powered tone control) but the output doesn't seem very high. If I plug it into the active input then I have to turn the amp's volume control up to get it as loud as if I'd plugged into the passive input. So I'm working the output stage harder. Plug into the passive input and I can turn it down - but what's best? I should mention it's a Hartke LH500 which doesn't have a separate gain control.

[Merton]

[quote name='northstreet' post='719504' date='Jan 20 2010, 08:08 PM']Will I damage my amp if I plug my bass into the "wrong" input? I presume the active input is to prevent a really hot bass overloading the preamp. My Ibanez is an active bass (in that it has a battery-powered tone control) but the output doesn't seem very high. If I plug it into the active input then I have to turn the amp's volume control up to get it as loud as if I'd plugged into the passive input. So I'm working the output stage harder. Plug into the passive input and I can turn it down - but what's best? I should mention it's a Hartke LH500 which doesn't have a separate gain control.[/quote]
No. But if it sounds bad, turn down.

I have an LH500 and an 18V Status bass. I plug into the passive input to get a bit of grind from the tube. It's lovely

[peted]

My active Warwick gets plugged into the passive input of my Hartke 3500 as the output from the bass is quite low for an active bass.

[chris_b]

[quote name='northstreet' post='719504' date='Jan 20 2010, 08:08 PM']....Will I damage my amp if I plug my bass into the "wrong" input?....[/quote]
No. If it's too loud, turn it down and if it's too quiet, turn it up! One gently played note should tell you which situation you've got!!