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Post subject: active vs passive
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:33 pm
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Do you prefer active or passive electronics in your bass and why?


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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:07 pm
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I like active, better tone control. Nowadays tho, the passive pups are very well made and very specific in the way it's designed to give certain tonal variances - EMG for one, Duncans, heck even the Custom Shop pups are very specific to the way they sound.

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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:28 pm
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I'm an active fan, too (I play an American Deluxe P-Bass). The pickups, of course, are passive (as are most pickup sin a so-called "active" system" but the tone controls are powered, so you can cut and boost frequencies. All my playing is studio work for jingles and video scores, and being able to dial in a bass sound that is very specific to the style at hand is the best feature for me.

So, with my bass, I've got the "vintage" tones of a Fender "Original '62" P-style pickup, the very modern tones of the bridge dual-Jazz humbucker, 3-band active EQ and a blend control... there's nothing it won't do.


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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:18 pm
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Passive.

I'm a simple fellow who cannot fathom on-board EQs :P


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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:08 pm
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ally wrote:
Passive.

I'm a simple fellow who cannot fathom on-board EQs :P


Like I said, I like the actives, but I also like the simplicity of the passives, hence owning both now. The VM is the 1st passive equipped bass I've had in a long time, other than that, it's all been active. :wink:

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'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:02 am
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I agree - i have, and have had, active and passive basses and enjoy the versatility of some and yet the simplicity of others - also remember that the old time pioneering bassists played passive basses back in the early days. :D

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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:51 am
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thumper wrote:
I agree - i have, and have had, active and passive basses and enjoy the versatility of some and yet the simplicity of others - also remember that the old time pioneering bassists played passive basses back in the early days. :D


That's because active pups weren't readily available at the time. Now they're all over the place. Again, a lot of passive pups are designed to give a certain sound quality nowadays, so they even sound better than the older passives.

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Rez(# 30916)
'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:55 am
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I never play electric guitars because pioneering jazz and blues guitarists like Django and Robert Johnson only played acoustics.

:D


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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:16 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
I never play electric guitars because pioneering jazz and blues guitarists like Django and Robert Johnson only played acoustics.

:D


LOL...so true, so true... :)

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Rez(# 30916)
'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:46 pm
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I like having on-board tone control on my bass but the sound of active pickups is just not what I expected. They are too midrangy, too mellow and boomy. I hace an active Jazz Bass 24 and I love the onboard eq but the the tone is inferior to even a MIJ or MIM Jazz bass and it cost me twice as much. O btw, please check out my post called "Please help". I'm trying to fix this thing to make it sound and play better. Thanks


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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:49 am
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ACTIVE OR PASSIVE, WHAT MATTERS IS THE FINGERS THAT PLAY, THE HEAD THAT THINKS AND THE HEART THAT SPEAKS THROUGH THEM BOTH.


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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:58 am
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And the tonal variations is still from the pups to the amp, which in most cases the active have better tonal control.

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Rez(# 30916)
'89 Power Jazz Bass Special-BadAssIII, EMG P/J
Project PBass-EMG PX, Schaller BM Light Tuner
'05 Aerodyne JBass
'06 Spector Legend Custom Neck Through
VT Bass
Hartke TA5000 w/XL Cabs(210, 410, 115)


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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:07 pm
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Passive (natural) tone for my taste.


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