Do You Play a Bass with Active Electronics

[ch willie]

I don't like anything that relies on a battery, but I'm interested in the pros and cons of active electronics.

[Laker]

My Lakland and Stingray 5 both have active 9v systems. I can use the Lakland as either passive or active and prefer the active sound. It seems to have a bit more punch. A friend has a bass within 18v preamp and the bass does have a very nice sound.

[dirtdog]

My Fender PJ has been modded with active pickups. I do like the active boost options instead of the passive cut option. But sometimes the active boost is kind of boomy. I have a switch on the front of the guitar where I can go between active and passive. Or passive and passive if the battery is dead!

[renderit]

My Elrick is active. You can get very punchy with it. It is easy to overdo however, just like most stuff electronic...

[FrankJohnson]

I have - I did - I once in a great while do.

Never and always are words I try not use much. I seldom use an active bass anymore. Had a Jazz Dlx - loved it - sold it for something I liked better. Am precision Dlx - I stupidly gutted and rewired. Its ok now but not great. There was nothing wrong with it - I listened to the masses and thought I could make it better. It was not.

I have a CIJ Jaguar - I left the circuit alone, added a BAII Bridge and eliminated neck dive. two Strat knobs - thats all the mods and I like it A LOT. its a good bass.

I have played some high end basses with and without preamp. I don't need it, but some do sound great.
Find your sound, your feel. be able to sound like you through anything - THAT ....... Is the magic.

Stay Thirsty my friends

[ch willie]

I've pretty much got what I want with the Precision, so I'm not looking to buy an active bass. I wish I could remember an article I read probably on MusicRadar about the cons of active bass pickups.

[FrankJohnson]

I've pretty much got what I want with the Precision, so I'm not looking to buy an active bass. I wish I could remember an article I read probably on MusicRadar about the cons of active bass pickups.

The only cons I have run into are - bad sounding Preamps, Pups, or overdriven when you want clean or just set wrong.
pros have been - ability to shape tone more from the bass itself.

some basses just sound good - or better - or .....
worse.

[chuckocaster]

I prefer simplicity and stick with my passive basses. Not gonna diss on active, but I have plenty of tone shaping outside of having batteries and extra tone knobs on my bass.

[ch willie]

We're old school, Chucko. I like simplicity too. Because I've got a good drive control on my Ampeg, I don't need an overdrive or distortion pedal. I would like a really good compressor, but for now, I just plug into the amp, set the rocker switches for whatever song, and play. I dig it.

[chuckocaster]

Yes Sir! I’ve mixed and played with plenty of guys who use active basses, and they do sound great. I think it really shines when you want a “HiFi” tone, especially for Gospel, Jazz or R&B/Funk stuff. A friend of a friend is an AMAZING Gospel musician who plays a lot of Church and Worship stuff. He sounds great. What cracks me up is that the guy can play circles around me, but then pesters me about how I get that grindy Rock tone... Guy is an absolute sweetheart, nicest person you’re gonna meet. I just keep telling him: “Danny, get you a P bass and an Ampeg. Play WAY less, use a pick, and you should be close...” On the flip side though, you get the guys who haven’t the first idea of how to run their rig. They have all the crazy stuff. Everything is over EQ’d, it looks like Mission Control and their sound is just horrendous! I’m not trying to be a jerk, and I really do feel bad for them. Because usually they’ve dropped a TON of money on gear, only to be disappointed with their sound.

[renderit]

That's why they let you active/passive on many of them these days. In passive mode the Elrick I have sounds very much like a Precision or Jazz depending on your settings. Unlike a Precision or Jazz you have to know/fiddle with Bass, Mid, High and Blend to get your sound.

Which is why I usually pick up my B&G with the passives...

[chuckocaster]

Right. My problem is that when I have a bunch of knobs I’ll want to fiddle with them more than actually playing the bass. I totally understand how all of it works, my degree is in music technology... Thing is, I’m really not that interested or geeky about sound gear. By that I mean mixing consoles, crossovers, etc. But with guitar stuff I get totally immersed in the minutiae. I somehow know when to say “good enough is good enough” when mixing concerts. However, put a bass and rig in my control and I’ll continually fiddle with everything. I’ve found for me to perform my best I need the simplest most streamlined rig.

[ch willie]

Right. My problem is that when I have a bunch of knobs I’ll want to fiddle with them more than actually playing the bass. I totally understand how all of it works, my degree is in music technology... Thing is, I’m really not that interested or geeky about sound gear. By that I mean mixing consoles, crossovers, etc. But with guitar stuff I get totally immersed in the minutiae. I somehow know when to say “good enough is good enough” when mixing concerts. However, put a bass and rig in my control and I’ll continually fiddle with everything. I’ve found for me to perform my best I need the simplest most streamlined rig.

That the Precision has only two knobs and no switches--that's a plus for me. I know how to work the knobs too, but I hate having to fiddle with them while I'm playing. I like the kind of simple that works.