Active Basses

[brandondrury]

Does anyone like recording active basses? Do you actually use the EQ? I never really saw the point to active basses. There's an active EQ on every bass amp I've ever used. Why do you need those controls on a bass? It's kind of like putting built in distortion in a guitar or something.

Brandon

[Smidgelton]

The EQ is not going to be a big factor in recording, as you're probably not going to fuss with it much. In a live situation, the ability to tweak your controls without walking over to your amp may come in handy. That's not the reason I own a bass with active electronics though. And that's definitely not a reason to buy one.

Basses with active electronics are going to sound significantly different than basses with passive electronics. That's neither good nor bad. There are amazing sounding basses on both sides of the spectrum. I think most people flock towards active because of the more modern sound they have.

There are a couple other somewhat benefits to having active electronics. Minor things like crappy cables have a big impact on sound (destroys treble) of passive basses while it's much much less a factor with active basses. Either way you should be buying high quality cables, so that kinda rules this out. Probably a better example of why active may be better than passive is that active basses have a higher level of output and lower output impedance. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know a lot about either of those things. But I know that those have an effect on signal and noise. Possibly resulting in a clearer sound. The two biggest downsides I can see from having an active bass is that with the addition of onboard EQ, you can get yourself into a lot of unnecessary nonsense messing with your tones and also there is a possibility that your battery may go dead during the middle of a performance. However, some active basses keep their passive signal when this happens, not all though.

I'm not going to sit here and say one is better than the other. That really shouldn't be your biggest worry when it comes to buying or playing an electric bass. Go for what sounds and feels right.

-Nick

[brandondrury]

I guess when we rule out the EQ part of the active bass we still have active pickups. These pickups will probably sound quite a bit different from a typical passive pickup, I guess.

However, I'm sure that an active bass will sound different, but every bass with active electronics will sound differently as well. So, I'm going to look at the whole active vs non-active bass debate as i do the set neck vs bolt on vs neck thru rig for a electric guitar. They all sound noticeably different, but the there are many other factors that greatly effect the tone.

I'm not sure what is gained by the higher output on a bass. I know a lot of amps get overloaded by active basses (probably because the player is boosting his low end 20dB as well).

The lower output impedance means that the amplifer will be receiving a hotter signal as well. Again, I'm not sure exactly what this achieves other than meaning you need to use less volume. Different impedances cause tonal changes as well, depending on the amp.

It's interesting that you call active bass sound "modern". From my own experiences (which have been quite limited because I seldom record bass players who really care about their tone) the Pbass tone is still it. I guess, to me, bass sounds overall haven't changed much in 25 years.

Also, the sound of this particular Spector was a sound I would be more likely to hear on a late 80s Phil Collins record, a mid 90s Seal record, or a mid 80s Cindy Lauper record. It was not the Guns N Roses bass sound and it wasn't the Green Day or Blink 182 sound either.

Of course, most of that comes from the hands, anyway.

Brandon

[Smidgelton]

GnR, Green Day, and Blink 182 bassists all play(ed) Fender Jazz and Precision basses respectively. That's a sound that hasn't changed in 25 years and won't change any time soon. It'll be a staple in music for at least the rest of our lives. Spectors are also unique as they fit nearly every type of music out there, much like Fenders. You could be just at home playing a Led Zeppelin tune as you would an Alanis Morsette tune on a Spector bass. They're great basses, I've always wanted one. Also in my opinion Seal and Phil Collins have very modern sounds. Especially in the time they were making music. I don't know and I don't care enough to research, but I'd imagine their bassists grabbed the most modern axes they could find at that time.

[brandondrury]

Also in my opinion Seal and Phil Collins have very modern sounds.

Well the sounds I was referring to were from records that are 10 and 20 years old. Would you consider a tone from 10 - 20 years ago to be modern?

Since this thread is going in a slightly different direction, I decided to create a new thread.Bass Sounds Not Changed Much?

[jhanse]

I have an active bass guitar and it has a switch at the EQ that allows me to switch between active and passive. Really great although I use active all the time. It is true however, that I don't even touch the EQ on the bass, I only kill the treble on some songs that need a deeper tone.

[dannyman]

Active or passive. It's really a personal thing. Call me weird, but I would never consider having anything active ON my bass (or guitar), but I use an MXR 10 band. I think the nicer a bass is, the less it needs active EQ. You're either adding or subtracting tone with active EQ's, and the truth be told, I see people with not-so-amazing retail basses using active EQ the most . Tone scultping is necessary for any sort of extreme distortion, but imho it doesn't sound that great on bass.

Active EQ colors your sound. That's just the bottom line. Passive has better "tone" when it comes down to it, but usually ends up sounding like mud under distortion.

For anyone interested, Rothstein guitars makes a passive mid boost/cut (yes, it does both) tone control. This thing is awesome. It naturally boosts and cuts right around 500Hz, and has a center detent so you know when you're neutral. The affect is very noticable, and to have it on a bass would be beyond rad (I've only put it on my guitar thus far).

[Baron]

There are other reasons for using an active Bass or Guitar when you play live. Most active circuits remove the connection to earth from the saddles and bridge and therefore, the strings. This gives you more isolation from the mains system and therefore, the old 'lighting up like a Christmas tree' when the mic goes 'live' becomes unlikely.
This also tends to stop you, as a player, acting like a radio antenna and tuning in the local AM station or taxi base. It can also stop you injecting DMX/SCR/TRIAC noise when the light show is going off!

I have found that the passive pickups capture less of the string sound and more of the wood so if your bass is not well seasoned, or just a plank of ply, the actives will improve the sound. If you have a nice sounding chunk of wood then the passives will tend to reveal this better than most of the conventional actives.

My main Bass is a jazz with EMG actives and it only has the same selection, and operation, of EQ that I had with the passive pickups i.e. a tone control.

I loved the passives but they were a bit lacking in the low end and required at least two channels of parametric to correct this, without getting muddy. I must admit that this was not really an issue until I added a Hipshot D-tuner so, for the standard design, the originals worked as well if not slightly more defined and the sound was more (insert banned 'W__m' word here).

As this Bass is used mainly for live work, this compromise is acceptable.

Baron

[dannyman]

Yeah, active pickups are just a pickup with a preamp that boosts the signal (and in guitars sometimes adds distortion), so your strings will come through more, which equals less tone from the instrument. This can be great if you play a less than fabulous instrument or if you play with a lot of distortion. I still think using a good EQ, like an MXR 10 band, is a better choice than active pickups: you can go from passive EQ to active EQ by stepping on a pedal; plus, there are infinitely more tone options available with an EQ than with one or two active tone knobs. Baron does bring up some good points, but I've never had any major problems with any of the issues he lists.

[brandondrury]

I still think using a good EQ, like an MXR 10 band, is a better choice than active pickups:

I 100% agree.

Brandon