Active & Passive

[smaz]

I've been looking at bass guitars, noticed some are active, some are passive. Reading through Dons glossary, one needs batteries & one doesnt? What's the difference between the two types?

And, anyone know if Fender Jazz basses are any good for playing slap bass? Or is it down to strings?

Tankoo.

[rocknrolldork]

Active pickups have a preamp that takes a battery. Active pickups have more attack, presence and volume. Passive pickups don't need batteries and have a rootier rounder sound (for lack of a differnet term). It's really a matter of personal taste.

All of my basses are passive. I run through a Fender Super Bassman and sometimes an Ampeg B2R with either an old Ampeg 8 x 10 or old Trace 4 x 10 depending on where I'm playing. If I use the B2R, I run the gain wide open to warm it up. The Super Bassman is nice and tubey anyway so it doesn't really need it. It's still a matter of personal taste I guess.

Jazz basses are great for slapping. P-basses are good too but they have a little more growl where the Jazz basses sound cleaner.

[rocknrolldork]

The Ernie Ball Music Man basses are great for almost anything. I was skeptical at first but once the bass is dialed in correctly it is the shit.

Some of the G & L basses smoke too.

A maple neck will definitely help your cause for slap. If you are looking for a reasonably priced Jazz bass with a maple fretboard, try the Geddy Lee bass by Fender. I think it's MIJ but it still plays and sounds good.

[Hardrock69]

I bought a pair of EMGs for my Jazz bass.

Fookin' 'ell!

It rules.

I just want that extra punch it has. Certainly for my recording projects.

[smaz]

Originally posted by Hardrock69
I bought a pair of EMGs for my Jazz bass.

Fookin' 'ell!

It rules.

I just want that extra punch it has. Certainly for my recording projects.

& in noob / laymans terms... ? :)

I found a Jazz bass with a maple neck, for half the price or the Geddy Lee Version - that one's out of my budget. I'm only looking for something that's nice and easy for 'home' use mainly - practicing & playing a lot on low - mid volumes. I don't play in a band, so it'd mainly be personal use. I have an Ashdown 180watt, with two inputs - one for active, one for passive basses. I think I'll go try one out in the local shop, see what I think. Thanks :)

[col5150]

i bought an epi zakk wilde and it had emg passives. i know you taliking bass here but i thought the passives take a lot of crunch out the pickups. I have an ibanez i put active emg's in and the difference is staggering. Id always go with an active from here on

[hillbillyhell]

I have a ibanez SR500 and its a killer bass to slap and sounds killer ..and i think it was arounf 550$

[hillbillyhell]

An it has active electronics also

[Nitro Express]

I bought me a Spector bass with EMG passive pickups and it does everything pretty damn good from jazz to rock to funk slappin. The key to playing good bass is pretending you are a black dude with a big dick.

[Nitro Express]

I think active pickups in a bass gives you a smoother tone and more tone options but I still like the old bass sounds of the Precission, Jazz, and Rickenbacker basses.

The growl of a Fender Precission bass through an old all tube Ampeg SVT setup is heaven to my ears.

[DeadOrAlive]

I hate changin' those fuckin' batteries... one died while I was gigging. TOTAL pain in the ass.

[Panamark]

Do active Pickups also negate the need for a DI box ??


Could be another advantage...

[cdwillis]

I always felt like it was easier to slap on the P-Bass than the Jazz Bass. Maybe because of the pickup layout, but you can't go wrong with a maple necked P-Bass.

[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by cdwillis
I always felt like it was easier to slap on the P-Bass than the Jazz Bass. Maybe because of the pickup layout, but you can't go wrong with a maple necked P-Bass.

Fender finally got smart and put the Jazz bass neck on a Precission bass body. People with smaller hands like the Jazz bass neck but like the thicker more aggressive P-Bass sound.

[Nitro Express]

In the late 1970's and1980's the whole music industry went wild by including the new electronic technology of integrated circuits to instruments. You got some tottaly gay stuff like keytars and active electronics in guitars came about.

Remember when it was cool to have a built in preamp in your guitar? Then add some phase switches and coil splitting. We went through that junky faze and now we are back to passive pickups in Strats, Les Pauls, P-Bases and Jazz basses. We've come full circle in a way.

[rocknrolldork]

Originally posted by Panamark
Do active Pickups also negate the need for a DI box ??


Could be another advantage...

Nope. You'd still need a DI.

[BrownSound1]

Well here's my two cents. :D I think low impedence pickups are the worst thing to have ever been invented. Sterile is what I use to describe them..dead quiet, but sterile. Now let's not get confused with active eq and low impedence pickups, because they are two different things. You can have an active eq on a bass, but standard pickups. Sadowsky basses are one example of this.

Now as far as a bass to play slap style or funk bass....well there's nothing better in the world for that then a Fender Jazz bass. It's fun to do on a P-Bass too, but it doesn't have quite the same effect. I'll be honest here, when it comes to basses there are really only two tone types to choose from and those are the Jazz and the Precision tone. Every other bass in the world is a copy of one of those two ideas. I'm not saying other basses don't sound good, because there are plenty that do. I'm saying that those two are the sources of all bass tones. So I got both. :D You can't go wrong with a Fender bass, and that is a proven fact.

[Nitro Express]

Originally posted by BrownSound1
Well here's my two cents. :D I think low impedence pickups are the worst thing to have ever been invented. Sterile is what I use to describe them..dead quiet, but sterile. Now let's not get confused with active eq and low impedence pickups, because they are two different things. You can have an active eq on a bass, but standard pickups. Sadowsky basses are one example of this.

Now as far as a bass to play slap style or funk bass....well there's nothing better in the world for that then a Fender Jazz bass. It's fun to do on a P-Bass too, but it doesn't have quite the same effect. I'll be honest here, when it comes to basses there are really only two tone types to choose from and those are the Jazz and the Precision tone. Every other bass in the world is a copy of one of those two ideas. I'm not saying other basses don't sound good, because there are plenty that do. I'm saying that those two are the sources of all bass tones. So I got both. :D You can't go wrong with a Fender bass, and that is a proven fact.

No shit. Man. Leo Fender nailed it with those two bass designs and great players like Geddy Lee try everything from Rickenbackers, Steinbergers, and Walls and end up going back to the Jazz or Precission. I think the neck on the Jazz is the best for people who have small hands.

[Nitro Express]

I like Spector basses as well. Mine is rock solid and stays in tube great. I can nail every tone I want with it.

[DeadOrAlive]

I'm pretty happy with my passive Charvel San Dimas Cream Bass Guitar. The thing's a beauty and sounds great with some 35 Rotosound.

[smaz]

As I posted in the guitars thread, I picked up a Jazz Bass :) I tried the Precision too, and although it had a nice, clean sound to it I prefered the look, feel & sound of the Jazz. It's a beauty.... :) I don't think I've got reason for active pick ups, I'm only sat at home jamming as am not in a band at the moment, and don't look likely to be any time soon. Thanks for the posts :)