Educate me on active electronics for bass

[IMENATOR]

I am a guitar player and I have always used passive pickups. Last year I borrowed an affordable bass with active electronics. I now have the chance to buy a used Yamaha RBX375 which also has active electronics so I was thinking: Why active electronics are so popular even on affordable basses?

So far I know there are bases with passive pickups with an active preamp and it looks like that is the scenario that allows for active 2-band or even 3-band EQ on board. But then when I look at wiring diagrams of actual active pickups those only show tone knobs to cut the high end.

So what is the point or benefits of having active bass pickups when you can have passives thru active preamp for versatile eq?
Do these have a better tone than passives? That would be kind of against my common sense for guitar pickups, but honestly I have never tried actives in my guitars really.

Also, active pickups + active preamp with 3-band EQ is overkill or not compatible? Does it even make any sense?


Pleas let me know your comments.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

some active preamps are designed to work with passive pups, some with active pups. there are active guitar pups like the emg 85 that people love on its own, but you can also add a rpc control if you want tone shaping. i think its more common on basses to have actives since bassists themselves are more open to them

 

[Artie]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

For what it's worth, I ain't much of a bass player. I bought one, with active pups, quite a few years ago. I was showing it to a pro bass player that I know. As I tried to play it, he said that I was working too hard. He said, that on a bass, you let the electronics do the work. (Because of the size and tension of the strings.) So, a bass really benefits from active gain that you may not need with a guitar.

My 2-cents worth.
Artie

 

[Mincer]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

My favorite basses have an active/passive switch. I think the low frequencies benefit from some sort of boost & cut. Also, it is easier than bringing several basses to a gig.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

So what is the point or benefits of having active bass pickups when you can have passives thru active preamp for versatile eq?
Do these have a better tone than passives? That would be kind of against my common sense for guitar pickups, but honestly I have never tried actives in my guitars really.

Also, active pickups + active preamp with 3-band EQ is overkill or not compatible? Does it even make any sense?

So far as I know, passive pickups with an onboard preamp is far more common than actual active pickups. I don't know a definite reason why it is the way it is, I suspect that's the way things evolved because that's the way the players prefer them. Passive pickups with an active preamp gives more options since you can bypass the preamp and have a passive sounding bass.

Why active electronics are so popular even on affordable basses?

One of the things to consider with bass is that it crosses far more genres of music than guitar, so the needs of it's players are far more varied than your typical guitarist. It's fairly common for bass to be DI'd into the soundboard or plugged directly into a recording console, so having the ability to shape the sound of your bass without needing an external preamp is an advantage to some people.

Additionally, some players also want a more aggressive top end out of their bass than standard passives provide, and some actives can produce a punchier sound than passives. I suspect some preamps also impart some compression on the bass signal, which will help even out the sound of the bass. There's a lot of different basses with a lot of different preamps... some people want smooth and super clean, and others want to drive the piss out of an SVT for more grind.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

My favorite basses have an active/passive switch. I think the low frequencies benefit from some sort of boost & cut. Also, it is easier than bringing several basses to a gig.

I first saw this on a Spear bass and thought it was ****ing brilliant. Tone variety asside, battery dying at gig? No problem, flick the switch!

With that said I'm not much of an active guy, even on bass, but if I was playing a 5 or 6 string I would re-consider.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

They basically just help you to get many different sounds out of the bass and make it more versatile. You can go from a high poppy slap sound to a, punchy Flea sound, to a super deep Alice in Chains sound just by turning a couple of knobs.

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

They basically just help you to get many different sounds out of the bass and make it more versatile. You can go from a high poppy slap sound to a, punchy Flea sound, to a super deep Alice in Chains sound just by turning a couple of knobs.

That is what I had already been thinking about using an active preamp with EQ along with passive pickups. About active pickups I watched a video of some guy saying similar to "making a very low output pickup brings up more high end and the preamp in the pickup clean boosts the signal to make it usable" but that does not seem to be an argument on anything I had read before either on SD or EMGs site, however someone in this thread already mentioned the pairing of week pickups with preamp.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Educate me on active electronics for bass

Well, low output pickups have been the norm for over 60 years on a bass, so 'making it usable' isn't much of an argument. But an active preamp with vintage-output pickups is really great, especially on a 5 or 6 string.