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laneline

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Jun 2, 2008
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763
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North Jersey
Now that three of my four MM's are passive/active I agree with you 100%. MM passive tones are incredible. I hope they eventually make it a standard feature on the whole line.
 

KevinM

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Feb 24, 2011
Messages
841
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SoCal
Have to agree on the passive. My 25th in passive mode is my mainstay week to week. I've been thinking of trying
to adjust the eqs on my Bongo to see if I can get something similar from them.
 

lipan

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Nov 23, 2011
Messages
32
+1 for the passive option on bongo. I find that my passive basses work way better with effects compared to the bongo, which is my only active instrument.
 

HeavyDuty

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Sep 6, 2004
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307
Location
Suburban Chicago, IL
Have to agree on the passive. My 25th in passive mode is my mainstay week to week. I've been thinking of trying
to adjust the eqs on my Bongo to see if I can get something similar from them.

+1 on the passive mode for the 25th - mine rarely goes active. I'd love to have the same in my Bongo.
 

Movielife

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Jan 7, 2003
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1,340
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North West, UK
The Big Al sounds great in passive. Bongo sounds great as it is...might be cool to hear it passive but I love it how it is.
 

laneline

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Jun 2, 2008
Messages
763
Location
North Jersey
Sure, I love it how it is also but enabling passive wiring just broadens the tonal spectrum of an existing platform.
I'm just a dope from Jersey but perhaps a stacked pot in the current blend knob position could be made into a blend/passive tone control and the volume knob a pull pot to activate passive mode. I'd definitely sign up for that, that could be easily done using aftermarket components, but that would sacrilege for me, I would never gut a US MM. And this is just a discussion nothing more. I'll always have a Bongo, I'm just beyond impressed with ability to have both in an MM bass.
 

five7

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Nov 24, 2008
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4,296
You guys are really making me want to try a passive MM.
 

tbonesullivan

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Aug 24, 2012
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2,429
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New Jersey
You know... I have a bunch of basses that are active/passive, and if the EQ's are all at the detents, they sound pretty much the same active or passive. Maybe a little loss of bass if I have a really long cable, but otherwise, the same.

Does the passive mode on EB basses have some kind of other electronics that come into play when you are in that mode? is it an entirely different signal path? I just can't figure out why it would sound that much different. I mainly like to have it just in case the battery goes.
 

laneline

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Jun 2, 2008
Messages
763
Location
North Jersey
I guess it's due to : 1) Passive tone control and 2) Series or Parallel ( Series pickup selection varies by model ) capability.
 

Psychicpet

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Aug 16, 2003
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3,933
Location
Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada
wow, what a thread to come back in on ;)

take it from one who HAS mustached a Mona Lisa, a passive Bongo HH is ok, but the symbiosis of EVERY EBMM bass' p/ups-electronics is a well thought out design. The Bongo just absolutely rocks with factory preamp (an OBP-1 does kill in it though)

the Bongo does have a lot of juice for pedals and such but you've just gotta ride the volume a bit and find the sweet spots and it works like a hot dang with every thang! :)
 

nurnay

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Aug 26, 2010
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985
Location
Chico, CA
Love the passive option on my Big Al. Prefect for a lot of songs in my classic rock band.
 

KevinM

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Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
841
Location
SoCal
I played my Bongo 5HS at our Men's breakfast this morning and the beast sounds great. The Bongo has a sound of it's own.

I should add to my last post that the main reason my 25th in passive is my weekly mainstay is that my fellow musicians like that one the best over my other basses. I think part of the problem with my Bongos is something with their sound system that I haven't taken the time to look into. My Bongos sound super in my sytems but for some reason they get some white noise in the PA. Also, I used to change the pu setting on my 25th for different songs but some of the sound guys freak out when the song starts and the mix is different. Several of them are cool with it but not all so I decised just to stick with passive for Sunday services.
 
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