• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan
Axis 30th Anniversary

Making my active bass passive

S

Shane Dubya

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
15
I have a SUB and it's a nice sounding bass for the most part, but there's just something about the brittle, trebly highs I get that are bugging me to no end. On a side not, I played a G&L L-2000 yesterday and it pretty much sounded brittle and lacked any lows, of course it coulda been the crummy Peavy amp I was playing through. I think I've pretty much realized I do not care for active basses.

Anyways, is it possible to bypass the preamp in the bass and run it passively? I've been playing my P-Bass almost exclusively now, the reason being is I plug it in and it sounds good. I want to play the SUB more, but I just can't sit there and fiddle with knobs and still be unhappy with the tone I get. I've also been toying with the idea of swapping the pickups.

What do you all think?

Shane
 
I think it's not a question of active versus passive.

Active basses do NOT inherently sound tinny nor brittle. I'd first suggest you compare what strings you have on your P bass to the strings on the SUB.
 
I'm using the same strings on both bases, EB Super Slinky's.

The SUB pickup is ceramic from what I understand and it is terribly trebly. Since the preamp is a boost only, rolling the treble off using the same settings on my amp that I use with the P Bass, the thing sounds terribly muddy and clangy. Like I said, I don't want to fiddle with knobs when I can just plug the P Bass in and start playing. I want to keep the SUB, I just want it to be a little more "full."
 
The SUB I had was an alnico pickup, a ceramic will have long bar magnets across the underside of all 4 poles of a coil.
Active basses should only sound brittle and tinny if they are improperly adjusted. I'd guess your amp may have been the issue.
Having said that, I wasn't very impressed with the SUB5 I had. It was active but the preamp didn't sound as good as my 3 band Stingray. It definitely wasn't tinny or brittle though, more slightly muddy and a lack of low end compared to the SR.
 
Ceramic magnets are generally higher output than alnico, but - again - shouldn't in any way cause your tone to be harsh or trebley or tinny.

But I have no idea what you're looking for, tone-wise, so I got no good advice for you. I can only say that I prefer thump to zing, do not like clangy in any way, and I played an active SUB yesterday that sounded great.

So....I leave this question to others.
 
I guess I just want it to sound like my P Bass, but it's sounding like it isn't going to happen. Oh well, thanks for the replies, dudes. :)
 
From what I understand, the preamp on the active SUBs is in fact boost/cut, but there is no center detente in the pots.
 
barkatozz said:
'84 P-bass with 60's pickup. Nice playing bass......I don't use it much because it's not active.
Click to expand...

You have piqued my interest, sir. Do you have any pictures of this lovely lady? :)
 
I don't get it, why do you need to fiddle with knobs to get a decent sound. I own a stingray 2 band EQ, and always getthe sound I want, the fact that it's active makes it sound even better, and gives it more punch an character.
Anyway, I see you're already negotiating for a P-bass, good luck on the deal













But I prefer a Musicman :D (as most of us do I suppose)
 
Dees, I fiddle with knobs because my particular bass is very trebly and brittle and I can't dial in the sound I want with the settings that work PERFECTLY with my P Bass.

Read some threads over at talkbass and you'll find that I'm not the only one who has experienced this. I can get a somewhat decent tone out of it, but it's still a little harsh for my tastes. At first I didn't mind it so much, but I mind it now. And besides, your 2 band 'Ray has a different pre than my SUB. I also think the pickups are different, so it's apples to oranges.

I'm not bad mouthing EB by any means, but that doesn't meant I can't voice my displeasure with the way my bass sounds. It is MY bass, you know.
 
You can sure say what you want about your own bass, but I wish I had a P bass to trade you. I played some SUBs the other day and figure I could get what I want out of one.

But hey, life is like a bowl of basses.
 
Shane Dubya said:
I'm using the same strings on both bases, EB Super Slinky's.

The SUB pickup is ceramic from what I understand and it is terribly trebly. Since the preamp is a boost only, rolling the treble off using the same settings on my amp that I use with the P Bass, the thing sounds terribly muddy and clangy. Like I said, I don't want to fiddle with knobs when I can just plug the P Bass in and start playing. I want to keep the SUB, I just want it to be a little more "full."
Click to expand...

The SUB pickup, from what I understand, is identical to that on the SR4. Which makes it Alnico.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Jacquard Straps
Back
Top Bottom