to pad or not to pad?

[skabassist13]

ok, so im going to guitar center today, to lose my mm virginity, and i need to know wether to use a pad or not. most amplifiers these days have one for active basses(im sure you all already knew that), but i have one on my amp, and my bass is passive, and when i use it it sounds very weak and quiet to me. maybe its because my bass is passive. will a mm stingray be weak sounding through the pad? or will it be a strong, good sound with the pad? and if i dont use the pad, am i going to injure the amp? thanks.
Travis


p.s.- ill have a full report of my findings when i get home.

 

[bovinehost]

Use the pad, Luke.

Active basses have a much hotter output. While you probably won't injure any amplifiers in the making of this film, you might overload the preamp input and get some distortion.

Use the pad, Luke.

 

[skabassist13]

thank you o' great bovinehost kanobi. i will use the pad.

 

[Disquieter]

hey hey,

i never use any sort of pad, my amp has 2 inputs (active, passive), I always use the passive.

I find most pads will color the sound (slightly), so I run straight in, and have never had a problem with unwanted preamp distortion.


but to each their own, try both, you may like the sound of the padded input.


thanks
joel D.

 

[Mantaray]

hey hey,

i never use any sort of pad, my amp has 2 inputs (active, passive), I always use the passive.

I find most pads will color the sound (slightly), so I run straight in, and have never had a problem with unwanted preamp distortion.


but to each their own, try both, you may like the sound of the padded input.


thanks
joel D.

This is quite wrong. In my Trace there are also 2 inputs. Usually the active is -15dB reduction. Only plug your active instruments(whether they have active or passive pickups but active preamp) into the active input. This helps you have more headroom with your active instrument. You can crank up the amp with no distortion. Also you can have plugged at the same time a passive bass in one input and an active on another, and balance the volumes between the 2 instruments. This is great when you play live where nobody will understand the difference in bass volume.

 

[bassmonkeee]

This is quite wrong. In my Trace there are also 2 inputs. Usually the active is -15dB reduction. Only plug your active instruments(whether they have active or passive pickups but active preamp) into the active input. This helps you have more headroom with your active instrument. You can crank up the amp with no distortion. Also you can have plugged at the same time a passive bass in one input and an active on another, and balance the volumes between the 2 instruments. This is great when you play live where nobody will understand the difference in bass volume.

Actually, there is nothing "wrong" about it. I've been playing for 18 years, and have usually used the passive input on most of my rigs, even with active basses. I don't do any serious bass boost with my on board controls, so I have never had a problem with a signal that was too hot. If anything, I usually find active inputs to sound anemic. Some manufacturers even suggest trying the passive input with active instruments BEFORE trying the active input. Just because it says "active" doesn't make it "better."

Speaking in absolute terms is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[basspastor]

I agree,
I used the passive input on a active amp for a long time (didn't know any better)
When I finally woke up and realized .. I really liked the incorrect just as well.