The TRUTH About Active Pickups
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- Today on The Bass Channel, we're dispelling some myths about active pickups
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0:00 Intro
1:14 Different Types of Electric Bass Setups
2:52 Speaker vs. DI Example
5:40 Why EMG?
7:05 Magnetic Pickup Construction
8:27 What Sets Actives Apart?
12:40 The Risks of Passive Pickups
15:32 What About the Tone?
17:08 Subtractive EQ is Better
21:20 Rolling Off Treble with the Tone Pot
21:58 Active vs. Passive Tone
28:41 Match EQ
36:02 Compression and Battery Life
40:35 What Don't Actives Have that Passives do?
41:45 Magnet Properties
43:19 What Don't Actives Have? (continued)
43:44 Final Thoughts
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Read on at www.thebasschannel.net/blogho...
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EMG P Active P Bass Pickup:
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EMG GZR Geezer Butler P Bass Pickup
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Orange Terror Bass:
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This is probably the most explanation I have ever heard regarding active pickups. Please do more! Like for the x series etc
^^^^ Ditto
I can agree that active pickups are technically better. They definitely afford you more options and flexibility in post. For me, that would probably bog me down because I get option paralysis when I have such a wide open field to play with. I prefer simple, and the fewer steps I need to get something done, the better.
Agree. It is the reason why i do not like multi-fx. I get lost in playing with all the options and lose focus on practicing and playing.. Too distracting. Besides that, when you would tweak your on board pre-amp before certain songs.. it would be actually take more time setting everything exactly the same every time and slower then just having a pre-amp or EQ pedal you would turn on, like a preset... Multi-fx can be awesome for that too, if you got through the 3 - 12 months of experimenting with every sound option there is.. haha.
💯
@@Graoeye Sound guys and engineers love actives. All you need to do is dial your tone in and forget about it. Active basses just sound better. There's no way around it imo.
@@Patrick-857 Well.. It depends. I made the decision to have "the pre-amp' on my pedalboard and not in my bass. Besides that, a tube preamp adds saturation in a way an onboard build in preamp simply cant. But yeah, if you use an preamp-pedal, the signal basicly becomes active too.. I use a passive precision bass with a tube pre-amp. Never had trouble hearing myself in a recorded bandmix. I dont believe in "oh this is better for everything' because that is simply not true.
Leland Sklar’s Frankenstein bass, which has been played on thousands of records through many genres, has two sets of active EMG P Bass pickups in it. Active pickups solve the noise problem and sound good.
I like that he had a tone switch ... it didn't do anything but he would ask the sound engineer if they preferred A or B :-)
@@stephenhookings1985 And they always fall for it. Even after he had done an interview with Bass Player magazine in which he revealed the secret of his "producer switch".
@@stephenhookings1985 I love how his signature Warwick comes with a dummy switch, lol.
@@stephenhookings1985 not on the frankenstein bass though
I've owned two basses with active pickups, one with passive pickups and an active preamp and one all passive bass. I sold both with active pickups because they didn't get along with most of my effects pedals, especially my drives and fuzzes. Both bases with passive pickups sounded way better with my effects so they stayed.
You do have to curate fuzzes and overdrives, the Big Muff circuit is generally friendly to active basses and drives with buffers like most Bosses and the OCD play best. The other distortion solution is just about anything Darkglass or the demonfx copies as well as preamps with a healthy drive circuit, I use the Russian AMT BC-1 jfet based preamp, other drives stacked after add color. A surprising winner is the Behringer bass overdrive. Ymmv
This likely has a lot to do with how older dynamics processors (drives, fuzz, etc.) for bass were designed before the popularity of active pickups to add high end to the relatively treble deficient passive sound. With active pickups introduced you get too much of that high end for a drive sound crafted without it in mind and it ends up sounding harsh.
Realistically, tone shaping through an EQ before the drive should help with this (and honestly dedicated EQs should be more or less a part of every signal chain for a variety of similar reasons.)
this is just how fuzzes work, its true in guitar as well and it has to do with matchin the input impedence of the pedal, passives match and actives are often just to "hot" and the mismatch actually cause loss in signal
@@idiotburns But it's not just fuzzes and it's not just a volume or impedance issue either. My basses that have passive pickups with an active preamp sound just fine. They have a much hotter output and lower impedance than a passive bass. However, the basses that had active pickups and an active preamp sounded terrible even when I compensated for the volume increase on overdrives, choruses, envelope filters, and yes fuzzes. This is just my anecdotal experience with two basses that had active pickups, not a scientific testing of all active pickups or anything. They didn't work for me and my gear.
@@RyanDenley Sure, alot of active pickups dont cut it for me either. I like passive with active module or passive as well.
i honestly wasn't expecting this level of rigor in the explanations and arguments laid out here. so many discussions about what gear is "better" are poisoned from the start because no one bothers to define what they mean by that!
i built a Warmoth P J bass over 26 years ago with EMG's and it still sounds as great as it did 26 years ago, literally has not lost a single thing and is still one of my favorite basses to play out with!
In an active bass, the preamp really makes or breaks the tone. I always thought I hated active basses because I had only played ones with boomy preamps that were basically useless at cutting or boosting anything. Now I have a MM Stingray and I see what it means to have a truly versatile active setup
A Music Man Stingray is a bit different than what they're talking about in this video though because it has a Passive pickup with an Active preamp. So you can take the pickup out of your music man and plug it into a passive bass with just a traditional passive volume and tone and it would work. But with active pickups like a lot of the ones from EMG the pickup itself needs power, like a 9-volt battery, to operate. I do agree with you though about the preamp, and I think music man makes one of the best and the business. I've never gotten along with Ibanez preamps, at least their stock ones.
Sounds like my Aguilar OBP-3. +/- 16dB @ 40HZ for bass frequencies is out of hand. It makes the control almost unusable.
True history i have a fender Marcus Miller jazz bass, and i really prefer use it on passive mode, but my music man sterling has a hell of tone the lows and highs really works pretty well on every frequencie i dont need to equalizer the amplifier mm sterling preamp do the job i just need the amplifier flat
A lot of the tone of a player resides in the hands, everything else is window dressing or clutter depending on which way you look at it
@@RyanDenley Bartolini pickups are passive. You can use them with, or without a preamp, although using them with one is recommended.
Yes, they might be objectively better.
But I've learnt that I tend to get lost in the woods when I have a lot of tone sculpting options. I spend way too much time fiddling with my preamps, pedals or compression. And I'm never *quite* content.
Take away most of the knobs and I'll quickly find a sound I'm very happy with. So my preference is straight and simple: passive all the way.
Yeah most of the time I think less is more. Having too many tonal options makes people indecisive and they spend way more time fiddling with knobs than actually playing. I've fallen into that trap before, where I focus too much on tone chasing and don't end up practicing any real songs. A passive p bass or j bass with a basic volume and tone knob setup is all anyone really needs. I've done my time with stingrays and spectors and I don't really get it. If you want to boost or cut your treble, bass, or mids, just do it on your amp head. Set it to a spot you like and forget about it. One less thing you have to buy batteries for
Exactly this - simpler usually eliminates a lot of nonsense, and you can add to it if really needed.
EMG active Ps are wired in parallel too while passive ones are typically in series and how it’s wired has an effect
a massive effect ., . good point
Well, all active EMGs are neither series nor parallel in the sense of passive pickups, each coil runs separatelly to the opamp in the comparator mode.
I've had active basses, my MM Sterling was a monster that never let me down. They sound great in many rooms. But my rig has changed completely over the years and I only play Fender P basses now with passive pickups. I found I prefer to punch through the mix now. I work with 2 bands and get hired to fill in for a couple others. The majority of the time I'm dueling with 2 guitar players. If you can't cut through you may as well park your bass and go out front, grab a beer and watch. And no I'm not under powered at 800 watts and 2x2-10. I'm old school and set mids & highs at 12 o'clock. My eq is set to push any room inside and outside. Pickups are the last thing I consider. If a bass goes down on me I want to grab the next one and not have to adjust anything.
No issue with your tonal preference, but just a point of contention, the sterling has passive pickups. You could wire it straight to a jack and it would be a passive bass at that point. Active pickups are different - the pickups themselves have preamps in them, so even if you wire them straight to the jack, it’s still active and won’t even run without a battery.
I've never owned a bass with active pickups, but I love the way they sound on a spectre. I'm going to switch out my Fender PJ Bartolini's/Kubicki Active Pre with a set of Frank Bello EMGs. They have a Ceramic P pickup and an Alnico J pickup.
Thank you for this video. It was well-don, comprehensive and super informative.
Thank you for showing this in such detail! Really easy to follow and understand! 👍
Quick tip, use a high pass filter.
Yes, even on your bass track.
It will help clean up the muddyness that covers up so much of your mix, allowing you to turn the bass up more without it sounding overpowering.
Remember, loud sounds cover quiet sounds, but at an equal volume, low frequency sounds cover higher frequency sounds.
It will also make your harmonics louder in comparison to your fundamental frequency, giving you a more saturated sound without adding too much gain/compression.
That’s a cool trick, gonna have to mess with that. May I ask though - you mentioned that at an equal volume low frequencies will cover up higher frequencies - you mean that low frequencies are perceived as louder than high frequencies at any given volume level? Haven’t heard that before, but not an engineer - where’d you pick that up?
@@peadookie perceived is kinda the opposite of true, because we actually perceive low frequency sounds as quieter. Especially as sounds get quieter and the Fletcher Munson curve starts happening. (Boosting the perceived midrange)
Think of low frequencies covering high frequencies as more of a blanket covering.
They "muddy" higher frequencies would probably have been a better word to use.
@@TheAT5000 gotcha gotcha. So, not to be snarky, just trying to understand - wouldn’t you want a low pass on the bass and a high pass on the other instruments?
@@peadookie it's a good question.
The Lowest frequency on a 4 string bass in standard tuning is 44.5Hz on the E string, 36.75Hz if it's in drop D. So any noise below that is bad and just eats up headroom. Sometimes people call this high pass filter an "LLC" (low low cut) to avoid the confusion.
However, that is just the fundamental frequency. Unless you recorded with your bass tone knob on 0, most of what you are hearing is actually the low mids (especially if you are on a cellphone, which that, and in a car are the 2 golden standards of mixing these days) you probably don't hear anything in the lowest parts of the bass.
And we don't low pass/high cut the bass because we need that information to be able to hear the baseline on a phone. (Similar to boosting 8kHz on the kick drum)
My best advice though is to just get out there and try stuff. Understanding will come with time. I can't write my years of learning and experience in one comment.
Try building a mix with just the faders, then, with everything playing, start turning up the high pass filter on each track till you hear part of it disappear, then turn it back just a touch, and move to the next track.
You should be able to get a good sounding mix with only good sources, and a high pass filter, no other processing.
If it sounds right, it is!
Everything after that is just the icing on the cake.
Oh, and I generally don't use a low pass filter on anything except the drum toms. Higher frequencies take less power/headroom than lower ones, so you are only doing it to remove unwanted noises.
@@TheAT5000 haha I’m on board. Yeah, then you’ll be pleased with my - I run a mesa TT800 and one of the reason I went with it was the high pass - which actually says “high pass” on the amp smh. I also mess around with synths, so I never thing “low shelf” when I think high pass 🤦♂️
But yeah, 100% with you - the high pass makes a world of difference, even in amplification too. Definitely worth incorporating
For me and my style, EMG pickups are amazing .. Active or passive? It depends on which genre you play .. Nothing more or less ..
I love my EMG Geezer Butler pickups. Swapped out my Quarter pounder as they were too muddy through my bass terror and obc15 cabs. Thanks for this video, great explanation of pickup types.
The analysis in the video is really informative, thanks for preparing and posting it. However I wouldn't say, that one option is better than another. The active pickups have more highs, have flatter frequency response and can be shaped to sound like passives, I agree, but it requires very precise eq (3 or 4 point eq in an amp will not ve enough) and some knowledge to do it. And if our goal is the sound, that the passives have baked in, it doesn't make sense to go around and make the tone shaping process more complicated.
For years I was playing an Ibanez ATK (passive pickup, active preamp) and in a band setting I always had problems with fitting in. I bought a Jazz Bass and now I sit perfectly in the mix with other instruments. I love experimenting, but it's a hard job to get the right sound. I was finally able to sound ok with my Ibanez with flats that tamed the hi end and the HPF that cut the low bass.
Excellent video with really comprehensive information and sound tests - can really see how much time and effort you've put into it. Keep up the great work 🙂
I used EMGs only for about 10 years. Its all in the resistance and tone pot. I learned over time. I use what i want and mod them now i learned what the difference is.
Great video! Very thorough and clear.
Great video! It was thorough, but easily understood explanation of how pickups work. I'd always been told that ceramic pickups were to be avoided because they're usually found on cheap(not good)guitars and basses. I have a '92 Guild Pilot that I bought new, and it came with passive EMG pickups. It's my main bass and it was gigged hard for around 20 years and it still has the original pickups. My main six string is a players grade '67 SG that still has the original P-90s. That guitar has survived: Being thrown out a second floor window, an apartment fire, and having a car parked on it. If passive pickups are dainty, you couldn't prove it by me!
I have a used Sterling bass that's active. I find that I do have to remove some treble, if I want a nice, punchy kind of sound. It sounds great with a distortion pedal, too. The main reason I don't buy more instruments with active electronics is because batteries are just one more thing that could go wrong at a gig. I know it's rare, but I've seen and heard straight out of the package batteries fail during a show. I'm risk adverse. Kind of.
Jimmies are about to be rustled
I'm a huge fan of EMG active pickups, although I don't currently have them in a bass, and I do have GZRs. I like all-black pickup covers too.
However I think it's telling that most of the music we listen to is performed on "objectively inferior" passive pickups. That's because it's music. Musicians and audiences want to hear what they want to hear. Think of all the other "objectively inferior" things about a P-Bass, or whatever people are playing.
Also, active pickups can sound weird on really loud transients. It's not like the compression of a pickup preamp is particularly refined, especially at its margin.
You can go even further and say most of the music we hear is performed on a fender precision bass.
Awesome info and examples, thank you!!!
Question; I have an all passive Peavy 4 string that I like the sound of the bridge pickup but would like to replace the neck pick up with the CS. Is it a problem to have one passive and one active? Can they share the same input jack? Thanks in advance for any help.
I'm rediscovering actives. I have blackouts in a schecter that honestly is kinda harsh and not very versatile. But I just picked up an LTD AP-4 with an active EMG PJ set up and Holy CRAP I love it!
I have loved my passive bass for 8 years. But as soon as I got my active bass last year, it was a game changer for me. Personally, I loooove how the active bass sounds.
Wow! Well researched, with real world resources and excellent presentation! I hope I learned a lot....time will tell..
Thanks for all the work and info. \m/
Excellent Video Thank You Guys!
Classical bassist here, I played in wind ensembles a lot, too. We want that rich sound, strong lows, and shimmering highs. So yeah, treble is wanted in bass tone. If I didn't produce the overtones in a wind ensemble I wouldn't have been as effective at blending with the tuba section and changing their sound completely. Tubas are dumpy sounding, throw a single upright bassist and give them a tuba part tell them to play all notes with as long string lengths as possible, so you're dropping notes down octaves. The fundamental of the upright will never overpower the tuba player's or tuba section's fundamental, it's just not going to happen and that's not why the bass is there. Those overtones mix with the tuba sound, making them sound lush and beautiful on top of that fundamental.
Upright bass is literally in the wind ensemble to add treble frequencies to the tuba section. And if you are locked in with the tubas, the audience can be fooled into thinking you're the one balancing that whole ensemble's sound, and in a roundabout way, you are. It's a different setting, but think of the tuba section and the bassist as rolled up into being the bass player of the ensemble. Having those overtones creates a very rich bass sound and the rest of the ensemble's sound changes as the other musicians adapt and blend with it.
So there's a good argument for bass and having access to the treble tones in the sound you can cut to your liking.
eloquent point, but passive pups can still create plenty of high end. i find passive pups roll off the really brittle and harsh string clanks and scratchy shifting noises, while retaining those overtones you're talking about. And the beauty of that is you can then boost the highs on your amp to get an appropriate blend of those frequencies.
also string bass gang. on the orchestral side of thing fundamental is key, but yep those overtones are what allow you to project and send your sound out into the hall.
Always been satisfied with passive pickups. Sounds good, simple and doesn't require a battery. But it's not my place to say whether it's better or not when compared to active.
Wow, very thorough and informative look at active pickups. I've always been a passive player until about 8 months ago when I got my first active bass, a Lakland 44-02. Wow, does that pack some punch over my passive Lakland basses. I've found it most effective when recording at home. I can tailor my sound right from the bass. I also like how you described eq'ing by subtraction. I've heard others discuss that philosophy and it makes total sense. When I first got my active bass, I would start adding tone with all the knobs. That just made the signal hotter and muddier. Take away bass, or treble and it acts more like a tone knob on a passive bass. Thanks for sharing this.
One of the most recorded basses in history from Leland Sklar has EMG prototypes on it… he burns trough battery’s but never bothered to change the pickups since the beginning of EMG!
This was exactly the unpopular subversive explanation I needed to rinse away all the “traditional” nonsense I’ve been subjected to over the last 20 years. Thank you
great video. congrats!
Great video, really detailed information awesome. I also agree on the love for EMG's, until Fishman came a long I have limited spector that came stock with a Fishman set and was floored by its clarity/versatility and overall sound
Great video. Most of my personal basses have Active EMG usually with a BTC/BTS, Aguilar or Sadowsky preamp.
Would you say a passive tone is usually "sufficient" for EMGs? My current setup is a passive Seymour Duncan with a two-band active preamp, and I'm considering swapping it out for an EMG, but now I'm wondering if I would really need to keep the preamp or if just a tone pot would be good enough.
It’s great to note that passive controls does not exclusively mean ‘cut only.’ Some active systems have cut only parameters, but what makes it active is the coloration and the fact that it is more than just a potentiometer redirecting current to ground.
I’m not by any means an expert on circuits, but it may be misleading to tell the general audience that a cut only circuit is exclusively passive.
I know I'm a bit late but you're completely right.
When you come across an amplifier with an EQ that can boost as well as cut you tend to notice because the range of the controls is enormous.
I have a sound city 120 mark 4 sitting in storage and the EQ on that can literally silence the whole amp.
Conversely I've come across some equipment with controls where everything needs to be set at full and then reduced down in order to get a decent sound because the 12:00 setting sounds like there's a blanket over everything
Yep, the Gibson Ripper had a mid-cut/roll-off and the regular tone we all get on any standard passive bass. I love that it has the ability to actually cut a frequency, as opposed to re-introducing the treble highs with the standard tone rolled up. I personally love having selector switches for series/parallel, in/out-phase, and pickup (coil/position) more than EQ. I feel like you get more tonal range which feels natural to the instrument that way, as opposed to a basic EQ rig where you can sound the same (effectively) across different, active basses.
Those EMGs definitely sound great in this video! I've never had truly active pickups outside a set of Bartonlini's I bought cheap years ago for a project bass--love those things, but I ran them passive.
great video. nicely in-depth
Probably one of the best vids on pickups and tone, outstanding.
Great video and very informative. I play a passive Fender Jazz bass (4-string, American Professional I) into an Ampeg Rocket RB-115 with an Ampeg 115 (w/o horn). My tone, I keep my midrange and treble on 1 or .5 with the Ultra buttons always engaged. Rarely do I go above 2. So, I am concerned that if I went with a passive that there would be “too much” treble given the Ampeg’s are usually high on the midrange and treble to begin with. Any thoughts? The active that I am thinking about getting, if I did, would be the Fender American Ultra jazz. I am much more of a "low-end" rather than "high-end" guy and don't slap. My genre is a combination of blues-rock (late 60's-70's) and jam band.
Great video guys!! Long live The Bass Channel!! 😁
I have a set of EMG JAX on my Jazz Bass and kept the on-board preamp, so I'm one of the 1% who plays active pickups on an active bass 🤣
I'm a bit OCD about my tone. I love the versatility of a good Jazz Bass, but I also hate 60hz hum, hiss and ground noise. Despite this, I ended up buying a Deluxe MIM Jazz Bass with a on-board active 3-way preamp and Vintage Noiseless pickups. The noiseless pickups were a deal-breaker.
They are anything but noiseless though! Loved the tone, but they can't handle distortion well in a recording situation...or just a loud situation, really...! I used to practice through an Orange Crush 100 and I remember the hiss was so bad, that we couldn't have chats in between songs if i didn't step on my tuner to cut the signal. Not even after a shielding job done by a professional.
Now that I have the JAX with alnico magnets, I'm always able to dial in the tone that's in my head without worrying about a dirty signal. Even vintage tones...my jazz bass can get a better P tone than my Yamaha BB434. I think the sound of active pickups is anything but sterile. They have depth and bite on tap, and, more importantly, a flexibility when it comes to find the right tone for the ocassion, that passive pickups just don't have. Not without the right gear, a clean power source for your amp and a good sound engineer.
On the Orange, I twisted the internal speaker wires between amp head and internal speaker. Made the Orange almost silent at rest even at high volume and reasonable gain.
My garage / practice area has florescent lamps and without EMGs or P bass the noise is nasty. Sure I can shield - with the EMGs I sent need to.
I put Dimarzio passive hum canceling pickups in one of my Jazz basses. Fender did a good job with wiring the originals so that the front and back pickups cancel hum if the volumes are set identically, but to me that was too limiting.
Dimarzio has done a superb job of recreating the sound of those original Fender single coils, and now I don't have to worry about which direction I have to face to avoid the hum. I also have one less battery to fuss about and worry about failing - dealing with the AAs in my in-ear receiver is about as much of that as I want. At least with an active preamp on passive pickups, many allow you to switch to all-passive if a battery starts to fail mid-set.
100% agree! I use EMGs in my old Ibanez 2369 Jazzbass since the 80s, when they came available in Germany. The housings are worn and a little 'carved' by fingernails after about 40 years and several hundreds of gigs. They still sound great and will probably withstand another 20 years or more. Sound engineers always liked them because of the extremely low noise and clean signal all the time in studio and live situations. I use them on most of my other basses too (J, P, DC, TW, 35J, JX & PX).
One of the best things about them besides low nois is the low impedancy, so I don't have to worry about cable length changing my tone like with passive PU basses.
i'm looking for a really bright hot sounding bass pick up for my aria SB bass. i have a zon 5 string bass with a seymour duncan soap, gets me that hot bright melted glass sound but SD only makes them for zon, who don't sell that pup.. any recommendations?
I totally agree, I change to active for 10 years ago, because i needed to have the flexibility of a more flexible tone, because i never knew what kind of amp i get in the small venue i needed to play or in the studio running almost mostly DI so i didnt needed to take my Ampeg Vst :)
It's a taste thing. I prefer the passive sound. You obviously have a different taste. Those of us who have dealt with producing music a lot know that there's no better or worse in sound, just different.
ofcousrse its up to taste, this video is just an EMG shill - sciense has nothing to do with it, and of course they are only demoed on metal songs.
@@iliasliakos6692 If you did your research, you'd know that the pickups were sent to them for free. They asked for them
@@iliasliakos6692 I'm just seeing this comment here several months later, and wanted to clarify something here: 1. Pay very close attention, but Chris does not anywhere say that active pickups SOUND better. That is not the point of the video. Chris is identifying the very specific qualities of actives that are better than passives, in a factual manner. I personally still like passives better myself, but in terms of sheer facts, "actives have X feature and passives do not" is just what it is, and not a matter of opinion. Example: Lower noise from lower impedance? That's just how it works. and 2. EMG provided pickups for this video, yes, and Chris mentioned exactly why he chose EMG. They did not initiate this video topic, nor did they pay for us to choose their brand of pickups for the tests. They also make passive pickups like the GZRs, so they wouldn't want to shoot themselves in the foot by trying to get their active pups shilled.
Great video 👌
I strongly resonate with most of the benefits you've highlighted. As a bass player, however, I've found that recording with an active bass isn't as straightforward for me. There's always this inclination to tweak, edit, and apply EQ adjustments to get the sound just right. With passive basses, it's different - the sound is raw and unfiltered, capturing the essence as intended, complete with its inherent noise and darker tone.
If you're after more control and enjoy fine-tuning every aspect, then an active bass is the way to go. It offers a plethora of options for customization. However, for those chasing a classic sound with minimal fuss, the passive bass seems to lend itself more naturally. It effortlessly delivers that timeless, vintage tone that many players, including myself, appreciate.
In essence, it boils down to the balance between the desire for control and customization (offered by active basses) versus the simplicity and classic sound (offered by passive basses). Each has its merits, and the choice depends on personal preference, musical context, and the specific sonic qualities sought for a given project or performance. Having the flexibility to choose the instrument that aligns with your playing style and the desired sound is truly invaluable.
This can be pretty misleading/easily misinterpreted... active sure ain’t the end all beat all... in fact, I find it can be more of an obscurity to players who have a refined technique... the point being, that the player should be most concerned with refining his or her technique, not twiddle some knobs in avoidance of doing so. To a well refined player, none of those electronics are necessary - providing most novice players ‘with enough rope’..
I am a long time pro bassist. 57 years playing the instrument. My background until 1993- was ALL passive pickups- some basses in my arsenal began to have active preamps around 1980. Then, I build my first five string- completed it in 1994. All Alembic circuitry, 3- single coils, and the full Stanley Clarke circuit. Does it sound great? Ah, yeah, it does, and it still does. MOST of my basses have active circuits now, predominately EMG's. The thing about EMGs now, is they are far superior to their original offerings, that had muted highs and transparency. I LOVE all my EMG equipped basses. I have some passive P-basses, and they pick up noise in some venues. a fully shielded Rick clone with all Audere electronics, is literally unusable in one particular venue. I feel that when the pickup itself is shielded, and the electronics are designed to work with that pickup- nothing can compare. Alison at EMG, is also extremely cool to us small shop repairmen and Luthiers. EMG, also offers their great pickups and circuits at prices that literally make me wonder why anyone would consider any other active circuit.
P.S., yes, all our heroes had only passive bass pickups. But now... think of what Jimi Hendrix could've done with a Floyd Rose tremolo.
Nice job, thank you!
Subtractive EQ is a really solid element to bring up. That said, I don't mind a little noise in my mix for what I play. Passive pickups through a sansamp DI gets the job done for me. I'm tired of 9 volt battery issues. And J bass passive pickups usually have the high end that I'm looking for. Cool video. Love the expert you brought in.
I put some EMG's in my PJ and i'm very happy with it.
With active pickups the sound is way more clear and adjustable.
Since I played my old pj bass with active pups and a pick, my bandmates keep on asking me to use them because of their fuller sound...what else do I have to say? 🤷🏻♂️ If these pups work better for the band, then they work better for me! I like that they keep the low ends even when your using a pick but if I would play with fingers then I would choose passive pups instead otherwise the sound would be too low for me.
Ok, so if you have passive pickups and active electronics what give you best variations of tones just pay attention of your pickups height because with boost that give active electronics you can lower pickups to get more sustain. Am I correct?
As a guitarist, I was trying to understand for a long time bassists fascination with active electronics. This was helpful.
I’m at 17:27 and I can’t take it anymore, so maybe he addresses some of this later. Adding gain may add minute amounts of noise, but it also adds small amounts of harmonic distortion which, as any sound engineer who works with vocals or guitar will tell you, is the antidote to that “sterile, cold” sound.
More importantly, the very premise of this whole thing, including the demo of two different cab mics against DI tone, is that situational variables have a huge impact. Passive or active is a drop in the ocean compared to room acoustics, string type, string condition, how you use your fingers or pick, magnet material, pickup configuration, pickup location, and about 20 other variables.
Plus, an active setup introduces a single point of failure: the battery. Murphy’s Law is real; that sucker will fail you in the middle of a gig, or at least in the middle of a $100/hr recording session. Why expose yourself to that kind of risk for negligible “on paper” benefits?
IMHO, playing better is the only upgrade you need, and the only cost is your effort. All the other theories are the real noise.
Precisely, and that's my main argument - reliability, and having one less thing to worry about while you're nervous enough already to go on stage.
Thanks for your input I decided to not modify my passive p bass. I already have an active bartolini on my washburn. Leave well enough alone.
I think it'd be fair to also mention that if you use any tipe of modeler (I use a HX Stomp) active would give you a larger frequency spectrum to work with.
Good point, thanks for mentioning.
I have 2 basses with active pickups, a 30 year old seymour duncan set and a peavey b90 w active pickups they do sound good .
I also have basses totally passive and passive with preamps . i prefer them in this order
1. Passive with on/off preamp or Passive
2. Passive with always on preamp
3. Active pickups with passive circuit.
I wanted to upgrade the pickups on my j bass earlier this year and I came across this video. Since then I have got two more basses with Active emgs.
To the point within ten seconds. Thank you, sir.
This was one of the best videos I’ve seen on the topic. Although that amp does quite clearly say it’s DI out is post EQ.
All good points and info.
Really good and really honest video 👍🏻 👍🏻👍🏻
It’s actually logic .
My taste actually change over the years. If I like to just plug it in and play I prefer sometimes my Yamaha Bp 1024x
Or for heavy stuff my cheap Ibanez STD-M passive surprise so often.
But if I’m hunting for a specific tone then a Sr 505 is the real deal for me .
Thank for the vid that give me more understanding and i learn a little bit more
I enjoyed this explanation. It was informative, thorough and entertaining, although a bit heavy-handed (pardon the pun of sorts). This was nice. I actually learned a lot, including a number of things outside of pickups. Appreciate it. All the best.
A lot of great points are made but I also like having my passive bass for practice....I can leave it plugged in all the time without burning through batteries.
Two of my active basses have a passive switch. The others - batteries last for a long time.
So much to learn for me...I have only one passive a Jazz fretless..all others except for Fender Vibe are active.
My fav sounds are the Spector and Warwick...most confusing is the P7 Sire and Ibanez SR 600
I agree with much of what you're saying and I have/currently owned plenty of both active as well as passive basses , but I just prefer the simplicity of passive and my favorite bass I currently gig with is passive. I do boost the highs a little bit like you said, but I can't even perceive any additional noise when I'm n a few feet away from the amp when it's turned way up and I'm in a quiet room, much less when I'm actually gigging so the added noise from bumping the highs a click or two is completely negligible. Personally I've never had a pickup go out on me from grime, beer, etc, and I've played this thing for many thousands of hours, but in any case even if that did happen I would use my spare bass (which we should all have while gigging anyway) and replace the pickup at my earliest convenience.
In any case, love the channel, you're a beast no matter which bass you play! Just sharing my own perspective.
Excellent explanation to someone who far prefers getting more than buzzword descriptions (even if I doubt I'll ever be in a position where I'd apply any of this to any serious recording scenario). I play both active and passive basses (admittedly none use active pickups and opt for passive pups into an onboard preamp) and I love both. My passive bass is a classic Fender P with "that" tone and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's my plug and play jam bass that's often by my desk for a quick session and is my ol faithful. That being said my active basses more than earn their keep with excellent tone and flexible/full sounds that just sound great. When I want my classic P tone, I reach for my Fender P, otherwise I get versatility and fullness from my active bass. Best of both worlds is to just enjoy both
Is it true that EMG stands for electromagnetic generator?
I just bought EMG BQS active system , what would be the best pickups to use for it ?
Probably the PHZ
I have an American active PB Deluxe V (active only), I got it modified active/passive, changed the preamp, and finally always play it passive because you can hear the real bass sound . What about your fingers? Active or passive?
Ofc they are. I have super expiriences with MEC, EMG and Bartolini pups. 👍💪
I have been considering upgrades for a couple of my basses; both are Squiers, one a paranormal jazz and the other a VM jaguar. Both has the stack pot controls, and I think that this might be worth doing. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Check out the EMG AX series. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised
@@TheBassChannel Thank You kindly
I believe that pedal pre-amps have made internal active electronic obsolete.
I'd be up for using active pickups, but I just love my basses (Geddy sig and a Stingray) that I don't feel the need to switch anything out. And I'm a serial tweaker/modder-- not touching those two :p
I do have a question about compression that I'd appreciate you guys taking a look at in a future video perhaps. I don't use a compressor, but I do usually stack at least one boost into my preamp/DI and I feel like I get plenty of compression with that. What are your thoughts on this strategy? It seems to me like most people never consider it, or would still use an additional compressor on top of this setup.
Good video. I still considering better the passive pickups
I had a Warwick $$ with the switches like that one it was a beast!!! I actually prefer a solid pickup I actually put black electric tape on me coils just to black out my pickups lol also helps the string hitting the poles with low action and a aggressive hand
I have owned two basses, first one with active pickups and second one with passive ones.
I sold the one with active ones, it didn’t work for the pins I was after at all, I prefer and really like the sound of passive pickups way more in my opinion.
I'm a fan of EMG pickups, I have two basses with the EMG GZR P passive pickups in them that sound great.
My Guild Pilot has an original active EMG P pickup in it that also sounds great ...and it is 36 years old!
I also own a very early Pilot and it's a thing of beauty in every aspect.Totally underrated basses.
I had A Guild Pilot i got in 86.great sound, lightweight a d good sustain. It was stolen 😢
@@Hndsmstrngr1 that sucks, it's a good one
EMG is the industry standard. I have EMG’s in the 18 volt setup and to put it simple, it works flawlessly and I get everything I need and don’t need in my signal.
3 of my current basses are all active however they have emg x series pickups 2 of those basses have darkglass tone capsules (1 @ 9 volt and 1 @ 18 volts)
My spector q4 18 volt tone Capsule emg 35p4ax rc neck and 35jx bridge emg abcx, 2007 Spector Rebop 5 dlx zebra
Emg 40jx bridge and neck emg abcx and tone capsule. 2019/2020 Spector Euro 5 Lt emg 40dcx bridge and neck and factory tone pump.
I used to own nicer basses and all of them were a mix of passive and active. As I’ve gotten older and my rig smallish, I’ve been satisfied with passive pickups. I just got rid of my G&L Kiloton Tribute as I bought a classic vibe jazz bass for $100 and sold the tribby for bills and to buy a darkglass harmonic booster pedal. With my amp(Fender Super Bassman) and my Genzler 410-3, this $100 sounds better than most $1200 active or passive setups I’ve had. I love both, but the passive is more plug and play since I use it wide open.
I don’t have a preference. I’ve used both passive and active and I like both. I’m happy with how my P Bass sounds with its original passive pickups, will never change it. Jazz I’m up in the air for. My Schecter 5 string will be upgrade shortly from its original EMG HZ pickups to the EMG DE set.
started with ceramic but recently switched to the alnico emgs. ime the alnicos had more mids and a little less treble and seemed to fit better in indie/rock styles. enjoying the clarity AND drive as opposed to one or the other from my passive jazz bass. a lot quieter too
I honestly love both active and passive electronics. Passives tend to be less fussy with effects and stuff, in my experience, but the versatility of active electronics is great. One of my two active basses has a passive mode (which should be ubiquitous imo), but I wish the passive mode had a tone control. This would make it easier for it to more quickly and reliably get along with pedals, if the actives are being finicky, while still having some sound shaping ability. Additionally it would also benefit from the active electronics when I want them.
My favorite passive bass has a very particular character that I’m reluctant to mess with. Also I sometimes just enjoy the simplicity of it. More options isn’t always the best for me. If I need all those additional tonal options, I play something else, but sometimes some limitation can prevent ‘blank page syndrome’.
I also just have to say that I’m really digging your sound regardless of pickup choice
Active pickups with a passive tone control are quite rare on stock basses. Only one I know is the FGN Mighty Jazz, which is a great instrument.
A lot of the G&L basses have passive tone knobs. I feel that makes a tremendous difference. Changes to the tone knobs don't seem as artificial.
I'll leave my G&L L2000 on passive for Classic, Old-School tunes. I'll flip the active switch for more modern stuff. I've also got a switch to run the pickups series or parallel.
Also people whine about battery life with active. I usually gig weekly and only need to change the battery every 2-3 years
I have Schecter SLS Elite bass equipped with inovative Fishman Fluence active pickups in combination with passive knobs and voicing switch. I'm very satisfied with its colorful and bright tone, but I have to change the battery very often, ca every 50 hours of playing . So, I think FF pickups are the most energy consuming pickups on the market. And the number of basses equipped with FF pickups still increase.
@@trhon1 I've read people saying they don't like the Fluence pups but I don't get that.I put a set in a parts bass build and I'm sold on them.I get more great and usable tones from them than any of my 31 other basses.
@@kevmac1230 I also know several bassists who don't like Fluences (most of them without personal experience), it's a question of individual taste. But I'm a fan of an innovation and that's why I'm not e.g. Fender admirer. But yes, Fluences are specific in construction and tone and not everyone likes that.
Yes they are. If I had to buy 1 bass, it would be an active bass with on board EQ. But I'd need a p-bass to cover most of the sounds out there. All that means is that the sound is so ubiquitous you kind of need it in your tool kit.
Passives just sounds arguably better in every example.
thank you man
great video
finally someone who agree with me. i've been playing on standart jazz bass for a few years and i always had problem with those. the single coil hum meant that i couldn't solo my neck pickup ( my prefered one to do walking bass line ), so it suck for my jazz band and big band. i also have really sweaty hand and it didn't work well with the open pole piece, in 6 month, they were oxidized a lot and the bass looked like it was a relic or something.
for the tone for sure i wasn't a fan of all those active pickup electronic thingy. especially MTD bass that each time i would hear a demo ( DI too ), i found the sound to be super bright and super harsh. but i ofen stumble upon those same mtd bass going throught a cab and directly they sounded a lot better. it was the same for ken smith that i found to have too much high mid and treble.
but now i play on bartolini humbucker so really bright one and i see the benefit, i never boost the treble. its good because for one i don't need to change my string as often ( i have a vintage 70s jazz bass that really dark sounding and if i want that marcus sound, i need to change string every month, with bartolini i change every 6 month.) , and not needing to boost the high mean that i dont' get that hiss that's introduced and can be a pain in the ass.
Anyone know what that white body black pickguard bass is?
Warwick Adam Clayton Signature
22:30 What was the song name on this one
Spectors are active EMGs w/Active preamp, been using this PJ Spector since 1988, it's going strong. Back in the days, we just plug it into a studio direct box and record, no fuss no buss, sounds great, especially for slaps.
Do you find it flexible enough? Has that compression factor ever been something you didn’t want? Looking at dropping some EMGs in my Modulus.
very versatile bass, no problem.@@peadookie
@@eisenyeo hey man, appreciate the comment and it helped me decide. Did the swap and couldn’t be happier. Great stuff.
This is exactly what I wanted to know
EMG make good pups and I can't understand why everyone doesn't use solderless install.I have EMG on a few of my 20 basses 2 of which are no solder,and never have a problem in this regard.
Its more expensive. Really that simple. But yeah, we should be past soldering at this point.
@@RyRyTheBassGuy EMGs are cheaper than many others though.
@@BlommaBaumbart The pickups, sure, but not the solderless pots/switches/wires.
@@RyRyTheBassGuy Well, I was specifically referring to the fact that an EMG Geezer Butler PJ set (wirings and pots included) runs for 40 - 70€ less on Thomann than competitor products which require soldering.
@@BlommaBaumbart Sorry, I was talking about what the cost would be to guitar manufacturers.
EMG kinda has to give you the pots. Though I've always found it interesting they don't include the solderless switch with their guitar pickup sets. You can obviously reuse your old switch, but that will require soldering.
*PASSIVE:*
-low output
-remove volume or high frequency
-dynamic
-no battery
*ACTIVE:*
-higher output
-add/remove eq (tone shaping)
-balanced sound
-need 9v battery
What’s the brand and model of the green PJ in the background?
The active pickup isn’t necessarily giving you ‘much more of everything’... A passive pick up through passive controls can have a fat low end peak, that’s actually resonant, as a passive pick up/volume/tone create an LCR filter. The active setup with less winds and no interaction between the pick ups and controls won’t have this resonance to the low end...
Sure it’s less accurate, and not as good if there’s lots of fast muting, but it’s generally perceived as warm sounding.