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#44598 by myer1
Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:12 am
(i'm a bass player ) use passives.... that 9v battery is just something else to worry about. signal amplification is the job of the pre-amp(if applicable) and amp.
my high output bass pickups (fender custom shop '60's jazz bass) easily overload a normal amplifier. vintage equipment is designed for passives. it's really easy to overload an amp with active pickups, so be careful if you want to go that route
#49635 by AJ6stringsting
Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:18 am
I recently bought a Carvin M22SD pick up and it is one hell of a pick up!!!! My new guitar has a (N) Chopper, (M) Fast Track 2 and (B) the Carvin M22SD in the bridge.....it's got huge bass boom, big mids and plenty of high end....love those Almico 5 magnets :D

#52540 by sillyscreenname
Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:21 pm
active pickups will also compress the sound a bit. I have a mid 80's steinberger and the sustain is awesome and it feedsback the least of any guitar I own.

#52593 by AlexanderN
Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:20 am
Reading this post I see that everyone is different on their opinion about active vs passive. I guess it all depends on your gear and the sound you go for. Recently I introduced my Start to EMG 81(b) and 85(n) and I am NOT going back. The setup sounds so clean and awesome, I can't recognize my guitar anymore. No noise, thicker sound yet not muddy. EMG 81/85 combo along with Line6 is the answer to my prayers. But that is different for everyone.

Also: I do not miss that 81.9 FM radio station I used to pick up with my passives plugged in to Marshall.

#53098 by Andragon
Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:01 pm
Same thing happened with my guitarist. He got the EMGs and all of a sudden, his guitar came to life lol

#53146 by fisherman bob
Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:55 am
I'm a bass player (I've got active pick-ups) and I'm always fascinated what different guitarists use and why. I think the bottom line is everybody plays with a different touch and eveybody hears something a little differently than everybody else. I've hosted some blues jams in the past and people come up and play my bass (Fender Precision Special) and I have to run up and adjust the amp differently for everybody. Sometimes I cringe and wonder if I sound that bad. What works for me doesn't work for anybody else. Years ago I roomed with a very experienced guitarist when I was first learning how to play bass. The first time he heard me he came RUNNING up to the stage after I played and asked how am I getting that sound I got. I told him I have no idea what he was talking about. He told me he never heard anybody play with the tone I was getting. He asked if he could play my bass I said sure. It didn't sound anywhere near the same as me. Nobody understands how I get the tone I do. I don't even understand it. I guess the thing to do is experiment and find out what sounds best TO YOU. This is one of the most fascinating things about this music business. What guitar or bass, what amp for what genre of music and WHY? There's so many variables. I don't think this will ever be an exact science.

#53249 by Andragon
Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:20 pm
Well, Bob, sometimes the sound is just flat. And it sounds like shyt, like you're sleeping while you're playing the guitar. Not cool. So, that's not really opinion. It's pretty much a fact.

#53392 by fisherman bob
Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:43 pm
WHat sounds flat in someone else's hands might sound great in yours. Nobody plays your instrument like you do. Other people play my rig and it sounds awful. I play it and it sounds great. I played through a much more expensive rig than mine and I couldn't make it sound anything like the other bass player. Everybody has a different touch and what works for you might not necessarily work for somebody else. And then what you hear doesn't sound the same to somebody else.

#53428 by AlexanderN
Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:44 am
You are 100% right Bob.
The first most thing in anyone's sound is the musicians hands. I can give my gear to some one and it will not sound the same. I looked for sound for long time, trying different amps. Turns out the answer is PA and processor. But that same combination will not work for the guitarist next door to me, and we are on the same level. For him the answer is a tube amp with a stuck, and passive electronics. Nothing wrong with that at all.

So if some one who is reading this thread trying to figure out whether or not it is worth the time to run out and get active pickups here is my humble advice: If you have never tried active, and you have not found your sweet sound, try it. May be that will do the trick, but there is no guaranty that you will like it. If you happy with the sound you have right now on passive - Be happy.

#53462 by Starfish Scott
Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:57 pm
Ever go to play somewhere and the 9 volt is dead?

Nope, give me passive or give me death.

#53464 by AlexanderN
Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:16 pm
It lasts for long time. Plus, have a spare 9V just like you have a spare string set. You do take a spare string set, right? But then, there is nothing wrong with passive if it does sounds the way you want :)

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