Please give me some more ideas. My bass is a Fender Precision Bass Special. (Deluxe Series). It came with a bass pick-up and a Jazz bridge pick up. It has Volume, Blend, A stacked pot for bass and treble, then finally a midrange. I thought it'd be nice if I could switch from active to passive. In passive mode all I'd really need is volume and
If you like your current bass and its tone., You can add a preamp of choice, 2 or 3 band to your existing passive bass. The vast majority of active basses are passive pups with active 2-3 band eq. This generally broadens the tone and improves overall sound detail plus low bass articulation.
Active basses can both boost as well as cut frequencies, while passive basses can only roll off via traditional low-pass filters. Most "active" basses use passive pickups and active EQ, while active pickups like EMGs have preamps built into the pickups themselves. A helpful article from Sweetwater's website.
No bass without an active/passive switch can be used live and even that is questionable. It should be a battery powered active switch with a capacitor that makes a smooth transition to passive mode when power goes down. You need a "battery low" blinking dot on the side of the fingerboard to tell you not to go on a long solo right now.
The most common gauges used for passive bass guitars are 18 and 22. Next, you need to take into account the type of pickups you are using. If you are using passive pickups, then you will need to wire them in parallel. However, if you are using active pickups, then you will need to wire them in series. Finally, you need to consider the number of

This has probably been raised a bunch of times here, but what's your take on a passive bass with a eq pedal or rack as opposed to an active bass with a built in eq. The reason I bring it up is I love the flexibility of modern eq's but I'm a sucker for old school passive jazz basses.

I would personally recommend one of the passive G&L's to stock with flats. I have an SB-2 and it sounds really great with flats on it. Their other passive models are the LB-100 and SB-1 which are Precision style basses and the new JB-2 is the their passive Jazz type bass. Here's a shot of a G&L LB-100. That's a bass that sounds really sweet
Two Groups. The rule of thumb is that for a high-output bass that already has a built-in buffer, a passive direct box will likely do a great job—the bass will produce the drive. On the other hand, for a low-output passive bass, an active DI will leave the bass sound unaffected while generating the drive for the PA system.
Jul 22, 2007. Dallas, TX. Just to clarify, the active P bass does NOT have "active" pickups, just a 3 band eq preamp, which allows for quick tonal tweaks, and also includes a passive/active switch to disable the preamp and run in normal passive mode. Active pickups are an entirely different thing. One Way and MAXSPINRUN like this. Vtko.