Passive Electric Bass VS Active Bass, which do you choose? – Chaka Music Production

Hello fellow readers, are both camps ready? Don’t worry, we’re not here to fight over who is better, just compare based on perspective so you can choose which angle is right for you.

Yamama BB NE 5 strings (active base)

The difference is that passive bass does not use a built in preamp, while active bass has a preamp and uses a 9 volt battery / battery box.

More features, some active basses are equipped with a switch for passive/active mode.

Sound character, active bass tends to be more boom because low frequencies are boosted directly by the preamp. while passive bass is usually flatter, unless we want to add a tube preamp or tube direct box then we can still get a warm tone quality just by increasing the signal.

Personally, I prefer passive bass because

– save your budget on buying batteries

– Don’t worry about plugging it in for a long time, you won’t be afraid of running out of battery. because the bass is passive, even if it is not played, but with the jack plugged in, the battery electricity will still flow

– dynamics, if the bass is active the signal is felt compressed tends to average the sound quality of each note, while passive bass is more organic.

– more economical, usually the price of a new active bass is slightly more expensive on the market.

I’ll list the basses I’ve owned and used

• Prince 4 Strings (passive)
• Ibanez Soundgear 4 Strings (Passive)
• Cort Curbow 6 string (active)
• Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe Mexican 4 string
• Carvin LB 50 4 string
• Squier Jazz Bass Classic Vibe 4 string
• Squier Vintage modified 4 string
• 4 string precision squier
• Samick Artist Series 5 strings
• Your Yamaha BB
• Sjuman Instruments LZ
• Yamaha BB NE (now)