DaRealBandit Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 what's the difference between an active pickup & a passive pickup? (tone wise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Never used an active pickup, but Dave Gilmour makes ‘em sound good on his Strat (where fitted - EMGs I think). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardMarlowe Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 I've only owned one guitar with actives - a Westone Thunder I A. The active boost seems to give the humbuckers a bit of a kick in the pants - makes them feel a little "hotter". It'sd not unlike using a midrange booster pedal to give the guitar a bit of extra kick fo a solo. It can also produce a more pleasing soyund to the ear if you like that midrange boost and you're not getting it from the pedal end. (Personally, I prefer passive pups and to tweak the tone at the amp end, but ymmv). The only real drawback with actives is that they can eat batteries... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 One great advantage of most active pick-ups (guitar, bass...) is the low impedance output. Less useful at home, but enables long leads on stage without much signal loss and noise generation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 1 minute ago, Dad3353 said: One great advantage of most active pick-ups (guitar, bass...) is the low impedance output. Less useful at home, but enables long leads on stage without much signal loss and noise generation. Les Paul was a massive advocate of low impedance, which led to the eye sore that was the Recording Model. Weird that the opinion of one of the electric guitar’s pioneers didn’t seem to catch on with the guitar playing public. Zakk Wylde also used active pickups back with Ozzy and Pride & Glory (he may well still do so, I don’t know). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 12 minutes ago, ezbass said: ...Weird that the opinion of one of the electric guitar’s pioneers didn’t seem to catch on with the guitar playing public... Back then, battery operation was not a simple affair, and the pre-amps less efficient than nowadays. Now that the technology has evolved, and the cost with it, there's little reason to not take advantage of their positive side. Of course, if those are not needed, passives are fine, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardMarlowe Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 On 06/08/2020 at 18:11, Dad3353 said: One great advantage of most active pick-ups (guitar, bass...) is the low impedance output. Less useful at home, but enables long leads on stage without much signal loss and noise generation. I wonder is that why Clapton had the midrange boost 'always on' built into the wiring of his sig model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
