Having both passive tone control AND active EQ work at the same time?

#24
My bass is active and passive, and both active EQ and passive tone work at the same time. However, I have always taken this as a wiring glitch rather than something to be desired. I've been meaning to fix it, but haven't gotten a Round Tuit.
 
#25
My Mike Lull jazz does just this.
Passive tone knob works in either passive mode or with the active mode engaged.
I almost always play it in passive, although on occasion I'll use active on stage if I'm needing additional tone shaping
 
#26
The absolute best active tones I've ever had also involved a passive roll off in the highs. The way a shelving EQ works is it boosts all frequencies above the set point. So a 4kHz shelving EQ is boosting 5k and 10k and 15k, and so on - up to whatever the HF roll-off of the circuit is. That can make for a really bright and brittle sound, when all you wanted was to bump the area around 4k up a notch or two and leave everything else alone. The passive tone roll-off used in conjunction with the active boost can soften the highs and still maintain all the clarity of the boost.
 
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#27
ObeyDaRiffness said:
Yes, I have seen basses that had both active and passive eq, but they work separately, you have either one or another, while I would have liked to have them work at the same time
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gebass6 said:
Yes.That's what I was indicating.
Pots with stacked values.
But I don't think anyone's developed pots that work that way yet.
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Stacked pots aren't required at all.

Spector Coda basses come standard with a two band preamp and a passive tone control: the tone control functions the same regardless of whether or not the preamp is engaged.

You can wire essentially any preamp this way, so long as the pots aren't built into the PCB like on a HazLab preamp.
 
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#28
lowfreqgeek said:
The absolute best active tones I've ever had also involved a passive roll off in the highs. The way a shelving EQ works is it boosts all frequencies above the set point. So a 4kHz shelving EQ is boosting 5k and 10k and 15k, and so on - up to whatever the HF roll-off of the circuit is. That can make for a really bright and brittle sound, when all you wanted was to bump the area around 4k up a notch or two and leave everything else alone. The passive tone roll-off used in conjunction with the active boost can soften the highs and still maintain all the clarity of the boost.
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Exactly.

The same way you generally use an LPF on a DI bass track in the studio somewhere between 8kHz and 4kHz :thumbsup:
 
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#29
As others have said, loads of active basses also have passive tone controls. My main bass has a John East UniPre which does just that and I have a six string with an ACG filter preamp (also a John East design) that does the same thing.

Both of these are really useful as a sort of 'master' tone control. With both of these circuits you can set up the core sound of your bass with completely different voicings with the active controls (using the sweepable mids mostly) plus bass and treble controls to taste. If you get it right you can emulate the character of lots of different basses, then just use the passive tone as you would on any other bass.
 
#33
I have an onboard Pope 4 band pre that has a passive tone that works in active or passive. I have an East U-Retro that does the same, also the newer East 2 band J plate that has passive in either active or passive. And one that I no longer have was an Audere 3 band active only with a passive tone. All of these offer subtle tonal shaping, and all were purchased as described.

Edit to not forget my fretless 5's each with a 4 band Audere active only with passive tone. To me fretless really benefits from a passive tone control.
 
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#37
lowfreqgeek said:
The absolute best active tones I've ever had also involved a passive roll off in the highs. The way a shelving EQ works is it boosts all frequencies above the set point. So a 4kHz shelving EQ is boosting 5k and 10k and 15k, and so on - up to whatever the HF roll-off of the circuit is. That can make for a really bright and brittle sound, when all you wanted was to bump the area around 4k up a notch or two and leave everything else alone. The passive tone roll-off used in conjunction with the active boost can soften the highs and still maintain all the clarity of the boost.
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This. It's the reason the Sadowsky Vintage ToneControl works so well. A standard rolloff matched with an active EQ gives you way more control over the top end than simply boosting or cutting a treble knob.
 
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#39
ObeyDaRiffness said:
Yes, I have seen basses that had both active and passive eq, but they work separately, you have either one or another, while I would have liked to have them work at the same time
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I'm sure someone with more knowledge or experience will correct my understanding, but my Carvin seems to do something like what you're saying. It has a push/pull knob for switching between active and passive. In passive mode, only one tone control works and it only cuts treble. In active mode, there are separate stacked knobs for boost/cut bass and boost/cut treble *AND* the passive tone control knob still works to cut treble. Not sure if this is what you're asking for but it does seem to demonstrate that it doesn't have to be "one or the other."
 
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