What is the difference between "passive" and "Active" pickups ?

Question

i also have a Passive/Active switch on my amp. when its pushed in it makes the sound a little quieter and when push out, louder. i also have a switch on my 6 string bass that does the some thing....what the heck is this thing used for?!???!

Answer 1

ahh ha you got the right person. passive pickups are just magnets whereas active pickups have an external power source. emg's are active but tend to give you a darker sound (less tone) i use dimarzio tone zone for super clean, rich, bright sound. the brighter the sound the more you hear. also the active pickups usually run on a 9 volt battery and i'm sure you know batteries are not cheap.

the switch on your bass just changes the tone.

Answer 2

Passive pickups are unpowered, while Active pickups have a battery. Active pickups are generally louder & have a brighter signal; the only trade-off is that you have to replace the battery every so often (If you want to conserve your battery, don't leave your bass plugged in when you aren't playing it.

Some basses have both active AND passive pickups, with the option to switch between them; this is nice if you prefer the using the sound of both for different situations, or if your battery runs out in the middle of a show.

The switch could do other things though (You'd have to go on the internet and look up your bass to know exactly) - it could be a sweep control to adjust your mid-frequencies (if your bass just has a 2-band EQ), or it could be a pickup selector - turning on and playing closer to your neck pickup will give you a warmer, fatter and cleaner tone, while switching to the bridge pickup and playing near the bridge will give you a more aggressive tone with more "attack" and treble.

The Active/Passive switch on your amp is for the input socket - some amps have a separate socket for Active and Passive basses, but if there's just one and a switch, put it in the position that your bass is. (Passive will boost the signal from a passive bass, Active will slightly dampen the higher signal from an active bass)

Hope that helps.

Cheers!