Passive playing

[Franck Callebert]

Passive tone = most all the gig (love the fat passsive tone of my smith)
Active tone = Chorus or slap time just for the pure boost you get when you engage the preamp

[Frederick Schurger]

One of my only pet peeves about active EQ is not quite knowing when the battery is on its last legs. I have another bass that has active EQ with no passive bypass, and without power, it's dead in the water. Sucks in the middle of a gig.

I did have a situation where the battery went dead in the middle of a gig (church service actually) where I was able to click it into passive, and back in the game. Pretty cool when you think about it. Found a battery, between the service and the concert that night, and none were the wiser.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Frederick Schurger

One of my only pet peeves about active EQ is not quite knowing when the battery is on its last legs....

I do a few things:

1. I date when I install a new battery (anywhere on or inside the back of the bass).

2. I unplug my cord from the bass when not in use (battery drains more otherwise).

3. I have an ****og Multimeter I use to test a battery at any given point along the journey.

While I have NEVER experienced a battery going bad while playing, clearly, having an Active/Passive Switch is a nice option. Otherwise, see 1, 2, and 3 above.