Conference napalm::guitar

	Active electronics have been a major advance in bass guitar technology.
I replaced the pickups on my P-bass with Seymour Duncan actives. 

	I'm the opposite of you...I *always* use active mode.  There's very
little to the circuit and an alkaline battery will last over a year. The hot
bass sound of the 80's is funky, biting, trebly and percussive so it can cut
though synths in the lower ranges.  

	Passive tonal circuits change the sound by cutting stuff out, with a
corresponding deterioration of the signal. Active tonal circuits change the
sound by boosting stuff and offer incredibly flexibiliy.  I can tailor the
classic P-bass sound as well as a dozen other sounds.  On my Rich, I can get
every bass sound you can imagine. And I love having the preamp controls right at
my fingertips.  Live, I go direct into the PA anyway (using my amps as stage
monitors) so the sound coming out of the axe is extremely important. 

    OKAY, TIME FOR THE AMATUER AGAIN!
    
    		I'm going to show my ignorance once more and ask:
    
    	What are active electronics on a guitar/bass?  Is this the stuff
    that synthesizers are made of?  That is to say, like on the new
    Roland synth guitar...are all the goodies on the guitar itself?
    
    
    					OO
    					__
    							Phil
    

    Actives are just a pre-amp built into give you more gain (hot lead
    guitars!!!) or better tone control.....an acitve tone control can
    boost or cut your treble or bass whereas a passive control can only cut
    it. The bad news is most of these systems don't have a bypass and
    if your preamp or battery gives up the ghost you're dead in the
    water. I've avoided them for just these reasons. However, I have
    a takamine acoustic that has an active preamp built in and the battery
    has lasted two years, but I don't use the pickup that much, just
    to record....
    
    The roland or ibanez synth guitars are much more....they have a
    synth that sits on the floor or is rackmounted that the guitar
    controls. Acitve controls fit inside the guitar......
    
    dave

    
    	Active electronics makes the guitar appear as a more ideal signal
    source. Outboard devices between it and the amp will present less
    loading to the signal, and the noise and hum will be much less,
    because you dont have this long wire between the guitar and where
    all the gain is. The best sitch would be to have an active preamp,
    driving a low Z balanced line, like microphones use.
    
    	You can also have active without batteries - just use a shielded
    stereo cable, with one of the lines giving DC power from your amp
    or some effect, the other for the output signal from the guitar.
    
    	I think the real hot setup would be to have the pickups wide
    open thru the effects, into the amp, and voltage control the amp
    master volume with the volume control on the guitar - sorta like
    the "two cable" setup Garcia uses.                           
    
    	Joe Jas
    

Well, I ALWAYS use active mode on my G&L.  I NEVER use it on my '63 fretless 
(gee, I wonder why!).

I hate the sound of passive on the G&L.  Too distorted, lacking in dynamics, 
sustain or tonal warmth/depth.

I'm pretty naive, though.  I don't know if it has a battery.  If so, then why 
the Hell does it still work?  I've owned it for slightly over two years!  From 
what I understand, leaving the switch on drains the battery!  I always leave 
it on, in phase (I sometimes use out-of-phase on 60's rock).  If the battery's 
dead, I've been told NO SOUND will be produced unless you switch to passive 
mode.

Why don't guitars and basses ever come with labels or instructions for what 
their knobs and switches do and how to use them (or amps for that matter)?


				Mark

    I'M GLAD SOMEONE THOUGHT OF THIS SUBJECT.I USE ACTIVE CIRCUITS ON
    ALL MY BASSES;AND WORRYING THAT THE BATTERY (OR CIRCUIT) WILL
    JUST UP AND DIE WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT IS NOT REALLY A VALID
    ISSUE.I CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN MINE EVERY 3-4 MONTHS AND CARRY
    AT LEAST 1 SPARE IN MY CASE.I'VE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE 
    ELECTRONICS FAILING EITHER.THE CIRCUITS ARE EASY TO DESIGN AND 
    BUILD AND FAIRLY CHEAP.USEING OP-AMPS AND PERF BOARD YOU CAN EASILY
    MAKE 0NE TO FIT IN YOUR AXE.IF YOU'RE SCARED TO TRY,OR TOO LAZY;
    R.A.GRESCO MAKES EXCELLENT ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SETUPS THAT ARE EASY
    TO HOOK UP,SOUND EXCELLENT,AND DISCONNECT POWER WHEN YOU PULL THE
    JACK OUT.ALL IN ALL I THINK THESE TYPES OF MODIFICATIONS ARE WELL
    WORTH LOOKING INTO,AND ONCE YOU TRY AND HEAR THE DIFFERENCE YOU'LL
    BE HOOKED LIKE ME.
         LOOKING FOWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU ALL,
                                         BILL K.
    

    I agree with Bill on active circuits. 
    As mentioned in my note 1072, I have the schematics for the Gibson/moog
    guitar range. These included not only active treble and bass, but
    also switchable compressor and expandor. The total circuit is an
    excellent design and the batteries last about a year under normal
    use. I had the layout redesigned on a 20 mm by 100 mm board ( approx:)
    so I could fit it in my Fender Strat. The low output impedance allowed
    me to use 100 metre leads if needed ! The board has back-of-the-guitar
    access to adjust and preset attack and release times for the comp/exp
    circuit.
    
    Get back to me on NOTES or TRUCKS::LITTEN if I can help you in any
    way.
    
    /Dave    DTN 782 2314
    

    I Recently installed a pre-amp in my Fender Musicmaster bass.
    The difference is incredible!!!
    
    I built it myself using a simple cuircit based on the 071 OP-AMP.
    In all,it cost me about 5 POUND.(PRETTY GOOD VALUE!!)
      


    Brian