Active Pickups???

[confuciuskickstand]

Hey ya'll! I just have a bit of a technical question. What exactly do active pickups do? I know they run off a battery, but I don't think like put OUT any kind of signal or anything. I also know that most active basses come with an EQ but guitars don't! I am just really confused as to what exactly the technical differences are. Cuz, no doubt, they sound A LOT different. Second part of the question: do active pickups screw with stompboxes. I know a friend of mine who has a Musicman Stingray bass, and he seems to think that the active pickups screw with his distortion boxes. I don't know, but will be grateful for any info!

 

[unbridled]

Conventional controls are passive. The best way to describe this is that all of the controls on a passive system can only take away stuff. A passive tone control does not boost anything. When turned all the way up, the passive tone control pretty much does nothing. When you turn down a passive tone control, it bleeds off (lowers) the frequency it is set at. The same with a passive volume control. It does not actually "turn-up" the volume. When turned up all the way, a passive volume just sends all of the signal to the amp, but when turned down, it does decrease volume.

As far as active systems, they can actually boost elements. An active tone control (there are usually 2 or more for different frequencies) will usually have a center detent. At that position, nothing is done to the frequency. Below that point, the frequency is decreased, above center, the frequency is boosted. This boosting action is why active electronics need batteries. Some active systems use 9 volts while others can use 18 or even more.

In answer to the question about stomp boxes- Yes, some (but not all) effects don't take the extra power of active electronics very well without distorting. Many times, you may still be able to get reasonable performance from the effect by making sure none of the EQ controls are above the center position and by being careful with the guitar's volume control. The extra boost from active systems is also why you will see different inputs on amplifiers, usually labeled "High" and "Low" or, you may find a switch on the amp that says "-10db" This decreases the gain of the active input to help keep the amp from distorting.

There is a bit more to it but that's the quick and dirty explanation.

 

[Jukebox]

I guess yo can think of it as a pre amp. That would kinda give you a simple term of what it does!

 

[confuciuskickstand]

Ah, thank you. That cleared up a lot.