4 String Bass Guitars

Active electronics in a bass can refer to special tone controls, pickups or both. They are neither better nor worse since tone is subjective. But they can offer some powerful tone-shaping options that standard passive electronics cannot. Active refers to a live circuit within the bass that requires a 9v PP3 battery to power. An active EQ section usually allows drastic cutting and boosting of certain treble, middle and bass frequencies. Active pickups are normally high output units with a low noise floor. Different players prefer different setups, but active electronics can definitely help you sound more 'produced' and professional.

A split coil pickup is the type of pickup you'd typically find on a Precision bass. Instead of a single row of polepieces, the split coil pickup is actually two separate pickups. These are wired to be hum cancelling and arranged in a staggered fashion underneath the strings. This produces a powerful and fat tone that has helped define the P-Bass sound for over half a century.