Hi, perhaps the heading is misleading, well sorry. I am going to buy a bass and don't know the first thing about what companies are of good quality and what I should be looking out for when deciding what to purchase. I will be getting a 5 stringer, so that should narrow things down a little. Well brains, get to working!


Top Seven Companies
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1. Spector ?
2. Ibanez ?
3. Fender ?
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Active vs. Passive Pickups?

Well we need to know a lot more info about you and your playing before we can start throwing companies out there. What style of music do you play? How big are your hands? How much money do you have?

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Well I will be using it primarily for metal and jazz styles. I'd say my hands are average? Anything less than $1,000 is in my price range though I'm really looking for something that is good but not overly pricey.

Check out used Ibanez's and Spector's. Where do you live?

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Can't go wrong with a Fender Jazz bass.

Companies are mostly irrelevant, except for those companies that only make cheap instruments. Basically, do a little research on the net (http://www.harmony-central.com/Bass/#pro) and then go play basses and look at the price tag. If you don't know the first thing about bass, it's probably fine to buy a crappy but cheap no name bass so you learn the feeling of it and then when you know what you like after a while, go buy a decent one.

If he is going to be playing jazz as well as metal, Ibanez woud be the best choice, in my opinion. Higher end spectors have very hot pickups which make them more suited for growling metal tones, but not smooth/warmer jazz ones. If your price range is up to $1000, i think you should get an Ibanez SR505. It has good active pickups, feels great, and has a look that can fit in both styles of music. It is usually $569.

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Also, it might not be a bad idea to buy a four string first. Starting a five string may prove to be a little tricky as far as getting proper technique down.

That is true.

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I live in the D.C. area. I had a chance to play a few basses, but there were so many different brands I wasn't sure which were good and which were crap. I did play an Ibanez because I recognized that company and actually liked the bass, a six string. I agree with buying cheap and then moving up, but I plan on recording right away. Plus the resale on shitty instruments can't be good I would imagine. I'll check out that link you posted, thanks. What do some of your favorite bassists use?

Buy a soundgear series Ibanez bass. A good one to start out with is the sr500 model. Or if you're looking for a five string, I would go for the sr900. But it's all up to you really. Choose wisely.

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one that works...

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That has to be the most ridiculous statement ever!!!!! I have small hands and fingers, yet manage to SHRED on a 6-string. If you think hand or finger size has anything to do with ability, you are missing out on technique!!!!!!!!! Try proper hand placement (ie: thumb placed at a 90 degree angle on the middle of the neck) and you'd be amazed!!!! For a perfect example of hand or finger size having NOTHING to do with ability, check out Jean Baudin play the Mario Bros. Theme song on his 11 string bass!!!! (DUMBASS...)

That being said, I would recommend an Ibanez 5-string. Reasonably priced, yet fairly good in quality. You can always upgrade the electronics down the road.

Cheers.

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I wouldn't think hand size should matter really. I'm no expert though, which is why I came here, for some advice. Alright then I will be looking at the Ibanez models tomorrow and see what happens. Any other brands besides Fender that I should check out?

Ah and though they sound good I'm not a big fan of those battery operated pickups, what are they called EMG's? I just know I played with a guitar that had one and it was fun, but then the battery died.....end of fun. What sort of pickups come with the Ibanez basses? This probably doesn't matter a whole lot, but if I can say that pickups on guitar are pretty important, not sure about bass.

Here's a bit of a list

Guitarcenter.com
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Squier® SQ MB-5 5-String Bass $229.99
Squier® Standard P Bass Special 5 5-String Bass $249.99
OLP MM3 with Flamed Maple Top 5-String Bass $279.99
Ibanez GSR205 5-String Bass $279.99
Ibanez SR305DX 5-String Bass Electric Guitar $339.99
OLP Tony Levin Signature 5-String Bass $349.99
Ibanez BTB205 Electric 5-String Bass $379.99
Yamaha RBX375 5-String Bass Guitar $396.99
Ibanez SR305FM 5-String Bass $399.99
Ibanez EDB405 Electric 5-String Bass $399.99
Schecter Stiletto Deluxe-5 Bass $399.99
Schecter Omen-5 5-String Bass Guitar $399.99
Cort Curbow 5-String Bass $429.99
RockBass by Warwick Streamer Standard 5-String Bass $429.99
Yamaha BB415 5-String Bass $449.99
Ibanez SR405 Soundgear 5-String Bass $479.99
Yamaha BB615 Active 5-String Bass $499.99
Ibanez SRX505 5-String Bass Guitar $529.99
Schecter Stiletto Custom-5 Bass $549.99
Schecter C-5 5-String Bass $549.99
Ibanez SR505 Bass $579.99
RockBass by Warwick Corvette Basic 5-String Bass $589.00
Schecter Stiletto Elite-5 Bass Guitar $599.99
RockBass by Warwick Corvette Classic 5-String Bass $599.99
Fender® Deluxe Active Jazz Bass V $629.99
Schecter Stiletto Studio-5 Fretless Bass $649.99
Ibanez SRX705 5-String Bass Guitar $699.99
Ibanez BTB555MP Electric 5-String Bass $699.99
Fender® Dimension 5 5-String Bass $769.99
Yamaha TRB1005 5-String Electric Bass $799.99
Ibanez SR905 Soundgear 5-String Bass $849.99
Schecter Stiletto Studio-6 Bass $699.99

Haha chill, I never said ANYTHING about it effecting technique or ability, just someting to consider when buying a bass, i.e. something with a slimmer neck if he has really small hands. Wouldnt want to to give someone with tiny hands a Warwick. Hand size does matter, given that you obviously play with them, their size will be something to consider.

And yes I know all about Jean Baudin and his extended range insanity. And if the dumbass was directed at me, that wasnt necessary and neither was the technique lesson. Im sorry, its just ive always been a stickler for having everything to do with an instrument, playing or otherwise as flawless as humanly possible.



Most Ibanez basses come with passive pickups, ones without a battery. Active pickups are pickups that have a preamp built into them to boost their output, making up for the fact that the pickups themselves have much fewer windings of copper (meaning less output) and this preamp is what the battery powers. If you want, i'll explain the basic tonal differences between active and passive pickups if you fell it will help.

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As you go higher up the quality list, you will usually find more basses are fitted with active pickups. EMGs are a particular brand of active pickups and one of the best examples of how they can make a guitar sound at least, I don't think I have ever seen them for basses though. But yeah, most of the time with active pickups the battery will last 16-24 hours of playing time depending on how long you play. The Ibanez SR505 is outfitted with Bartiloni's which are pretty fuckin sweet and the same pickups Flea uses. Active pickups do tend to get really annoying when you are playing and then the sound suddenly dies, but with a little maintence, you can really get a louder, punchier sound.

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Actually, once you reach a certain point, most basses have passive pickups (Ken Smith, Modulus, Pedulla, MusicMan, Tobias, Roscoe, Nueser) most of which have passive Bartolinis or their own design of pickups coupled with some form of active preamp. IMO, in the bass world active pickups are mostly used as a gimmick on mid-priced instruments. Its not to say that active pickups arent good, its just it seems the word "active" is thrown around just because it has a more positive connotation than the word "passive". Most really high end manufacturers that build quality instruments use passive pickups, with a few exceptions, like Alembic, but they have their own design of active pickup which are much more natural sounding than something like EMG's.

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Its enough for you to live in the states, we have around 3 shops in the town
and every shop carries around 5 different basses.

Now the resale thing.
You might want to buy an used bass thats utter shit, you can always
resell it for the same price if its cheap enough.
I'd always suggest to buy a used bass, preferably from a trusted source.

I've only played a few Fender 5-string basses, but I could already tell
from those two that they should just stick in making 4-string models.

Just go check out the five stringed ones by:

Ibanez (I only have a little experience with them, some have
shitty B strings and some have wide necks, i.e. BTB series)
Spector (performer and legend series are affordable gems)
Warwick (you can get a Corvette STD for like 600$ as used)
Yamaha (not much to say, only played a few basses, they were decent)

But dont bother with Washburns and Warwick rocbasses,
those are usually full of shit from my experience.

People tend to say get a 4 string first, they might be right, cant tell.
My first bass was a 5 stringed one, but I still ended up getting a 4 string
as my main bass. See for yourself, I dont really have that much of a use
for a 5 string one at this point, I might have in a year or two though.

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do NOT by a bass according to what your favorite player uses, it will make your decision biased and you wont get the best bass you couldve

get the spector

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I need a new bass hand size medium-small music metal/hard shit money any where up to maybe 600

I am interested to know some of the major tonal quality differences between active and passive. As I read the active ones have more punch, I guess due to the higher output power caused by the battery? I checked out the Ibanez yesterday and most all of them had passive pickups. I also saw some paul reed smith's, one which was even fretless that looked pretty cool. I played a few warwicks but noticed that the way it was constructed it would be almost impossible to play from around the 22nd-24th frets. It may not be that important, but why bother designing it with that many when it's practically useless unless you do some special technique. Does wood affect the tone in any way? I am looking for something as I said for metal, but would like also for it to be able to have a nice warm sound for melodies.

Yeah I agree, don't limit yourself. However I don't know anything, so I'm looking for all information possible and what better source than people who play them.

I cant really explain the differences between passive and active in english,
actives usually give alot more louder and punchier sound.
Depends which Ibanez you were looking at, As far as I remember most
of the middle range models have active bartolinis.
I know what you mean by impossible to play, some models have that problem, but its not only Warwick, its mostly with any manufacter. My Warwick has 26 frets + the neck goes through the body = every fret is available for use.
I've grown to like neck through basses the most, they have a more warm sound too when compared to bolt-on's (atleast I think so)

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Ok, get ready for a bit of a read....

The first thing you need to know is the differences in construction between active and passive pickups. A pickup at its most basic is a set of magnets, either ceramic or alnico (aluminium, nickel, and cobalt) with wraps of copper wire around them. When the metal guitar or bass string above the pickups vibrates its changes the magnetic flux of the magnet and creates a voltage in the copper wire wrap around it. This voltage then passes through your pots and can be manipulated by your volume and tone controls or by an active preamp, which can introduce different frequencies into the signal before it leaves the instrument through your cable.

Now, to understand the difference between active and passive pickups you also need to understand the effect that different amounts of copper wire wrapped around the magnets has. More wraps of copper wire = higher output, fewer wraps = less output. BUT, you can only use so many wraps of copper wire before you start making the pickup extremely sensitive to outside factors (Radio frequencies, lights ect..) which will cause the pickup to be very noisy and generally unusable, plus this begins to blur the midrange. So creating the perfect balance of wraps, output, tone, and resistence to interference is very much an art. This is where active pickups come in...

Active pickups employ much much fewer wraps of copper wire, making the pickups completely noise free. But what this does is creates a very very low output, so a small preamp is built into the pickup to boost the ouput, this is what the 9 volt battery is responsible for powering. This design however is looked down upon by purists for a handful of reasons.

Passive pickups (good ones) sound natural, they let your various styles and playing nuances show through, they allow for much more control over your tone simply by changing the way you play. Active pickups, due to the internal preamp, tend to be less dynamic, meaning that they lend themselves to having a basic sound that cant really be changed through various playing techniques. This is because when you play, your signal will be boosted by the preamp in the pickup regardless of how you play. Now bear in mind, that basic sound can still be a very good tone that someone may prefer.

Another thing of course is basic tone, this is where I think active pickups have their fault. The use of more wraps of wire in passive pickups results in a natural tonal curve, typically emphasizing the lows and low mids a little more (bear in mind this is with soapbar or humbucker style bass pickups, J-bass and P-bass pickups are a completely different story). But active pickups, with their fewer wraps of wire, have a very flat tonal curve, giving equal presence to all frequencies. This sounds good at first, but then you have to realize that certain frequencies are more harsh to the human ear, (1khz-3khz range) and since the frequency response of active pickups is very flat, these frequencies will now stand out much more. This is what gives active pickups, especially cheap ones, that bright clanky sound. Now if you like that sound, thats great, but most people dont.

Another thing is how the instrument itself lends to the tone. Passive pickups (again, good ones) draw influence from the woods of the instrument, this is why high end bass companies like the ones I listed in my previous post use passive pickups, because these companies use high quality tone woods in their construction and want to take advantage of the tones these woods have.
Active pickups, especially for bass, dont really care what the instrument is made out of. An EMG bass pickup will sound the same no matter what bass you put it on, unless of course the strings are completely different, those will still always effect tone. So active pickups are great in cheap instruments that arent made of quality materials, but are a bit of a waste in higher quality instruments.

Now of course there are exceptions, Alembic makes a very natural sounding active pickup and Ibanez makes some super shitty sounding pickups. When it comes to this use the old rule "you get what you pay for".

There still are advantages to active pickups. Given that they have a very flat tonal curve, they respond well to an active preamp. With a good active preamp, you can draw a wide range of tones from active pickups. Although some people still think that doing this sounds unnatural. This is why the combo of a high quality passive pickup (Bartolini's, Villex, Seymour Duncan's) and a high quality active preamp is popular. This gives the natural tone of passive pickups with the flexibility of an active preamp.

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hehehe...er...sorry 'bout that. Had a few too many that night, and being a 6-string bass player with quite small hands, I guess I took it a little too personally...nothing bothers me more than someone watching me at a gig, then coming up saying, "I could never play a bass like that, my hands are way too small" I usually just compare hand size with them, and watch them walk away hanging their heads in shame.

Cheers.

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Haha no worries mate, I play a 6er as well, although I have freakishly long fingers. What kind of 6 do you play?

BTW, your website is awesome!

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I'm playing an Ibanez SR 406 right now. Love the neck, but hate the electronics in it. Want to upgrade to some active EMG's in the near future. Also looking at a 6-string Spector that a friend is thinking of selling for DIRT cheap...if he'd only make up his mind. lol.

Cheers.

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i need help getting a bass

spector/warwick/modulus
pick one you cant go wrong

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yea a little pricey for me though

Look around the net for basses in your price range, read reviews, maybe find sound clips (its possible!), then go to your local guitar shop, and order it in, unless you come across a bass that you like in the shop.

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cant afford warwick?
rockbass
ibanez
ltd
fender

FUCKING AVOID PEAVY

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our local guitar store doesnt have shit and they wont let you order from their catalogs

well they can go fuck themselves
find a guitar center or sam ash...or...www.musiciansfriend.com
but i really reccomend playing something before you buy it or you might end up with something like a b.c. rich plat mockingbird sitting in the corner collecting dust...wishing it was my spector.....

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thats not going to happen im not a fan of B.C. rich im thinking f maybe a Ibanez or cheapWarwick

good learn from my mistakes

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What happened you get one or something?

I ordered one 2 years ago because it looked cool, and it was decent until I played anything else. haha
then I got my spector
the end

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Thats happened to many of people the old its looks cool so it must sound good.Any ways im playing on a fucking squire right now and it is such shit.I deserve a way better bass.

squire pbass?
come with a 38 watt 1x10 amp?
thats what I started with, its almost unplayable now but i got some good tunes out of it, you could probably just adjust the bridge...maybe get good strings and new pickups and it could be the best bass you ever own
...seriously

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I think it funny how im playing such heavy shit on this crap bass

a p5? i got one of those its ok. but im gonna fix it up soon and its gonna sound really nice. sence the school gives me money to fix it up

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what school do you go to?
my schools pretty awesome but i go to an art school so its constant battery on my limitations.
I sure wish my school gave me money to fix shit.
they do give pretty good rec letters though for colleges and almost everyone that applies there gets into berklee

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WOAH!!

Some Peavey's arent too bad actually, obviously the high-end pricey boutique ones.

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Yea the Peavey Cirrus' are great. I would take an entry level Peavey bass over a Squire anyday.

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well duh,
But for the price of a millenium you could almost get a rockbass.
and he was talking low priced so I wasnt including the cirrus, I love the cirrus

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In the very near future, I will be buying a 6 string bass
Im planning to buy a bass that Will be one of, if not the last bass I will ever need.
I am willing to go about as high as 2000 dollars US

I think ive got it narrowed down to 2 basses

spector euro lx6
custom gecko

the gecko would be a solid koa body with a walnut laminate top. Have a bolt-on wenge neck with an ebony fingerboayd. seymore duncan asb2 pickups. an aguilar obp-3 onboard preamp, and chrome hardware. added all up this would cost me about 1700 US(I have never played a gecko)

The spector is a gloss grey/blue flamed rock maple body. A neck through body. The neck has dual tuss rods and I believe is also made of rock maple. It has 2 emg-dc pickups and a spector tone pump electronics system. It also has gold hardware and comes with a spector case which all together would cost me about 2000 US(I have played this and really love it)

Im not sure which one to get, Im pretty much asking all the tech guys out there which one of these will last me the longest with the fewest problems if any at all.
Or, since I am open to anyones input, if I should go with something completely different. Any helpfull feedback is appreciated.
Thanks

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Should i order a bass online?I mean i dont want to order an expenisve bass and not like the sound.

Also what are some good sites to order some left handed bass(perferabably a 5 string Sphecter/WarWick)

whats a sphecter
spector+schecter?

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you know what im talkig about.well anyways im going to guitar center for the first time this weekend.Not to buy anything but to find what kind of bass im going to get in the future.

G-center is like chuky cheez for metalheads

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I found this really good site for lefthanded basses. https://www.shopspanish.com/~wwwsout/

conklin GTBD-7
any good?
scale of one to ten, the thing on musicians friend sounded all good on reviews except for one guy who says it spontaneously combusts.
its cheaper than the tobias killer b which is nice, but i dunno about quality.

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That's fuckin' funny!

hey Req! My advice is to get yourself a mexican fender. Real alder body (unlike the Agathis shit Squier's are made of) and there are tons of aftermarket parts for Fenders so you can customize it. Even if it winds up not being your dream bass it will always be a reliable backup. Don't go online for a guitar - buy one you can play. You need to know if a Mexican or a Mexicant made your bass that day.

I have a four string warmoth wenge wood jazz neck with an ebony fretboard and jumbo frets. I've been playing it for about 10 years and it has never needed ANY work done to it in that time. It's a solid, fast playing neck with great tone and the tung oil finish feels great.

Ask Valtiel about a gecko.

Still, if you loved that Spector...

just get a decent midrange ibanez. how expensive does a bass really need to be anyway? its metal, nobody's really gonna pay attention to the quality of the tone of the bass.

you deserve to die
try necrophagist, cannibal corpse, nuclear fucking rabbit
Your probably a guitarist
stay the fuck out of our forum you ignorant shit.

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Ok ok calm down Fido, he just needs some reeducation. That was a pretty dumb comment Powerface, I would say that most bass players will pay attention to what the bass sounds like regardless of the genre. So it does matter.

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OK Im buying a tube amp (fender bassman300 pro)
I also want to buy enough tubes to replace everything atleast once.
My question is...When your shopping for them, does sextet mean that your buying 6 of em, or is that some kind of code for a specific model?
also, it uses 6 6550 tubes and 2 12Ax7's
what are some good quality brands of those type?

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I got an Ibanez SR405 used for $250. Thing works like a charm. Its an active bass with two soapbar pickups, 3-band EQ and pickup blend. Thing works great. Action is great, very good quality materials, awesome stock bass altogether! I wouldn't change anything about it. It has replaced my 60's Jazz Bass I bought for $660. My jazz sounded okay for awhile, it really depends what kind of pickups are in the jazz bass and what sound you are trying to achieve. Just keep trying out as many five string basses as you can and try to keep an open mind. That's what I did and how I fell in love with my new Ibanez!

ibanez are very good quality for there price

while we're talking ibanez
I JUST GOT A SR506!!!
im in love with this thing, its only 600 us and its better quality than some high dollar warwicks and most spectors.
I also picked up the boss odb3 and ceb(overdrive and chorus) which goes amazing with the axe
I recomend this bass

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what happened to you getting a 6 string or is that a 6 string

its a 6 string
it barely fits in my wall hanger thing

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Pics now you fucker

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...E/ibanez003.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...E/ibanez002.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...E/ibanez001.jpg
there it r
oh... I got new pedals too.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...HATE/pedals.jpg

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Man nice fucking shit . how much did all of that cost

about 850, hopefully ill be getting my tube amp within the next couple of weeks

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Not bad i bet your enjoying it. Hell i know i would be

I had the earlier version of that Ibanez in a five string and it totally blew, I hope they fixed the issues (cheap body wood, shitty pickups, shittier electronics) on those newer ones.

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well, mine sounds great, I dont know about the wiring and shit, but it does have bartolini mlk1's and the body is bubinga with a wenge neck.

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I found a Peavey Cirrus five at the local guitar store. Are these really great basses? I mean I liked the tone and it was light as hell..If I got it would it last a while?

yes

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Most peaveys last a very long time. A friend of mine has had his for around five years and it still sounds good

The body is Mahagony actually.

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Bubinga looks like this - http://www.sarasotarockers.com/wood...ges/bubinga.jpg

Congrats on the new bass.

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ahh thanks...I thought it looked a little too red.
the neck is half bubinga though.
I mustve just red the specs wrong

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I'm planning on buying a bass kinda soon and wanted to know if anybody knows of a 4 string bass that has a 35" scale length with P and/or J pickups? Could you name a brand and the specific model if you know it?
Thanks in advance for any help.

do you know how many thousands of basses have those specs?
fender or ibanez maybe?

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Maybe I'm not searching hard enough but I havent found any with those specs yet. Ibanez has a few 4 stringers with a 35"scale length, but they dont have passive P and/or J pickups. I havent really seen alot, but I'll try to research more later. But once again could you or anyone possibly tell be a brand and/or model of bass that is still in production that has all or most these specs: 35 inch scale length, 4 strings, p and/or j passive pickups and possibly passive electronics?

dude, there is like over 5000 basses with those specs, be more specific

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Alright. Im looking for a decent quality bass that is no more than $700 with those specs. I really dont know what else to say to be more specific. Basically i'll look at any bass with these specs:
-4 strings
-passive electronics
-P and J pickup config (J in the bridge, P in the neck or middle)- the brand doesnt matter since im gonna switch em out
-35" scale length
-24 frets
I play metal and rock mainly, ocassionally i like to play jazz and mellower stuff.

Honestly man, i dont know what else i can say to be more specific. Im looking for potential buys. As long as they have those specs its cool. If you could point me in the right direction I'll be happy.
Also, if there are so many basses with those specs could you please post a link to some of them or tell me the model name or company that makes them? Once again ANY decent quality bass will do as long as they have the specs i mentioned. I dont mind if its a long list. I personally cant find any. Ive checked Ibanez, Fender, Spector and some other ones and none of them have the specs i just mentioned. Thanks.

Dude, did you read? 35" SCALE. Fender does not make a single bass with a 35" scale, Ibanez only makes a few, the BTB series.

Some of the mid priced Spectors have a 35" scale, but I think thats only on the 5-6 string models. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is one of the 4 string Ibanez BTB's.

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oh, potential buys...
I thought you were trying to put a name on a bass you had seen before but couldnt remember which.
okay, 700 is a good range. Take into consideration that scale hardly matters at all, just look for something with a neck made of very hard wood, 24 frets, comfortable, and not too heavy. You can get some really nice fenders for that price. You may even be able to find a spector euro bolt on, or a warwick corvette. Theres a huge variety of basses out there that fit those descriptione, just get out to a guitar store(Guitar center or Sam ash) and shop around.

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stop being such an arrogant fucking cunt. Your smart, and you know your shit. Congratulations, shut the fuck up.

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Knowing my shit and reading the guys post are two different things. Scale length is really important and I dont want this guy to get any misinformation.

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I wasnt relating the two, I did read the thread, dont fucking throw smart ass comments because someone doesnt know everything about a certain manufacturer. your really helpful most of the time, but I cant stand that cocky bullshit, you sound like a fucking lead vocalist.

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It wasnt smart assed, you just kept repeating that "thousands of basses have those specs" when they in fact dont. If you dont know something, dont pretend like you do because then someone gets the wrong information and we have a problem that could have easily been avoided.

PS - Lead vocalists are people too.

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Dude, just SHUT THE FUCK UP - since you dont know shit what your talking about, go study before you open up. No one cares to hear what you think

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Yea...I was looking at the Ibanez BTB series. They have 2 models with the specs i posted. And i think the SRX390 has it too. The scale is kinda important to me since i would like to downtune as well as playing in standard. Pretty much those are the only ones i could find. As soon as finals are over, i'll get to trying out those basses.
On a side note,i dont think Valtiel was trying to be a "smart ass", he's just trying to help me out, man. Anyway, if anyone can find any other basses with most or all of those specs, post it here. Thanks guys.

Sorry if I'm in the wrong thread, but I'm pretty new to the bass guitar forums. I thinking about buying myself a bass and start playing. I want to buy a 5-string, since my new Schecter is a 7-string and I want to be able to play the same shit on the bass. I'm currently looking at the Yamaha RBX375 (think it's called so) and since I'm new, I wonder if any of you guys have any opinions on it. And does anybody know if the pickups are active? It says on homepage ''High output pickups'' and ''two active tone controls''. Help?

yep active, very decent bass for the price range.

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