I totally get the passive thing. I prefer passive sound as well. I have a straight passive, a passive/active, and an active. I hardly ever touch the active. It never made sense to me to have a bunch of controls on your bass to modify tone, then have pedals to modify tone, then run to an amp with controls to modify tone. I just start with something I like the natural, unamplified sound of and go from there. BTW, I have an Ibanez SR655, an Ibanez SR 1805 premium, and a Yamaha BB435.
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Cool!
The one I currently have is the Ibanez Gio SR190 - I tried to find out the exact model before but I finally found the starter set that we bought together with a model number for the bass. From what I’ve gathered this bass is only available as a starter pack.
I am currently going through the shop page again comparing prices and so on. I think I will reduce my budget for this purchase down to 300-600. Actually thinking about just going with one of the gear videos again now. On the other hand I don’t have to rush it and it will be a good experience and I will feel more connected to the bass that has chosen me 
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Hi @juli0r,
Are you guys still in lockdown or are you able to get into your music shop to check out the gear?
Cheers Brian
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It’s a lot to read but I also don’t like to type it again:
no hard feelings though. Thanks for engaging.
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Happy bass hunting 
A big thing to remember IMHO is go to the stores open minded and be willing to try as many basses as you can.
I went specifically to buy a Yamaha after much reading/research and ended up having to choose between an Ibanez and a Fender Mustang 
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It gives you more tonal control on the bass.
If you are only using a bass and an amp, and plan to EQ on the amp, then this is no big deal (though I find it much more convenient to do on the bass.)
If you only use light effects and preamps, this is no big deal (though still convenient to have on the bass).
If you plan to use a lot of effects, it is a big deal. At that point, the EQ on the bass controls the tone of the bass before effects. Preamps in your effects chain will EQ the wet, effected sound, including all the harmonics and so on added by some of the effects. And the amp EQ is then post everything, and useful for shaping sound to the room.
There’s a lot of reason to tweak EQ all the time, too. For example, slap (and sometimes pick as well) sound much better with some mid scoop at the instrument end of the chain.
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I don’t want to interrupt @juli0r 's thread as this is about helping him choose a bass. Just to say your post @peterhuppertz was great, with specific examples of the trade-offs between kit. I’m not in the market for anything new at present, but am enjoying learning what the options are when I do come to buy. Posts sign-posting what to consider, but not forcing you down a route, are great.
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Thanks for the information @howard. I felt a bit let down that this question wasn’t really answered until now so thank you.
Seems to be my decision was right though.
I think I’ll start with a passive. I experiment with the EQ settings on my amp a bit and know to a certain degree what different sound my different pickups produce and I don’t even want to think about effect pedals yet. Sound shaping through effects isn’t really my jam.
The only thing I noticed while staying up waaaay too late for online shopping was the following: At least in my adjusted price range the music store does not have 24 frets basses and I feel like that’s one thing that could/would be nice to have.
Those are the two:
PRS SE Kestrel Tri-Color Sunburst
PRS SE Kingfisher Bass Natural
Both very nice but at the upper end of my initial budget and I think that’s a bit too much for now. As said 24 frets sounds nice but at the same time I feel like I shouldn’t make this a requirement in order to not limit myself
Yes. I mentioned somewhere else that I don’t intend to go for certain brands or something so I agree.
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In your price range for an excellent active/passive bass I would recommend checking out the Yamaha BB734A.
Jack Bates demoing one playing his dad’s song at the start 
It’s active/passive in case you decide you want active later. Otherwise you could go with the BB434, which is very similar and passive only.
I’d recommend my bass as well (TRBX604) but there is no passive-only model.
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Thanks.
As I already said I don’t completely exclude the hybrids (as I will call them from now on) only the active only. Those are completely out.
At the same time what he demonstrated in the video and the sound change threw me off in the same way active basses usually do. I know I can just leave it on passive but to me it feels wrong to buy “Item with 5 features” and then use 2. If you get what I’m trying to say.
I’m gonna hit the shower and then the store! 
Still not sure about which store to go to for this. I should probably as someone else already mentioned go to both.
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I would play as many basses as you can.
Bear in mind there was some serious chorus and other effects going on there. Here’s a cleaner sample:
My bass doesn’t really sound much different active or passive, with tone/EQ in roughly the same spots. It’s only after EQing that it changes much.
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Hi @howard,
I’d definitely be looking at the Yamaha range.
Good build quality and great finish.
Cheers Brian
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Good luck with this!
Don’t get too hung up on this active/passive thing! There is more to a bass than that! Try as many as you can to get a “feel” for them!
My favorite bass is a Yamaha and I “hate” that it is active only, but everything else about it is just so awesome! Also, I mostly don’t touch the EQ on the bass, or the fact that it has piezo pickups in the bridge as well, but I might get into situations where this will be super-handy. Also, I never expect to be “embarrassed” by a flat battery scenario, as I always carry a spare in my gigbag 
Anyway, have an open mind and, above all, enjoy the testing of all these basses! If the store you linked to has all these basses that they show online also in the shop, then I am sure they can set you up with something you like and that lies within your budget!!
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Hey @joergkutter,
My first bass was a Yamaha RBX 200 I bought in 1989,
And I think it still is a very nice versatile and solid bass.
I love playing it.
Cheers Brian
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AFAIK they do.
It’s the big not really personal shop in town but it just has more to chose from compared to the small local store I would like to support.
I get what you are saying but I still think a full active is not for me.
Knowing my luck I go to the store and find a bass I really like and find out it’s active only afterwards
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Well, you can always go there to test a few basses and buy one in a local store you want to support 
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Yeah… I saw that the big store is open again but after checking more thoroughly to see where I have to go I noticed that the store is open again but E-Guitars and E-Bass sections are still restricted. They don’t go into detail but since the travel time to there for me is more than 1h I just go to the closer local store.
Maybe even better in order to not be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices.
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I hope there’s more choice than in the “small” stores around my place. It’s mostly Fender (I really don’t like their headstock) or entry-level basses. And don’t expect much 5-strings at all 
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@juli0r I’ve just went 24, it makes it so easy to play up to the 21st fret even if you don’t play to the 24th. I’ve done the first half of b2b on a P and I wish I had started on this Ibanez. I also was not keen on an active bass, mine however has passive pups and if I find that I dont like the active part. SNIP it will go.
Jamie
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Whole lot of great Basses that come with active EQ, not active pick ups, so to say you don’t want them just closes the door on a bunch of great Basses to you.
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