active pickups

[tcook]

I just bought a Washburn T24 bass. Not too bad for a budget bass really.
The sales guy ( a friend of mine) told me it had active pickups....it does not.
I can take it back for a refund if I want. The only thing he has to trade it in for was made in China, and I'm sort of anti-China. Well, more than sort of, but that's another story. Anyway, I can get a Washburn force4 that does have active pickups, but it would cost me $150 more. They basically play the same, so I would just be doing this for the pickups. My question is, are they worth it? Would I really get that much better of a tone?

[gamma_function]

dont be too hung up on the "made in china thing" with the budget lines of basses. most are made in china. the t24's are supposedly vietnamese, but the one i purchased (and immediately returned due to abhorently poor quality) was labeled "made in china".

active electronics seem like a bit of a sham on the cheaper instruments as the circuitry is usually very low quality and poor sounding. if you want active in an originally passive bass, upgrade to an aftermarket preamp harness by bartolini, j-retro, emg, seymour duncan, or aero.

I would play both basses side by side thourgh the same amp (do not change the amp settings when you change basses!!!). use all the knobs, one at a time, backwards and forwards and listen for ANY changes in tone. in the price range you are talking, i would buy a bass more on the feel of the instrument, how good it sounds acoustically and how easy it is to play compared to others. dont be afraid to shop around to other stores (if you can) and dont be afriad to play some instruments at slightly higher and much higher price ranges. this will give you a feel for (hopefully) higher quality instruments and what they have that cheaper ones dont. sometimes (particularly toward the end of the month) salesmen will be willing to negotiate on the sale price of the instrument, especially if it has been a slow month for sales -- like february, not july. this can be very useful if there is one instrument that's say $50 over your price range that you have your eye on.

the force 4 bass seemed (i havent checked the reviews on it in a couple of months) to be getting a LOT of positive feedback. people really seem to love that bass. me, i'm not a washburn fan, especially after such a bad impression off of the t24 i received.