Active or Passive Pickups?

kg0088

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If I want to have pickups on my ukulele, which are better, active or passive pickups? Are there any differences in the sound they make? Thanks.
 
I actualy prefer passive pickups and then a really good preamp such as a paracoustic DI When you get onboard electronics they tends not to be able to tweek the sound as well as such an offboard unit since they are limited insize and weight...offboard they can use much better and complicated circuitry and offer much more options.
 
active pickups means they need electrical current to work Not all need batteries such as the mi-si system and it does not mean they have eq and volume and tone. As long as current is needed to make the pickup work it is active Passive means no external power is needed for the pickup or transducer to provide some electrical output.
 
I also prefer passive because it means you don't have that extra element to break down, there are no extraneous wires to cause buzzing if they touch the wood, you don't have to worry about batteries and changing them, and the uke weighs a little less. Besides, the amp should do the sound-shaping work.
 
I prefer the passive setup as well, especially when you have several ukes that you want to be able to plug in. You spend less on pickups, and have one external preamp to dial it in.
 
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