Are the Boden basses active or passive?

Actually, they are both. The pickups found on our Original and Prog series basses are passive, but the electronics in the preamps are active. The preamp can be bypassed by pulling up the master volume control for completely passive operation. In passive mode, our basses don't draw current as the battery is disengaged. While in active mode, current will be drawn as long as a cable is inserted in the input jack. Be sure to unplug the cable or switch to passive mode when your bass is not in use to prolong battery life!