Pickups are electronic devices for detecting sounds, vibration, etc.; an example is the one fitted to an electric guitar or record player. Pickups are like electromagnetic components that convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals. Active pickups and passive pickups are two types of pickups. Active pickups can be regarded as modern or newer versions of pickups. They use small magnetic for the conversion of string vibrations into different sound signals. Aside from this, active pickups are equipped with circuits and some other features that can be used in modifying the sound.
Passive pickups, on the other hand, are traditional or older types of pickups. They make use of magnetic just like active pickups to convert mechanical vibrations into sound signals, but this time around, passive pickups use bigger magnetic compared to active pickups. Active pickups give the player the chance to have control and make some effects with the instrument, but this is not so with passive pickups