Yes there are passive USTs. I used to use a Fishman that I got sometime in the Nineties.
All passive piezos (UST or SBT) will have impedance challenges, so it is important to make sure they see a high impedance input.
USTs tend to have more piezo quack (likely due to their location) and if there is an impedance mismatch, it can sound pretty bad.
It seems like the trend for awhile has been to supply active (with an internal preamp/buffer) USTs in factory guitars. I imagine this is mostly to ensure a good out of (shipping) box experience.
Edit: I took a quick look and to my surprise, most USTs seem to have gone active with internal preamp. I haven't been keeping up with them as I made the decision a decade ago to keep them out of my guitars.
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-Gordon
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Last edited by Gordon Currie; 11-24-2020 at 05:15 PM.
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