January 12th, 2012 9:34 pm
In this material we take a look at the history of the electric bass guitar. When talking with regards to bass history the basi person that humans normally think of is Leo Fender. He is credited with introducing the world to the Precision bass in 1951. The bass was called a Precision bass because of the accuracy of the notes. Players were competent to play notes that were perfectly in tune because of the presence of frets on the electric bass guitar. To galore people, this was the firstborn real electric bass. This bass was mass-produced and very recognizable when it was formulated by Fender and up to this day it still is.
But while we give Leo Fender his dues for creating the progressed electric bass, it will have to be said that way before 1951 there were at least five other prototypes that resembled the design of today’s electric bass guitar. In talking in regards to the history of the bass guitar we will have to talk in regards to the double bass. In fact, today’s bass is a direct descendant of the double bass, dating way back to the 17th century. Although it was genuinely in the 20th century that one with a more practical design was created.
When talking in regards to bass guitar history mention will have to be made of Lloyd Loar, known for designing the introductory electric double bass in the 1920s while working for Gibson. The bass employed an electro-static pickup but there was no practical way of hearing it play. Unfortunately, bass amplification still had a long way to go.
The evolution of the bass guitar now takes us to the early 1930s when Paul Tutmarc built a more practical bass in terms of size. The initial one came with a pickup and was the size of a cello but was too heavy, so the designed was changed to that of a guitar. This 42 inches long solid body bass was made of black walnut and came with piano strings and a pickup.
A few years later, in the mid 1930s, conventional firms like Lyon & Healy, Rickenbacker and Gibson begun marketing basses that, though less bulkier than the standard double bass, were still tall, unfretted and upright.
Around 1940 was the introductory time a big distributor handled the electric bass. The distributor was L.D.Heater Music Co. in Portland Oregon, and the basses were fabricated by Paul Tutmarc. This was a fretted instrument that was no longer to be played upright, but horizontal. It came with a pickup and was much littler than earlier versions.
It was only then that Leo Fender came up with the progressed electric bass. As said at the beginning of our discussion on bass guitar history, it was the year 1951. In the year 1957 the pickguard and headstock were redesigned and the pickup was changed to a split pickup. This took us to the year 1960 when the Jazz bass was designed. Unlike the Precision bass, it came with two discerned pickups. The innovative bass guitar became very popular.
The initial 6 string bass was invented in 1959 by Danelecto and the initial 5 string in 1964 by Fender. The original fretless was devised in 1965 by Ampeg, and in 1968 an 8 string bass by Hagstroem. Carl Thompson is credited with building the introductory fretless 6 string bass in 1978.
Many developments have taken place since then. For instance, Ned Steinberger introduced a headless bass in 1979. In 1987, the Guild Guitar Corporation launched the fretless Ashbory bass. This bass used silicone rubber strings and a piezoelectric pickup to achieve a “double bass” sound. The bass was very short, only 18 inches long.
Throughout the years, pickups have also evolved. In addition to single coil pickups, you now have various others such as humbuckers, hybrid pickups, passive and active pickups. These seem to be capable of fabricating each tone imaginable, from pure signals to the grittiest dirt sounds.
The electric bass seems to have become more frequent today than ever before. For instance, when someone refers to a bass it’s more mutual to think of the electric bass than the upright acoustic.
Tags: bass guitar history, bass history, history of the bass guitar