History of Electric Bass Guitars

Rock n’ roll would be unthinkable without the steady beat of electric bass guitars. This instrument is yet another invention by electric guitar pioneer Leo Fender. Fender’s Precision bass guitar was introduced in 1951 as an answer to the huge, bulky and hard to maneuver double bass.

The Precision bass had an ash body, a maple neck and four strings tuned to EADG like the upright double bass, but otherwise it looked like a guitar. The design lasted until about 1957 when the Precision was redesigned more along the lines of the Stratocaster electric guitar and a two section pickup was installed for a clearer sound. In 1960, the Precision, which was the electric bass of choice for many studio musicians, was joined by the Jazz bass, which is a bit larger than the Precision. Though it has a better tonal quality, it’s considered a little harder to play. The Precision remains popular to this day. If a music lover reads the words “fender bass” on liner notes, it’s almost certainly a Precision.

Gibson introduced their EBI electric bass guitars in 1953. The EBI’s violin shaped body was copied by Hofner in the early 1960s. Among the aficionados of the Hofner violin bass was Paul McCartney. Gibson introduced the EB3 bass in 1960. Other makers of electric bass guitars are Alembic, whose adherents included the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac. The Alembic guitars are made of exotic woods like peroba and can have brass and gold plated fittings and LEDs. Rickenbacker is another manufacturer of electric bass guitars. The company was founded by Adolph Rickenbacker, who’d made electric guitars as far back as the 1930s and started producing the 4000 series of electric bass guitars in the 1950s. The 4001 model took an entire decade after that to appear.

Notable bass players include Carol Kaye, a rare, female bassist who played on the Beach Boy’s “Good Vibrations” and other hits, Duck Dunn, who played with Booker T and the MGs, and James Jamerson, a Motown sessions musician who played regularly with the Four Tops.