History of the Fender Electric Bass Guitar

The Fender bass guitar is an influential instrument that is heard in many different genres of music.

The need for a lightweight bass guitar

The Fender bass guitar was developed in response to a growing need to replace the upright double bass. The upright double bass was infamous for being difficult to tune as well as for its heavy and unwieldy body, which made the instrument difficult to transport. Instead, musicians sought an instrument that could deliver the same low-end sound in combination with a lighter and less cumbersome body.

Creation of the Fender bass

The first model of Fender bass guitar was the Precision style. Constructed by Leo Fender in 1950, these basses became commercially available in 1951 and were the first mass-produced bass guitar to be marketed worldwide. Early models of the Fender Precision bass were nearly identical to the Telecaster model of Fender electric guitar.

Popularization of the Fender bass

The Fender bass received extensive free advertisement when bassist Bill Black utilized this instrument during the filming of the motion picture "Jailhouse Rock". Black was the first bassist to use the Fender bass guitar in mainstream music; he later used it in a number of recordings by Elvis Presley.

Growth and Development

Over time the Fender bass guitar was diversified into a wide number of product lines, each of which utilized divergent construction methods, woods, electric pickups and strings. Despite the differences in these product lines, all Fender bass guitars are visually similar in design and sound.

The Fender bass guitar was one of the first models of bass guitar ever developed. Today, it continues growing in popularity and is a staple of nearly every musical genre since 1951.