In 1959 a glued-on rosewood fingerboard featuring "clay"-style dot position markers replaced the 1-piece maple neck and remained standard until 1966/67, when the CBS-owned Fender companies began to offer a separate, laminated maple fingerboard capped on a maple neck. However, Fender never emphasized this, as the Seth Lover patent on the humbucking pickup had not yet expired. At the same time the original single-coil pickup was replaced by the Precision split-coil design with staggered pole pieces, connected in a humbucking mode. A redesigned pickguard was made of a single layer of gold-anodized aluminium with 10 screw holes. In 1957 the headstock and pickguard were redesigned to resemble the Stratocaster, with a rounder neck heel replacing the original square shape. The 1954 release of the Stratocaster with its contoured edges for comfort, was inspired by the Precision bass, which in kind, also received the same style body contours. The original Precision Bass of 1951 shared several of its design features with the six-string Telecaster guitar, the main difference being its double cutaway body. session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew.Ī Patent Sketch for The Original Fender Precision Bass Design By the end of the 1950's the "P-Bass" was finally gaining acceptance with both rock 'n roll and country bassists, as well as guitarists who would double on the instrument most notable, was Carol Kaye, a jazz guitarist, who as a bassist became best-known for her work as part of the consortium of L.A. By 1954 bassists Henry and Montgomery were both appearing in Fender's advertising. Monk Montgomery became the second jazz player to popularize the "Fender Bass" first, while playing with Lionel Hampton and then with his brother, guitarist Wes Montgomery. Fender also delivered an early Precision to Los Angeles session bassist and arranger Shifty Henry. It was reputed that Black became so frustrated over his initial inability to get used to playing it, he angrily threw it on the floor. It was vibraphonist/drummer Lionel Hampton's band that was among the first to incorporate the new instrument, with subsequent help by the endorsement of Elvis Presley's bass-player Bill Black, who was beginning to use a Precision Bass during the filming of Jailhouse Rock. After initial resistance from double-bass players, the electric bass guitar became increasingly dominant and transformed the beat and rhythm of pop music from jump blues and swing to rhythm and blues, rock, soul and funk.Īcceptance of the electric bass was initially slow, as upright bassists looked at this new instrument with similar contempt, as guitar players did with its solid-body sibling, the Telecaster. The electric bass, however, lacks the distinctive acoustic qualities of the double bass, offering a more solid, harder-edged sound with more sustain. The name "Precision" came from the use of frets to play in tune more easily than on the fretless fingerboard of the double bass. The Precision Bass was designed to overcome these problems. It is also hard to hear in large bands or those that use amplified instruments, and it requires specialized skills to play that are distinct from those required to play the guitar. The double bass, as a very large instrument, is often regarded as physically cumbersome and difficult to transport compared with smaller instruments. It was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use, remaining among the best-selling and most-imitated electric basses with considerable effect on the sound of popular music. Its prototype, designed by Leo Fender in 1950, was brought to market in 1951. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard. The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to " P-Bass") is a model of electric bass manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Various shades of white, blue, red, green, etc. One split-coil humbucker and one humbucking Jazz Bass pickup (1995-2009) One split-coil humbucker and one Jazz Bass single-coil ("PJ" configuration) Usually one two-piece split-coil humbucker (1957–present) One single-coil (1951–1957, occasional reissues)
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