History and Evolution of the Electric Bass

8/11/2019 History and Evolution of the Electric Bass

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The unnoticed hero 1

The electric bass: The Unnoticed Hero

Giancarlo Fernando Gonzalez Santiago

Inter- American University Metro Campus


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The electric bass evolution started with the introduction of electronics and amplification1.

It must have been a nightmare to play in a big band or a wind ensemble with barely any

audible reference2. In this ever-evolving world of music there are certain things that pass

as unnoticed like us bass players and our history3.

1In the United States2Many bass players say3Garry Willis from tribal tech


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This is the journey in history of one of the most versatile and diverse instrument that has

found its space in different genders and venues in music. The Electric Bass


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Music has different frequencies, we could talk about all the frequency ranges and all the

frequency numbers but lets make it simple there are three types of frequencies: high, mid

and low. Lets say a trumpet makes the high frequencies, the guitar makes the mid and the

bass guitar make the low frequencies this is how music works. Different frequencies

make the music sound as it sound.

In the next few pages we will be taking a look back in the history of how the bass guitar

came to be and why the bass players are the unnoticed heroes.


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In the beginning of the 1500s there was the viola da gambathe predecessor to the double

bass. The viola da gamba is not a fretted cello as most people confuse it with. It may look

like one, but a cello has 4 strings and a viol usually has 6, like a guitar, or even 7. In

addition, the viol's frets aren't permanently set, like those of a guitar, but are instead made

of gut tied onto the neck, like those of a lute, and are therefore movable. Viols are bowed,

like cellos, but the bow is held differently-not overhand, as is a violin or cello bow, but

underhand, like a pencil or chopsticks. In the course of the next century the viola da

gamba evolved to the contrabass or better known as the double bass. The double bass

was a 4-string instrument with the lowest register in the stringed department. It was used

with a bow made of horse hair tied at both ends.

With jazz emerging in the 1920s players developed a plucking technique so they could

hear better and the sound that the bass resembled was the one of a tuba. Later the walking

bass came to surface4.

The bass revolution started 1930s with the introductionof electronics and amplification,

were Regal and the electro bass- viol by Rickenbacker introduced the first electric double

bass. Then Gibson took things a step forward with an electric bass guitar though still

played upright in was the first to have a magnetic pickup built in.

4Wellman Braud developed this technique


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But it wasnt untila traveling musician from Seattle called Paul H. Tutmarc felt sorry for

his bass player as his instrument was so big that once he put it in his car, there was only

room enough for him to drive. So the bass player always traveled alone. So the first

electric bass was invented from hand carved out of solid, soft white pine, the size of a

cello. To this instrument he fasten a friction tape pickup and voil the first electric bass

was created. This was on 1933. But he was unsatisfied with the weight and size of the

bass and created a solid body electric bass that was held horizontally instead of vertically

as everyone used to. Mr. Tutmarc sold his basses to touring musicians.

It wasnt until the 50s that a man named Leo fender bass innovator not inventor, began

to mass-produce the electric bass. Borrowing part from the fender telecaster guitar he set

out to build a contoured body, single coil bass and this is how the fender precision bass or

telebasswas born. It was Monk Montgomery from Lionel Hampton band that

popularized the electric bass specially the precision bass (Many bass player of the era

recognize the treat that this bass was going to be and gave it the name of the bastard

instrument) but Monk got the grip on it and the sound became the trademark of the band.

But his biggest claim to fame is being featured in a line of Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock

- "Shifty Henry said to Bugs for heaven's sake" - and for this track Presley's bass player

Bill Black also took to the Precision and rock 'n' roll had gained a new voice. Then

Gibson in 1953 joined the game with there versions of the electric bass called just the EB

and could be played horizontally as well as vertically.


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In 1956, Hofner released the violin bass that you may know as the beetle bass. Also in

1956 Danelectro released the very first 6 string bass. In 1957 Fender modified the

precision bass more and started to look like it looks know. Also Rickenbacker introduced

the 4000 bass, it was a rare and futuristic looking instrument. Gibson made bigger impact

in 1958 with its EB-2 bass, a thinline semi-hollow bodied instrument with real f-holes

and like the Electric Bass it initially had banjo-style tuners that projected backwards from

the headstock

In 1960 Fender introduced to the world the Jazz bass by that time know as the deluxe,

it was more playable and confortable than the precision bass of that time. It had more

resource be cause it had two pick ups. In 1961 Leo introduced the Fender VI that was a

six string baritone bass. In 1962, a man know as The Leo fender of Britain Jim Burns

invented the Burns TR2 this model was the fist electric bass with active electronics.

Alembic basses often take the credit for it but it was Jim Burns who first did it. In 1963

Gibson introduced the thunderbird bass, it was Gibson first attempt to rival the precision

bass, the jazz bass and the Rickenbacker 4000. In 1965 Leo Fender, This time his idea

was to create a 5-string bass, but was a bit extreme. Introduced in 1965 (same year that

Fender was sold to CBS), the V Bass was the first 5-string bass in the world, but this time

the concept was flawed. The bass had a short scale 29 ", single-cutaway body, 24 frets

and scale that was exclusive.


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Basically these were low-tuned an octave lower than normal, also known as a bass

baritone. As it was very successful manufacturing was interrupted in 1969. In 1970

Carvin guitars developed a system that you could order you instrument being a guitar or

bass via mail in catalogue. In 1980 they began customizing the instruments at the

customers need and desires. In 1971, Alembic was established and the instrument they

produced were high end or boutique in other word expensive as heck. In 1975,

bassist Anthony Jackson commissioned luthier Carl Thompson to build a 6 stringed bas

tuned BEADGC, Jackson said the bass guitar wasnt created to be a 4 stringed instrument

because it was derived from the electric guitar.

In 1976 other boutique instrument began to emerge such as spector guitars by Stuart

Spector and the Ns design by Ned Steinberguer, also in 1976 the Music Man Sting Ray

bass was introduced to the world. Having sold Fender to CBS Leo Fender was bound by

contract for 10 year to not create a competing brand so he silently developed the music

man. After the closures of the contract were no longer in effect Leo was voted president

of Music Man. In 1979 Leo Fender created the company G & L with the help of George

Fullerton. The G & L instruments are similar to classic Fenders and Musicman, but with

some innovations like the use of dual sensors with the ability to adjust each pole, active

circuitry, unique headstock, bridge and switches feature lags behind for each pickup. Leo

said that the G & L brand was the best instruments that he ever created.


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In 1982 Hans-Peter Wilfer (son of the founder of Framus Guitars) founded the Warwick

basses, a German company, which used the parts to build the first Framus instruments,

with the difference Wenge wood used in the arm and immortalized the brand for decades.

In 1984 the Warwick Streamer Stage launches line I, a low estremamente advanced. The

body of the Streamer was patented by Ned Steinberger, who was already used previously

by Spector. This fact led to a legal dispute between the two marks, as the headstock was

initially also a copy of Spector, without the tuning pegs bent (this explains why the lower

of the two brands look so much). The truss road cover read "licensed by Spector", but

disappeared when it came to be used the well-known symbol W.

In 1984, CBS decided to leave the business of musical instruments, and sold the Fender

and an investment group made up of officials, led by Bill Schultz, the president of Fender

Musical Instruments. The Fullerton factory was no longer part of the business and U.S.

production ended in February 1985. Later that year a new factory was established, the

Fender Corona, nearby, but for some time the "new" Fender Musical Instruments

Corporation (FMIC) practically entered the Japanese production tools. In fact, estimated

that up to 80% of the instruments sold in the U.S. between late 1984 and mid-1986 were

from Fender Japan.


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In 1986 was the year of Ibanez, who has released 4 full-blown series of low, low RBDX

Bass 4 and 5 string active bass with the Road with low scale "marking shark's tooth" and

similar to the headstock of the guitar Brand. The series on the SDGR (SoundGear) that

would be the most devoted of the brand with the launch of low with 4, 5 and 6 strings all

active and unusual series Headless Bass Axstar low and futuristic design.


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REFERENCES

http://www.angelfire.com/music/vdgsgny/page2.html

http://www.musicolog.com/violadagamba.asp#.UytYm61dXUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtdIbnEhJAI History of bass

http://www.jesseandersonblues.com/History%20of%20the%204%20String%20Bass%20

Guitar/

http://guitarvideochannel.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/its-electric-early-history-of-the-

electric-bass-part-1/

http://basshistory.blogspot.com/2012/01/bass-history.html

http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/the-history-of-the-electric-bass-part-one-the-

early-days-507234/

http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/the-history-of-the-electric-bass-part-two-beyond-

fender-531283


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http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/the-history-of-the-electric-bass-part-three-a-uk-

perspective-531916

http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/the-history-of-the-electric-bass-part-four-how-

many-strings-553839

http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/the-history-of-the-electric-bass-part-five-solid-

amplification-559998

Documents

History and Evolution of the Electric Bass