Vintage Fender Basses

Owning a vintage Fender bass is like owning a piece of musical history. Much like Les Paul invented the first electric guitar, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation created the very first fretted electric bass. This 1951 innovation enabled both musical accuracy and portability for bassists. Vintage Fender basses come in two varieties: Precision and Jazz.

Electric bass: an exciting innovation

Playing the upright bass can be tricky. A bassist must memorize every physical note placement, and the four long strings can only be played in tune with the utmost precision, making it nearly impossible to play with microtonal accuracy. Fender's electric bass was quite an exciting development for upright bassists, because of an innovation called "frets." Also found on electric guitars, these metal bars ensure that a player has direct access to the proper note. Now, an electric bassist only has to worry about tuning up at the beginning of a set.

The Precision

Because of the increased accuracy that these new frets provided, Fender called its first electric bass the Precision. The solid-body instrument was only 1/6 the size of a bulky upright bass. Travelling musicians were understandably excited about this development. Although the first Precision features single-coil pickups, later models have split-coil pickups that create a more compelling sound.

The Jazz

Fender's second contribution to electric bass history is the Jazz. This model features a tapered neck, which some bassists prefer for ease of fingering. The Jazz also improves upon the Precision with a dual pickup, which not only improves the bass sound but offers a greater variety of sonic possibilities.

To own a vintage Fender bass is to have a piece of musical history in one's hands. Best of all, these instruments still sound great 60 years after their creation.