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| Fender Precision Bass | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1951–present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Alder Ash Poplar Basswood |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Maple Rosewood Pau Ferro Ebony |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | One single-coil (1951–1957, occasional reissues) Usually one two-piece split-coil humbucker (1957–present) One split-coil humbucker and one Jazz Bass single-coil ("PJ" configuration) One split-coil humbucker and one humbucking Jazz Bass pickup (1995-2009) |
| Colors available | |
| Various 2- or 3-color sunbursts Shades of blonde Various shades of white, blue, red, green, etc. | |
The Fender Precision Bass (or "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.[1]
Its prototype, designed by Leo Fender in 1950, was brought to market in 1951.[2] It was the first electric bass guitar to earn widespread attention and use, remaining among the best-selling and most-imitated electric bass guitars with considerable effect on the sound of popular music. Leo Fender designed the Precision bass for big band guitarists. Kansas City–based Roy Johnson of Lionel Hampton's big band was the first bassist to use the Precision in a concert setting. Music critic Leonard Feather wrote about this new development in Down Beat magazine, expressing surprise at hearing bass sounds from a guitar. Hampton soon replaced Johnson with bassist Monk Montgomery (Wes Montgomery's brother) who was depicted in a sketch next to the Precision bass models inside Fender's printed catalog in 1957–58. Montgomery helped to popularize the Precision during Hampton's European tour of 1953, despite some sour responses from veteran double bass players who were quoted in Melody Maker saying the new electric bass was just "a weak note amplified" or "an amplified plink-plonk."[3]
- ^ "Shop Fender | Electric Guitars, Acoustics, Bass, Amps & More". Shop.fender.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
- ^ Wheeler, Tom, American Guitars: An Illustrated History, interview with Leo Fender, Harper Perennial, NY 1992
- ^ Bacon, Tony; Moorhouse, Barry (1995). The Bass Book. Hal Leonard. p. 21. ISBN 9780879303686.