The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is an electric bass guitar model manufactured by Fender since 1951. The Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed, full scale bass equipped with a single pickup and a 20-fret maple neck. It produces a characteristically "deep and full-bodied sound."

Leo Fender designed the Precision Bass prototype in 1950 for big band bassists and it was brought to market the following year. Roy Johnson of Lionel Hampton's big band was among the first bassists to use the Precision Bass 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. Adoption by upright bass players was slow, however, and the Precision Bass did not find widespread success until the emergence of new styles of music like rock and roll and Motown, with the Precision Bass's guitar-like format allowing guitarists to easily transition to this new instrument. In 1957, Fender introduced several design changes to its bass, notably altering the headstock and pickguard to more closely resemble those of the popular Stratocaster, and switching to a split-coil humbucker pickup. Fender reissued the original Precision Bass design in 1968 as the Telecaster Bass.

The Precision Bass, as the first commercially successful electric bass, was a "landmark in the evolution of musical instruments", delivering "punch and presence while enabling a fleeter, guitar-like playability." Some historians consider the Precision Bass to have had a greater impact on popular music than Fender's widely-known Telecaster and Stratocaster electric guitars. Its companion bass amplifier, the Fender Bassman, also proved influential.

Fender chose a 34" scale length for the Precision Bass after much trial and error. Thirty-four inches proved long enough to achieve the resonance Fender wanted but it was short enough to avoid uncomfortably-wide fret spacing. Modern versions typically use a flatter 9.5" radius.

Pre-1957, strings were loaded through the body and over a bridge equipped with two pressed fiber saddles; post-1957, the strings were loaded at the bridge, which was later updated with four saddles made of steel. The bridge was initially equipped with a chrome cover with a foam insert to help mute the strings and prevent unwanted overtones and sustain. Players, however, often removed this cover to achieve a more cutting tone and Fender eventually stopped including them. The original model's pickguard covered much of the Precision Bass's body, including both horns. The later redesign was more Strat-like, covering less of the body but now with the bass's controls mounted directly onto it, as was a finger rest (or "tugbar") below the G string. Leo Fender was dissatisfied with the pickup's hum, however, and the pole piece placement meant the pickup generated strong attack transients that were hard on speakers. Fender solved the hum problem by splitting the pickup into two separate coils, which were wired out of phase with the magnets oriented with reverse polarities. The transient problem was solved by placing pole pieces on either side of each string, rather than under them, smoothing out the attack and improving tone and gain. Fender was not the first to explore the idea of a solidbody electric bass as a solution: Audiovox had released such a bass in 1935, but it sold poorly and most other companies pursuing the electrification of bass kept to an upright format. Only a transparent blonde finish was available upon release. Two artist signature models would later use the Telecaster Bass body style: the Mike Dirnt Precision Bass, using today's standard single split-coil pick-up, and the Sting Precision Bass, using a single coil pick-up as did the earliest design. In 1972, an updated version of 1968's Telecaster Bass was released; its noteworthy change was the switch to a large humbucker pickup designed by the inventor of the P.A.F., Seth Lover, who had joined Fender in 1967.

Artists

There are many artists known for using the Precision Bass Guitar. A few of the more notable artists include:

thumb|150px|[[Green Day's Mike Dirnt with his 1951-style signature Precision Bass]]

thumb|150px|[[Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy with his Signature Squier Precision Bass]]

thumb|[[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris of Iron Maiden playing his signature Fender Precision P Bass.]]

  • Guy Berryman of Coldplay
  • Bill Black (Elvis Presley and the Blue Moon Boys, Bill Black's Combo)
  • John Cale of the Velvet Underground
  • Peter Cetera of Chicago
  • Tommy Cogbill (session bassist with the Memphis Boys, notably played with Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Neil Diamond)
  • Mike Dirnt of Green Day
  • Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys
  • Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the M.G.'s (also a session musician for Stax Records and Stac Studio)
  • Tony Franklin
  • Emory Gordy, Jr. (session bassist, most notably worked with Elvis Presley and Gordy's wife Patty Loveless)
  • Steve Harris of Iron Maiden
  • James Jamerson (session musician for Motown Records) used a sunburst 1962 Precision Bass nicknamed the "Funk Machine" on most sessions during the mid-1960s and up until his death.
  • Carol Kaye (session musician, part of the Wrecking Crew) played Fender Precision on the majority of her sessions, but after 1978 her favorite electric bass was the Music Man StingRay.
  • Mike Leech (session musician with the Memphis Boys, notably played with Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson)
  • John Lodge
  • Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses
  • Randy Meisner (Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Poco, Eagles)
  • Jean Millington,
  • Paul Simonon of the Clash
  • Pino Palladino
  • Norbert Putnam (session musician with the first lineup of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later with the "Nashville Cats," worked especially with Elvis Presley)
  • Sting of the Police
  • Roger Waters of Pink Floyd
  • Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy
  • April Kae of Fever 333, is a Fender artist and uses a white Mexican Precision Bass, a Vintera II 60s Precision Bass, and the Player II Series yellow Precision Bass, among others.

See also

  • Fender Jaguar Bass
  • Fender Telecaster Bass
  • Squier '51

References

Literature

  • Peter Bertges. The Fender Reference. Bomots, Saarbrücken. 2007. .
  • Martin Kelly, Terry Foster, Paul Kelly. Fender: The Golden Age 1946–1970. London & New York: Cassell. 2010.