Fender Precision Bass Guitar

This Fender Precision Bass guitar was manufactured in late 1951, in the first year of production and likely hit store shelves in 1952. It features a non-contoured ash wood body, one flat-pole single coil pickup, a bolted-on maple neck, and a headstock shape inspired by Fender’s Telecaster electric guitar.  

Up to the early 1950s, the fretless upright double bass held sway in popular music ensembles, but with the introduction of amplified guitars and other instruments, the double bass had a harder time being heard, and inventor Leo Fender’s Precision Bass (or P-Bass as it became commonly known) was a timely solution that would become a much-copied blueprint for the modern electric bass.  

Not only could a musician hold the P-Bass like a regular guitar, but the instrument also had frets so that it could be played with guitar-like precision—hence the name. The sonic-qualities of the bass – harder-edged, increased attack and sustain – worked well with the evolution of new music styles such as Rhythm-and-Blues and Rock.  

But not everyone liked the sound. Even two of Rock’n’Roll’s pioneering bass players—Bill Black, who played for Elvis Presley, and Joe B. Mauldin, bass player for Buddy Holly—never gave up their acoustic basses. But the advantages of the Precision, which included portability, the familiar feel to a guitarist, and the clear, loud tone when played through a Fender Bassman amp, soon won over most bass players and today endures as one of the most popular bass models.