Manufacturer | Fender |
---|---|
Period | 1951–present |
Body type | Solid |
Neck joint | Bolt-on |
Body |
Alder Ash Poplar |
Neck | Maple |
Fretboard |
Maple Rosewood |
Bridge | Fixed |
Pickup(s) | One single-coil (1951–1957) 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) |
Various 2- or 3-color sunbursts Shades of blonde Various shades of white, blue, red, green, etc. |
The Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its stock configuration the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20 fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.
Its prototype, designed by Leo Fender in 1950, was brought to market in 1951, the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use, remaining among the best-selling and most-imitated electric basses with considerable effect on the sound of popular music ever since.
The Standard P-Bass is sanded, painted and assembled in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico along with the other Standard Series guitars. Fender also produces Precision and Precision/Jazz basses in its Squier line of products.
The double bass is physically cumbersome and difficult to transport. It was also becoming hard to hear in large bands or those that used amplified instruments and it requires skill to play such that it can not be readily picked up by any guitarist.
The Precision Bass overcame these problems. The name "Precision" came from the use of frets to play in tune more easily than upon the fretless fingerboard of the double bass. The electric bass lacks the distinctive acoustic qualities of the double bass, offering a more solid, harder-edged sound with more sustain. The bass guitar became more dominant and transformed the beat and rhythm of pop music from jump blues and swing to rhythm and blues, rock, soul and funk.