In the middle of 1951, Leo Fender decided
that it was time to get upright bass players
out of the shadows and closer to the audience. He began experimenting with designs
based around his first design, the Telecaster.
After tinkering with scale length and pickup
placement, Fender decided that the 34” scale
length was sufficient to produce the low-end
that was required to rival the upright bass. It
seemed that the new Precision Bass (named
because of the addition of frets, which created
a perfect note) was set to send the big “
doghouse bass” back to the dogs.
Unfortunately, when the new Precision Bass
was introduced, it was not very well received.
Many players could not get used to the feel
of the new instrument; Bill Black, who played
with Elvis Presley, even threw his new P-Bass
across the floor out of frustration during a
recording session. It wasn’t until the early work
of Monk Montgomery and Lionel Hampton
that the P-Bass started to carve out a niche in
the early 1950s.
over the next several years, Fender realized it
was time to add a new model of electric bass
to the world. The first prototype of the new,
“sophisticated” bass for the “more advanced”
jazz players was slightly different than what
was introduced in early 1960. The Jazz Bass
prototype actually had two Jazzmaster-style
pickups – there was a 5-polepiece pickup in
the neck position and one 4-polepiece pickup
in the bridge position. This pickup configuration was later changed to the 8-polepiece
pickup that we see today. The prototype also
featured a Volume, Volume and Tone knob
layout; this was eventually changed when production began.
Jazz Basses built from 1960 until late 1962
had what are now referred to as “concentric”
pots and four individual string mutes under
the bridge cover to help emulate the sound
of an upright bass. The nut width of the Jazz
Bass was 1 7/16”, as opposed to 1 3/4” on the
P-Bass. The narrower nut width was a hit with
many players, especially among guitar players
who doubled on electric bass. Joe Osborn fell
in love with his 1960 Jazz Bass when he first
received it and put it to good use on his early
Ricky Nelson work.
By early 1963, the concentric pots, the four
foam mutes and the ground strip that ran
from the bridge to the bridge pickup were
gone. The three-knob layout was back and
the Jazz Bass was very much in full swing. The
“custom color” 1965 Candy Apple Red Jazz
Bass shown here is a perfect example of what
Fender was offering at the time.
For more information about Fender basses,
please check The Fender Bass Book, available
through Hal Leonard, and How the Fender
Bass Changed the World by Jim Roberts.
Dave's Guitar Shop
Daves Rogers’ Collection is tended to by
Laun Braithwaite & Tim Mullally
All photos credit Tim Mullally
Dave’s Collection is on display at:
Dave's Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-785-7704
davesguitar.com
