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63-468: Its prototype, designed by Leo Fender in 1950, was brought to market in 1951. 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

126-600: A Schaller fine-tune bridge later used on the Plus Series models of the early 1990s. Some models were available with solid walnut body and stained ebony fretboard. Precision Bass Lyte models were made in Japan and came to the market in late 1984. They had a smaller body shape and a modern C-shape maple neck with 22 medium-jumbo frets. They had an active P-J pickup configuration with a 2 band eq and pickup pan knob. They were produced until 1995. The later 1980s and 1990s saw

189-458: A "Fender 50" stamp on the neck plate. In 1984, Fender introduced a lower cost Standard Precision Bass model made in Japan. The Standard model was made in Japan until 1990 when Fender shifted operations to its new Mexican factory which produced the model from 1991 to 2018. The American Deluxe Precision Bass was added to the revamped lineup in 1995. It had an Ash Body (offered until 2006), 18-volt preamp with 3-Band Active EQ and an added Humbucker in

252-643: A Custom Shop 60's P-Bass split-coil humbucking pickup. The 2012 color chart listed 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black, Candy Cola, Jade Pearl Metallic, Charcoal Frost Metallic as available finishes during that period. As of April 19, 2012 the American Standard Precision Basses are loaded with the Custom Shop '60s Precision Bass split single-coil pick-ups, a 20-fret graphite-reinforced maple neck with compound rosewood or maple fingerboard with white or black pearloid dot markers and

315-501: A Greasebucket tone circuit. The Highway One Precision Bass featured '70s styling and thin satin nitro lacquer finish. The series remained available until it was discontinued in 2011. The American Standard, American Deluxe (featuring a J -style humbucking pickup in the bridge position and an active 3-band EQ with an 18V power supply), Highway One and American Vintage series models were manufactured in Corona , California . Following

378-431: A decade. While with Rickenbacker, Kauffman had invented the " Vibrola " tailpiece, a precursor to the later vibrato tailpiece. Fender convinced him that they should team up, and they started the "K&F Manufacturing Corporation" to design and build amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. In 1944, Fender and Kauffman patented a lap steel guitar with an electric pickup already patented by Fender. In 1945, they began selling

441-636: A few years, this evolved into a model distinctly different from the contemporary Precision Bass, alongside which it was marketed through 1979. Two artist-designed models 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. Since 1969 the one-piece maple neck option

504-805: A glass eye, making him ineligible for the draft in World War II later in life. As a youth, Fender played piano and saxophone before his interests shifted toward electronics. When he was 14, Fender visited his uncle's automotive-electric shop in Santa Maria , and was fascinated by a radio his uncle had built from spare parts. Soon thereafter, Fender began repairing radios in a small shop in his parents' home. In 1928, Fender graduated from Fullerton Union High School , and entered Fullerton Junior College as an accounting major, though he continued to work with electronics. After college, Fender worked as an ice delivery man and later bookkeeper. Around this time, he

567-443: A high-mass vintage bridge. It be bought as a 4 or 5 string bass. and were again made available in 2011; the 2004 color chart listed Aged Cherry Sunburst, Butterscotch Blonde and Tobacco Sunburst as available finishes during that period. The Road Worn Series 50s P-Bass (introduced in 2009) features a distressed alder body with nitrocellulose lacquer finish, a 1-ply gold anodized pickguard, a synthetic bone nut, American Vintage hardware,

630-613: A modern D-shaped profile at the updated neck heel, with a compound radius of 9.5–14". Fender produced this bass until 2019. In January 2017, Fender retired its American Standard line to be replaced by the American Professional Series. The Precision Bass was updated with new V-Mod pickups, upgraded tuners that featured increased sustain and better tuning stability, Narrow-Tall frets and a '63 P Bass profile neck. Fender ceased production of this model in 2020. On June 19, 2018, Fender announced that it would be upgrading

693-536: A redesign of the Precision Bass. The remake included a larger headstock, a new pickguard design, a bridge with four steel saddles that could be individually adjusted and a new split single-coil pickup. This proved to be the final version of the instrument, which has changed little since then. In 1960, rosewood fingerboards, wider color selections and a three-ply pickguard became available for the P-Bass. 1960 saw

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756-592: A split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 20 vintage frets. Fender offered the Made-in-Mexico Blacktop Series from 2013 to 2014. Like Most of the other instruments in this series, the Blacktop Precision Bass was given high-output humbuckers. It also had a Hi-Mass Bridge, Vintage Jazz Bass Style Knobs (Volume, Volume, Tone) and a C-shape neck with 9.5" Radius. In May 2016, Fender brought back

819-686: A three-band active equalizer was introduced on the StingRay. Music Man was active in making amplifiers as well, but the HD-130 Reverb, designed to compete with the Twin Reverb , came at a time when the clean sounds of the Twin were going out of fashion. In 1979, Fender and old friends George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt started a new company called G&L ("George & Leo") Musical Products. G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon

882-426: Is scaled down to correctly match with the neck. Fender made an American Deluxe 5-string model with a split-coil neck pickup, a humbucking bridge pickup and a 3-band active EQ between 1998 and 2007. In 2008, Fender first produced a passive American Standard Precision Bass V with a single passive split-coil Precision pickup (three poles toward the neck, two poles toward the bridge) and single volume/tone. It remained in

945-533: The Fender Bassman , a 25-watt amplifier with one 15-inch speaker (later updated to 45 watts and four 10-inch speakers). 1954 saw an update of the Precision Bass to coincide with the introduction of the Stratocaster. Incorporating some of the body contours of the Stratocaster, the update also included a two-section nickel-plated bridge and a white single-layer pickguard. In June 1957, Fender announced

1008-555: The Precision Bass (or "P-Bass"), released in 1951, Fender addressed both issues: the Telecaster-based Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid-body construction and four-magnet, single coil pickup let it play at higher volumes without feedback. Along with the Precision Bass (so named because its fretted neck allowed bassists to play with "precision"), Fender introduced a bass amplifier,

1071-497: The "clay"-style inlays introduced in 1959. In 1960 the aluminum pickguard was replaced with a 13-screw celluloid design having three or four layers of black, white, white pearloid or with a brown "tortoise-shell" pattern). In the same year the newly designed Fender Jazz Bass was released. The original Telecaster-derived design, with a few updates, was reintroduced in 1968 as the Fender Telecaster Bass . Within

1134-488: The 1950s, Fender contracted a streptococcal sinus infection that impaired his health to the point where he decided to wind up his business affairs, selling the Fender company to CBS in 1965. As part of this deal, Fender signed a non-compete clause and remained a consultant with Fender for a while. Shortly after selling the company, he changed doctors and was cured of his illness. In 1971, Forrest White and Tom Walker formed

1197-720: The Affinity line. Squier introduced the Vintage-Modified Series in 2007 to slot between the Affinity Series and the Made-In-Mexico Fenders. The Squier Vintage-Modified Precision Bass Had a Duncan Designed™ PB101 Split Single-Coil Pickup and late-70's style headstock graphics. The Squier Vintage-Modified Precision Bass PJ was added in 2013 with Fender-designed Split Single-Coil Precision and Single-coil Jazz Pickups. Both models (along with

1260-551: The American Elite Precision Bass to replace the American Deluxe series. The new model featured a Precision neck pickup combined with a 4th-generation Jazz noiseless pickup, 18-volt active circuit with 3-band EQ, passive bypass switch, Posiflex graphite support rods in the neck which. The 21-fret neck profile was a modern “C” shape at the genuine bone nut, and changed along the length of the neck to

1323-551: The American Professional II Precision Bass. Updates included a V-Mod II pickup which had varying amounts of Alnico in each pickup pole for a more balanced sound, new sculpted neck heel (similar to those seen previously on the Elite models), Super-Natural neck finish, Posiflex graphite rods for added neck stability and tapered-shaft turning machines. Fender also added new finishes were also added to

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1386-607: The American Standard Precision Bass was updated with CBS era-style decals, a 3-ply parchment pickguard and a tinted maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard. Other features included a high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight staggered tuning machine and a return to the knurled chrome flat-top control knobs. Models produced before 2003 came for a period with aged white Stratocaster control knobs. As of March 23, 2010, all American Deluxe Precision Basses came with an N3 stacked-coil Jazz Bass pickup in

1449-538: The Jazz Bass control layout—2 volumes and tone—and a side-mount jack socket. Others had the front pickup volume control moved forward to leave room for a top-mounted jack socket. Other variants include dual stacked control knobs similar to that of an early 1960s Jazz Bass or a 3-way pickup selector switch (as used on the Tony Franklin Signature and Plus Series P-Basses). In 1983, Fender introduced

1512-441: The Precision Bass, the StingRay is largely considered the first production bass with active electronics. The StingRay's two-band active equalizer, high-output humbucking pickup, and high-gloss finished neck became a favorite of many influential bassists, including Louis Johnson , Bernard Edwards , John Deacon , Ben Orr , John Taylor , Tony Levin , Pino Palladino , Kim Deal , Tim Commerford , Gail Ann Dorsey and Flea . Later,

1575-595: 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." The original Precision Bass of 1951 shared several of its design features with the Telecaster electric guitar, the main difference being its double cutaway body. The 1954 Stratocaster guitar with its contoured edges for comfort,

1638-474: The Standard Series with a new Bullet truss rod system, updated die-cast tuning machines, chrome hardware, white pickup covers and a single-ply white pick guard. The Headstock graphics were changed to reflect a blend of new and vintage. The Fender logo remained underneath the string guide but was changed to silver with a black outline. The "Precision Bass" wordmark was changed to a boldface font similar to

1701-525: The Tri-Sonix company (often incorrectly referred to as "Tri-Sonic"), based in Santa Ana, California . Walker and White went to Fender to help finance their company and it evolved into "Music Man", a name Fender preferred over their name. After considerable financing, in 1975, Fender became its president. The StingRay bass was an innovative early instrument. Though the body design borrowed heavily from

1764-501: The United States. Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitar because it could give a few players the power of an entire horn section. Pickup-equipped archtops were the guitars of choice in the dance bands of the late 1940s, but the increasing popularity of roadhouses and dance halls created a growing need for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. Players also needed "faster" necks and better intonation to play what

1827-664: The Vintage Modified Precision Bass V with the basic passive P bass single pickup and single volume/tone. There are many artists known for using the Precision Bass Guitar. A few of the more notable artists include: Leo Fender Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor and founder of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation . Fender designed

1890-413: The amplified acoustic guitars that were beginning to show up on the southern California music scene—in big band and jazz music, and for the electric "Hawaiian" or " lap steel " guitars becoming popular in country music. During World War II , Fender met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman , an inventor and lap steel player who had worked for Rickenbacker , which had been building and selling lap steel guitars for

1953-610: The arrival of the American Ultra Precision Bass. The Ultra retained similar features to the Elite Series model but now had updated body contouring and sculpted neck heel, Modern "D" Neck Profile with a compound radius of 10"–14", new Ultra Noiseless pickups and a redesigned active/passive preamp. New finishes offered were Aged Natural, Mochaburst and Ultraburst with rosewood fretboard and Arctic Pearl with maple fretboard. In October 2020 Fender introduced

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2016-405: The bridge position, a 21-fret tinted maple neck with compound rosewood or maple fingerboard with white or black pearloid dot markers, an active/passive toggle switch, a high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight vintage tuners, a stealth retainer bar for the A string and a bold CBS-era headstock decal. As of March 23, 2012 the American Standard Precision Bass (except the 5-string version) came with

2079-469: The bridge position. The American Series Precision Bass was introduced in 2000 and discontinued in 2008. From 2003 the S-1 switching system allowed the pickup coils to be switched from series to parallel, offering a wider tonal range, but this was discontinued in 2008 with the second generation of American Standard Series instruments. 2011 models bear a special "Fender 60" badge on the back of the body to celebrate

2142-545: The build quality of its Made in Mexico Standard Series by replacing it with the Player Series instruments. The Player Precision Bass received new Alnico V pickups, modern C-shaped neck with a contemporary 9.5" fingerboard radius, synthetic bone nut, new Fender standard open-gear tuners and a choice of Pau Ferro or Maple fretboards. Fender updated the Elite Series on November 5, 2019, when it announced

2205-465: The company's 60th Anniversary. In 2002, Fender added a new lower-cost American passive model series known as the Highway One. There were two iterations of this line - known as Highway 1 and Highway One. Highway 1 featured 60's spaghetti logo, and a nut side truss rod adjustment port. They were painted with thin nitro lacquer. In 2006, it was updated with a BadAss II bridge with grooved saddles and

2268-661: The company's iconic early instruments: the Fender Telecaster , the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar; the Fender Stratocaster , among the most iconic electric guitars; and the Fender Precision Bass , which set the standard for electric basses. He also designed the Fender Bassman amplifier, which became the archetype for later amplifiers (notably by Marshall and Mesa Boogie ) that dominated rock and roll music . Fender, who

2331-585: The country players called "take-off lead guitar." In the late 1940s, solid-body electric guitars began to rise in popularity, yet they were still considered novelty items, with the Rickenbacker Spanish Electro guitar being the most commercially available solid-body, and Les Paul 's one-off home-made "Log" and the Bigsby Travis guitar made by Paul Bigsby for Merle Travis being the most visible early examples. Fender recognized

2394-494: The early 1960s model but remained to the right of the Fender logo. From 1984 to 2000, this was referred to as the American Standard Precision Bass. The most notable visual change was the return to black pickup covers. The model was revamped in 1995. In 1996, a special run of 500 instruments was sold as the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Precision Bass to celebrate the company's anniversary. This model had gold hardware and

2457-409: The first year of issue) and a double cutaway for easier reach to the upper registers. Another novelty to the Stratocaster design included the use of three pickups wired to offer three different voicings, two of which could be further tailored by the player by adjusting the two tone controls. The Stratocaster was the first electric guitar on the market to offer three pickups and a "tremolo" arm (which

2520-532: The guitar in a kit with an amplifier designed by K&F. In 1946, Doc pulled out of K&F and Fender revised the company and renamed it "Fender Manufacturing", and then later "Fender Electric Instrument Co." at the end of 1947 and he handed over the reins of his radio shop to Dale Hyatt. As the Big Bands fell out of vogue towards the end of World War II, small combos playing boogie-woogie , rhythm and blues , western swing , and honky-tonk formed throughout

2583-433: The humbucker pickup had not yet expired. In 1959 a glued-on rosewood fingerboard featuring "clay"-style dot position markers replaced the one-piece maple neck and remained standard until 1966/67, when the now-CBS-owned Fender company began to offer a separate, laminated maple fingerboard capped on a maple neck. Rosewood fingerboards were then made of a veneered, round-laminated piece of wood and pearloid dot markers replaced

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2646-697: The introduction of the Precision Plus and Deluxe Plus basses in 1989 and 1991, featuring Lace Sensor pickups, fine-tuner bridges, 22-fret necks and passive or active electronics on certain models. The limited-edition Custom Shop 40th Anniversary model of 1991 was a luxurious version of the Precision Plus Deluxe bass with gold hardware, a quilted maple top with no pickguard, highly figured neck, 3 stacked knobs and an ebony fretboard with side dot position markers. Only 400 of this model were produced. Some P-Basses with J-style bridge pickups used

2709-527: The lineup: Dark Night, Mercury, Miami Blue and Mystic Surf Green. Finishes that remained in the lineup were 3-Color Sunburst, Black and Olympic White. In July 2024, Fender released the Player II Precision Bass, adding a vintage-style tint to the neck and headstock, reintroduction of a Rosewood fingerboard option, rolled fingerboard edges and new vintage inspired colour options, Hialeah Yellow, Coral Red, Birch Green and Aquatone blue, added to

2772-510: The looks of Fender's original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhanced tremolo systems and electronics. In 1934, Fender married Esther Klosky, and the couple remained together until Esther's death from cancer in 1979. Fender remarried in 1980; his second wife Phyllis became an Honorary Chairman of G&L . Despite suffering several minor strokes , Fender continued to work. On March 21, 1991, he died of complications from Parkinson's disease . He

2835-541: The mid-1990s Fender briefly offered a fretless Precision Bass as a part of the first generation of the "American Standard" line. This variant was dropped at the end of the 20th century. From 1980 to 1984 various models of the Precision Bass were given new active pickups and a high-mass brass bridge. The Special (1980) featured a split-coil pickup with white covers, gold hardware, a 2-band EQ and an active/passive toggle switch. The Elite (1983) had one (Elite I) or two (Elite II) split-coil humbucking pickups, TBX tone circuit and

2898-476: The new design should have individually adjustable bridge saddles, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for enhanced comfort over the slab-body Telecaster's harsh edges. Fender, assisted by draftsman Freddie Tavares , began designing the Stratocaster in late 1953. It included a rounder, less "club-like" neck (at least for

2961-529: The potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, tune, and play, and would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In 1948, he finished the prototype of a thin solid-body electric; the first one-pickup model was released in 1950 as the Fender Esquire , while a two-pickup version, initially called the Broadcaster but renamed the Telecaster after a trademark issue,

3024-461: The release of the Jazz Bass , a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer neck, and offset waist body and two single coil pickups (as opposed to the Precision Bass and its split-humbucking pickup that had been introduced in 1957). Like its predecessor, the Jazz Bass (or simply "J-Bass") was an instant hit and has remained popular to this day, and early models are highly sought after by collectors. In

3087-714: The remaining 3 Tone Sunburst, Black and Arctic White from the former Player series. The text below the serial number now reads 'Made in Ensenada', as opposed to the prior Made in Mexico. Fender initially revived the Squier sub-brand to produce lower-cost guitars and basses in 1982. The first model the brand produced was the JV series which was made in Japan. This later became known as the Squier Traditional P-Bass and

3150-498: The rest of the line) were subsequently replaced with Fender-Designed pickups before the Vintage-Modified line was discontinued altogether by 2019. 2020 saw the introduction of a short scale Precision. The Squier Mini Precision Bass has a 28.6" (726mm) scale with 9.5" radius and 1.5" nut width. Similar to the previously introduced Mini Strat, the body remains faithful to the shape and contours of its full-size counterpart but

3213-513: The same configuration when Fender transitioned to the American Professional Precision Bass V model in 2017 and the American Professional II Precision Bass V in 2020. Squier also produced a Standard version sporting two J-Bass pickups with alnico magnets. The company has also built a Korean-made Squier ProTone Precision V with dual humbuckers and gold hardware in the mid-1990s. In the mid-2010s, Squier produced

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3276-574: The success of the Aerodyne Jazz Bass, Fender briefly produced the Japanese-made Aerodyne Classic Precision Bass from 2006 to 2008. This model retained the basic shape of the classic Precision but had dramatically thinner contours. It had a basswood body with figured maple top and cream binding, Precision and Single-coil Jazz pickup combination and matching finish headstock. On December 5, 2008,

3339-452: Was actually used for vibrato , not tremolo ), which became widely used by guitarists. The three pickups could be selected using the standard three-way switch to give the guitar different sounds and options by using the "neck", "middle" or "bridge" pickups. Though Fender preferred the sound of single pickups, guitarists discovered they could get the switch to stay between the detent positions and activate two pickups at once. The five-way switch

3402-521: Was approached by a local bandleader asking him to build six public address systems for use in Hollywood dance halls. In 1938, with a borrowed $ 600 (equivalent to $ 12,987 in 2023), Fender and his wife Esther returned to Fullerton, and started his own radio repair shop, Fender Radio Service. Soon, musicians and band leaders began coming to him for public address systems, which he built, rented, and sold. They also visited his store for amplification for

3465-575: Was buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California , next to his first wife Esther. Phyllis Fender died on July 22, 2020. Fender's accomplishments for "contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field" were acknowledged with a Technical Grammy Award in 2009. Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California was named after him. [REDACTED] Media related to Leo Fender at Wikimedia Commons Schaller Electronic GmbH Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3528-405: Was finally implemented as a factory option in late 1976, adding the detent combinations of neck+middle or bridge+middle musicians had used for years. During this time, Fender also tackled the problems experienced by players of the acoustic double bass , who could no longer compete for volume with the other musicians. Besides, double basses were also large, bulky, and difficult to transport. With

3591-408: Was inspired by the Precision bass. In turn the Precision Bass then borrowed design elements from the Stratocaster guitar: The model season of 1954/55 saw the introduction of a body shape and comfort carve similar to the Stratocaster. The 1957 model had its headstock and pickguard redesigned to resemble the Stratocaster , and a rounder neck heel replacing the original square shape. A redesigned pickguard

3654-411: Was made of a single layer of gold-anodized aluminium with 10 screw holes. Most notably, in the 1957 model, the original single-coil pickup was replaced by the "split-coil" design with staggered pole pieces which is now known as the typical Precision pickup. Its two coils are typically connected in a hum-cancelling mode, a feature that was not emphasized by Fender at the time, as Seth Lover 's patent on

3717-461: Was not a guitarist himself, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Clarence Leonidas Fender was born on August 10, 1909, to Clarence Monte Fender and Harriet Elvira Wood, owners of a successful orange grove located between Anaheim and Fullerton, California . At the age of eight, Fender developed a tumor in his left eye, resulting in the eye being removed and being replaced with

3780-424: Was offered on many Fender basses, with the rosewood fretboard as an alternative. Some Precision Basses made in the 1970s were also available with an unlined fretless rosewood, ebony or (usually) maple fingerboard, popularized by Sting and Tony Franklin . In 1968, the headstock graphic was changed to a new "waterslide" design. In 1977, the "Precision Bass" wordmark was changed to a smaller, sans-serif design. In

3843-463: Was released the year after. The Telecaster became one of the most popular electric guitars in history. Instead of updating the Telecaster, Fender decided, based on customer feedback, to leave the Telecaster as it was and design a new, upscale solid-body guitar to sell alongside the basic Telecaster. Western swing guitarist Bill Carson was one of the chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that

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3906-622: Was retired in 1996. The current basic model is the Affinity Precision Bass. This model was introduced in 1996 and was made in China. In more recent years, the Affinity Precision Bass PJ (named for its Precision-Jazz pickup configuration) was added to the lineup. The wordmark on the headstock graphic refers to this model as a Squier P-Bass. The PJ model is currently the only variation produced and released in

3969-497: 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

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