Fender Bass Guitars

Leo Fender’s Precision Bass (aka P-Bass) is, like the Telecaster guitar, one of those design brainstorms that basically got it right from the beginning, and has remained virtually unchanged since it went to a split pickup and contoured body shape in 1954. Sting’s signature model Fender P-bass is essentially a reissue of the original 1951 Precision Bass. The P-Bass Bass Guitar is still one of the best selling basses in the world and became so ubiquitous in the 60’s and 70’s that the term, “Fender Bass” and “Bass Guitar” became synonymous, even though basses were available from other manufacturers. The basic Precision Bass has a body of solid ash or alder, a maple neck with 34” scale maple or rosewood fingerboard, a single coil split pickup, one volume and one tone control. While there are some variations available, such as 5 string or fretless models and basses with pickup, hardware, and cosmetic options, the P-Bass is a simple, no nonsense instrument that boasts amazing versatility, routinely being found in the hands of bass players around the world in all musical genres. All of James Jamerson’s Motown recordings, the Stax-Volt recordings featuring Duck Dunn, countless rock and pop records from the Byrds and Pink Floyd to Guns and Roses and Green Day all feature the P-Bass. Session musicians like British virtuoso Pino Palladino depends on P-Basses for his fretless playing as well as with his performances as bassist for The Who.

If the P-Bass is the bass counterpart to the Telecaster, then the Fender Jazz Bass is the low end sister of the Stratocaster. With a slimmer neck, slightly different body contours and a pair of single coil pickups with separate volume controls, the Jazz Bass has possibly surpassed the P-Bass in popularity in the last decade. Larry Graham’s groundbreaking thumb pop and slap funk style and Jaco Pastorius’ landmark fretless excursions all relied on the Jazz Bass. The Jazz Bass’s dual pickups allow for a wider range of sound blending for greater picking nuance. Geddy Lee of Rush. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and sessionman extraordinaire Randy Jackson are all Jazz Bass fans. Jazz Bass options also include fretless, 5 string, pickup, fingerboard wood, hardware, and cosmetic choices.

If the Jazz or P-Bass are a bit too traditional, Fender carries the shorter scale Mustang and the Jaguar bass models for those players that groove to a different drummer. They all feature the same Fender quality and offer some sonic options that differ from the mainstream Fender tones.

Fender bass guitars made in California are the company’s top of the line instruments. The American Special and Standard series, as well as their Limited edition signature models, are all American made. Fender’s reissue series are built in Japan from highly skilled luthiers whose attention to detail rivals those in the USA. The Fender Standard series are manufactured in Fender’s Mexico factory under strict quality control conditions. Fender’s budget priced Squier series are imported from China and Indonesia. The acclaimed Classic Vibe series has become popular for its bang for the buck ratio and many professionals and amateur musicians use them reliably. The Affinity series offer many comparable features to their higher priced brethren at a student model price that allows beginners to learn and progress with a quality Bass Guitar which they won’t outgrow.