FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Fender Precision Bass was designed in 1951 by Leo Fender. While it was not the first electric bass guitar (that credit goes to Paul Tutmarc's Audiovox Model 736 in the mid-1930s) it was the first commercially successful electric bass guitar. The electric bass helped revolutionize the music industry; most notably pop and rock music. It took Fender about six years to fine tune the design of the Precision Bass. The original design had a Telecaster style headstock, slab ash body, maple fingerboard, and a single coil pickup. In 1957, the modern Precision Bass emerged with its contoured alder body, split coil pickup, and Stratocaster style headstock. In 1959, it received a rosewood fingerboard. The bass remained unchanged until 1970 when it began to sport a slighter narrower neck with a rounder profile and was fitted with either a maple or rosewood fingerboard. Around 1972, it reverted back to an ash body. Today, the Precision Bass remains the most popular bass guitar in the world.

 Body: Solid; alder

 Finish: Sunburst, nitrocellulose lacquer

 Neck: 1-piece maple, bolt-on

 Fingerboard: Rosewood; pearloid dot markers

 Number of Frets: 20

 Pickguard: Tortoise/white/black/white plastic laminate

 Bridge: Fender steel, chrome

 Nut: Plastic

 Tuners: Kluson, open, chrome

 Pickups: One, Fender split coil

 Controls: Master tone; master volume

 Scale Length: 34 inches

 Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout: 13 inches

 Body Depth: 1 3/4 inches

 Weight: 8.6 lb