The Origin Of Bass Guitars

If you go to a musical instrument shop and ask for a bass guitar, what you'd normally get is an electric guitar, which might confuse you. Many people have been confused between normal electric guitars and bass guitars.

The bass guitar, also known as the electric bass or simple bass guitar, appears almost the same, but varies in several aspects. In general, it has a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and normally four to five strings tuned an octave lower in pitch, in the bass range.

The popularity of these type of bass guitars began to grow in the 1950s, although they have in fact existed since the 1930s. Since then, bass guitars have been extensively used in all sorts of music; modern, country, jazz, fusion, rock and roll, metal, latin, funk, reggae, soul, and a host of other styles.

The Early Bass Guitars

It all began in the 1930s when the guitar-style electric bass instrument was invented. This new style bass guitar was fretted and designed to be held and played horizontally. These bass guitars were as solid as the ones today, and were constructed from very expensive wood. Additionally, this guitar was mush easier to hold, to learn and, of course, to transport - factors which made its popularity grow quickly among artists at the time.

Experimental Bass Guitars

In the 1950s, when these guitars started replacing more traditional instruments as the bass line provider, they were very highly regarded. Bass guitars started to be mass-produced due to their popularity, and the design of the guitar improved and evolved into newer styles, such as those with contoured body design with beveled edges for comfort, and a single split coil pickup for convenience. These bass guitars were then also widely introduced into the world of jazz.

In the 1960s and 1970s, bass guitars became more stylish, and were universally distributed and sold. Other makers apart from the traditional ones boomed, and better designs were introduced. This would include the guitars with pickups mounted in positions in between the base of the neck and the top of the bridge, or the pickup mounted directly against the neck pocket by other revolutionary makers. Bass guitars started to shrink in size, and also became sleeker, often functioning by active powered electronics.

The Growth Of The Bass Guitar

Now widely used in pop and rock music, the bass guitar is a staple product of many and various guitar manufacturers, and is also available for custom-tailoring employing unique designs or premium wood body choice or hand-finish.