Bass Guitar: The Lowest-Pitched Member of the Guitar Family

Overview

The bass guitar, also known as the electric bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_guitar). It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar but with a longer neck and scale length. The electric bass guitar most commonly has four strings, though five-, six- and seven-string models are also built. Since the mid-1950s the electric bass guitar has very largely replaced the double bass in popular music, thanks to its lighter weight, smaller size, easier portability, the inclusion of frets for accurate intonation, and electromagnetic pickups for amplification.

In Hornbostel-Sachs classification the electric bass falls under 321.322 — a composite chordophone whose strings run parallel to the soundboard and are sounded electrically rather than acoustically. The instrument is normally tuned in fourths to E1-A1-D2-G2, identical to the four lowest strings of a double bass and an octave below the four lowest strings of a six-string guitar. Five-string models typically add a low B; six-string models add both a low B and a high C.

Origin and history

In the 1930s the musician and inventor Paul Tutmarc of Seattle, Washington, developed the first electric bass guitar in its modern form: a fretted, four-string instrument designed to be played horizontally in a position similar to a standard guitar. The 1935 sales catalog for Tutmarc’s company Audiovox featured the “Model 736 Bass Fiddle”, a solid-body electric bass guitar with four strings, a 30½-inch scale length and a single pickup. Around 100 of these instruments were made during the late 1930s, but the design did not catch on commercially in its original form.

The decisive breakthrough came in 1951, when Leo Fender introduced the Fender Precision Bass, the first mass-produced electric bass guitar. The “Precision” in the name referred to the instrument’s frets, which made it possible — for the first time — for a bassist to play accurately in tune in any context, in contrast to the fretless double bass which depended on the player’s ear and muscle memory. Within five years the Precision Bass had been adopted by working musicians across genres: country bandleaders such as Lionel Hampton’s bassist Roy Johnson and Monk Montgomery used it from the early 1950s, and by the time rock and roll became a mass phenomenon in the late 1950s the electric bass was already the standard low-end instrument of the new style.

In 1960 Fender added the Jazz Bass, with a slimmer neck and two pickups instead of one, and a wave of competitors (Gibson, Rickenbacker, Höfner, Hagström and many others) followed. By the late 1960s the electric bass was effectively the default instrument of every popular-music genre — rock, soul, R&B, funk, country and pop. The double bass survived as the standard instrument of acoustic jazz, classical music and bluegrass, but in nearly every other context it was displaced.

Construction and materials

A modern electric bass guitar consists of a solid or semi-solid wooden body (most commonly alder, ash, mahogany or basswood), a bolt-on or set-in neck (usually maple, sometimes with a separate fingerboard of rosewood, ebony or maple), one or more electromagnetic pickups mounted under the strings, electronic controls (volume, tone, sometimes active EQ) and a bridge that anchors the strings and allows independent intonation adjustment for each string. A bass guitar whose neck lacks frets is called a fretless bass and is played in a manner closer to the double bass.

Scale length is one of the defining specifications of a bass. On a modern four-string electric bass, 30 inches (76 cm) or less is considered “short scale”, 32 inches (81 cm) “medium scale”, 34 inches (86 cm) “standard scale” and 35 inches (89 cm) “long scale”. Long scale is more commonly seen on five-string and larger basses, where it gives better resonance and tension on the low B string.

Bass guitar strings are composed of a steel, nickel or alloy core wrapped with a smaller-gauge winding wire. Roundwound strings (round cross-section windings) produce a bright, articulate tone and are the most common type today. Flatwound strings (flat windings) give a darker, more thumpy tone reminiscent of an upright bass and are favoured in jazz and Motown-influenced playing. Other variants include halfwound (groundwound), coated, tapewound and taperwound strings — the choice of winding has a considerable impact on the instrument’s sound and is usually matched to the genre.

Because the electric bass guitar is a quiet instrument acoustically, it requires external amplification, generally via electromagnetic or piezo-electric pickups feeding a bass amplifier or a direct injection (DI) box. The hollow-bodied acoustic bass guitar shown above is one of the few members of the family that produces enough natural volume to be played unamplified in small acoustic settings (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Acoustic_bass_guitar_1.jpg).

Playing technique

The bass guitar can be played with the fingers, the thumb, or a plectrum (pick). Fingerstyle — alternating the index and middle fingers of the right hand — is the most common technique and is associated with most rock, soul and funk styles. Pick playing produces a brighter, more attacking tone and is common in punk, metal and many country styles. Thumb playing comes in two main forms: the gentle, muted “palm-muted” style associated with country bassists like Carol Kaye, and the percussive slap-and-pop technique pioneered by Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone in the late 1960s and central to funk bass ever since.

Other common techniques include double-stops (two notes plucked together), harmonics (lightly touching the string at a node to produce overtones), tapping (using both hands on the fingerboard to articulate notes), and muted “ghost” notes (notes sounded with the left hand fully damping the string for a percussive effect). Modern players often combine all of these in a single line.

Cultural context

The electric bass guitar is the foundational low-end instrument of essentially all post-1955 popular music. In rock, soul, funk, R&B, pop, country and metal, the bass guitar (rather than the double bass) is the norm. The instrument is also widely used in jazz fusion, gospel, world music and contemporary worship music; only in straight-ahead acoustic jazz, classical music, bluegrass, and traditional folk styles does the double bass remain dominant.

Beyond performance, the bass guitar has driven a major industry of amplifiers, effects, recording technology and instructional material. Companies such as Fender, Gibson, Music Man, Rickenbacker, Warwick, Sadowsky, Spector, Sandberg and Fodera supply professional and amateur players worldwide.

Notable players

The history of bass-guitar playing can be traced through a small number of decisive figures. Monk Montgomery (early adopter of the Fender Precision Bass in jazz), James Jamerson (Motown house bassist on hundreds of hit records), Paul McCartney (The Beatles), John Entwistle (The Who), Jack Bruce (Cream), Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone, originator of slap bass), Bootsy Collins (James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic), Stanley Clarke (Return to Forever, jazz fusion soloist), Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report, fretless bass), Geddy Lee (Rush), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Victor Wooten (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) and many others all defined what the instrument could do in their respective styles.

Comparison with related instruments

Compared with the double bass, the electric bass is far smaller, far easier to transport, frets allow much faster and more accurate intonation, and amplification gives effectively unlimited volume. Compared with the standard six-string guitar, the bass has a longer scale, thicker strings, four (rather than six) strings tuned an octave lower, and is almost always played as a single-line low-register instrument rather than a chordal instrument. Compared with the hollow-bodied acoustic bass guitar (a related instrument with its own dedicated entry), the electric bass is solid-bodied, much louder once amplified, but inaudible without amplification.

FAQ

Who invented the bass guitar?
The first electric bass guitar in its modern form was developed by Paul Tutmarc of Seattle in the 1930s; his company Audiovox sold the “Model 736 Bass Fiddle” from 1935. The first commercially successful bass guitar was the Fender Precision Bass, introduced by Leo Fender in 1951.

How many strings does a bass guitar have?
Most bass guitars have four strings, tuned E1-A1-D2-G2. Five-string basses (adding a low B) and six-string basses (adding a low B and a high C) are also widely used, particularly in modern progressive, metal and jazz fusion styles.

Is a bass guitar tuned the same as a double bass?
Yes. Both are normally tuned E1-A1-D2-G2 in fourths. This is one octave below the four lowest strings of a standard six-string guitar.

What is the difference between roundwound and flatwound strings?
Roundwound strings have a circular-cross-section winding, giving a bright, articulate tone with prominent high-frequency content; they are the most common type today. Flatwound strings have a flat-cross-section winding, giving a darker, smoother, more thumpy tone reminiscent of a double bass; they are favoured in jazz and Motown-style playing.

Can a bass guitar be played without an amplifier?
A solid-bodied electric bass guitar is essentially inaudible at performance volume without amplification. The hollow-bodied acoustic bass guitar can be played acoustically in small settings but is also normally fitted with a pickup so that it can be amplified for larger venues.