Fender Telecaster Bass

Overview

The Fender Telecaster Bass is a four-string electric bass guitar that Fender introduced in 1968. It is essentially a reissue of the original 1951 Fender Precision Bass: a slab-bodied electric bass with a single split-pickup design (in later years) and a Telecaster-style headstock. Despite the name, it is a bass, not a six-string guitar.

Origin & History

Leo Fender designed the original Precision Bass in 1951 as the first widely successful electric bass guitar. Fender redesigned the Precision in 1957 with the curved offset body and split humbucking pickup that would become standard. Then, in 1968, Fender brought back the original 1951 design under the Telecaster Bass name, partly to meet renewed interest in vintage instruments and partly to align the model visually with the Telecaster guitar family. Production continued into the 1970s, with later examples receiving humbucking pickups.

How It’s Played

The Telecaster Bass is played like any other electric bass: held horizontally against the body, fretted with the left hand, and plucked with the fingers, thumb, or a pick. Its slab body gives a slightly heavier feel and a strong, fundamental-rich tone. Players often choose it for old-school rock, country, and blues recordings where the original Precision-Bass thump is wanted.

Cultural Significance

The Telecaster Bass plays a small but interesting role in the history of Fender’s relationship with its own back catalogue: it was one of the company’s first major nods to the appeal of “vintage” designs over the latest model. That instinct now drives a large part of the modern guitar industry.

Related Instruments

• Fender Esquire – the company’s first solid-body guitar
• Fender Coronado – Fender’s hollow-body line
• Fender Bullet – an entry-level Fender solid-body
• Electric upright bass – a different approach to amplified bass
• Double bass – the acoustic bass voice

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Fender Telecaster Bass a guitar or a bass?
It is a four-string electric bass, not a six-string guitar. The name reflects its visual link to the Telecaster headstock and the original 1951 Precision Bass design.

Is it the same as a Precision Bass?
The Telecaster Bass is essentially a reissue of the very first 1951 Precision Bass, before the 1957 redesign. The two are closely related but visually distinct.

Image: derivative photograph by Clusternote based on FGF museum image, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons).