History of Bass Guitars and Amplifiers - By: mitch edwards

In the 1950s, the first electric bass guitar, invented by Leo Fender and George Fullerton was mass produced for the very first time. In 1957, the creative efforts of the two personalities collaborated into creating the split pick up design which causes the humming effect closely linked to bass guitars. After some time, Gibson came up with a revolutionized version of a violin shaped bass guitar. After 6 more years, a new and improved version and looked was made available to the market.

Because of the success and acceptance of people, several small guitar companies began manufacturing their own bass guitars as inspired by the efforts of Gibson and Fender. It was in the 1960s that rock and roll as well as the use of bass guitars became extremely popular and was introduced as a generic household name or standard.

The materials used to create a bass guitar vary greatly. There are some bass guitars made from wood and graphite and there are other bass guitars made from alder for the body, maple for the neck, and rosewood for the fret board.

Finishes of bass guitars also vary. Some finishes make use of lacquer, wax and oil and designs also come in flat and curved variations. Some bass guitars most especially the ones from Luthier, Hohner, and Steinberger appear to be headless, with turning machines in the bridge.

Other types of bass guitars, most especially the more expensive types are typically made from ovangkol, wenge or ebony.

Bass guitars and electric guitars have similarities when it comes to their amplification functions. A patch cord is usually used to attach it to an amplifier then to a speaker. Combo amplifiers are most commonly used by majority of electric bassists, with the amplifier and speaker in one cabinet.

Most musicians, especially those who regard their playing of instruments as their bread and butter, practice a lot using their bass guitars. Each musician have different techniques on how to play their bass guitars. Most musicians even have different plucking techniques. Pizzicato style of plucking is characterized when the strings are plucked using ones fingers. Some musicians like James Jamerson pluck their strings using only their index finger.

The most common type of plucking technique used by mainstream guitarists and musicians is the slap and pop style of plucking. Funk uses tones and percussive sounds by hitting a string with the thumb and snapping the strings with the index or middle fingers. Rock and Fusion also uses this method and this was made to become popular all throughout the 80’s and 90’s.

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