POST # 197 Leo Fender on the Precision Bass

"In the 40s and 50s, it was common for guitar players in groups to double on bass. My concept of an electric bass arose in response to some important needs. First, it was impossible to get a Dog House' bass around. Second, the bass player had to sing, and it was hell to try and get the bass up to center stage to the microphone. There was a screaming need for a portable bass that could be amplified and with frets so that the guitarist wouldn't have to struggle to stay in tune."

"The only bass strings we could make were made of gut, and they wouldn't work on an electric. To get workable strings, we had to wrap iron wire around the gut strings, which was a miserable job." - Leo Fender

( Once sales of P-Bass took off, V.C Squier made electric bass strings for Fender. Donald Duck Dunn giving the P-Bass a workout. - Ed )