The first fender precision bass was made in October of 1951 but it wasn’t launched for the public until 1952. This bass was created by Leo fender and it was one of the first ever electric basses ever made and probably the most iconic bass guitar ever. Leos idea was to et upright bass players out of the back and bring them to the front of the stage as well as making them louder in the mix because the electric bass will now go through an amplifier rather than being an acoustic instrument.The precision bass is called a precision because the added 21 frets make this bass more intoned than a fretless upright bass. Leo fender also created this bass so that the tuning was an octave lower than a guitars tuning so that this instrument would appeal to guitarists and so that they could play bass as well as guitar and possibly even fill in at gigs on bass if the bassist cannot make it.
In 1957 Leo fender made a few innovative changes to the p bass, some of these changes consist of, a smooth contoured body, a new neck shape that is more resonant, A new split coil pickup which is hum cancelling and a new pick guard shape with the input jack right on the front. This bass below has practically stayed the same since 1957 because if there’s nothing wrong with it, why change it? Also, in 57′ fender started doing custom colours which is where you could get you’re bass sprayed in a different colour rather than sunburst for an extra cost.
Here below is the newest innovation of the fender precision bass from 2023, as you can see nothing much visually has changed, the main thing that as changed is the resources and materials used to craft the instrument. This bass is also has an active EQ which means that the pickups are battery powered. This bass is a P-J bass because it has a P pickup in the neck and a J pickup in the bridge, this is a good combination because it has the sound of a jazz bass and a precision bass all in one so its like having the best of both worlds in one instrument. One other thing that you’ll notice about this bass is that a few components have been refined and innovated like the Hi-mass bridge, which is made to create more resonance, and the dimmer neck profile which is easier to play for most people.
