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First Bass Ever


Stub Mandrel
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11 hours ago, Doctor J said:

But... but... Leo... first time?

What's interesting is that everyone says how Leo got it right first time, yet that bass is pretty much there. The odd position for the lead coming out, relatively few frets and no strap buttons. Neither Tutmarc nor Fender put in a truss rod, but the Tutmarc neck looks more substantial (and the body is thicker).

Otherwise, it's a short scale, through-neck bass with a pretty modern body shape...

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I believe Paul Tutmarc started making his solid body basses in 1936. He sold a few but preferred to be "tinkering" and inventing so didn't go further.

Leo Fender came up with the first mass production solid body bass, not the first.

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There are very, very old double basses with 5 strings and frets. @chris_b put it really well: first (succeeded) mass production solid body bass. Mandobass and earlier others were not so successful, and as said, there were several trials before LF.

Think about amplifiers, strings, and big bands: the bass needed a few things around to become something else than just a niche instrument.

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I don't think anyone's arguing; electric, solid or fretted basses weren't new. Tutmarc was the first person to make what we would now recognise as an electric bass guitar. Fender got the marketing right and had the enthusiasm for mass production.

It seems Leo knew about Tutmarc and may even have owned one of his six strings.

You can also say Fender had simpler pickups (Tutmarc's were apparently big, and hidden internally, soemtimes with pole pieces poking out of scratchplates) and clearly got things like jack plug placement right.

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My mémoire about the subject, published in May 2001, is still there, if you understand French. Second time this Audiovox #736 is coming back to BC. By the way check out Igor Saavedra work with his ERB 8 strings.

Here it is : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14bent_Two9apqU44qPxGepgRFpsl0DaI?usp=sharing

 

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3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

My mémoire about the subject, published in May 2001, is still there, if you understand French. Second time this Audiovox #736 is coming back to BC. By the way check out Igor Saavedra work with his ERB 8 strings.

Here it is : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14bent_Two9apqU44qPxGepgRFpsl0DaI?usp=sharing

 

Well it's helping me expand my French vocabulary: "" un flop total."

Actually very interesting, I could get the general sense of it because of my knowledge of the subject, I then got word to translate it, and ended up with something requiring almost as much effort to understand!

But yes, an interesting document, thanks.

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If you prefer the educated French version of flop total it's fiasco complet.

Translators are great fun : if you don't know the language you're translating to, you might end up insulting someone. Strange digital tool, indeed.

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