Introduction

Leo Fender was a visionary. He didn’t invent the electric bass, traces of the instrument can be found as early as 1936 (fifteen years prior to the first “Fender Bass,” which debuted in late 1951). What Leo Fender did do was design, produce and successfully market a “bass guitar” like no other—the Fender Bass.
From a marketing point of view, Leo was smart enough to understand that if the “Fender Bass” would succeed, it would have to appeal to a wider musical audience than the occasional jazz renegade or disillusioned country “doghouse” bass player. The “Fender Bass” would have to appeal to both the “standup bass” player as well as the six string guitar player. Sure enough, within a few years of it’s debut on the music scene, both upright bass players and guitar players would adopt the “Fender Bass" as their instrument of choice.