Electric Bass

By Matthew Rukavina

History of the Bass

The bass, a musical instrument, has a rich history that goes all the way back to the 15th century. It evolved from earlier stringed instruments and has been an essential part of music for centuries. One of the earliest known bass instruments is the double bass, which emerged in the 15th century. It was originally called the viola da gamba, and it was played with a bow. Over time, the instrument evolved into the larger, more familiar double bass used in orchestras today. In the 1930s, the electric bass guitar was invented, which revolutionized music in all genres. It was first created by Paul Tutmarc, but it was Leo Fender's Precision Bass, introduced in 1951. The electric bass guitar provided a rhythmic and harmonic base for bands and allowed bassists to be more involved and heard in the mix. Since then, the bass guitar has become a crucial part of many musical genres, including rock, pop, funk, and jazz. It has undergone numerous innovations and changes, including different numbers of strings, electronic enhancements, and the usage of pedals and other effects. In today's music, the bass continues to be a vital component of music, providing depth, and groove for countless musical compositions.

Types of Basses

Though it may not be well known to non-musicians, there are many different types of basses and various uses for each of them. Beginning with the most notable of all basses, the electric bass. The electric bass is the most widely used bass heard in most music today. The bass features a solid body, magnetic pickups, frets, amplification, and tone controls. Next is the double bass, or also known as the upright bass. The double bass is the largest of all basses standing at typically 6-feet tall. Its size and wooden shape consists of a hollow body and distinctive curves creating a loud acoustic sound. The sound can be described as warm and deep, providing a solid foundation to music. Double basses are most commonly seen in orchestras and in the jazz genre. Now onto a more recent innovation of the bass, the fretless bass. Credited to jazz legend Jaco Pastorius, the fretless bass is almost identical to the electric bass but is constructed with no frets on the fingerboard (neck). The absence of frets on this bass allows players to play more smoothly and create nuanced pitch variations, yet can be difficult to do as achieving good intonation requires players to have perfect finger placement in order to not produce pitch discrepancies. Usage of the fretless bass can be most seen in the jazz and fusion genres. A few mentionable basses that are not very common are bass ukulele and synthesizer bass.

Construction of the Electric Bass

The electric bass is made up of several parts.

The Body: The body of an electric bass guitar is usually made of wood, most commonly alder, ash, or maple. Body shapes of basses can vary widely, from traditional shapes like the Fender Precision Bass or Ibanez to unique designs such as Jay Turser Violin or the Hofner Shorty bass. Different bodies have different uses which impact factors such as weight and balance, sound and tone, aesthetics, and overall the amount of comfort the bass gives to the bassist.
The Neck/Fretboard/Headstock: The neck of an electric bass guitar is typically made of wood, usually the same wood as the body of the bass. The neck is usually a solid piece or is glued together by multiple pieces and is either bolted or glued/attached using a strong adhesive to the body of the bass. The bolt method allows for adjustment or removal of the neck which can be useful for customization and maintenance, whereas the glue or also known as the set neck method creates a permanent connection of the neck and body The neck also includes the fretboard and headstock, the fretboard usually made of a different type of wood other than the neck. The frets of the fretboard are made of metal strips that are embedded into the fretboard, each fret is at a precise interval to mark the notes. The headstock is the part of the bass that holds the tuning pegs where all the strings are connected.
Pickups: Electric bass guitars have at least one or more pickups, found on the body of the instrument in between the neck and the bridge. Pickups are electromagnetic devices that detect and capture vibrations of the strings when plucked, slapped or strummed, and convert them into electrical signals which are sent to the amplifier. Pickups may vary between different basses, as they all offer a unique tone.
Bridge: The bridge of an electric bass guitar is the section at the very bottom of the bass that holds the strings in place. This part allows for adjustments to be made to the string height and intonation (pitch).
Electronics: Like all electric instruments, the electric bass guitar has several electronic components, which includes the volume and tone controls, as well as other controls depending on the type of bass such as pickup selectors, active control, or build-in effects.
Finish: Once all of the above components of the electric bass are complete, all basses are finished with paint, lacquer, or other different coatings which are used to protect the wood as well as make it look nice.

Electric Bass Acoustics

Finger-style (E Note) Time Graph (Figure 1)

Finger-style E Note

Strumming (E Note) Time Graph (Figure 2)

Strummed E Note

The acoustic properties of an electric bass guitar are influenced by its construction, materials, and design. Although the electric bass is primarily designed to be played through an amplifier, it still produces sound acoustically. When playing, the technique used to vibrate the strings can affect the sound. Different techniques such as finger-style, strumming (playing with a pick), slapping, and palm muting all can produce a different sound. To the side are the differences of wavelengths and frequency analyses of the finger-style and strumming techniques. Comparing the two E note waveforms of finger-style (Figure 1) and strumming (Figure 2) at a zoomed in level, the finger-style frequency is 40Hz (f = 1/0.025) and the strummed frequency is 41.66 (f = 1/0.024). When looking at the graphs as well, the big and more spaced out oscillations indicate a greater amplitude and a lower frequency compared to the strummed E note Oscillations which are the opposite.

Pedal Effects

Finger-style (E Note with Fuzz Pedal) Time Graph (Figure 3)

Finger-style E Note Using Fuzz Pedal

Bass fuzz pedals are a type of effects pedal that are designed to add distortion and sustain to the sound of a bass guitar. They are similar to guitar fuzz pedals but are specifically made to enhance the low frequencies produced by a bass. A few characteristics that are being used by the bass fuzz pedal in the wavelength shown are distortion, sustain, and tone shaping. When looking at the fuzz time graph (Figure 3) and comparing it to both no effect time graphs (Figure 1 & 2), there is a difference. The amplitude is increased significantly and there are more oscillations. When listening to the different audios of each time graph, it is easy to tell how much longer the amplitude is sustained for when using the fuzz pedal. It is not shown in the audio but it takes significantly longer for a notes sound using a fuzz pedal to deteriorate than a regular finger-styled plucked or strummed note. This is mainly due to the complex waveforms induced by the fuzz effect, which causes slower decay effects of the sounds higher frequencies. Evidence of this is seen in the two spectrographs (Figure 4 & 5). In the 0-4 second time frame, the higher frequencies as well as the amplitude of the E note using the fuzz pedal is sustained significantly longer than the E note played without the fuzz pedal.

References

History of Bass: Superprof. We Love Prof. (n.d.). https://www.superprof.ca/blog/bass-history/#:~:text=In%201910%2C%20the%20Gibson%20company,Bass%20Fiddle%20in%20limited%20numbers.

Team, R. (2016, July 14). A brief history of the Bass. Connolly Music Company. https://www.connollymusic.com/stringovation/brief-history-of-string-bass

Spectrograph of Finger-style (E Note) Without Using Fuzz Pedal (Figure 4)

Spectrograph of Finger-style (E Note) Using Fuzz Pedal (Figure 5)