The very first electric guitar was invented by Leo Fender and George Fullerton in the 1950?s, and from then on, it was mass produced. Soon on 1957, Fender?s and Fullerton?s creative efforts came up with the split pick up design which causes the humming effect which always associated with the bass guitars. After a few years, a revolutionary violin shaped bass guitar was made by Gibson, and six years after that, a new and improved version was made available to the industry.

Because of its success and popularity, many smaller guitar companies followed suit and started making their own bass guitars as inspired by Gibson and Fender. By 1960?s, Rock and Roll and the use of bass guitar became extremely popular. Soon bass guitar became a household name.

Bass guitars are usually made from different kinds of wood. Some base guitars are made from graphite and wood. However, each part of the guitar usually has different kinds of material used. Some uses alder for the body, maple wood for the beck and rosewood for the fretboard.

Finishing materials also vary; it could be lacquer, oil and wax. Bass guitars could be designed as flat or curved. Some models from Luthier, Hohner and Steinberger are headless bass guitars with the tuning machine placed in the bridge. Bass guitars made from ovangkol, ebony and wenge are the most expensive types.

The amplification functions of the bass guitar are just similar with the electric guitar. Musicians can opt to use a patch cord for connecting the guitar to the amplifier and speakers, or they may choose to have a combo amplifier where both the amplifier and speakers are placed into a single cabinet.

For people wanting to be great musicians or those who are musicians by profession, playing bass guitar is a great craft. Each musician can even create and own a technique for playing their bass guitar. The Pizzicato style of plucking is done by plucking the string with the fingers. James Jamerson popularized a plucking technique using only the index finger and they call it ?the hook.?

Probably the most common plucking technique for mainstream musicians and guitar players is the slap and pop style. Tones and percussive sound is usually used for Funk music. This is created by hitting a string with the thumb and snapping the strings using the index or the middle finger. This method also became a hit along with the era Rock and Fusion all though the 80?s and 90?s.


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