Fender Jazz Bass

The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic. Because of this, many bass players who want to be more "forward" in the mix (including smaller bands such as power trios) prefer the Jazz Bass.
First introduced in 1960 as the "Deluxe Model", it was marketed as a stablemate to the Jazzmaster guitar which was also marketed as a "Deluxe Model" in its own right; however, it was renamed the Jazz Bass as Fender felt that its redesigned neck - narrower and more rounded than that of the Precision Bass - would appeal more to jazz musicians.
The Jazz Bass has two single coil pickups with two pole pieces per string. This gave the bass a stronger midrange sound to compete with the Rickenbacker bass, which had been introduced in 1957 and which was famously "bright." As well as having a slightly different, less symmetrical and more contoured body shape (known in Fender advertising as the "Offset Waist Contour" body), the Jazz Bass neck is noticeably narrower at the nut than that of the Fender Precision Bass.
n 2008, the American Series models were replaced by a new American Standard line which is totally different than the first-generation American Standard Series basses introduced in 1994. The differences between the 1994 and the 2008 versions are a rolled edge neck with highly detailed nut and fret work, as well as a rounded body shape with a vintage body radius. The S-1 switching system has been discontinued in favor of new features such as a new high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight vintage-style tuning machines, new neck finishes and a micarta nut.
The Jazz Bass has a bright sound, with more high end than the Precision Bass. This makes it ideal for slap playing as well as finger-style players. This bright sound is due to the fact that there are two pickups at different points in the string's length. The bridge pickup gives a tone with more treble, while the neck pickup will yield a rounder sound. The ability to blend the volume of both pickups allows for a wider variety of tones than the Precision Bass can produce. Pickups are RWRP (reverse wound, reverse polarity) from one another, so all hum will be canceled when both pickups are at full volume. Vintage examples from the 1960s and 1970s are highly desirable. The new models remain a popular choice today of rock, jazz, and fusion musicians.


Fender Precision Bass

The Fender Precision Bass, known as "P-Bass" for short, is the first model of the electric bass guitar designed by Leo Fender and brought to market in 1951.
Although the Precision Bass was first presented some fifteen years after the original solid body, fretted, guitar-style electric bass produced by the Audiovox Manufacturing Company in Seattle, Washington, the Precision Bass was the first mass-produced and commercially successful electric bass. In its stock configuration, it is a solid body instrument equipped with one split-coil electric pickup. The Precision Bass is probably the best selling electric bass of all time and is still being manufactured today.
The Standard model P-Bass is sanded, painted and assembled in Ensenada, Baja California along with the other Standard Series guitars. The American Series (featuring the S-1 switching system since 2003) and Highway One models are manufactured in Corona, California.
The double bass (also called bass viol, contrabass, or upright bass) is difficult to play in tune, is physically cumbersome and difficult to transport. It was becoming hard to hear in increasingly large bands or in bands that included amplified electric guitars. With electric pickups, a small body and fretted neck, the Precision Bass overcame these problems.
The electric bass produces a timbre that differs from that of the double bass: it is a more focused, harder-edged sound, with less percussive thump and a more clearly articulated fundamental tone. By bringing the sound of the bass up in a band, the bass became more dominant in its role and transformed the beat and rhythm of pop music. Overall, the electric bass has allowed driving rhythms while still outlining harmonic structures and is essential to the evolution from jump blues and swing to rhythm and blues and rock music.
Many variants (sometimes with 21 or 22 frets on the fingerboard) and special-edition Precision Basses have been offered in recent years. Fender made an active 5-string version as a part of the American Deluxe Series range, featuring a split-coil neck pickup and a bridge humbucker until 2007, tuned BEADG, but also a passive short-scale version tuned EADGC called the Bass V in the 1960s. It did not achieve good sales, so it was dropped and Fender did not offer another 5 string until the 1980s when 5 strings came into fashion to accommodate its enhanced role as a melodic and rhythmic instrument.