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Let's talk about Fender jazz basses and jazz.....

D

de la mocha

Aug 20, 2005
1,488
16
NEW JERSEY
#1
First introduced in 1960 as the "Deluxe Model", 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.

This statement I have seen a few times when talking about Fender J Basses but I had a few questions. The Jazz bass came out in 1960. During this time, what was the jazz scene like? Was it still the big horn section type of jazz, or the jazz with the speedy bass runs?

I just want to know why was this bass created to appeal to jazz players and what was the music scene like when this bass was introduced since the music scene at the time had a major factor in the creation of the jazz bass. Plus the name itself seems to mean it's creation had something to do with jazz.

Can someone school me on this, i'm just a lil youngin'......:hiding:
 
#3
Leo Fender felt that they gave a more accurate acoustic string bass sound, which the jazz bass player would prefer. The pickups were designed with two pole pieces per string. This produced a mellower tone and a less percussionized signal that was more forgiving on the less-than-efficient bass speakers of the 1950s and 1960s.
 
#4
You asked specifically about 1960, but I'm going to include 1959 and 1960. They were landmark years for jazz.

Miles Davis/Kind of Blue, 1959. This album features Paul Chambers on acoustic upright bass (as well as John Coltrane on tenor sax, Cannonball Adderly on alto sax, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly on piano, and Jimmy Cobb on drums). KoB is one of the most important recordings in the history of jazz, if not recorded music. Improvisation was based on modes, which signaled a shift from preceding styles with chord changes and fixed harmonies. If you've never heard this album, seek it out.

John Coltrane/Giant Steps, 1959. Again Paul Chambers on upright. In fact there is a song named after him ("Mr P.C."). This is Coltrane asserting himself as a band leader and as a song writer. Another essential jazz recording.

Ornette Coleman/Free Jazz, 1960. This album features a double quartet with two upright bassists playing simultaneously: Charlie Haden and Scott LaFaro. It's difficult to describe this album. Basically it was a collective improvisation in which the two groups improvised without fixed melodic or harmonic centers. The end result is wild, turbulent, challenging, maybe a bit confusing at first. After a few listenings you start to hear interaction between the musicians and between the two quartets. I'm still not to the point where I enjoy this album. It is a sign of things to come in the jazz world and a landmark recording.

John Coltrane/My Favorite Things, 1960. Steve Davis on upright. As far as I know this is Coltrane's first album with drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner who would work with him for the rest of his life. It is modal jazz and one of Coltrane's finest recordings. This is one of my personal favorites, and I hear some of the "spirituality" that came to define Coltrane's work later in the 1960s.

So the Jazz Bass had little to do with jazz bass from the same era. Monk Montgomery and Lionel Hampton's bassist played Fender Precisions starting in the 1950s, but they were anomalies. Also a slim neck wouldn't necessarily entice jazz bassists used to playing a larger upright neck. I read somewhere that the Jazz was designed with a slimmer neck and closer string spacing to make it easier for guitarists who wanted to double on bass. I've also read the name relates to the Jazzmaster guitar.
 
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#5
From the NAMM announcement in 1960 the offset body and slimmer necks were brought from the designs of the Jazzmaster and were definately with the idea of making a "easier, faster playing" bass. It also is obvious that they were going for a more "upscale" model that would appeal to those who could afford a more expensive instrument.

Both Jazzmaster and the Jazz Bass names were intended to make them appear more serious and "deluxe".

The famous example from Antiques Road Show was the fellow who brought in his mint original 1961 Jazzmaster guitar. He had sprung for the Jazzmaster rather than "settled" for the less expensive Strat. Of course, his Jazzmaster was worth about $10-$15k. If it'd been a Strat it'd be worth about $30k.

The first mention of the slimer neck on the Jazz bass being easier for guitarists to play is in a bullet point on a retail ad in 1970.

Hope this helps.
 
#6
My old reissue Jazz has the holes for mounting the spring/felt string mutes. When they're installed, this bass sounds more like an upright than any other Fender with the 'regular' foam mute attached to the bridge ashtray. Quite interesting really.

In the 50's Gibson still ruled the guitar of choice in jazz music. Obviously Leo developed a guitar to appeal to jazz musicians, then also adopted those designs to a new bass. Also since jazz was and still is considered the most elite of all music, he figured he'd call his new elite models with the jazz name.
 
#7
During the early 60's Jazz consisted mostly of Cool and West Coast sounds at the cutting edge, both of which employed primarily uprights.

In 1967 a band from NYC called Blood Sweat & Tears of which I am a former member, began fusing a jazz horn section with a rock & roll rhythm section. BS&T was one the origninal fusion bands blending rock, jazz, latin and R & B. This not only was a huge success in the rock world but it got the attention of the jazz world too. 1968 BS&T swept the grammies.

In later part of the decade, Miles Davis, always the innovator, started exploring electric jazz. Big Fun and Bithches Brew were released in 1970. Names like John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinal, Chick Corea began to emerge. Dave Holland is playing a fender bass. The birth of Jazz Fusion sees the electric bass gaining ecceptance into the the Jazz world in a big way.

In the Late 60's early 70's this trend reaches through the Jazz and quazi jazz worlds as evidenced by electric bass being played in the Tonight show orchestra. Quincey Jones, began using electric bass for his grammy winning Jazz compositions for movie scores and artisit he arranged for.

The Mahavishnu orchestra, Weather Report and others brought the electric bass fully into view of the Jazz world. Miraslav Vitus, Alphonso Johnson, Steve Swallow all blazed this trail.

Pop Jazz begins to emerge at this time. This is the fore runner of today's smooth jazz. Creed Taylor starts CTI records and artists like George Benson, Grover Washington and Stanley Turinteen begin making a blend of Poppy Jazz all with guys like Anthony Jackson on the electric bass.

Then a guy named Jaco showed up in 1976 with a Fender Jazz. He rewrote the rules for the the bass, not just the electric bass.
 
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#8
I have read that Don Randall and his sales staff were the ones who named the instruments. Certainly they get credit for the Broadcaster/Telecaster/Stratocaster series of names. I wouldn't be surprised if the same held true for basses.

Recall that, in the '50's, electric basses were not at all common. Look at pictures of Elvis' group, Bill Haley's group, and so on: all uprights. Only the more daring rock bands, like Gene Vincent's openly displayed Fender basses.

Randall took the tack of emphasizing the convenience of having a smaller instrument that was fretted, allowing guitarists to double on bass more easily. Randall and his staff wrote the copy, and I tend to think they named the instruments also, no doubt after consulting with Leo about what features were considered important.

With the Precision, the "precision" of fretted notes was the key; with the Jazz, since it followed the "top of the line" Jazzmaster, I would guess that that was the motive.

Certainly no **real** jazz bassist would have been caught dead with one, until the fusion movement of the '60's, and the JB came into that from the rock side, not the jazz side.
 
#13
I think it might be worth while to note that Gordy pulled the Funk Brothers straight out of the Detroit jazz scene of the late '50s and early '60s. Jamerson and all those guys spent their spare time playing jazz in clubs all over Detroit. So, Motown may have been the first really successful fusion of Jazz and pop. Also, Jamerson never touched a Jazz Bass that I'm aware of. He went from upright to a P.
 
#15
If memory serves me correctly, Leo wasn't a big fan of rock music when he began making insturments. I may have been more popular in its day if it were called the fender rock'n'roll bass. BGs were designed as much, if not more, with guitarists in mind. It is possible that he was trying to appeal to guitarists trying to double (pun intended) on bass in jazz groups.
 
#16
momo said:
BGs were designed as much, if not more, with guitarists in mind. It is possible that he was trying to appeal to guitarists trying to double (pun intended) on bass in jazz groups.
Click to expand...

I think you're onto something. My reasoning in 1998 is that the bass guitar was made for bassists when I first picked up the bass guitar! This was after the bass guitar had a long history behind it. But could it be that when Fender created the bass guitar he was not appealing to upright bass players to switch to a less cumbersome instrument, but he was appealing to guitarists who wanted to double on the bass?

I mean look at the bass. It's basically a big guitar with less strings. It plays like a guitar (meaning you don't blow in it like a flute or use a bow like a violin, I know you approach playing the bass and guitar differently, but they play more similar then a trumbone or a bagpipe).

Do you think Fender created his jazz bass for guitar players to double on or did he want to create bass guitar players?
 
#17
Leo was aware that he was inventing something revolutionary, but it also filled a need. He couldn't call it the rock'n'roll bass because there was no such expression in 1951...and in 1960, "jazz" still sounded much classier.

It's hard to believe that the solid body electric bass guitar is younger than I am, and yet as of 2006 it has an illustrious history behind it.:D
 
#19
From the Fender Bass: An Illustrated History by Black & Molinaro (great book: the photos alone are worth the price):

"According to [George] Fullerton, the mute was not placed on the bass to mirror an upright bass tone, but was needed to prevent unwanted overtones and sustain." -page 12

Fender had a time with his early bass amps, and the problems they experienced with blown speakers and distortion led to the Precision going from a single-coil to a split humbucker. No doubt he was trying to make it easier on the amplifier.:eyebrow:

With all this talk about jazz musicians, if you look at the Fender promotional material at the time, they were directed at kids, not jazz players: bright colors, lots of chrome (can you imagine an early '50s Gibson with candy apple red and chrome pickguards?), photos of woodies and Tbirds on the beach with surfers, and so on. I think that supports my theory that "Jazz" was a handy word that was intended to convince the kids looking for a bass that it was a high-class instrument. :D

Not to mention SMASH's point about "guitarists" vs "musicians." Randall knew he was selling to guitar players, not the old hep upright players, although most of them, I am sure, came around to the electric eventually. Listen to pop music in the '50s and you hear big bands with a plucked standup underneath from the likes of Ray Brown and Ray Leatherwood.
 

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