What is the point of horns on a bass?

Overall balance.

 

Things have to look nice. Is this the world you want to live in? Is it?

 

^

 

There isn't a point... something of a moot point.

Cutaways come into the world of basses from the world of guitars. Cutaways were devised for acoustic guitars before anything else. The horn is all that is left once you remove enough material on that side of a guitar body to allow upper fret access. The cutaway allows guitarists to extend their hand up the neck beyond the neck-to-body join which, on some guitars, is down at the 15th fret or so. The cutaway on the bass side is a later innovation. I want to say Leo Fender designed it when he devised the Stratocaster and '57 P bass outline, but it could well have been somebody else.

This Gibson is from 1949, and has a cutaway:

 

i'm with https://www.talkbass.com/members/stumbo.110359/ : balance is everything. that two-horned thing is what it is = ...a classic EBG shape.

 

I always thought the lower horn was for comfort over your leg and the inside was cut away for access to the upper frets. The upper horn was for balance and a handle to carry it. Besides, the whole "coke bottle, womanly figure" thang...

Then again, I may be having flashbacks from 80's night club drugs.

 

I believe Paul Bigsby was making double cutaways in the late 40's. He beat Fender and Gibson by several years.

 

I believe they evolved to help ward off predators.

 

Dunno. But horns on a contralto adds serious vibe.




Sorry. Please carry on.

 

If you don't like horns, get an upright.

 

Place to hook your headphones whe your are done practicing if you use a bass guitar stand do and silent practice.

 

Gives you a place to drape your left forearm when you're trying to look cool for a photo. In my case, this is negated because my fly is usually open.

Riis

 

Oh no!

 

You just mentioned it - to prevent neck dive.

 

Lest we forget violin-ish basses.

 

Plenty of basses with horns still have neck dive. Plenty of basses dont have horns. Alot still have neck dive.Balance was long neglected IMO.

 

PS- note my avatar. On the back is a reel with 50lb line, so when its diving i can at least go fishing.

 

Getting the upper strap button up to the 12th fret. Making playing sitting down more comfortable with easier upper fret access on the bottom. A little bit of weight reduction on the bigger bass body. The p bass was double cutaway from day one in ‘51.

 

I have long looked at this bass with wonder.