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Why don't tele basses look like guitar teles?

S

some kid

Aug 1, 2010
33
0
Perth, Australia
#1
At least, as far as Fender is concerned. It's something I've always wondered... Why was the tele bass made with two horns like a strat, instead of just one like the tele guitars? Is it something to do with the sound or something?

I know that tele basses and tele-style licensed remakes have the same knobs plate and the small headstock, but when I think tele, I think of the curved bit at the top and the single horn on the bottom.

I know G&L do a guitar-type tele bass, but it doesn't have the pickguard or the cool knobs plate like the tele guitars. Fender's tele's look like skinny P-basses to me (talking visually, not sonically).

Just wonderin'.
 
#2
This is speculation, but when it was released, the Telecaster bass was a reissue of the original Precision bass. Since the Precision bass already existed in its new and improved form, they couldn't call it a "Precision bass". Since "Telecaster" was a registered Fender trademark with brand name recognition, they called it a Telecaster bass. This made sense from a historical standpoint, since the original Precision and the Telecaster guitar were companion pieces in the early days of the company.
 
#3
Comfort and balance. I have a G&L ASAT bass, which has a real Tele body. It looks cool, but it puts the nut about 3" further away from your shoulder. Long-armed guys don't have a problem with that, but for my short arms I had to install a second strap button on the heel, get a padded, contoured strap, and I have the whole bass shifted somewhat to the right. It works out now, but it would have been much simpler with an upper horn and a strap button even with the 12th fret.
 
#6
Leo exteded the horn on the original Precision Bass in 1951 so it would balance on a strap, and to put the first fret close enough to play comfortably. The Telecaster Bass was simply a repro of the original P as made from '51 to '54 (when it got the contours but retained the single-coil PUP, the original small headstock, the big pickgaurd, and the two-saddle bridge.

A 34" scale bass with a real Tele guitar body shape (like the G&L ASAT) is really hard to play for me.

John
 
#9
tele6.jpg
telebass3.jpg
telebass4.jpg


My Landing will be dark brown stained ash with the a single darkstar, somewhat similar to the one below.
tele5.jpg
 
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#10
JohnnyB53 said:
Comfort and balance. I have a G&L ASAT bass, which has a real Tele body. It looks cool, but it puts the nut about 3" further away from your shoulder.
Click to expand...

FletcherML said:
Teles are handsome guitars. But a bass with that body would look and probably feel "off".
Click to expand...

JTE said:
Leo exteded the horn on the original Precision Bass in 1951 so it would balance on a strap, and to put the first fret close enough to play comfortably.
Click to expand...

That's a massive enlightenment for the little wonder I had. I wonder then, if my arms would be long enough to play a guitar-tele style bass... Wonder if anywhere near me stock any. I'm all for long, sleek necks (hence I love J-type necks over P-type).

Though come to think about it, it seems like all of Leo's children seem to get tangled up in lazy naming re-use. I had the same confusing episode recently trying to figure out the difference between Sterling (the bass) and Sterling (the MusicMan sub-company).


::::BASSIST:::: said:
I'm currently having Landing build me a shortscale Tele bass (in the guitar form) with a single darkstar. Should be sweet.
Click to expand...

::::BASSIST:::: said:
It *has* been done!
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Man, those are some epic basses. That last one with the Fender headstock... I'd kill a guitarist for one of those :p

Do show your bass when it arrives!
 
#15
lposavad said:
For that matter, the P-Bass has the same shape as the Strat guitar, so why isn't it called a Strat Bass???
Click to expand...

That also confused me when I started looking at Fenders. How was a Precision different to a stratocaster? :p But basses like that can be referred to as "strat-type" or something similar. When you think strat, you think the rounded bout, inwards-curved hips and two horns. For example, the Stingray would be reminiscent of a strat-style guitar.

When you think tele shape, you think stout flat bout and only one horn. For example... well, telecaster guitars.

However, when you refer to a tele bass ==> strat-style body ==> not tele style body = mass confusion. That's where my initial question was sparked.

Fender are pretty iconic when it comes to when your refer to what a guitar looks like. After all, strats and teles are all you ever see anywhere (massive generalization).
 
#17
some kid said:
I'm all for long, sleek necks (hence I love J-type necks over P-type).
Click to expand...
Standard neck on a G&L ASAT bass is a J-type--1.5" nut width and 12" radius. Here's mine, a semihollow fretless, ebony board, fretlines. And those MFD humbuckers sound MASSIVE full up.

DSCN0069.jpg


Here's a very blurry pic of me playing it at a recent gig. I added a strap button at the heel, I use a well-padded strap that's contoured to balance on the shoulder better, and you can see that I slide the bass body around to my side somewhat to bring the end of the neck closer to my reach. Once I found this position, it became pretty comfortable and very playable.

P1020290.jpg
 
#19
Reynoldbot said:
I believe that the Precision bass was named so because of its use of frets, then a radical design element for bass, making it much easier to play in tune (with "precision") in a band as opposed to using a double bass.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that left me scratching my head when I first read that. We could take it a step further and question why guitars aren't called precision guitars (I know, the history doesn't work).

JohnnyB53 said:
Standard neck on a G&L ASAT bass is a J-type--1.5" nut width and 12" radius.
Click to expand...

That's sweet. I love G&L headstocks too. I feel though, usually with basses, when there's no pickguard, it kind of feels vast... I guess because of all that real estate on the body, as opposed to a guitar. They should put another pickup against the neck :p That would be cool.

Would like to try a G&L but there's nothing here where I live. Love the big MM style humbuckers.

A-Step-Towards said:
I just dont feel the tele body on a bass , looks great on a guitar. I also do not like the EB-0 because the SG shape looks great on a guitar , a bass not so much. Also i dont dig the les paul basses at all, seriously that should have never became a bass shape looks way wrong IMO.
Click to expand...

To each their own, I guess. I was never really all that particular to tele guitars up until recently. I'm with you on the les paul basses, and I've always cringed at metal-style basses (explorers, flying V's etc). Then again, I also don't like the look of basses with the huge upper horn which is attached up until like the ninth fret, nor gooey rounded basses like Warwicks, or any five-stringer (the thinner the neck, the better :P). But then again, I'm just a picky kid.

I like the SG shape, but I played an Epi once and didn't like the feel of it. The raised bridge should be left for guitars, and the chunky pickups were so high they were annoying.
 

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