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Shanta Plansinis
Steve Harris almost exclusively uses a P Bass when performing with heavy-metal powerhouse Iron Maiden, from the group's eponymous 1980 debut to hits such as "The Number of the Beast," "Run to the Hills" and "Two Minutes to Midnight."
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The Fender Precision Bass (or "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.[1]
The original Precision Bass of 1951 shared several of its design features with the Telecaster electric guitar, the main difference being its double cutaway body. The 1954 Stratocaster guitar with its contoured edges for comfort, was inspired by the Precision bass.[4]In turn the Precision Bass then borrowed design elements from the Stratocaster guitar: The model season of 1954/55 saw the introduction of a body shape and comfort carve similar to the Stratocaster.The 1957 model had its headstock and pickguard redesigned to resemble the Stratocaster, and a rounder neck heel replacing the original square shape. A redesigned pickguard was made of a single layer of gold-anodized aluminium with 10 screw holes.
Most notably, in the 1957 model, the original single-coil pickup was replaced by the "split-coil" design with staggered pole pieces which is now known as the typical Precision pickup. Its two coils are typically connected in a hum-cancelling mode, a feature that was not emphasized by Fender at the time, as Seth Lover's patent on the humbucker pickup had not yet expired.
In 1959 a glued-on rosewood fingerboard featuring "clay"-style dot position markers replaced the one-piece maple neck and remained standard until 1966/67, when the now-CBS-owned Fender company began to offer a separate, laminated maple fingerboard capped on a maple neck. Rosewood fingerboards were then made of a veneered, round-laminated piece of wood and pearloid dot markers replaced the "clay"-style inlays introduced in 1959.
In 1960 the aluminum pickguard was replaced with a 13-screw celluloid design having three or four layers of black, white, white pearloid or with a brown "tortoise-shell" pattern). In the same year the newly designed Fender Jazz Bass was released.
The original Telecaster-derived design, with a few updates, was reintroduced in 1968 as the Fender Telecaster Bass. Within a few years, this evolved into a model distinctly different from the contemporary Precision Bass, alongside which it was marketed through 1979.[5] Two artist-designed models use the Telecaster Bass body style; the Mike Dirnt Precision Bass, using today's standard single split-coil pick-up, and the Sting Precision Bass, using a single coil pick-up as did the earliest design.
Since 1969 the one-piece maple neck option was offered on many Fender basses, with the rosewood fretboard as an alternative. Some Precision Basses made in the 1970s were also available with an unlined fretless rosewood, ebony or (usually) maple fingerboard, popularized by Sting and Tony Franklin.
From 1980 to 1984 various models of the Precision Bass were given new active pickups and a high-mass brass bridge. The Special (1980) featured a split-coil pickup with white covers, gold hardware, a 2-band EQ and an active/passive toggle switch. The Elite (1983) had one (Elite I) or two (Elite II) split-coil humbucking pickups, TBX tone circuit and a Schaller fine-tune bridge later used on the Plus Series models of the early 1990s. Some models were available with solid walnut body and stained ebony fretboard.
Precision Bass Lyte models were made in Japan and came to the market in late 1984. They had a smaller body shape and a modern C-shape maple neck with 22 medium-jumbo frets. They had an active P-J pickup configuration with a 2 band eq and pickup pan knob. They were produced until 1995.
In 1983, Fender introduced the Standard Series with a new Bullet truss rod system, updated die-cast tuning machines, chrome hardware, white pickup covers and a single-ply white pick guard. The Headstock graphics were changed to reflect a blend of new and vintage. The Fender logo remained underneath the string guide but was changed to silver with a black outline. The "Precision Bass" wordmark was changed to a boldface font similar to the early 1960s model but remained to the right of the Fender logo.From 1984 to 2000, this was referred to as the American Standard Precision Bass. The most notable visual change was the return to black pickup covers. The model was revamped in 1995. In 1996, a special run of 500 instruments was sold as the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Precision Bass to celebrate the company's anniversary. This model had gold hardware and a "Fender 50" stamp on the neck plate.[6]
In 1984, Fender introduced a lower cost Standard Precision Bass model made in Japan. The Standard model was made in Japan until 1990 when Fender shifted operations to its new Mexican factory which produced the model from 1991 to 2018.
The American Deluxe Precision Bass was added to the revamped lineup in 1995. It had an Ash Body (offered until 2006), 18-volt preamp with 3-Band Active EQ and an added Humbucker in the bridge position.
The American Series Precision Bass was introduced in 2000 and discontinued in 2008. From 2003 the S-1 switching system allowed the pickup coils to be switched from series to parallel, offering a wider tonal range, but this was discontinued in 2008 with the second generation of American Standard Series instruments. 2011 models bear a special "Fender 60" badge on the back of the body to celebrate the company's 60th Anniversary.
In 2002, Fender added a new lower-cost American passive model series known as the Highway One. There were two iterations of this line - known as Highway 1 and Highway One. Highway 1 featured 60's spaghetti logo, and a nut side truss rod adjustment port. They were painted with thin nitro lacquer. In 2006, it was updated with a BadAss II bridge with grooved saddles and a Greasebucket tone circuit. The Highway One Precision Bass featured '70s styling and thin satin nitro lacquer finish. The series remained available until it was discontinued in 2011.[7]
The American Standard, American Deluxe (featuring a J-style humbucking pickup in the bridge position and an active 3-band EQ with an 18V power supply), Highway One and American Vintage series models were manufactured in Corona, California.
Following the success of the Aerodyne Jazz Bass, Fender briefly produced the Japanese-made Aerodyne Classic Precision Bass from 2006 to 2008. This model retained the basic shape of the classic Precision but had dramatically thinner contours. It had a basswood body with figured maple top and cream binding, Precision and Single-coil Jazz pickup combination and matching finish headstock.[8]
On December 5, 2008, the American Standard Precision Bass was updated with CBS era-style decals, a 3-ply parchment pickguard and a tinted maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard. Other features included a high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight staggered tuning machine and a return to the knurled chrome flat-top control knobs. Models produced before 2003 came for a period with aged white Stratocaster control knobs.
As of March 23, 2010, all American Deluxe Precision Basses came with an N3 stacked-coil Jazz Bass pickup in the bridge position, a 21-fret tinted maple neck with compound rosewood or maple fingerboard with white or black pearloid dot markers, an active/passive toggle switch, a high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight vintage tuners, a stealth retainer bar for the A string and a bold CBS-era headstock decal. As of March 23, 2012 the American Standard Precision Bass (except the 5-string version) came with a Custom Shop 60's P-Bass split-coil humbucking pickup. The 2012 color chart listed 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black, Candy Cola, Jade Pearl Metallic, Charcoal Frost Metallic as available finishes during that period. As of April 19, 2012 the American Standard Precision Basses are loaded with the Custom Shop '60s Precision Bass split single-coil pick-ups, a 20-fret graphite-reinforced maple neck with compound rosewood or maple fingerboard with white or black pearloid dot markers and a high-mass vintage bridge. It be bought as a 4 or 5 string bass. and were again made available in 2011; the 2004 color chart listed Aged Cherry Sunburst, Butterscotch Blonde and Tobacco Sunburst as available finishes during that period.
The Road Worn Series 50s P-Bass (introduced in 2009) features a distressed alder body with nitrocellulose lacquer finish, a 1-ply gold anodized pickguard, a synthetic bone nut, American Vintage hardware, a split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 20 vintage frets.
Fender offered the Made-in-Mexico Blacktop Series from 2013 to 2014. Like Most of the other instruments in this series, the Blacktop Precision Bass was given high-output humbuckers. It also had a Hi-Mass Bridge, Vintage Jazz Bass Style Knobs (Volume, Volume, Tone) and a C-shape neck with 9.5" Radius.[9]
In January 2017, Fender retired its American Standard line to be replaced by the American Professional Series. The Precision Bass was updated with new V-Mod pickups, upgraded tuners that featured increased sustain and better tuning stability, Narrow-Tall frets and a '63 P Bass profile neck.[13] Fender ceased production of this model in 2020.
On June 19, 2018, Fender announced that it would be upgrading the build quality of its Made in Mexico Standard Series by replacing it with the Player Series instruments. The Player Precision Bass received new Alnico V pickups, modern C-shaped neck with a contemporary 9.5" fingerboard radius, synthetic bone nut, new Fender standard open-gear tuners and a choice of Pau Ferro or Maple fretboards.[14]
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