Backbeat Books How The Fender Bass Changed

”How the Fender Bass Changed the World" by Jim Roberts is a compelling exploration of the Fender Precision Bass's monumental influence on music and culture. The book delves into the key developments that equipped the bass with its impressive musical abilities and examines its artistic impact through the hands of great bassists like James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius, Paul McCartney, and John Entwistle, among others. It's not just a chronicle of the bass's evolution; it's a story about how it became a powerful agent of change in popular music and society. If you love music or play the bass, this book is perfect for you. Very informative.

This book is not only about FENDER basses, but gives a historical background to the evolution of bass guitars in general. It begins with acoustic, uprights, semi-upright, bass versions of other instruments, then makes the point that the Fender bass guitar was the first widely adopted and available instrument, taking on wide popularity. The narrative progresses chronologically, comparing newer evolution of the Fender bass with other instruments and musical genres as time progressed. Gibson, Rickenbacker, Music Man, G&L, all get a mention as the timeline continues. Musicians famous for their different styles and different genres are shown with their appropriate instruments - some play Fender, others don't. The balance of pictures and text is good and appropriate. The historical and educational value of this book is great. If you play Fender - Great! - you'll enjoy this! If you don't own or play a Fender instrument it's still worth knowing the history and where other basses fit in! An excellent source for research purposes.