Here is a big chunk of text for you to read: obasldfwuf
The world has no reason to show you this but you read it anyway, and for that - I thank you
The blood in the water makes the brain do funny things
I had to write an essay but since I included pictures and it's quite long, I'm going to try and style it into a website!
It is generally agreed that the first bass guitar developed was the Audiovox #736 Electronic Bass Fiddle, designed and built by Paul Tutmarc, which reached production in 1936. But before that he built an acoustic electric bass, shown on the right. It was an upright instrument which looked more like a cello than it did a bass. There is also a very real likelihood that the first electric bass player may have been Paul’s then-wife Lorraine who played his newly developed electric bass in a Hawaiian band they were in. (1)
That title is contended, however, as many believe the title should be given to George Beauchamp (pronounced Beechum) for creating what is known for being the first commercially successful bass guitar- the frying pan bass from 1934. Manufactured under the name Rickenbacker after Adolf Rickenbacker, George Beauchamp’s friend and co-founder. Rickenbacker was seen as an excellent choice because it was already well-established and trusted thanks to Rickenbacker’s brother, Edward Vernon Rickenbacker. (2) Edward manufactured some of the earliest motor vehicles and founded the now-bankrupt airline Eastern Airlines.
One of the greatest challenges faced by prospective manufacturers and buyers alike was that the bass amp had not yet been invented. (3) Anyone buying a bass would have been forced into using a guitar amp, which would have made it sound far too quiet on the bass notes, and too loud on the treble and middles, not to mention the possibility of breaking the amp altogether. We also must not forget that an amp from this time would have cost far more than a practice amp you could buy today. In total, the cost could easily have been upwards of $140 - more than $3,000 in today’s money – at $75 for the amp and $65 for the bass. Furthermore, the timing for this development could not have been worse, the great depression was already in full swing and ordinary folk would have had neither the time nor the money to purchase a commodity so frivolous as an experimental new instrument.