There isn’t enough serious literature about the electric bass, but this book is a worthy contribution. The author takes us from the moment Leo Fender created the mass-produced Precision Bass in 1951, but also touches on earlier on-offs going back to the ’30s. Wisely, the narrative doesn’t aspire to be an all-encompassing history, instead covering sounds, styles, and technology through the early ’70s.

The pages are rife with hip trivia. For example, in ’51, Fender sold a mere 83 Precisions. An R&B group known as The Treniers had a P-Bass player named Shifty Henry, and the ensemble’s performance in the 1956 movie The Girl Can’t Help It provided many viewers with a first gander at an electric bass – in color. Also, read about the two bassists on Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs’ 1963 “Sugar Shack,” with Stan Lark on a Rickenbacker 4001 and George Tomsco plucking a Dano six-string bass.

While the dawn of plugged-in bass is often forgotten next to its flashy guitar brethren, The Bastard Instrument reminds us there was more to the solidbody revolution than Strats, Teles, and Les Pauls. The arrival of electric bass guitar was an earthquake that’s still shaping music today.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.