The Fender Bass V was a model of

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

produced by Fender between 1965 and 1971. It was the world's first five-string bass guitar. At the time the electric bass guitar was still a relatively new instrument, and some manufacturers were still experimenting with design variations that would be considered radical by today's standards. (See the rather unrelated

Fender Bass VI The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass guitar made by Fender. Design concept and history The Fender VI was released in 1961 and followed the concept of the Danelectro six-string bass released in 1956 ...

for example.) The Bass V was three inches longer than a

Precision Bass The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "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 instr ...

, but only had 15 frets. It featured a high C string instead of the low B string much more common on modern five-string basses. This was supposed to allow

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

bass players to reach high notes on the instrument more easily. The top note on the instrument is still the same E as on a standard 20-fret 4 string

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

or Precision Bass, so strictly speaking the Bass V cannot be regarded as an

extended-range bass An extended-range bass is an electric bass guitar with a wider frequency range than a standard-tuned four-string bass guitar. Terminology One way that a bass can be considered 'extended-range' is to use a tuning machine mechanism that allows fo ...

. The Bass V originally came with chromed bridge- and pickup-covers. The innovative concept did not resonate with bass players, partly due to its size and shape. Many also had problems with the narrow string-spacing. Consequently only about 200 instruments were produced, before the model was discontinued in 1971. Surplus bodies were used in the construction of the

Fender Swinger The Fender Swinger (also known as the Fender Musiclander and Fender Arrow – as the "Swinger" emblem is usually missing from the headstock) was a short-lived electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969 and reissued by Fender Japan in 2019 as ...

. In 2016,

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, banj ...

released the Gary Jarman Signature Bass with a body shape influenced by the Bass V.

Players

Players reported to have owned a Fender Bass V include: *

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

* Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive *

Walter Becker Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen t ...

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

Literature

* Peter Bertges. ''The Fender Reference''. Bomots, Saarbrücken. 2007. .

References

Bass V {{Fender guitars

Players

See also

Literature

References