Gibson produced a rival instrument in 1960, the semi-acoustic EB-6, which looked similar to their 335 guitar model. Despite Duane Eddy’s endorsement, the six-string model didn’t sell well, and Danelectro began to focus more on its guitars and four-string basses. This distinctive instrument caught the attention of Duane Eddy, who found one in a Hollywood music store, and he used it on every song on his next album ‘The Twang’s The Thang’. It was used on Nashville recordings by artists such as Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, and Roy Orbison, and it had also been used on Duane Eddy’s 1958 album ‘Rebel Rouser’.īy 1959, Danelectro had redesigned their electric models and bought out the Longhorn range, which included their first four-string models, but also a six-string bass guitar. The technique of doubling the finger-style double bass track with a UB-2 played with a pick was known as ‘Tic-Tac’. The sound of the UB-2 was very distinctive, with a more guitar-like twang and punch than the longer scale Precision, and producers found a use for its tone alongside the more traditional double bass. The new company initially built amplifiers, but by 1954 they began to make electric guitars – the single pickup U-1 and the double pickup U-2. The first development came from Danelectro, a New Jersey company founded in 1946 by Nathan Daniel. From this point, the development of the instrument happened very quickly, with manufacturers soon adding more strings and extending the range of the electric bass. Leo Fender’s 1951 Precision bass, however, began the widespread acceptance of the bass guitar as the main bass sound in popular music. ![]() Six-string guitars have been played since the 1200s, double basses with five strings had been used since the late 1700s, but there was no middle ground between the two until Paul Tutmarc’s early attempts in the 1930s ( see part 3 of this series). But which company took the first steps into this brave new world, and how did players respond to the new instrument? Today, six-string electric basses are commonplace, with virtuosos like Oteil Burbridge, Steve Bailey and John Myung all-embracing the extra range and tonal possibilities that they allow. Moments in Bass History… the Six-String Electric Bass
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