Customer Reviews

How the Fender Bass Changed the World

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is extremely entertaining and educational. I have been playing bass over 25 years, and have enjoyed it completely. Jim Roberts covers a wide range of electric bass guitar history, and also identifies some classic albums and bassists as examples of electric bass history in the making. This is also a wonderful book for beginners, who want to learn how the bass guitar changed the sound and texture of music since the 1950s. Fantastic photographs and memoribilia throughout. I highly recommend it!

New to playing bass, I was thrilled to discover this book. Roberts doesn't assume any pre-existing knowledge on the part of the reader, yet even if you've been playing rock and roll for decades, you will learn a ton and have fun in the process. If you have any interest at all in the electric bass, buy this book. It covers the history of the instrument, its manufacturers, and its most famous players, in detail. Tons of great photos. Yet, the most important feature of this book is how it puts the electric bass in its proper place in the history of rock and roll--a far more important place than you might think, prior to what you'll learn in these pages. Not to be missed!

Jim Roberts really wrote a winner with this book. The pictures are great, but one picture in particular of a store display of three new custom color mid-fifties Precisions is worth the price of the book. Bravo.

As an owner of Fender basses, this book is an excellent reference on the history of the instrument. The information about dating older basses is very through and of great value to anyone who owns an older "vintage" Fender bass.

Being a bass player for over forty years, it was wonderful to look back at the instrument's evolution from a 1950's curiosity to an indespensible element in most of today's music. I started my playing with a Fender (1968 Jazz) and now I have a 2008 P-bass with a lot of other brands in between, but all along, the industry standard has been the Fender bass. This book chronicles the Fender bass' 57 years of history along with most of the major players (Fender or not) in a manner not seen in any other publication. I highly recommend it to anyone who plays or is interested in the bass guitar.

Well written and enjoyable book. I have learned a lot about the history of the instrument (and check on the internet a lot of the records mentioned!). It could be a little more extensive.

After 22 years of playing and learning,I didn't think there was much left for me to learn.This book has made a scholar out of
me!This book is great!In fact,I have already been recommending this book to many of friends and fellow bass players.It starts
at the very beginning,and ends at about the late 90's in the time line,so I found it to be well rounded.Not only that,I have
been turned on to so much new/old music because of it.They do a great job in letting you know what these people did so you can
find it and listen to it as well.Best book on bass history I have ever read.Written by players for players.

Good coffee table book. Not very deep or overly informative but lots of good photos. Covers instruments,players and time lines.

im 14 years old and i play in a blusey-grunge band. ive always loved fenders even though i dont own one. after i read about all these styles and artists i picked up my bass and just started playing. wow. it was incerredable. buy this book! :)

This book has tons of great pics, covers all styles and major players. Highly recommended for musicians and collectors of electric basses. It packs a wealth of info, ideas and illustrations into its modest size. A MUST for bassists!!