Interesting.........The First Electric Bass Guitar.

This is interesting for all Bassists......

This is the first electric bass guitar. The Tutmarc AudioVox 736 dated 1937.

Specs:

Solid body: fretted bass guitar.
Body & Neck: Black Walnut.
Fingerboard: Purpleheart.
Pick ups & electronics: One single coil pick up.


Many people credit Leo Fender and the Fender musical instrument company with the creation of the electric bass guitar with the advent of the Fender Precision Bass in 1951. However as the Fender P Bass was the first mass produced bass guitar, The Fender company was by no means the inventor of the electric bass.


That innovation lies with a Seattle based musician and inventor Paul H (Bud) Tutmarc. Tutmarc was experimenting with reducing the size of the double bass and in 1935 he built the electric upright bass but the crunch year for the bass guitar was 1937 when he developed the Audiovox model 736 "Electronic bass fiddle". It was designed to be played in the horizontal position and therefore is the first electric bass guitar as we know it.


Bad timing, Bad luck were the main reason why Mr Tutmarc didn't get the accolades he deserved. The 736 certainly wasn't a commercial success. The price was massive in 1937 the Audiovox cost $65.00 and en extra $75.00 for the matching 936 amplifier making it simply out of reach of many many musicians. It also came out just before the outbreak of World War II when the whole of guitar manufacturing was deemed "Non Essential" plus it really didn't fit in to any of the styles of music at that time.


Paul Tutmarc's Audiovox 736.............Way ahead of it's time?