Charting the evolution of the instrument from the 1930s to the 1950s
BASS EXPO 2014: The early days of bass playing must have been a nightmare! Low resonance plus the need for audible volume meant huge instruments like the Mandobass (mandolin style) and the Regal Bassoguitar, which was a monster cross between an acoustic guitar and an upright bass.
The Dobro Resonator Bass was a little smaller in comparison thankfully but still unwieldy so it's no wonder that the upright bass as we know it remained a constant favourite for the first half of the twentieth century.
The bass revolution really started with the introduction of electronics and amplification and for the earliest examples we have to look at the Vega Electric Bass Viol from the 1930s, the Electrified Double Bass from Regal in 1936 and Rickenbacker with their Electro Bass-Viol from around the same time.
These were essentially the centre part of an upright bass from headstock to end pin so no prizes for guessing where the designs for the skeletal electric uprights of the 1990s came from!