Progress and revolution
Gibson took things a step forward with their Electric Bass Guitar in 1938 which was still an upright instrument with a hollow body in spite of the encouraging name.
It stood about five feet tall and was indeed like an archtop bass guitar with a proper looking magnetic pickup and two controls but it still used an endpin. In fact Wally Kamin used one of these during his time as the bass player in the Les Paul Trio, but very few were actually made.
The true birth of the bass guitar and bass playing as we know it today really started in the 1950s with the birth of the Precision Bass in late 1951. Leo Fender always had an affinity towards bass players who were finding it harder to be heard within the band or ensembles of which they were a part.
Hauling a double bass around was a pain to say the least so Leo's Fender Precision Bass was nothing short of manna from heaven for the players of the time. There had been attempts before but Leo's instrument was the one that defined a look, a scale length and a practicality hitherto unknown.