The bass guitar history: from double bass to bass guitar.

The public preferred the double bass.

The history of the bass guitar started approximately around the time the electric guitar was invented. A guy named Paul Tutmarc invented it but it wasn't a success. The public wasn't ready for it and they kept on playing their double basses.

At the end of the 1940's electric amplification of music instruments was so popular the double bass couldn't keep up with the increased volume on stage. Bands started playing the bass lines with the lowest notes possible on a usual guitar. Being experienced as he was building electric guitars, Leo Fender was convinced he could build an electric bass guitar the size of a regular one. In 1950 he started building a prototype.

From vertical to horizontal.
In the pré-electric bass era the double bass was favorite. Leo Fender's bass guitar changed all that. His prototype was based on a regular electric guitar and was played horizontally in contrast with the double bass which is played vertically. People who had been playing (electric) guitar before could easily learned to play the bass guitar too.

A few changes were needed to a regular guitar to make it a bass guitar. It had to be a little longer to be able to play an octave lower and the body had to be strengthened to cope with the heavier vibrations it produced. Leo Fender's model had such a great sound that almost all models build past 1951 were based on it. He called it the Precision Bass Guitar. From the moment Fender's bass guitar came out other guitar building companies recognized the potential immediately and also started building bass guitars. You probably have heard of Rickenbacker, Gibson, Kay, and Danelectro before.

There was no stopping them when the 60's kicked in.
Because the double bass had been the bass instrument for so many years, it took nearly 10 years before the use of an electric bass guitar was widely spread. This was the reason Leo Fender didn't mass produce a second electric bass guitar until 1960. His second one he called the Jazz Bass Guitar.

As you would presume it was used mainly in Jazz and other styles alike. With the entry of Rock 'n Roll end 50's mid 60's the electric bass guitar became so popular, meanwhile more and more companies started building electric bass guitars. The electric bass guitar was here to stay and the double bass completely disappeared from the main music scene.

Depending on technological evolution newer and more enduring components were used building bass guitars but it's safe to say the basics are still the same since Leo Fender's prototype.