Contrabass guitars have been around since 1899, when a "Grand Concert Contra Bass Guitar" was listed in Joseph Bohmann's catalogue. Bohmann, a
violin,
mandolin, guitar and
zither manufacturer from
Chicago, developed a large 6-string guitar. While some logically speculate that this instrument was tuned one
octave lower than a standard guitar (basically an Acoustic Bass VI), no reliable information is available about its
tuning. A "classical contrabass guitar" (aka
Acoustic Bass VI) is tuned E1–A1–D2–G2–B2–E3, like the
classical guitar, but one octave lower. It is popular in
Fado bands in
Portugal and
South America. In this sense, it may actually be considered as an
acoustic bass guitar, for it shares the same low-end range. Although called a contrabass guitar, the fact that it is tuned only an octave lower than a normal guitar makes it—in modern terminology—more an acoustic bass guitar than a
contrabass instrument. Its strings are much thinner than a conventional acoustic
bass guitar, so it lacks the "thick" tone of those instruments. Contrabass guitars from the 1970s are often tuned B0–E1–A1–D2–G2–C3 (B0 being the lowest B on a standard 88-key piano). Some players prefer B0–E1–A1–D2–F2–B2, which preserves the intervals of a standard guitar tuning (lowered by a twelfth) and makes the top and bottom notes the same pitch. They are usually
electric instruments with a
solid wooden body. After
guitar maker Carl Thompson made a first, arguably non-satisfying attempt to create such an instrument in 1974, Ken Smith built the first entirely usable electric contrabass guitar in 1982. This was again at the request of bassist
Anthony Jackson, who later asked Vinnie Fodera and Joey Lauricella of
Fodera Guitars to build several instruments according to his ideas. ==See also==