Bass guitar in 1958. 1956 saw the appearance at the German trade fair "Musikmesse Frankfurt" of the distinctive Höfner 500/1 violin bass made using violin construction techniques by Walter Höfner, a second generation violin luthier. The instrument is often known as the "Beatle Bass", due to its endorsement and use by Beatles bassist Paul McCartney. In 1957 Rickenbacker introduced the model 4000 bass, the first bass to feature a neck-through-body design in which the neck is part of the body wood. The Fender and Gibson versions used bolt-on and glued-on necks. With the explosion of the popularity of rock music in the
Eight-string bass guitar was the importer for Hagström guitars. Sid liked the idea and ordered a trial run of 500 units. The success of that test run resulted in further production and sales. The first 8-string bass guitars were made by Hagström, from 1967 to 1969 with a total of 2,249 being manufactured. An 8-string bass guitar is strung with paired, octaved strings, similar to those of a regular 12-string guitar. Standard tuning is usually as so: Chris Squire of Yes often tuned his Raney 8-string bass eE-aA-aD-dG, so that notes played on the upper two courses sound as open fifths. 8-string basses