This publication is a quite interesting if incomplete update on the scant literature already available on this revolutionary instrument.It is beautifully produced- contrast it with,say, Blasquiz' work on the same topic. The photography is superb, the text a little thin.A book to browse through, but a detailed history, no.This is a book that on the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Precision Bass pays homage to the American heritage of Leo Fender's innovations, and to be fair, is welcome.
However, large chunks of this essential history are missing;
apart from the history of the two giants of Fender's bass line, the Precision and Jazz basses, there is little or no mention of other basses made by the company- the Coronado, Mustang and Bullet models barely rate a mention.
Perhaps a more glaring omission is the deliberate absence of reference to Fender's 'offshore'production (Japan, Korea, Mexico and latterly China and Indonesia)under 'Fender' and 'Squier by Fender' badges. The FMI corporation readily admits that for a time preceding the establishment of the Coronado plant,Japanese output kept the company afloat. Europe,too, is a huge market for Squier instruments- these instruments, of undoubted quality, contribute significantly to the FMIC balance sheet.
Example: the book mentions the production of an 'American' '75 reissue Jazz Bass without a mention of the excellent Japanese-made version of the same bass, made under license by Fender Japan that preceded it. Regarding quality, my own early-80s Squier Precision and Jazz basses which bear a Fender logo are better instruments in every way than USA models from the same era -real dogs - that I had owned but got rid of. Blasquiz' book was a start- Molinaro and Black have certainly taken the story a stage further- but a now global company needs to have its history comprehensively chronicled.The proliferation of Fender-badged basses produced in several countries including the USA now available everywhere demonstrates that FMIC is now indeed a global company. All in all, an incomplete history.
However, both authors are to be commended for taking this story a stage further.