“His reaction went from polite puzzlement, to resistance, to anger. He finished up with, ‘I think it's a dumb idea’”: When Anthony Jackson came up with the idea for a six-string bass, he struggled to find anyone to build it

Anthony Jackson performs on stage during North Sea Jazz Festival at Ahoy on July 8, 2012 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. .

Thumb through an assortment of bass guitar books that attempt to include the history of the instrument, and it's alarming how hazy the birth of extended-range bass guitars seems to be, with 5-strings preceding 6-strings, instruments magically and simultaneously emerging from guitar companies in the early '80s, and other such falsehoods.

In truth, the path to today's easily accessed, wide assortment of 5’s and 6’s was forged largely by one musician, the late Anthony Jackson.