It's here, it's here! It's finally here! Well, it'll shortly be here at least. Mad Catz has announced that the first in their line of third-party Rock Band instrument alternatives is shipping today, and bassists of the world rejoice. The Fender Precision Bass guitar is an extremely sexy piece of fake guitar-shaped plastic, featuring all the standard guitar features, including solo keys, overdrive mode, and a unique whammy feature integrated into the volume control to give the bass an authentic feel. Probably the best feature of the Fender Precision is the split strum bar, which allows for two-finger plucking in classic bass style. The only way they could capture the bass experience any better would be to include someone to (severely edited) the bassist in between sets.

I crave this like I have craved no other plastic musical instrument before, to the point where I'm completely bypassing my own built-in safeguards against buying Mad Catz products and actively considering making the purchase. Scary, I know!

Mad Catz Ships the First-Ever Rock Band? Bass Guitar
Fender Precision Bass Guitar Kicks Off a Full Line of New Rock Band Products

SAN DIEGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ), a leading third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider, announced today that it has begun shipping its Fender? Precision Bass guitar for the Xbox 360?, the initial offering under its license with Harmonix and MTV Games to produce and distribute game peripherals and other products for the critically acclaimed Rock Band? game.

?We are excited to be providing an opportunity for the millions of Rock Band fans to enhance their game-playing experience with our Fender Precision Bass guitar,? commented Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. ?This is the first in a series of Rock Band products we expect to release this fall, each of which we believe will add to the realism and enjoyment of this immensely popular game.?

This premium bass guitar provides gamers with a licensed, authentic Fender Precision Bass guitar to complete their ensemble. Compatible with both Rock Band and the upcoming Rock Band 2 games, the Fender Precision Bass can be used to play both lead and bass guitar portions of a selected track. Incorporating all the features of the standard guitar, including Solo Keys, Whammy, and Overdrive Mode, the Fender Precision Bass comes equipped with innovative features designed to enhance the Rock Band experience.

The unique Split Strum Bar allows gamers to strum and pluck notes faster and with more precision, vital for fast tempo tracks. The genuine Fender Precision Bass does not have a whammy bar. To respect the accuracy of the bass, Mad Catz has engineered whammy compatibility by discreetly incorporating it into the volume knob of the bass, providing gamers with essential functionality when playing both lead or bass guitar portions of the track while preserving the timeless authenticity of the original design.

Published by MTV Games and developed by MTV Network?s Harmonix Music Systems, Rock Band is a leading platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music, challenging users to master the lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals as solo artists or cooperatively as part of their own band. Built on deals with the world?s biggest record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and includes many master recordings from the greatest songs and artists of all time. Rock Band is currently available for the Xbox 360, Wii?, PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® 2 consoles in North America and for the Xbox 360 in Europe. Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360? video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for the PLAYSTATION® 3 and PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment systems and Wii? later this year.