The Guitar Player's Resource
Guitar style linked to players such as Tony Franklin.
Leo Fender designed and built the world's first electric bass guitar in late 1951 and every electric bass made since then is unquestionably a direct descendent. Although the Precision Bass, as it was eventually called, was almost flawless in its design, some players, like Tony Franklin, wanted the unique sound of a fretless bass plus the expanded tonal range available with an extra pickup. Not surprisingly, Fender was more than happy to build Tony a fretless Precision Bass.
Bass guitars are big and that can mean heavy, too. This Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass has a solid alder body, which is resonant, but relatively light, which you'll appreciate after two or three hours up on stage. It's also equipped with the Hipshot Bass Xtender for "Drop D" tuning on the low E string.
Leo Fender wasn't a guitar player, so he didn't really know that guitars weren't supposed to have maple necks. Eventually, the blond maple necks became a Fender trademark. The Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass has a nicely balanced maple neck with a modern "C" shape.
While Fender became quite famous for its blond maple necks and fretboards, Tony Franklin wanted something more in keeping with the old traditional upright basses. So the Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass features an unfinished ebony fingerboard, which is the perfect complement to the maple neck and helps give this bass its distinctive sound.
While the Precision Bass has traditionally come equipped with just one split single-coil pickup, Fender equipped this Signature Series bass with an upgraded Precision Bass American Series pickup plus a Tony Franklin Signature Series Jazz Bass bridge pickup with hex screw lugs and ceramic bar magnets. This delivers a wide range of bass voicings, from vintage to modern.
Number of Strings: 4
Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
Body Shape: Tony Franklin Precision Bass
Body Material: Select Alder
Body Finish: Nitrocelluose Lacquer
Color: Lake Placid Blue
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Shape: Modern C
Radius: 9.5"
Fingerboard Material: Ebony
Number of Frets: Fretless
Scale Length: 34"
Nut Width: 1.625"
Nut Material: Synthetic Bone
Bridge/Tailpiece: 4-Saddle American Vintage Bass Single-groove Barrel Saddles
Tuners: Fender '70s Vintage-style Stamped Open-gear
Middle Pickup: Tony Franklin American Precision Split Single-coil
Bridge Pickup: Tony Franklin Jazz Single-coil
Controls: 1 x master volume, 1 x master tone
