A "Best in Class" P-Bass Goes Fretless with Unique New Features!

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 P-Bass, and now you can own a Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass, too.
Fender Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass Features at a Glance:

• Lightweight solid alder body and Hipshot Bass Xtender

• Maple neck with modern "C" shape

• Unfinished ebony fingerboard

• Two specially voiced pickups

• Black tolex hardshell case

Lightweight solid alder body
Bass guitars are big and that can mean heavy, too. This Signature Series Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass has a solid alder body, which is resonant, but relatively light, which you'll appreciate after two or three hours up on stage. The sunburst version has a brown shell pickguard, while the Black version comes with a three-ply black vinyl pickguard. The Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass is equipped with the Hipshot Bass Xtender for "Drop D" tuning on the low E string.

Maple neck with modern "C" shape
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 P-Bass has a nicely balanced maple neck with a modern "C" shape.

Unfinished ebony fingerboard
While Fender became quite famous for its blond maple necks and fingerboards, Tony Franklin wanted something more in keeping with the old traditional upright basses. So the Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass features an unfinished ebony fingerboard, which is the perfect complement to the maple neck and helps give this bass its distinctive sound.

Two specially voiced pickups
While the P-Bass has traditionally come equipped with just one split single-coil pickup, Fender equipped this Signature Series bass with an upgraded P-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.

Black tolex hardshell case
Naturally, when you build a bass guitar that's as classy as this one, you want to be absolutely certain it will make it in total safety from gig to gig. So the Tony Franklin Fretless comes standard with a black tolex hardshell case with black plush lining.

Fender Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass Features:

• Color: 3-color Sunburst

• No. of Strings: 4

• Body Wood: Alder

• Neck: Maple

• Scale Length: 34"

• Machine Heads: Vintage '70s Fender open gear with Hipshot Bass Xtender

• Fingerboard: Unfinished ebony

• No. of Frets: N/A

• Pickups: Two specially voiced single-coil pickups

• Controls: Master tone, master volume

• Pickup Switching: Three-way switch

• Bridge: Vintage single groove

• Hardware: Chrome

• Case: Black tolex plush-lined hardshell case

The Fender Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass true P-Bass vibe and modern features!