Fender Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass - Black Review

Can't go wrong with this bass!

Originally I was considering the Lake Placid Blue version, but settled on the Black, mainly for the fretboard on the serial number I picked. The bass has the slightest neck dive, but I surmise that is due to the added weight of the Hipshot Extender D-tuner. Not enough to worry about. I think at this price point Fender could have gone with the Hi-Mass bridge for string through… read more capability (my only real wish for it), but understandably the vintage bridge is true to Mr. Franklin's original 1977 Firm bass, and he kept it spec'd for his Signature instrument (; I had actually emailed Tony and this is verbatim from his response). The instrument has a lot of tonal variations, and plays like I've had it for a long time. It is truly inspirational, and I look forward to creating and playing this bass for years to come.

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No matter the style, this is my goto !

You think Fretless,you think Jazz only. Not on this bass! This rocks as well as it swings. This is actually one of the few bass's that you can use the pickup selector switch as a pedal to get different tones/sounds on the fly. Pickup all the way to the neck position, bold tradition P-bass boom ! Mid position switch, the tradition mid sweep bass tone used on a a lot of genre's… read more plus the freedom of a bit of the "MWUAH" for a kick to that traditional tone. Then throw it towards the bridge and you get the huge MWUAH fretless Jaco thing, except no volume drop because the pickup is really hot and punchy. A great and useful axe to have in your arsenal ...It wont sit around ! Although I didn't get the bass from Sweetwater ( because it I found one used at half off) I 90% of the time do buy from Sweewater.....Always my go to first for supplies.A great company

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This bass rocks!

Easily the nicest, best playing bass in the stable right now. The TF signature not only feels great to play and sounds fantastic, but it throws an attitude out there like no other instrument I own. It is visually striking, with the ebony neck and black-on-black body and pickguard, and seems to immediately demand attention on stage.Fender made a beautiful piece of gear here, with… read more craftsmanship to rival that of much more expensive custom shop basses. A nice range of tones is achievable with the pickup selector and tone, and I was surprised to find that I can quickly go from very aggressive and grindy to a more mellow, Jaco-esque vibe. I attribute some of that aggressive sound to the roundwounds, which give the bass a unique character. Fit and finish are top notch, straight and tight, the way a professional-quality axe should be. My bass featured an actual DiMarzio jazz pickup in the bridge position instead of the Fender-designed one that is mentioned in some descriptions and reviews. When I asked "the man," TF about this, he indicated that the intention was to bring the bass closer back in line with what his original fretless had on board. It sounds incredible.You can"t go wrong here, especially for this price point. It"s worth every penny. I can see this axe becoming my main go-to for most of the work I currently do. After focusing on 5-string for many years, it is nice to have a bad-a** fretless 4 to shake things up a bit; this bass accomplishes that and then some.As usual, thanks to Will and the Sweetwater crew for their excellent service and instrument set up. Simply amazing!

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The best!

This bass is easily the best in my arsenal, and I have a whole stable of four and five strings. The build quality, playability, and sounds of this bass just blow me away every time I pick it up. It is as beautiful as it is easy to play. After selling my old Fender fretless Jazz back in the day, I wondered why I would ever need to replace it. After playing this in rehearsals, I can… read more say that it just fits into anything I am playing. It can sound like a P. It can sound like a J. It can take on a really aggressive sound when I dig into it, or it can have that mellow muaaaah that players dig in a fretless. It is just so easy to play. Now, all I must do is grow out a Tony Franklin coif, and I"ll be good to go. As always, Will Newbill and Sweetwater took amazing care of me, and set me up with a sweet deal. Thank you so much!

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Extremely versatile instrument

This is my second fretless bass, after a Spector Legend 5 Classic, and my third Fender bass, after an American Elite Precision and an American Deluxe Jazz Bass V. I have two other basses. The Tony Franklin is rapidly becoming my favorite of all. It's very easy to play, with a wide variety of sounds available. As one of the other reviewers commented about finding new voices, I find… read more that the more I play this bass, the more expressive it becomes. I will be trying flatwounds on it in due course (my Spector has Ernie Ball Cobalt flats which are superb) but for I'm really enjoying the versatility of the fitted roundwound Fender NPS strings it comes fitted with. The neck is a joy, pretty slim, modern-C shape and feels very slick under my fingers. The instrument is slightly neck heavy, but not a problem at all. Of course, it came beautifully set up from Sweetwater and almost perfectly in tune. Usual great service from my Sweetwater SE Andrew Plassman.

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