❌SOLD❌ Fender Sting Precision Bass Sunburst, 2004

The Fender Sting Precision Bass is based on the 1953 bass used by Gordon Sumner – Sting – on his recording and performances with The Police and solo work. It was built between 2001 and 2013 at the Fuji Gen plant in Matsumoto, Japan for Fender Japan.

Introduced in 1951, the Fender Precision bass is a landmark instrument, and influenced the way that music is performed and presented. Easily and consistently providing a precise pitch – hence the ‘Precision’ name – was a new concept for bassists, who all used upright, acoustic fretless instruments. And not only was the pitch predictable, the bass was portable! All that was required was appropriate amplification.

By 1953, the Precision Bass was a huge hit and began to evolve. Comfort contours were added to the back and to the lower bass bout. The original single coil pickup was still in use – the now-standard split humbucker P-bass pickup didn’t arrive until 1957.

The Fender Precision Bass at this point used an Ash body paired with a solid Maple neck. The truss rod was mounted from the rear, so a Walnut ‘skunk stripe’ is visible covering the channel. The Maple neck has a clear gloss finish, and the Sting model has a Mother of Pearl block inlaid at the twelfth fret with ‘Sting’ engraved in it. Strings mount through the rear of the body, and a two-saddle bridge replicates the original design.

This Fender Sting Precision Bass example dates to around 2004 and is very clean condition; its original pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound model, and it’s strung with black nylon tape-wound strings. The cup for the output jack has been replaced. The use of tape-wound strings means that fret wear is minimized, as these strings are essentially flatwounds and not very abrasive.

A rectangular hard shell case, with one broken latch,  is included.