The Fender Elite models (Precision, Strat and Tele) were made in 1983 and sold between 1983 and the start of 1985. They were “premium” models, similar in concept to the current “Deluxe” models and followed on from the Special models of the early 1980s. The concept was to revise some of the existing Fender designs with new technology, while retaining as much of the “classic” appeal as possible.

The Elite series was meant to be the upscale version of both the existing line and the vintage reissues. The design parameters were pretty open, basically “what would the bass look like if it was designed today”.

The Precision Elite series was only made for two years (1983 – 1984.) This was Fender’s high-end line of the time and their second attempt at an active bass. This bass was made at Fender’s factory in California. The preamp and pickups were designed by Paul Gagon, who is Vice President of Technology at BBE Sound.

It has a wide C profile Maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard which has a 7.25" radius and Schaller tuners.

4-bolt neck design with micro-tilt adjuster. High-mass chrome Schaller bridge with fine tuners (in this case missing but these never really worked great). Active electronics run on a 9 volt battery stored in a compartment on the back of the body. Active TBX (Tone Boost Expansion) pre-amp and 2 split coil passive pickups.

Controls are: Volume, Volume, Tone. The two switches act like this: 3 way Pickup selector and 3 way Tone Selector. This means that you can decide whether you want the Tone to act on both pickups or just one of them. Cool!

You can get a great old school using the neck pickup and trimming the tone down halfway or even close it completely for a great old thump. Open it up and you'll get a more aggressive midrange, great for rock or punk.

Bring in the bridge pickup and you get a more modern all round type of sound that will work great for a lot of styles.

The bridge pickup on it's own sounds rather thin but adds nicely when both are used together. You can also use it on it's own with the tone rolled down (great Jaco style sound, something you would never expect from a P Bass)

Currently strung with flatwounds but we can install roundwounds if you prefer.

This collector owned bass is in very clean condition for its age showing almost no signs of use. The frets are great and it plays clean and all functions work as they should?

The only mods are the black pickguard and the Gibson Type knobs which look absolutely fantastic on this bass.