1956 FENDER PRECISION BASS
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By 1956 the black Bakelite pickguard was discontinued and only white single ply pickguards were available. Fender began to use alder wood for Sunburst finishes. The Kluson no-name riveted clover reverse tuners began to use Phillps head screws along with slot head screws
Other 1956 Precision characteristics: Telecaster shaped headstock, spaghetti logo with no patent numbers applied on top of the finish, one piece maple neck with skunk stripe and phillips head screw truss rod adjustment, black bakelite dot fret markers, neck butt pencil date, fifth hole on neck butt for hanging while painting, no neck pocket paint stick, ash or alder wood contoured body in Blonde or two-tone Sunburst finishes, body nail holes (for painting/drying), large string grommets on body back, single coil black bobbin pickup wrapped in string, body pencil date, one screw black painted wooden thumb rest under G string, chrome pickup cover and bridge cover with foam rubber string mute, phillips head fastening screws for chrome covers, dome top shaped knobs, pots assembly conrol plate, Stackpole potentiometers, white rectangular tone capacitor with blue stripe, resistor, cloth wiring, ground wire route underneath bridge, two saddle metal bridge, input jack ferrule on side of body, brown tweed case with red "Koylon" interior or brown vinyl gigbag.
Serial numbers ranged from roughly 9000 to 16000, although there are many overlapping exceptions. For more precise dating cross reference the serial number with the instrument's neck butt, body date and pot codes. Some serial numbers were preceded by a dash (-). Serial numbers were located at the top edge of the neckplate but were occasionally still located on the bridgeplate.