Ibanez Musician MC-900DS fretless

The Ibanez Musician MC900 bass was Sting's main bass for much of the Reggatta De Blanc era (1979-1980). This is the first of the Ibanez basses Sting had, and is probably the most well-known of them.

He first acquired the Ibanez Musician fretless bass on 15 June 1979 according to The PoliceWiki; its earliest appearance was in the "Can't Stand Losing You" video, shot 17 June 1979. Eventually Sting would migrate to the Ibanez as his main bass from the Fender Precision fretless following the completion of the Outlandos D'Amour tour later in June.

Sting had played this bass on the Reggatta De Blanc album, recorded at Surrey Sound Studios in Summer 1979. As well as for much of the subsequent tour. In Spring 1980, the Ibanez appears to have had a sticker on it.

With regards to the model, many sources documented this as an Ibanez Musician MC940 fretless. But it appears to be a standard Ibanez Musician MC900 model, but with the fretted neck overlaid to convert it to a fretless. Looking more closely at the bass in several photos & videos, it is worth noting that edges of the fret markings (from the original fretted bass) are visible around the sides of the fingerboard.

A similar Ibanez bass (which wasn't Sting's but has the same kind of fretless neck as described here) is currently owned by Fabio Trentini of The Police tribute band The Ghost Machines. This could mean that the fretless modifications to Sting's bass wasn't unique.