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Dealer: Fender Ultra to replace Elite

I would've like to be at the roundtable meeting when they decided on the names Plasma Red Burst and Ultra Burst.
I mean, were they considering Lava Burst, Tequila Sunrise Burst, and Glowing Ember Burst but simply decided that Plasma Burst had a more moderate ring to it?
As for Ultra Burst, they really went out on a limb with that one. Sure, it has a unique look that the company hasn't tried before, but maybe they could've taken a lesson from Bacchus and done something wild like they do.
 
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I don't understand how these basses will make me "never play a Fender the same way again"? What exactly am I missing here??? Is there any new technology hidden under the hood that's not visible in the pics?? They look like the same old active PJ and J-basses to me...

I don't think you quite understand. Didn't you read the microprint in the ad? The back of the neck has been infused with genetic nano-bots. Once the nano-bots have made their way into your bloodstream, they will begin to alter your genetic code. You will "never play a Fender the same way again" because you will never be the same again. It's a surprise as to what you will become. That's the fun of it, don't you see? The other Fender ad slogan was cancelled because it scared too many people in a test marketing campaign--"you'll never be the same." Especially when they found one of the test consumers turned into a tree frog.

(disclaimer: all a joke, of course! Don't panic. :woot:)
 
In the beginning there was the P bass, and God looked upon it and smiled and said that it was good, but the P bass became lonely so God gave P bass a companion and called it J bass, God once again looked upon it and smiled and said that it was good and that they should be to each other the keepers of the low end. Well we all know what happened after that............a whole lotta begat'n be goin on.:D:bassist::smug:

apparently its still goin on;)
 
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ok it's out



Well, I see they decided to put the gloss finish on the maple fingerboard... wise move (IMHO). No truss wheel... not a wise move (IMHO). Honestly, yeah, it's a nice bass. I get that. But I don't get the name change. It's an Elite with a couple of changes. No different than the new Ford Mustang that has a few changes from the previous year. I don't see that changing the name to Ultra was good marketing. The name "Elite" has a certain following and has come to mean a high level of quality and refinement over the years. "Ultra" means nothing at this point.

I'll probably check out one of the Jazzes in that slick blue color, but I'm not really doing backflips or anything over this "new" bass. It's an Elite for 2020, guys at Fender. I'm glad y'all don't work for Dodge... the new (and obvious) Challenger for 2020 would have been the "Neptune" or some silly thing like that. Maybe "Uranus." Hey, Daddy, I want a new Dodge Uranus. :rolleyes:
 
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Dang the prices are high. Almost 2k? And the P only comes as a PJ? Looks just like an owner customized bass: PJ with active preamp and high mass bridge. Seems like a heck of an upcharge for a few mods. Granted I'm sure the necks are pretty sweet but still.
 
Well, I see they decided to put the gloss finish on the maple fingerboard... wise move (IMHO). No truss wheel... not a wise move (IMHO). Honestly, yeah, it's a nice bass. I get that. But I don't get the name change. It's an Elite with a couple of changes. No different than the new Ford Mustang that has a few changes from the previous year. I don't see that changing the name to Ultra was good marketing. The name "Elite" has a certain following and has come to mean a high level of quality and refinement over the years. "Ultra" means nothing at this point.

I'll probably check out a one of the Jazzes in that slick blue color, but I'm not really doing backflips or anything over this "new" bass. It's an Elite for 2020, guys at Fender. I'm glad y'all don't work for Dodge... the new (and obvious) Challenger for 2020 would have been the "Neptune" or some silly thing like that. Maybe "Uranus." Hey, Daddy, I want a new Dodge Uranus. :rolleyes:
It’s enough changes to justify a new brand - elsewise some people would get confused. Kind of like how the Elite was the Deluxe for 2017 or whenever and the Professional was the Standard for 2017, and the Performer was the Special for 2019 and the Player was the Standard for 2018.
 
It’s enough changes to justify a new brand - elsewise some people would get confused. Kind of like how the Elite was the Deluxe for 2017 or whenever and the Professional was the Standard for 2017, and the Performer was the Special for 2019 and the Player was the Standard for 2018.

Mmmmm... yeah. But still.

I think Fender should start taking ideas for 2022's newly redesigned Deluxe/Elite/Ultra. My vote is for... introducing the new Fender "Supreme." (this amazing new bass, with minor change in truss rod diameter and neck mounting screw thread geometry, would come with Diana Ross' face emblazoned on the back of the headstock. Or perhaps the neck mounting plate.)
 
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They really should have marketed these as the newly redesigned Elite series, and we’d all be talking about the real differences and not the name change for essentially the same bass?

But isn’t it the same thing that happened with the American Standards in 2008 and again in 2017 when they made them the Professionals, plus the California Series/Highway 1/Highway One/American Special/American Performer, the Standard and the Player, the American Deluxe and the Elite, the Classic series and the Vintera, and the American Vintage Reissues and the American Originals? There are like six main models and they just change the names when there’s a significant enough of a new difference. It creates hype, like this thread, and press releases. Just standard product marketing.
 
The biggest news since IHOP became IHOB...kinda...

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This should be called the Ultra American Made Mexican model series. No truss rod wheel or string trough option on their high end production bases? I think they also changed the amount of eq cut and boost (big deal). I think it was an ultra move to reduce manufacturing cost by removing those two very nice features from the Elite series. I’ll stick with my Elite and Professional series basses.
 
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IMHO these are a fantastic replacement for the Elite series:

-Active/Passive switch with a passive tone knob
-Improved noiseless pickups
-3 band preamp
-Modern D shape neck!!!!!
-10"-14" compound radius fretboard
-High-mass bridge

This is probably the best thing I have seen Fender release in a long time. It's a rational look at what players want across the board and delivers. Too bad I don't need another bass...
 
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So, Leo figured out how to make a bass that didn't hum (OK, Seth Lover pretty much showed him the way) in 1957, and Fender is still/finally getting around to making the concept of hum cancelling a standard feature. A bit late, but I applaud the effort.

I also notice that the Superstrat models now have the correct number of screws for the bridge pickup - I think it was probably Euclid that noticed that 3 points define a plane; that information is finally being used by Fender ...2300ish years later - in a guitar. Now, if Fender could figure out that that should also be used in P and J pickups on basses (Leo figured this out while at Musicman)...then we'll have something. It amuses me that Fender apparently spends a lot of time re-thinking certain things, and....some obvious things still go unchanged.
 
I see no justification for another rebranding that soon.Elite was going strong as far as I know,people loved the truss rod wheel,loved the neck.
Just the name change already make people laugh,the removal of the truss rod wheel is disappointing and if Its true what I read about no string through option(correct me if im wrong) it looks like a step back.
Another pickup and preamp update is useless,many swap them anyway.
The only good thing about it is that you can expect good deals on elites.