One of the worst Fender lines, IMO. These don't appeal to me in the slightest.
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Fender American Ultra II series is here
- Thread starter JenderBazzFass
- Start date
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I don't buy a bass only for aestetics (blocks/binding, I like them), I buy the sound, and from the videos the sound and the tonal possibilities are good (maybe the best ever, who knows...) in the new line.
The adjustable mid freq (325 Hz or 750 Hz) is a killer feature for me, the tone working in passive/active mod another one very good thing. The graphite reinforced quartersawn maple neck (neck stability is esential) and the HiMass String-Through-Body or Top-Load bridge are another selling points for me. And I love the S-1 switch.
I love the new line! My first Fender is coming, baby!
The adjustable mid freq (325 Hz or 750 Hz) is a killer feature for me, the tone working in passive/active mod another one very good thing. The graphite reinforced quartersawn maple neck (neck stability is esential) and the HiMass String-Through-Body or Top-Load bridge are another selling points for me. And I love the S-1 switch.
I love the new line! My first Fender is coming, baby!
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I like the improvements, but why on earth did they ditch the neck inlays? And why are the color options so limited, and even more so exclusive between P and J, or 5 string? Bizarre.
Seems like they created a bass similar to The Sadowsky Will Lee...I will say the truss adjust placement is stupid..but man based on the videos so far they sound insanely great..and they Cheaper that EBMM and Sad/Germany Models..
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Maybe to create space for 2025 models (65th anniversary)?...
I would take the truss rod adjustment at the neck over the heal any day. I hate adjusting it and wrecking your pickguard at the at odd angle. The spoke wheel would be best though.
From the demos I've heard, these basses sound good. TBH most Fender active preamps are not that great (IMO).. but this new Ultra one sounds good, having the passive tone work in both passive and active mode is a plus... lacking a sweep-able mid freq knob might seem like a loss, but I always found that I usually am picking either a mud frequency to cut (somewhere in the 300hz range) or boosting a higher mid freq (800-15K) to poke through.. so the switch pretty much covers what I'd want it to do.. the preamp being relatively transparent at center detent is good. As far as the truss rod placement, I would prefer they went back to the spoke wheel that the Elites had ( being that I love those on MM basses), but as far as the head stock vs the heel, who cares as long as it functions the same. Losing the block inlays and binding is kind of a loss aesthetically (For the J model, P basses rarely had blocks), the neck is overall better than the previous Ultras and other non-custom Fenders in general.. the quarter-sawn maple neck with graphite reinforced rods means this neck is going to be stable in the long run (I've had two Am Standard Jazz bass necks twist after owning for 15-20 years, even with regular adjustments) .. and the luminlay side dots are way more useful than any binding or blocks would be on the neck.. It seems this iteration of Ultras are leaning more on "Function" over "Form". Still the price is hard to justify when companies like Sire put out super affordable (but heavy and neck-divey out of the box) basses with lots of bells and whistles. Also Fender quality control has been iffy in the past few years (especially around the pandemic), hopefully they've rememdied that, but we shall see when more players get their hands on these.
I tried two and one of them had very sharp frets. I have never seen anything in a deluxe or ultra model with that problem before.
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Completely disappointed. There’s no excuse for a bass that costs over 2k to have frets like that.
Am I the only one who doesn't like block inlays? It was turned into a big reason I wouldn't have bought an ultra. They looked big, clunky and distracting on that bass. Even when not playing it! Almost out of place on that bass. Probably because I'm just so used to dots though. So I welcome the dots! (I like nice plain, clean and boring!)
I played an F bass with and the tone controlled workout when in active too. It was pretty neat! Especially for rolling off the the treble in a different way to the treble control. It was really cool actually. But, in reality I'm the only person whose gonna notice this and I know I'll end up boring the band with nerdy bass talk.
I'm in the market for a jazz. Particularly a vintage ii in seafoam green. But I think I'll have to try these out. But, I'll probably end up going passive and getting the vintage ii!
I played an F bass with and the tone controlled workout when in active too. It was pretty neat! Especially for rolling off the the treble in a different way to the treble control. It was really cool actually. But, in reality I'm the only person whose gonna notice this and I know I'll end up boring the band with nerdy bass talk.
I'm in the market for a jazz. Particularly a vintage ii in seafoam green. But I think I'll have to try these out. But, I'll probably end up going passive and getting the vintage ii!
I’ll attest that the preamp on my Ultra Jazz sounds amazing. I got a new Ultraburst Jazz in 2020 right after they came out. It felt great, but the preamp seemed lacking. Fast forward to early 2024. I got a Texas Tea Ultra Jazz and it sounds amazing. Maybe my ear changing, maybe QC, but don’t let anyone tell you the onboard pre on the Ultra is lacking.
This is a nice Jazz 5 Ultra II demo. Except for weighing 10lbs, it seems to be nice.
I got to play an Ultra II J4 with ebony fingerboard yesterday. It was a great bass, minus some minor QC points, like said above. Super high strings, but you can set it up. The volume knob, though, was literally an on/off switch. Definitely a QC mistake. Everything else about the bass was pretty, damn awesome. The eq is subtle: the treble is not harsh and only highlights or tames the treble, while the tone knob really takes off the highs to give you dubby sounds. The mids and bass are great, especially the mid knob. Only issue is personal: I feel the mid and bass when boosted to their highest diminish the sound quality so the less eq use the better on this bass. And it sounds great just using the mid switch/knob. Different PU and EQ configurations shine at one mid frequency over another. The neck is outstanding, great frets. The overall comfort is really really nice. Overall, better than the Ultra I's. For sure. Just that volume knob. Come on, QC.
Stopped by my local GC this evening. They just got in today the Ultra II Jazz in Texas Tea and Ultra II Jazz 5 in white.
Observations:
First, I have an Ultra Jazz Texas Tea and the new one is at least a shade lighter. Not quite the same color.
We plugged it into an Ampeg Rocket bass combo and set it flat. The preamp on the Ultra II is Fender’s best yet. Very versatile. The mid switch and tone control for active really make a difference. Sounded killer.
Third, the neck was great, but it didn’t feel quite as good as the neck on my Ultra. Maybe QC, maybe design?
Overall, it’s a killer bass. If in the next few years they come out with a Special Edition/FSR with blocks/binding/match headstock, I will definitely be getting one.
Looking at the Ampeg Rocket bass combo now as well as a practice amp, small venue amp as I was impressed. Sounded much better than the Fender Rumble combos to this guy.
Observations:
First, I have an Ultra Jazz Texas Tea and the new one is at least a shade lighter. Not quite the same color.
We plugged it into an Ampeg Rocket bass combo and set it flat. The preamp on the Ultra II is Fender’s best yet. Very versatile. The mid switch and tone control for active really make a difference. Sounded killer.
Third, the neck was great, but it didn’t feel quite as good as the neck on my Ultra. Maybe QC, maybe design?
Overall, it’s a killer bass. If in the next few years they come out with a Special Edition/FSR with blocks/binding/match headstock, I will definitely be getting one.
Looking at the Ampeg Rocket bass combo now as well as a practice amp, small venue amp as I was impressed. Sounded much better than the Fender Rumble combos to this guy.
It is verging on high crimes in the bass world that Fender doesn’t offer the Ultra P II With ultraburst, ebony neck, and tortoiseshell pickguard! (Everyone knows sunbursts with tortoiseshell is the only combination that works.)
I’d pay extra for an Ultra Mod Shop where you can pick your own parts and colours - a working musicians Custom Shop.
An Ultra Jazz 4 with a fretless ebony neck would also be nice.
I’d pay extra for an Ultra Mod Shop where you can pick your own parts and colours - a working musicians Custom Shop.
An Ultra Jazz 4 with a fretless ebony neck would also be nice.
Made a trip to the local Guitar Center today to pick up some strings, ended up sitting down with a new Ultra II Jazz for a bit- gotta say the Texas Tea finish is very inviting and looks cool as hell. Ebony fretboard was nice, neck felt great. Body shape felt and looked smaller than the other standard Jazz bodies hanging on the wall. If I were in the market for a brand spanking new Fender Jazz bass, this would be the ticket IMO. But my 98 Am Deluxe Suhr Jazz is still Top Dog and hard to beat lol. Also, the $2200ish price tag was confusing. The JMJ Mustang hanging on the wall next to it was $1300 so I dunno. I know this isn’t a thread for discussing current pricing / inflation but to me I feel like $1500-$1600 would be a more reasonable price point for these Ultra II instruments.
