I have both P and J in the Ultra series. The only complaint I had was the battery life. It is short and most Ultra owners who have discussed this issue around the net seem to agree. My answer was rechargeable batteries at 800 milliamps.
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Fender American Ultra Jazz 5 - Pros/Cons
- Thread starter Treblefree
- Start date
I can't fault the Jazz or the Precision in the Ultra series though there were battery issues to begin with. I have both. My Jazz is better made than the P but the P has Mojo like I've never seen before. I was never a Fender man before this range. Now I have the Fender sound on an instrument I can play for hours.
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I think the ultra line is the first significant new line Fender has done in a long time and a really solid basses.
I have a :
Fender Custom Shop Master Built Jazz 5
Fender American Pro Jazz 5 ...... 8.8 lbs
Fender US Marcus Miller Jazz 5
Sadowsky Metro UV70 5
All of these basses are great and so are the Bassmods Jazz 5 and the Ultra is just as nice.
I have a :
Fender Custom Shop Master Built Jazz 5
Fender American Pro Jazz 5 ...... 8.8 lbs
Fender US Marcus Miller Jazz 5
Sadowsky Metro UV70 5
All of these basses are great and so are the Bassmods Jazz 5 and the Ultra is just as nice.
I had one for a while and it was a great bass. It had the best B=String of any Fender 5 I have played including a Roscoe Beck V. The Pickups were quiet and sounded great and the Pre amp was decent for Fender. Feel and fit and finish were secellent. I really don't have any cons except that maybe the Pre was just standard Fender blah . But it worked and sounded fine.
1 - G&L L2500 - A lot of controls (EQ) - good problem to have (9.15 lbs)
2 - Ultra 5 - B string could be better (10.1 lbs)
3 - EBMM - G string edge distance is short (8.75 lbs)
All of these are great - all have character traits (not flaws). An aftermarket EQ will change all of them. If yours is mechanically sound and a fair price. Go for it. If not, there's a big world out there to spend that kinda money on.
2 - Ultra 5 - B string could be better (10.1 lbs)
3 - EBMM - G string edge distance is short (8.75 lbs)
All of these are great - all have character traits (not flaws). An aftermarket EQ will change all of them. If yours is mechanically sound and a fair price. Go for it. If not, there's a big world out there to spend that kinda money on.
I have an American Deluxe Jazz from 2015ish. Similar bass I think (not sure). I hated the preamp and the pickups so I gutted it and added some angular pickups in a passive config. The preamp was noisy and I just didn’t like the color it gave my sound. In my opinion get yourself a nice 5 string jazz bass by fender or any other brand in that range. If you aren’t sure if you want an active bass, just go passive. They are cheaper, easier, AND if you want a preamp in the future there are literally hundreds of pedals out there.
I also have small hands. I did notice how easy it was to still play.
I tried one of these in the shop the other day. I found it comfortable to play, and I liked the neck profile.
The G string was closer to the edge of the fingerboard than on some basses, but I'm kind of used to that because my Stingray 5 is the same.
B string seemed good, seemed to have pretty similar tone to the E string. I noticed there was a tonal change going from the E to the A string, but then A to D and G seemed more consistent with each other.
In active mode with EQ set flat I was able to get a number of tones I liked just by adjusting the pickup pan knob and my hand position. I'm not normally one to solo the bridge pickup, but on this bass I liked that tone, though both pickups on or just neck pickup were more to my taste.
In passive mode the bass sounded lifeless - had to turn the passive tone knob all the way up and it still wasn't very bright. (As compared to my normal starting point for passive tone setting on other basses of about 75%.) Is that something other people have noticed?
The G string was closer to the edge of the fingerboard than on some basses, but I'm kind of used to that because my Stingray 5 is the same.
B string seemed good, seemed to have pretty similar tone to the E string. I noticed there was a tonal change going from the E to the A string, but then A to D and G seemed more consistent with each other.
In active mode with EQ set flat I was able to get a number of tones I liked just by adjusting the pickup pan knob and my hand position. I'm not normally one to solo the bridge pickup, but on this bass I liked that tone, though both pickups on or just neck pickup were more to my taste.
In passive mode the bass sounded lifeless - had to turn the passive tone knob all the way up and it still wasn't very bright. (As compared to my normal starting point for passive tone setting on other basses of about 75%.) Is that something other people have noticed?
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
Hipshot FM-3. I just installed one on my Elite. Aluminum.
Just tried an Ultra 5
Loved the feel and tone
Heavy ish, but studio with 3" neo strap
My only if was the B
Less output than the other strings. B tone was odd.
As previously mentioned a Dunlop bright and pup adjust may help.
Makes me appreciate all the more my EHB1505
Fender 5 GAS averted
Loved the feel and tone
Heavy ish, but studio with 3" neo strap
My only if was the B
Less output than the other strings. B tone was odd.
As previously mentioned a Dunlop bright and pup adjust may help.
Makes me appreciate all the more my EHB1505
Fender 5 GAS averted
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
The alignment should be perfect on a $2000 instrument. The Elite's have some lateral string adjustment, the Ultras; you are stuck with bad QC. Fender amazes me how they can shoot themselves in the foot.
I have both the Ultra Jazz V and the Player Plus V. The Player is more forward and modern sounding while the Ultra Jazz V is a bit more on the vintage side. I do love the neck and string spacing on the Ultra while the Player is not near as comfortable. Weight wise it is OK, about a pound less than the Player or my 1995 SR5. It is my understand that Fender fitted the original Ultra V's with a wider 19mm string spacing bridge but later changed it to a smaller one with 18.4mm spacing to accommodate the slimmer neck and G string overhang. Mine has the slightly narrower bridge.
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I put a Mike Pope preamp in mine and it really opened up it’s tone and now it sounds super big
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