Fender American Ultra Series - ???

[PaulCISSA]

Yawn....

 

[hardtop]

I like the blue and black jazzes. Im sure they are nice. I would not pay 2k for a fender, at least not a new one.

 

[makanudo]

How long were the Elite out for? I feel like this is a dirty play on people who bought one of the Elites and now have a discontinued model like 1 or 2 years later.

 

[diegom]

If there is such a thing as "Guitar Wars", I'd say Gibson is winning...
Gibson got all their misguided models, colors and electronics out of their system (Thanks, Henry!), and now they are back with the "Original Collection"...

Fender seems to be looking for something and not finding it... Honestly, I find the Vintera line more appealing than the Ultra... but that's not saying much...

This is just my not humble, uninformed opinion.

Diego

 

[Shawn Luckman]

I think they will be the right bass for some bassists & might be a good seller for Fender. Time will tell though I really like the cobra blue colour though very nice indeed .
Hand on heart for me personally my 2014 Am.Std Precision ticks all my Fender bass boxes

 

[pcake]

How long were the Elite out for? I feel like this is a dirty play on people who bought one of the Elites and now have a discontinued model like 1 or 2 years later.

yeah, but the folks who bought an elite have the truss rod adjustment wheel, so i'd say they came out ahead here.

 

[oldrocker]

Interesting that it looks like they no longer have the string through option on the bridge.

I'm used to the Fender C shape neck, curious how different the D shape feels.

Not sure how I feel about them removing the truss rod wheel adjustment thingy.

 

[sotua]

So the "Big News" was in fact the announcement of the American Ultra. Doesn't look like they made many changes from the Elite other than getting rid of the truss wheel (I like the truss wheel). It claims a redesigned preamp so maybe that is improved. And the new Ultra Noiseless pickups. Could be hit or miss.

The thing I really can't get though is the color choices at launch. For the jazz you get Natural or Sunburst. Not a lot of options there. The precision is worse though. 5 color choices, and 3 of them are bursts. You get Natural, Sunburst, Ultra burst? (dark sunburst), Cherry Burst or something like that, and Olympic White. So they released it in 5 finishes, and all but one are a wood grain finish. No interesting colors at all. Poorly chosen IMO.

21 fret JBasses from fender. Whoa!

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I like the black finish with gold anodized pickguard and tinted maple neck on the four string jazz.

 

[mmbongo]

Check out the weight on them.

 

[Adam Wright]

The Elites were great. If they made the pre more flexible while still retaining the tonal quality then these are going to be awesome.

 

[Kallen]

Check out the weight on them.


View attachment 3586269

Sheesh.

 

[pcake]

Interesting that it looks like they no longer have the string through option on the bridge.

I'm used to the Fender C shape neck, curious how different the D shape feels.

Not sure how I feel about them removing the truss rod wheel adjustment thingy.

i don't care for D necks. the fatter "hips" just don't feel as comfortable to me as a C or oval neck. even a soft V neck feels better to me. i expect others feel differently, but now that i have arthritis, a D neck actually makes my hand cramp. my current traveler ultra light has a D, and i have plans to plane and sand it to a C.

Check out the weight on them.


View attachment 3586269

yikes!

 

[gln1955]

At that price they are bumping into some seriously good brands, many that are semi-customizable.

I think fender is on the wrong path, but what do I know.

 

[MMiller28]

Shame they didn't offer it on a bass. They decided to have 3 versions of basically the same thing, another that has the same vibe as those 3, and one solid color.... white.

It's an option for a four-string Jazz.

 

[pcake]

i emailed fender, who surely won't care about what i have to say, but i had to tell them that i'm a huge fender fan who is very disappointed. i'm sure it's like yelling down a well, but at least i gave it a shot.

does anyone actually prefer a D to a C neck profile?

 

[Corevalay]

I'm a big Fender fanboy and I'm completely underwhelmed by this announcement. I was actually expecting something more "fresh" and new feeling, even if it was just some exciting finishes. This though, such a snoozefest. I personally see zero to be even remotely excited about. They even changed the bridge, which was one thing I really liked better about the American Standard/Deluxe/Elites.

 

[oldrocker]

i don't care for D necks. the fatter "hips" just don't feel as comfortable to me as a C or oval neck. even a soft V neck feels better to me. ...

Yes, I was kind of thinking the same thing.

 

[DanGroove]

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/fender-american-ultra-jazz-bass-maple-fingerboard

intersting. It doesn’t show on the Fender site. Might be a MF special run?

 

[oldrocker]

intersting. It doesn’t show on the Fender site. Might be a MF special run?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...a-jazz-bass-cobra-blue-with-maple-fingerboard