Fender American Ultra Series - ???

[DWBass]

There have been $2k Fenders around for quite some time...and people have purchased them.

That's cool and it's all good. At that price range though, I'm looking elsewhere like Sadowsky, Lull or US Lakland. I'm just not spending $2k for a Fender.

 

[jd56hawk]

Honestly, the Ultra series doesn't do anything for me *except* that sweet Plasma Redburst finish. I could definitely see myself playing a plain ol' P or J in that color.

Yes, I'm thinking about buying one to go along with my Cherry Burst and Sienna Burst P basses.
At least thr pickguards will look different.

 

[CZGunslinger]

American Standard 2012 thru 2016 was the pinnacle of Fender classic styled basses IMO.

 

[Sean150]

I love Fender Jazz’s and was getting my hopes up for something to set my GAS off but the Ultra has left me feeling ...... .

Back to looking at Stingtay’s

 

[Tim Skaggs]

You know, they are new basses, but it seems there is nothing new about them. Fender has made some nice stuff through the years, but any time they color outside the lines, it seems to flop, so they continue to put out the same product with a slight change here & there. I can't see how it's going to work for them in the long term, but they've been around a while.

Fender makes me think about Henry Ford not wanting to switch over to hydraulic brakes. He said, "mechanical brakes are just fine, they are proven". He finally gave in, but not until the competition passed Ford technology.....

 

[DWBass]

And why keep renaming them? Just make changes and keep the model name constant.

 

[flojob]

Here's an article with the Fender VP talking about the line. It's about what you'd expect haha
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/thehub/fender-american-ultra-guitars-basses-announced

 

[Iristone]

Seems as if the F-brand is downgrading their instruments and upping their price tags so that they can sell more Custom Shop instruments and make more money. Lame business decision, absolutely disgusting advertisements. Makes me not want to buy another F-brand altogether - the best way to not play an F-brand the same again.

 

[MMiller28]

Seems as if the F-brand is downgrading their instruments and upping their price tags so that they can sell more Custom Shop instruments and make more money. Lame business decision, absolutely disgusting advertisements. Makes me not want to buy another F-brand altogether - the best way to not play an F-brand the same again.

Absolutely disgusting advertisements?

 

[Iristone]

Absolutely disgusting advertisements?

I mean the "never playing an F-brand the same again" part.

 

[MMiller28]

I mean the "never playing an F-brand the same again" part.

Why are you saying "F-brand" instead of Fender?

 

[Iristone]

And why keep renaming them? Just make changes and keep the model name constant.

Yeah. Why not the "model year" thing?

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Seems as if the F-brand is downgrading their instruments and upping their price tags so that they can sell more Custom Shop instruments and make more money. Lame business decision, absolutely disgusting advertisements. Makes me not want to buy another F-brand altogether - the best way to not play an F-brand the same again.

Yes, this is more or less what they've been doing for a couple of years now. From AVRI to Squier CV, they've ruined them all. Ok, maybe ruined is a bit harsh but they're certainly lowered the bar considerably, especially with regards to quality control and consistency.

 

[wizard65]

I find it interesting that people are complaining about the truss wheel being removed. Yes, technically speaking the truss rod adjustment wheel is no longer on the bass but you can still adjust the truss rod at the heel with a standard hex key (provided by Fender with purchase of the bass but also easily obtainable in most hardware stores). I have an EBMM Sterling and an American Pro Jazz, and I actually much prefer the truss adjustment of the Jazz bass.

Anyways, it does look like a nice instrument that competes with others in the same price range. I won't buy one, as I have no need. Still looks nice, though.

I agree, I have an Ebmm Stingray and a US Precision Deluxe and I slightly prefer the heel adjustment on the Fender.

 

[cv115505]

I'm not a Fender hater. I actually really like the American Professional series. That said, I feel as though they kind of limped to the barn with this one. I'd have to play one to know for sure, but I am disappointed they took away the truss wheel. The colors are a matter of taste. They don't meet my taste, but I'm only one guy (though it seems to be a common complaint on this thread). I really do not blame them for not doing anything drastic as it seems that the sales don't match up when they do attempt to do a completely new design such as the Dimension series. It looks like it's about $2200 for the 5 string jazz. Personally, that is too steep for me to want to buy this bass without playing one, but I may play one and decide I have to have it. I doubt that would be the case, but who knows. I am sure it's well made and will come with the nice Fender case and all of that.

 

[Iristone]

Sorry for my harsh words, but I'm just not very sold on Fender's make a big claim and release something small and call it a day business practice.

 

[Nunovsky]

It's funny to see that whenever Fender releases something new, it gets a lot of bashing around here. "Nothing new", "hate the colour options", "same thing diferent name" are being repeated every new model announcement.
Fender has been making a lot of changes in its line in the last years and the active models were the last ones to be renewed. So it was obvious that they were the next in line.
You can call it rebranding or something else, but the truth is that Fender has learned that they can't make too many changes from the previous models because people are still going to Fender for their classic look and sound. Maybe they could've made one with a humbucker in the bridge position with a single/parallel/series switch, but it would still get a lot of extra bashing for sure.
I've never been a big fan of the active Fenders. I always thought that other brands offered a better preamp, but maybe this new one is really an improvement from the previous. One would expect that with brands like Sire flooding the market with active Fenderish models that offer sweepable mids and 18v preamps would push Fender to offer the same options, but let's wait and see how it sounds or feels.
The Vintera thread here had a lot of pages of people bashing the models even before its release. And now people are making more realistic evaluations of those models and let me tell you that the one that I've tried, the Precision 60, sounded and played awesome.
So let's relax and wait until the new Ultra comes out and people start playing them and see if it really pays to get one of those or if one would be better by going for brands that are at about the same price point, like Sadowsky or Lakland, or to go down one step and invest in Sire or similars.

 

[Rib 13]

Yay, once again, Fender makes an exciting potentially ground breaking announcement just to reinvent the wheel.........

 

[Rib 13]

It's funny to see that whenever Fender releases something new, it gets a lot of bashing around here. "Nothing new", "hate the colour options", "same thing diferent name" are being repeated every new model announcement.
Fender has been making a lot of changes in its line in the last years and the active models were the last ones to be renewed. So it was obvious that they were the next in line.
You can call it rebranding or something else, but the truth is that Fender has learned that they can't make too many changes from the previous models because people are still going to Fender for their classic look and sound. Maybe they could've made one with a humbucker in the bridge position with a single/parallel/series switch, but it would still get a lot of extra bashing for sure.
I've never been a big fan of the active Fenders. I always thought that other brands offered a better preamp, but maybe this new one is really an improvement from the previous. One would expect that with brands like Sire flooding the market with active Fenderish models that offer sweepable mids and 18v preamps would push Fender to offer the same options, but let's wait and see how it sounds or feels.
The Vintera thread here had a lot of pages of people bashing the models even before its release. And now people are making more realistic evaluations of those models and let me tell you that the one that I've tried, the Precision 60, sounded and played awesome.
So let's relax and wait until the new Ultra comes out and people start playing them and see if it really pays to get one of those or if one would be better by going for brands that are at about the same price point, like Sadowsky or Lakland, or to go down one step and invest in Sire or similars.

I agree with you about Fender's main customer base locked in tradition.....it's the same mentality that keeps the NY Yankees in the exact same uniforms for 50+ years because their fans want that........the issue here is the advertising: There was no need for Fender to stealthily unveil modifications to existing models as a wait-at-the-edge-of-your-seat earth shaking BIG announcement......as a matter of fact, I think it makes more sense for their traditionalist customers to have a good idea of what mods are coming ahead of time to consider.....

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

The videos I watched emphasize that the Ultra pickups sound more vintage-like and passive-like than Elite series. However, the sound samples I heard suggest otherwise. They still sound sterile and dry to me - even in passive mode.

To be fair; most (if not all) noiseless pickups I tried were like that. Ultra pickups just don't seem to differ as much. If that's the sound you are going for then fine; but I wouldn't expect an active modern noiseless Fender which can also give an exact passive vintage Fender sound.

For the record; I refused the "noiseless but sterile" offer a long time ago and got a Decimator; which handles my two passive Jazz Basses very well.