At least that Fender. Even MM Stingrays are uncomfortable. And those are 4 stringers.
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Fender American Ultra Series - ???
- Thread starter DanGroove
- Start date
I bought this one. It should arrive this coming Wednesday:
Yeah, those were really nice. They made a lefty Jazz one that I tried out back when I first started playing. Should’ve grabbed it!
I get and largely agree with your point but imo the Player series is a step up from the old Standards.
As far the Ultras well, no lefties but that aside...
Loss of the truss rod wheel and string-through makes no sense. The white is stunning but other than that the colours kinda blow. New preamp appears to be an improvement though. I play a Stingray so I like 21 frets.
Price is crazy.
Really great looking. The only thing I don't like the look of on these Ultras is the gold 3D headstock script. I think it's tacky. Oh well.
@phillipkregg, congrats on the Jazz! I saw an Ultra Telecaster at a store, and I agree that Mocha Burst is a sharp finish.
Thanks, I appreciate it, but I actually ended up returning the bass.
Nothing wrong with it, it's a great instrument, but after a few days of playing it alongside my Elite I just felt it was too similar to my Elite that I already had upgraded and fallen in love with. Plus the local shop where I purchased it had a new Fender Custom Shop '59 Precision that I really dug, so I returned it and paid extra to get the P bass.
Here's my new one:
It's my 2nd Custom Shop P bass and these are my absolute favorite basses ever made.
I sit and play these basses for hours a day without realizing the time that goes by.
Thats sharp! Is the finish piano black or is there a metallic shimmer to it?
I need to count the frets on my American deluxe. I honestly never thought once about how many there were, I just figured it was "enough".
If you look at the pics from above you can clearly see that Fender is cutting the slots in the E and G saddles wrong. Look at how much space is on either side of the fretboard, look at how the strings aren't centered on the bridge pickup pole pieces. For whatever reason they are cutting the slots in the saddle to the far inside. It makes no sense. This is one reason why I greatly prefer the older style bridge that has several slots the strings can be placed in.
Yeah, in my opinion the bridge was the weakest link in the new lineup. The old Elite bridge is great, don’t know what made them depart from that design.
D
Yes, I agree that the Player series may be the ONE exception. But my Player P came with a faulty tuner and the E-string bridge saddle keeps dropping. There are several reports from others about poor tuners and dropping bridge saddles on Player series basses too. So even though I agree that the Players are generally an upgrade on the Standards they are still somewhat flawed by the use of cheap (and in some cases malfunctioning) hardware. Most entry level instruments have better hardware IMO. I expect more from mid priced instruments these days.
But I do like my Player P. Except for the poor hardware it's a really nice instrument. Not mindblowingly great but a decent workhorse P-bass.
Fender hardware is easily replaced of course but with the extra cost we're getting into a price range with competition from some seriously good instruments from other manufacturers. As always it really just depends on whether you want to pay extra for the Fender logo on the headstock.
Yeah idk what it is about tuners. My 1st gen VM Jazz’s tuners work great. No issues at all. Played a 2nd gen VM and the tuners were trash. Then tried out a new CV 60’s P and the tuners (and nut) were worse yet. I thought things were supposed to improve over time, not get worse. Are they wanting one to buy a MIA just to be able to have decent hardware now?
Ok guys.... I actually got the opportunity to play one of these Ultra 5 string jazz basses today and thought I would provide some feedback.
Finish:
The finish was freaking nice, like really nice. The one I saw was a "Mocha Burst" (I think?).
I'm not a fan of burst finishes, I tend to prefer solid metallic colors, but this actually is a sort of metallic burst. None of the photos I've seen online do it justice. You actually have to see this finish in person, it really looks super super nice. There's a subtle sparkle in the finish and it looks so nice under lights (would look amazing on stage). It's not like Music Man sparkle either. Personally, I feel Music Man over does it with their sparkle finishes. These are subtle and really beautiful.
Neck:
Feels, well, a lot like my Elite does. Except the maple is tinted much darker. I don't know if it's a different type of oil they're using, or what exactly causes the tint, but it looks great. The neck itself also feels a bit nicer, more "boutiquish". It almost - almost but not exactly - feels kinda like a US Lakland neck. That's the best comparison I have at the moment.
Fretwork was fantastic, just like on my Elite, and the blocks look a little nicer to me (maybe because the neck is tinted?). Binding was also excellent - not much different from the Elite.
Bridge:
Not a fan. It's "high mass" - well ok then. But not very adjustable. Like I predicted, I missed the ability to adjust string spacing like the Elite bridge provided.
Sound...
You guys already know that I disliked the Elite preamp and swapped mine out for a Sadowsky. So when I heard they redesigned the preamp, the first thing I wanted to do is try it out.
Preamp Good News:
It sounds really good. I didn't detect the harshness that I heard in the previous version. I was able to switch between active and passive modes and the sound was very similar, so it seems more transparent then the Elite preamp was.
Preamp Bad News:
You still can't use the freakin tone control when you're in active mode. This is the single most annoying thing about this bass to me.
Passive Mode:
Sounds amazing. Just like my Elite does.
I honestly didn't hear any difference in the pickups at all. And maybe that's a good thing, because the ones in my Elite sound great.
Overall:
I went in not expecting much, but I was knocked out by the beautiful finish. The tinted maple on the neck and fingerboard looks really amazing and it's the best feeling neck of any active Fender 5 strings I've played (still love my Elite as well though). The sound was great. I really, really love the way the bass plays and sounds. But... I also love my Elite too.
The bass weighed exactly 10 lbs. However, there is an F Bass VF5 that I was considering purchasing that also weighs 10 lbs. I prefer lighter basses, but I'm actually seriously considering this Fender now. I know how crazy it sounds, F Bass vs Fender... but I was really impressed (and it's cheaper than the F Bass).
If I buy it, I'll try to keep you guys updated. I'm not a fan-boy of any particular bass brand and I'm glad to point out short comings when I see them, but overall I was happy with the Fender Ultra that I played. I'd be curious to hear more impressions from you guys as they become available to try out.
Just looked at several at the Sweetwater site,the weights are all over the place for the Jazz 5, from 10lbs.3oz to 11lbs.6oz.,ouch!
Played a 4 string jazz in cobalt blue (very nice) today. I thought the pre was decent enough and passive sounded good too, as jazz basses go it was OK, nothing really bad at all to report. I wont be buying one because I already have a couple nice J basses but I didn't think it sucked in way, I think most folks would be happy with it and the cobalt blue looks pretty good in person. Weigh was average for a J bass, probably 9 lbs. or so
Kyuuga:the "hi-mass" bridge is not new. They were installed on the previous (American Professional Series) line of basses that came out a couple of years ago. I have one and was wondering if I should trade up to this new Ultra model. But after reading about the fancy electronics I changed my mind. I like the passive pickups in the American Pro basses and the build and finish quality is excellent. They can give you the traditional P- bass sound plus the more "modern" sound. The 1963 "C" neck style makes it very easy to play. That has been changed to a "D"neck on the Ultra.
I am wondering where the market is for the new Ultra P bass given the 2 grand price tag. If they are appealing to the more modern players, I think they would do better re-naming the bass to something other than the Precision bass and leaving the American Pro as their regular P- bass.
