Tough call. They're all nice but also similar. I'd personally choose the mocha. Then I'd slap an anodized gold guard on it.
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Fender Ultra Precision - Which colour should I get! (Poll)
- Thread starter Nick22
- Start date
Sure ? Before this reply I couldn’t find the info anywhere online, I asked a dealer and eventually they got back to me with brass.
Bad news. Ordered the bass (arctic white) came yesterday, and has some issues, two cosmetic and one functional.
Pics below
Cosmetic:
1. Jack plate is completely not flush with the contour of the lower body it sits along.
2. There if a finish ding/dent on the front of the body.
Functional:
There is a buzz when playing the open A string, BEHIND the nut. This will go away if I lightly touch the string on or behind the but. My guess is but is mis slotted or improperly set on the board.
Tbh the combination of all these things have left me pretty disappointed. Had it been only the cosmetic, I could maybe live with it, but as a set of problems I don’t think I deserve to pay the same price I could have paid for another one having been luckier to not encounter any of these problems.
I will contact the dealer and I am hoping for an exchange for the same bass (because it did sound amazing) after having been thoroughly checked by someone in the ship for all of the above issues and anything else which could pose a future problem (decent snug fit of neck into pocket for example)
Pics below
Cosmetic:
1. Jack plate is completely not flush with the contour of the lower body it sits along.
2. There if a finish ding/dent on the front of the body.
Functional:
There is a buzz when playing the open A string, BEHIND the nut. This will go away if I lightly touch the string on or behind the but. My guess is but is mis slotted or improperly set on the board.
Tbh the combination of all these things have left me pretty disappointed. Had it been only the cosmetic, I could maybe live with it, but as a set of problems I don’t think I deserve to pay the same price I could have paid for another one having been luckier to not encounter any of these problems.
I will contact the dealer and I am hoping for an exchange for the same bass (because it did sound amazing) after having been thoroughly checked by someone in the ship for all of the above issues and anything else which could pose a future problem (decent snug fit of neck into pocket for example)
D
...and that put an end to my delusions that Fender finally got QC right with at least ONE of their models.
The jack plate is actually like that on mine as well. I hadn't notice before. Well, it's Fender so there's always SOMETHING, isn't it? In this case just a very minor cosmetic issue. It doesn't bother me at all. Still a bit poor on such an expensive instrument. At least they didn't mess up the string spacing/bridge like on the Ultra 5-string J where the G-string is practically outside the fretboard...
The string retainer on the A-string tuner is there to avoid exactly that kind of buzz so I'm guessing there MIGHT a problem with the nut. Difficult to say without actually testing the bass. I'm still pretty sure it can be fixed but may require a new nut. Which means $$$. And this really shouldn't happen with that string retainer on the A-string tuner. Are you 100% sure the buzz is from the string and not something else vibrating? Like screws/nuts for the tuners? If not, have you tried simply loosening and re-tightening the string?
Personally I would return it anyway because that ding is 100% unacceptable in this price range IMO. Unless you can get a nice discount and are absolutely sure you can live with it: RETURN IT!
For what it's worth my Ultra P is one of the best basses I've ever owned. You should not settle for anything less. Fender QC stinks.
YMMV of course.
...and that put an end to my delusions that Fender finally got QC right with at least ONE of their models.
The jack plate is actually like that on mine as well. I hadn't notice before. Well, it's Fender so there's always SOMETHING, isn't it? In this case just a very minor cosmetic issue. It doesn't bother me at all. Still a bit poor on such an expensive instrument. At least they didn't mess up the string spacing/bridge like on the Ultra 5-string J where the G-string is practically outside the fretboard...
The string retainer on the A-string tuner is there to avoid exactly that kind of buzz so I'm guessing there MIGHT a problem with the nut. Difficult to say without actually testing the bass. I'm still pretty sure it can be fixed but may require a new nut. Which means $$$. And this really shouldn't happen with that string retainer on the A-string tuner. Are you 100% sure the buzz is from the string and not something else vibrating? Like screws/nuts for the tuners?
Personally I would return it anyway because that ding is 100% unacceptable in this price range IMO. Unless you can get a nice discount and are absolutely sure you can live with it: RETURN IT!
YMMV of course.
It is deffo not any hardware above the nut vibrating, I once had the same issue on another bass and had to take it to a luthier to sort the nut. I’m not going to do that.
This functional issue, combined with those two aesthetic issues have made it such that, my experience in the first 20 minutes of opening up the new bass, has only left me with a feeling of having lost out, because the very first impression has been a combination of various negatives, which tbh shouldn’t be there, I know fender doesn’t want them to be there, and for all that I can say when my friends ask me “how’s the new bass” is listing all these things. That’s not the experience fender nor the dealer would want the customer to have fresh from unpacking a new expensive instrument. It’s a case of bad luck, and a situation which I really hope the dealer intends to rectify with a replacement model which has been thoroughly checked through in store.
D
I'm sorry to hear that. In that case you should definitely return it. If the dealer won't take care of this you should contact Fender directly. But any decent dealer should fix this. If they don't I would be very interested to know the name of that dealer so I can avoid them.
At least you can look forward to a really great instrument when you get the replacement. Because this is 100% a question of WHEN and not IF in my opinion.
I really hope this works out for you!
I'm sorry to hear that. In that case you should definitely return it. If the dealer won't take care of this you should contact Fender directly. But any decent dealer should fix this. If they don't I would be very interested to know the name of that dealer so I can avoid them.
At least you can look forward to a really great instrument when you get the replacement. Because this is 100% a question of WHEN and not IF in my opinion.
I really hope this works out for you!
Thanks man. I appreciate the sentiment
Annoying because , I had to sell another bass for it, i then had to put a bit of money on top of it to afford this (had to have an argument with my gf coz of it etc etc) and the bass I sold, had ZERO flaws lol, none of this stuff. So it hits hard now after all that, getting rid of a bass I liked, which was “constructionally perfect” and then boom, a kick in the teeth
That colour shows up better in your photo than any other I’ve seen. Looks amazing! Did it feel right to you?
) worst case scenario I buy them a new pickguard
I think Fender has done that fairly frequently (i.e., launched a new model then issued new colors for that same model later).
Hope so.
I'm praying for a an Ultra PJ five string in the Texas Tea. If it doesn't happen I will be "forced" to get the Jazz...
