NBD, Fender Ultra Jazz... the bass everyone already hates, but refuses to try.
Let me start off by saying that I am not a Jazz bass fan, in fact dare I say, I strongly dislike Jazz basses. The Fender standard of a Jazz bass body seems too large, and I have never seemed to see the benefit of separate pickup volume controls over a pan pot. I mean really, working musicians that use a typical jazz bass must carry around a volume wah!
Only this year did life gain me the wisdom and show me the way of the Fender P bass. If not, I would have never even known that Fender had a new “Market induced poorly gimmick-named by someone’s grandmother” new series of instruments.
Or was it a teenage mutant ninja turtle that works for Fender’s “cowabunga” marketing group that named this series?
Sorry, the above needed to be said before going on.
So, now that over the last year I have become a Fender MIA P bass fan boy, I left the safety of Talkbass and ventured out on the internet to see about what all the buzz was about the Fender Elite basses being replaced.
The second I seen a Texas Tea paint job on a new Fender Ultra Jazz, I placed my order!
... having a volume pan on these basses might have helped a little as well over a Professional series. I actually got the bass last week and spent this past weekend putting it through its paces.
Here is what Talkbass had already taught me to hate about it...
The bridge was bulky, probably heavy, and nowhere as cool looking as the Elite’s bridge.
The new series was too heavy.
The Elites Preamps might have not been the best, so there was a chance for the same on this series.
Different truss rod setup.
A generation of noiseless pickups that are so many generations advanced that they must have been also produced by the Ultra teenage mutant ninja turtle Fender employee.
I’ll stop there...
I plugged this bass in the first time and was overwhelmed about how amazing the sustain and punch was in passive mode. The bulky bridge with all of that bridge to body contact must be doing something to help with that.
I mean this sucker was louder and puncher in passive mode than many of my other active basses that cost more.
I grabbed the truss rod tool along with the other adjustment tools and gave the bass some slight setup adjustments. The truss rod was just as easy to setup as my Fender Professional series basses, and did not have the ugly music man adjustment for the truss rod near the neck joint.
DON’T get me wrong, I can appreciate the other type of truss rod adjustment since I own some Musicman basses and that setup is much more solid for sure.... but this change on the Ultra wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The bridge adjustments were easy as any other Fender bridge, and it felt SOLID! I actually really like the bridge, and I have become accustomed to the looks of it.
Plus, the bass only weighs just over 9lbs. Kind of heavy for a four stringer, but not as terrible as the internet made it seem (This might be the first thing I’ve ever found on the Internet that was not true).
While running the preamp engaged, it sounds very high end, yet it still does the traditional jazz bass sounds. With that said, it still carries over that brightness/treble issue I’ve heard the Elites having. Overall, I’m happy with it.... but definitely enjoy it in passive mode more.
The pickups were Ultra quiet. No really, they are the most quiet out of any single coil pickups I’ve ever used and still sound very dynamic. Lots of lows, mids, and highs can be evenly heard.
Overall I am really impressed by this bass. The color is very cool, and I love the metal gold pick guard. I will say the pick guard feels different, so when you touch it while playing finger style it does catch you off guard a little instead of the feel of the typical plastic guard.
I’m in love with the fretboard, and I even dig the new D shape neck. The neck will be a personal preference though for other players I’m sure.
This bass is a great modern Jazz bass. Not sure if my ramblings will help or hurt in your decision making process on getting one, but for me it was worth the money.
-ScottM
Let me start off by saying that I am not a Jazz bass fan, in fact dare I say, I strongly dislike Jazz basses. The Fender standard of a Jazz bass body seems too large, and I have never seemed to see the benefit of separate pickup volume controls over a pan pot. I mean really, working musicians that use a typical jazz bass must carry around a volume wah!
Only this year did life gain me the wisdom and show me the way of the Fender P bass. If not, I would have never even known that Fender had a new “Market induced poorly gimmick-named by someone’s grandmother” new series of instruments.
Or was it a teenage mutant ninja turtle that works for Fender’s “cowabunga” marketing group that named this series?
Sorry, the above needed to be said before going on.
So, now that over the last year I have become a Fender MIA P bass fan boy, I left the safety of Talkbass and ventured out on the internet to see about what all the buzz was about the Fender Elite basses being replaced.
The second I seen a Texas Tea paint job on a new Fender Ultra Jazz, I placed my order!
... having a volume pan on these basses might have helped a little as well over a Professional series. I actually got the bass last week and spent this past weekend putting it through its paces.
Here is what Talkbass had already taught me to hate about it...
The bridge was bulky, probably heavy, and nowhere as cool looking as the Elite’s bridge.
The new series was too heavy.
The Elites Preamps might have not been the best, so there was a chance for the same on this series.
Different truss rod setup.
A generation of noiseless pickups that are so many generations advanced that they must have been also produced by the Ultra teenage mutant ninja turtle Fender employee.
I’ll stop there...
I plugged this bass in the first time and was overwhelmed about how amazing the sustain and punch was in passive mode. The bulky bridge with all of that bridge to body contact must be doing something to help with that.
I mean this sucker was louder and puncher in passive mode than many of my other active basses that cost more.
I grabbed the truss rod tool along with the other adjustment tools and gave the bass some slight setup adjustments. The truss rod was just as easy to setup as my Fender Professional series basses, and did not have the ugly music man adjustment for the truss rod near the neck joint.
DON’T get me wrong, I can appreciate the other type of truss rod adjustment since I own some Musicman basses and that setup is much more solid for sure.... but this change on the Ultra wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The bridge adjustments were easy as any other Fender bridge, and it felt SOLID! I actually really like the bridge, and I have become accustomed to the looks of it.
Plus, the bass only weighs just over 9lbs. Kind of heavy for a four stringer, but not as terrible as the internet made it seem (This might be the first thing I’ve ever found on the Internet that was not true).
While running the preamp engaged, it sounds very high end, yet it still does the traditional jazz bass sounds. With that said, it still carries over that brightness/treble issue I’ve heard the Elites having. Overall, I’m happy with it.... but definitely enjoy it in passive mode more.
The pickups were Ultra quiet. No really, they are the most quiet out of any single coil pickups I’ve ever used and still sound very dynamic. Lots of lows, mids, and highs can be evenly heard.
Overall I am really impressed by this bass. The color is very cool, and I love the metal gold pick guard. I will say the pick guard feels different, so when you touch it while playing finger style it does catch you off guard a little instead of the feel of the typical plastic guard.
I’m in love with the fretboard, and I even dig the new D shape neck. The neck will be a personal preference though for other players I’m sure.
This bass is a great modern Jazz bass. Not sure if my ramblings will help or hurt in your decision making process on getting one, but for me it was worth the money.
-ScottM
Last edited:
