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Why I WOULDN'T Buy a Fender Ultra Telecaster
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2023
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the Fender American Ultra Telecaster - Ryan Davey is borrowing my PRS SE Hollowbody Piezo, and asked if I wanted to check out this guitar. It's obviously a much more modern flavoured instrument than I would normally go for. Here's some thoughts after playing it for a few more days and comparing with my more vintage flavoured K-Line Truxton.
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Those saddles on the Ultra are brass btw :) I've owned a tried a lot of Telecasters over the past 40 years and I purchased an American Ultra just like that a few years ago and still have it and still love it... all the rest were gone in about a year. I love the pickups but the neck is the best one yet which is why I love the guitar. If I wanted another Tele I would get an Ultra with a maple neck. As someone who has used R2 and R3 locking nuts most of his life the neck width is prefect IMHO, it's the same as an R3. The compound radius just makes it easier to play lead as well... again though this is from someone who played Jacksons in the 80s so... basically the Ultra neck is what makes this guitar for me personally.
Noiseless pickups are actually stacked humbuckers… hence the drastically reduced hum noise and the fuller bass and reduced treble / clarity.
I think the Ultras look stunning
I agree but nothing really beats an original standard I have one in roasted pine love it!
I think they look like every other Tele 😂
The Ultra Tele and Strat are fantastic guitars for gigging (no buzz when on stage or in the orchestra pit) and are versatile for recording. I love the ergonomics. The electronics offer a nice array of tones.
I’ve had an Ultra Tele for a few years now and it keeps being my go-to guitar. The neck is perfect. It’s comfortable to play. Doesn’t have obnoxious hum. About the only thing I wish it had was stainless steel frets - but really dislike the look of the Ultra Luxe model painted headstocks. My other guitars are a Suhr Classic S Antique and a Revstar RSS02T - and the Ultra Tele is my favorite. I wish my Suhr had a wider neck like the Ultra Tele.
Agreed. And yes those head stocks look odd.
I own an Ultra Plus Strat SSS and I love it. wide yet thin - I find it so much easier to play. I also think I can use a lighter touch - bliss
Have had this exact model for a couple years now. Love the look and the feel of the neck agreed with me from day 1! Has become my go to for pub/ cover gigs
The neck is what I loved the most about it.
I have one in Cobra Blue. The pickups gave me the most pause. I changed the shit fender strings and they roared to life. I love this guitar. I have seven other Teles collecting dust. The only complaint is I want the S-1 switch to engage the series configuration in any position not just the middle.
I'm currently GAS'ing for an Ultra Tele to convert to a Nashville style by adding a middle noiseless Strat pickup and a 5-way switch.
I played Ultra in a guitar shop for about 5 minutes and was absolutely blown away with it's neck, had to leave quickly before I've got a GAS attack
I get your reservations against noiseless pickups. I felt the same - until I played a Suhr S-style for the first time. Suhr has nailed it.
But Suhr don't do noiseless pickups. Instead, they have a noiseless system built into the scratchplate.
I want to get my hands on a Strat or Tele that has a set of the latest pickups from Chris Kinman in them.
@@pepeowen Ah, I wasn't aware of that. In the end the guitar is pretty noiseless while sounding really fantastic.
@@gtz999 yes, they retain all the spark and chime of a true single coil and the hum is eliminated through their noiseless system. The main drawback is that it adds to the weight of the guitar.
My Ultra was a beauty. Great neck and the ergonomics were nice, but I sold it. The PU’s just never seemed to have any personality.
those noiseless PU's are essentially stacked mini humbuckers, not a surprise they sound bassier. the saddles I think are actually made of brass but they are chrome painted. I really like the look of the butterscotch blonde ultra but they made just a few and pretty much you can't find it anywhere.
Why are people so afraid of noiseless pickups? They sound awesome!
Interesting video because your take on the Ultra is so different than mine. First, I feel like the pickups have a lot of top end and through my amps my Ultra has more clarity than my other electric guitars. I don't find the pickps at all muddy. The humbuckers on my Ibanez are far muddier. And while necks and frets aren't something that bother me a lot (I've got four electrics and two acoustics and they all have different necks. I don't avoid any of them because of the neck shape or the fret size. The only thing I don't care for much is a 7.5 inch fretboard radius.), I really like the Ultra neck. It's probably my favorite of the guitars I own.
I have owned the Fender Ultra for 6 months and my only complaint is the all short tuning posts, not a life crisis but I am use to winding the post etleast one full rotation.
I just tried one of these out at GC in Texas Tea , and I loved it , I have a few vintage style Tele’s with the three barrel bridge that I love , but I finding I like modern style guitars these days
These Ultra Telecasters look fantastic but sound weak. Is that pickups or they don’t resonate well or both?
I just got an ultra strat. It's pretty great. Kinda heavy but I guess that's a function of the noiseless. I expected to hate those and find another noiseless solution, but they're also pretty great. Very low output, but I'm a low output single coil kinda guy anyway
John, you need to try a set of Mojotone Quiet Coils. Vintage sounding and no noise.
I’m very interested in the Ultra Teles. I’d love to see your take on the Ultra Lux, if you can get your hands on one.
I had the Fender Elite tele and it was pretty great, I wasn’t a fan of the pickups but it’s the closest I’ve been to liking a tele
I was surprised that the noiseless pickups sounded OK in this demo, but I have never liked them in person myself. I've played 3 different types.
Could you EQ the amp to roll off a little bass, push the mids and add a bit of presence to get them closer sounding? Agreed the K-Line had more clarity
You can't bump up what isn't there to begin with.
Nice run of ascending sixes, followed by descending fives. Your alternate picking technique is getting killer. Top shelf
Six and five of what?
@@rickyanthony groups of five notes and six notes.
I have an Am Pro II. Love it.
The finish and binding make it something that makes me take a second look. There is no debate, the pickups do have a low mid bump and rounded off high end that make it less special and less Tele like. I much prefer the modern ergonomics of the Ultra versus vintage spec'd. But... tone... I want a Tele to sound like a Tele. The Ultra brings it too much towards the "guitar as input device" versus special Tele'ness.
You could swap the pickups. A pain for the price, but could be done.
I agree with you John. I'm not a fan of noiseless pickups, compound necks or locking tuners - the Am Pro 2 is a better option for me (getting the dark night rosewood in October). Nice playing! Rock on!
I didn't get your string spacing comments. Vintage guitars are wide, modern guitars are narrow. I dont remember the exact measurements but Fender Vintage is 56mm at the bridge, Teles are like 54 mm if they have 3 saddles, Strats with 2 point trem and everything else is 52.5mm string spacing. I may have misunderstood your comments though but the Ultra is 52.5mm just like all Fender 2 point trems. There is also Vintage Narrow which is a 6 screw bridge with 52.5 mm spacing. There is also Vintage Wide and Mustang bridges that are 56mm. Again it might just be the way you said it that confused me.
Is it my imagination or is the chrome metal control plate not fitting flush to the body from the volume knob to the scratch plate? If so that's a bit disappointing that was not noted during it QC before leaving the factory. For the amount of money you pay you would expect better. Unless the owner has had a fiddle with it and not screwed it back properly.
I do like the cut away and body curve this should have been introduced may years ago as should have Gibson rather than only there top models as a resent sales draw.
I have an old 1975 custom Tele since 1979 with the Fender humbucker in neck and a single pole in the bridge area.
Though I did replace many years ago replace the single pole in the early 1980s with a Bill Lawrence single blade model (no longer made). As the original lack power and was not particularly bright.
I also has a 2010 (MIM) std Tele which is pleasant enough though I swapped out the pickup which were sort of Ok with fender noiseless pickups which were surprisingly bright and far better sound quality than the factory models that came with the unit.
Though I must admit I prefer American made necks there is in my humble opinion a big difference in feel.
I have both an MIA & a MIM Strat and its the same with the necks you can tell the difference.
Hope this might be of interest to others reading this.
Thanks for your review on the ultra much appreciated.
I still own my original 69 Thinline. If I want noise, then I play it :) I bought an Ultra a couple of years ago. Very nice except the bridge adjustment screws are sharp and can cut your hand and, of course, the pickup selector knob comes off. Had to glue it in place. Fender should have never released their top Telecasters like that.
The neck on these is just too thin, especially to people used to playing a traditional Tele. It may be perfect for someone used to playing an Ibanez. The rest of the guitar is fantastic!. I changed out the neck on mine to an all rosewood Musikraft and it made it my favorite Tele.
I don’t like being stuck with hum so having humbucker or noiseless pickups is a priority.
I tried the Ultra strat when they came out, and oddly enough, thought it felt like a silver sky. heh.
When I looked at the Ultra and Pro 2 the deciding factor for me was fret wire. Tall narrow on the Pro, medium jumbo on the Ultra. Based on experience with other guitars I was pretty confident I'd prefer the tall narrow. I'm surprised the difference in fret wire didn't rate a mention.
I'm currently looking to buy a MIM or American Thinline Tele for gigging, and hence the modern features are of huge appeal. Re the bassier p/ups, for those wanting a brighter more vintage tone, would not a change of pot resistors solve that?
you sound good playing anything. what was that last lick you played in the intro? nice.
Holy shit, people have been screwing up how Jonathan is spelled and spoken all my life...then i see a guy actually named John Nathan! Anyways, i actually preferred the blue tele K Line pickups a LOT more. Excluding the troublemaker I have, theres a hole in my rack for a standard tele (and that black ultra-lux 3 HH monster when i win the lotto). Im thinking a nice second hander Fender with those K Line pups, buzz notwithstanding. Grats on short circuiting my brain over what is normally a thinking-not-required telecaster purchase, Johnnathan!
I had an ultra. I liked it but thought it was way overpriced. A few weeks after I bought it new, a pickup stopped working. The dealer checked it and requested a repair approval from fender. After a month fender finally approved the repair. It then took a month to get the parts from fender. After it was finally repaired the new pickup was not noiseless. I had it and returned it for a refund. I then purchased an American professional which I liked but it roo had issues so I returned it. I'm done with fender guitars.
I agree, I bought a Fender American pro 2 strat and it sucked. It was NOTHING like what people said it was. I played one and liked it in the store, but after actually having one and spending time with it, the quality isn’t even as good as an American standard and they want MORE money for it smh. At this point, I’m only going for older fenders, squiers, and Japanese brand strats. These newer guitars are horrible. The only guitar from Fender that I’d buy is the American standard, NOTHING else.
Odd I've had an American performer and an American pro II and they have both been flawless... other than I had three fret ends on the performer filed for $50... sucks yours had issues. You can always play them at the store before buying and return within 45 days at GC...
John I have had lace sensors and another set of noiseless pickups taken out of my guitars because I felt they didn't quack or have a stratty sound or feel and response. Did you notice that?
I have seen the same thing with my stacked humbucker guitars.. I left the pickups in my 1989 Ibanez 540 Radius (Like a later Joe Satriani model but HSS with two stacked humbucker single coils) because I later appreciated that they were NOT really trying to be a strat pickup in that guitar.. It is it's own valid sound, but not the one I am most drawn to.. Like you said, not enough quack, or stratty tone.. They are more well suited to higher gain stuff mostly.. I have EMGs in my workhorse main gigging 1990 American Standard Strat (there when I bought it second hand). They do everything well, but until I finally got, of all things, a 2022 Squier Classic Vibe 60's Strat, did I FINALLY have that SRV Lenny sparkly / glassy and still rounded, with tons of quack... Each guitar and pickup has it's place now, as I only really play for fun and to record now, so I pick up the guitar that best suits what I am playing.
@christopherjbutler if you ever change your pickups out, I can strongly recommend Lollars. Their blonde set is vintage strat, and their specials are modern but still have that quack and chime in the 2 and 4 position. Lovely. I never liked EMGs even though I have a mate who rave about them. I like classic drive tones and sparkly to dirty cleans mainly, so that may play into my preferences.
@@AlexVonCrank Thanks! John Cordy's influence already has Lollars on my radar lol..
However, considering my current moratorium on expensive G.A.S. purchases, I don't really have a Strat slated to keep real single coils in it that either:
A) Is a decent enough great playing guitar which has pickups really so lacking that I could justify the expense of upgrading with a set of $300 plus Lollars. (2022 Classic Vibe 60s Strat)
OR
B) Isn't a low end beater not worth having such nice pickups in (A pair of Squier Bullets)
For the Lenny SRV thing, I am happy enough with the Squier Classic Vibe's pickups as they are, which sound surprisingly good to me.. II played the whole available Squier Bullet, through Fender Ultra Strat line that my local Sam Ash store had on the wall before I pulled the trigger on the CV 60's model, and I liked those pickups more than the noiseless ones in the higher priced Fenders.
The only guitar I think worthy of the Lollars is my main Strat. I was gigging with it exclusively in the late 90's and early 2000's at a time when modeling was nascent, and I was the weirdo with the the impossible to understand Roland GP-100 (COSM modeling, predated the helix and even the POD) a Mesa Boogie Fifty Fifty stereo power amp and a pair of EVM-12L loaded 1x12 cabs. The EMGs, the Roland and the wide frequency response EVs meant I could really program the patches with a studio recording engineers signal chain mindset, and could easily make up for the neutral sound of the EMGs per-patch. I would nail a close to studio album faithful tone and get those varied sounds I wanted out of the pickups, (Without hum or even EMI noise, consistently in all venues even ones with dirty power). I was a patch baby, but I wrote the patches to make the sound I heard in my head.
Today my tastes and my (much downsized) rig have changed... I actually am leaning toward wanting my main Strat to be less "hi-fi neutral" and instead sounding like a 60's or maybe 50's Strat with that specific character. I don't want to have to depend on a modeler and a set of crafted patches to nail the real strat tones I love the most, I would love just plugging my number one straight into a real Fender Deluxe or Twin and it being RIGHT THERE.. But there's no way I could ever go back to pickups on THAT guitar that are not zero-hum. The Squier Strat covers decently enough the real Alnico 5 polepiece tone for me for situations where I am willing to deal with the hum.
With all that said, I may be chasing a unicorn like everyone else, but If what I am hearing just recently from another commenter here about MojoTone QuietCoil pickups is true, I think, for 250 bucks for a full set, I would probably put them in my main strat in a heartbeat. Compared to the cost ($550 ! ) of a set of Kinman Magnum Opus 50's and the gamble that that special order from Australia entails, or spending $300 plus on a set of Lollar Blondes which are not hum canceling, I think the MojoTones might be an absolute steal at that price.
@christopherjbutler the guy who popped my Lollars in, put quite effective copper shielding, and I'm happy with that. I'll look into some of those you mentioned, though.
I have an Ultra, had mine for 2-3 years, it’s good guitar, I’ve been tempted few times to sell it, but haven’t really decided what to replace it with
What amp/preset are you playing at 5:18? I love that tone.
The track you play between 2 and 3 minutes is awesome!
I’ve got a Strat Ultra, it’s a great guitar… but, I still prefer my Tokai TST95. It’s all about personal preference
I have an Ultra Strat and Tele. They are my favorites. I love the necks. Sounds great at church.
I wonder if there’s a fender guitar John Cordy actually likes
40 seconds in and the K line just blows the tele out of the water. Not even close.
Change the pickups on the ultra and it’s as good or better than anything on the market. They’re ridiculously comfortable to play.
@@Viper_75th_RR I can believe that!
I really hope I like the neck. Everything else about the Ultra seems great. Going to try one soon.
It’s really thin, they should have kept the Elite series neck shape
Almost bought one but I saw too many reviews preferring the am pro ii
I played a tele ultra in a shop a while ago - pretty much what I found, just prefer my Standard's neck.
Don't get the prevalence of skinny necks. I swap out the necks for baseball bats with locking Schallers on fenders when possible.
Guitar center in Utah unlocked every guitar on the wall... even the most expensive ones so your can literally grab them off the wall and play them. I played this same guitar against the most expensive as well as the player and they all sound great really... I didn't think any jumped out as sounding significantly better or worse... the cheapest just looked and felt cheaper. The ultra looked and felt killer. Id take one in a heart beat. I've had a pro II and a performer... still have the performer... both great too. I dig the body design on the ultra... other than that I think my two played and sounded just as good in every way. The only reason is buy the ultra is because it looks bad ass... otherwise if all you care about is tone a performer will give you everything you need... the rest is just bling and good marketing...
I have that guitar - while it’s a fantastic and versatile instrument I feel it’s modern appointments lose it’s “tele-ness”.
If it had stainless frets and maybe a very slight forearm contour it would be the most modern Tele ever
Nothing Fender could do would be able to out-modern the likes of Aristides, but I do get where you’re coming from
What's the weight on these things? Heard they can be heavy
I bought the Strat Ultra about 2 years ago. Noiseless pickups. Seems more like a guitar for jazz or blues. Gotta really dig in on the attack to get the good old Strat Spank. Gotta dig in pretty hard. Wish I had known this B 4 I bought it online. I love the neck though. Want that 70s Spank that the Ultra just doesn't have. Unless like I said. You really have to dig in. I could change pick ups to get that spank but that's another $400 bucks or so.
If you really like the neck and ergonomics, but don't like the pickups, I guess Cory Wong's signature model can be a good choice
@@dmytrogarastovych7684 Might be a good idea!! I'll have to check it out!! Ill have to check out Cory Wong also. I see his name everywhere but never checked him out!
Good informative review. Those guitars aren't for me. Not my kind of neck. I also agree on having a guitar around with noiseless pickups.
I just got one of these to try out....mainly cause I just like cool looking nice to play guitars ;-)
I have the ultra Stratocaster and I have no complaints
I love my Tele Ultra . I like the sound of the new gen noiseless PU and it feels and plays amazing . I think the neck is great but I also like the baseball bat on the Richie Kotzen Tele so I guess I’m not hung up on that as some guys are .
I can't disagree more. The neck on this is amazing .
If you like a more modern feeling neck then agreed it's a great guitar! Really liked the noiseless pickups too
What’s going on with the control plate on the ultra. It’s lifting at the near edge to camera
It’s the light. Just do a zoom in and you’ll see that.
I prefer your blue tele. Sound much better and full of spark
Check out the Mojotone Quiet Coils, I have the 58 Quiet Coil strat set and to my ears they sound the closest to true single coils. I have tried kinmans /Fender & Dimarzio
What generation and model of Kinmans did you try? Unless it is all marketing and some post processing on some of the demo recordings, there have been some significant tonal improvements in the latest designs compared to the original AVn series.
Also, which DiMarzio's the "Area" series? really curious about both your experience with the DiMars and the Kinmans.
Hi, @christopherjbutler
I tried 2 sets of Kinmans the Hank Marvin set bought direct from Kinman & a set of the Traditional's off of ebay, at least 10 years ago,(Edit: just checked my emails I bought HM set 2007 Traditional's about 3/4 years after that) Now obviously this subjective and from memory but I found them to be slightly compressed sounding and something about the top end that I personally didn't like.
The Dimarzio Area set were 2 x Area 58 N/M & 61 Bridge I preferred those more than the Kinmans,
but something about them still didn't quite do it for me.
The Mojotone set I bought direct from them in the US, they feel and sound right for to me,
I wouldn't say they sound exactly like a true single coil,but they feel right to me.
they are more vintage in output and are the same size as a normal single coil.
I won't be changing these. Edit : they also need 500K tone & Volume pots
I would say that the Dimarzio were definitely the quietest of the sets.
All just personal taste and opinion of course.
Sound on Sound magazine did a review of the Mojotones if your interested.
If you are more drawn to vintage you should never consider a Telecaster Ultra. The Ultra line is about modern improvements. A bit silly to compare vintage vibe guitars with the Ultra because it is not meant to appeal traditionalists. I love it though.
wait, weston from Got Beat Up and Matinee?
Before they had the ultra they had the elite, and the neckt were slimmer on those
Tony ears the ultra sounds like it has stronger pups , that’s all really , both sound and look great ❤
I own a Lincoln Brewster Strat. I'll be buying a Texas Tea Ultra very soon. Appreciate your input. But your entire post.... is your opinion only. Whether it matters as a whole... is your opinion. Others..... think different.... I watched about a 1/4 of your video and left.
Want a Texas tea player 😢
Ultra Luxe, even better than the standard Ultra ; One of my fave teles. Just magic and ultra-superior. Looks the part too.
Interesting reflection as there’s soooooo many Tele’s to choose from ….
I'm a Tele freak and I didn't like the pickups ...missing the raw edge
The modern neck feel (wider, thinner) isn't my thing. I like the soft Vs and the Cs that are bat-like. It's one of the reasons I don't get along with most SGs, too many of them have wide thin necks. But I loved the increased bass on those Ultra pickups. I find I use my GE-7 to add 200 and 400hz a lot when using vintage or vintage voiced singles. Not exactly bass, but adding body/mud.
One of the best Tele’s available.
Those pickups kill it for me. Sort of a scooped mids sound, but also no sparkle on the top end. Its like they were trying to make it not sound like a tele......why?
I guess sh1tloads of buzz at live shows isn't for everyone 😄
Love my ULTRA!!❤❤
Ultras are nice but I'd opt for a K-Line. Love the K-Line classic pickups are among my all time favorite and their QC is outstanding.
Problem might be that they're putting 250k pots with 8k humbuckers.
Just got one a few days ago, Love the neck, Pickups are great. Playing thru a Boogie Mark V. Glad I didnt listen to you : )
@johnnathancordy This is great, hearing the two guitars back to back..
On the clean sound especially, The K-Line sounds more like what I expect a fender single coil to be. There's gonna be bass there if you go into a fender amp or model, but scooped in just the right way with just the right resonance peak in the upper mids and highs that sound natural.
The Ultra's pickups sound kind of, i don't know how to put it, artificial? flatter through the midrange yet a bit more brittle?. They do have more bass, and sound flatter really, but unlike EMGs which are "hi fi" too but shaped to be less poky on the top. the Ultra's spectrum has a top end that pokes out in an odd place to me.. It reminds me of the Dimarzio IBZ C1 pickups in my 89 Ibanez 540 Radius.. Which is kind of disappointing..
I think the only pickups I have heard demos of that really do the noiseless thing and look stock are Kinman pickups (Australian boutique manufacturer) They are SO expensive and made to order basically that I have never had both the money and the cojones to take a leap and buy a set of them for my strat..
Zexxcoils also sound pretty close to the real thing, but they have a weird appearance if the polepieces are showing through, otherwise they have flat covers and look like lace sensors or EMGs..
Ultra just seems like the objectively superior tele
That sounds subjective
This guy sounds like Mick Jagger talking ... :)
They’re the best guitars fender makes bro
The Fender pups are much fatter. Remember, you can eq out the bottom end, but you can’t add it if it’s not there to begin with.
Ultra is for modern guitar players
Beyond my budget.
Poly finish = nope.
Comment
So you want all the Teles to have the same old style classic neck? Just let it be. It's a modern take on the guitar. If you want a classic Tele there are plenty of other models. I don't understand why one would criticize a guitar because it is different than the classic version 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ it's moronic. Criticize the sound all you want, and the possible manufacturing issues. But don't criticize it because it is not the classic Tele. Poor review which is not a review. Stick to sound sample comparison.
Yep the K-Line sounds better. More balanced tone from the pickups and not as hot.
horrible distortion 0:35
Childish complains...😂
Try to play your blue tele without pedals and after talk about " your" sound!!!!
Ultra is one million better.
One million what
@@johnnathancordyone million billion