There's something so relaxing about your videos, I could watch you talking about anything for 10 hours straight 😁 I would say : this one for the functions, the fiesta for the look and the love, the old one for the mojo
I don't envy any heritage guitar company. People just want to buy the same guitar again and again and get so angry at any significant changes. Sounds like Fender did a great job making some nice updates without tripping anyone's alarms. I hope they'll offer a chambered body at some point. My guitars are all around 6 lbs or lighter, and picking up a Strat is like handling a sledgehammer.
I can’t decide if I love your playing or your editing/scripting the most. There must be sooo much work to make a review feel this informal and effortless.
I'm actually not a vintage-is-best purist type, but when you went to position 4 of the vintage Strat, it just sounded sooo much nicer. The tone sounded better, I also kind of liked the static sound while you were switching.
not gonna lie, my heart skipped a beat every time you plugged/unplugged the jack, even though the amp somehow managed not to produce a sound of an atomic bomb landing at your mic
Because there are cables that don't let electricity pass until they are plugged. There's like a notch/switch and when it is plugged in then electricity passes.
I love my Ultra and I love my CS! It’s like chips and chocolate. Not every day is the same and I am glad that I have the choice and can choose according to taste every time
I must say, even though i am not very into the Stratocaster, it is easily the most recognizable guitar with some of the greatest legacies in the world.
That is one very good guitar, which easily stands up to the vintage ones. Well done Fender. I have an American Deluxe from 2005 and after a while I changed the Noislesse pick-ups it came with - they sounded good and my humbucker-loving friends thought it was the best Strat they ever heard, but I missed the true single coil sound. I have to say that if I bought the Ultra I would not change this iteration of noiseless pick ups, they sound great! The 2 point Trem is the same as the one on my Am-Deluxe and it is vastly better than the vintage style ones, it's much more responsive and more stable too. Excellent video Paul, thank you.
Why anyone would complain about this is beyond me. Buy a Vintage spec one if you don't like innovation. They make so many different reissues I don't even know where to begin. But some people want modern finishes, more ergonomic shapes and sophisticated pickups/electronics that are reliable and dead quiet. to each their own, Fender has you covered.
Even if they don't currently sell the exact specs you want, the designs are so easy to mod. Even something as significant as "I want a wenge neck with a zebrawood fretboard, stainless steel jumbo frets, 11" radius, and block inlays," you can get a fender-licensed neck exactly to those specs and swap it in.
@@sagittatedBut if you’ve paid so much money and still haven’t gotten what you want, then need to add more money, then is it worth worth the money and the hassle?
I'm an honorary captain of team "no treble bleed" -- particularly as my #1 is a telecaster, where the volume knob is part of your tone control. Take that away and you're two steps away from a banjo. The thing with the ultra II is that except for the shaped neck and auxiliary light on the top of it, there's nothing in it that you can't kind of easily wire up yourself. The not-for-amateurs wiring job that I'm working up the courage to do is replacing the push-push pots with extra stops on the switch, getting two coaxial (I forget what the catalog name is) pots that will control tone/tone and volume/volume. You'd have the best of Fender -- the guitar, plus the best of Gibson: independent tone and volume controls for each pickup. But yeah, I mean, that has to be an extremely dope rolled neck, since just about everything else on the Ultra II just puts it in the league of modded guitars. The anodized aluminum looks nice, but (psst... you can buy those separately). [edit: I'm using headphones on my laptop, but best I could tell, the noiseless pickups retain that (warning: buzzward) shimmery quality that single coils should have. The excess jangliness... do you have the volume on 10? Because that's sort of why I don't like treble bleeds, which the ultra 2 has, and your fiesta red strat doesn't (presumably)]
I own a 70th anniversary ultra and it’s the second nicest guitar I’ve ever played. That having been said, fender and innovation are not words I’d put together much
As someone who just recently bought a MIM as my first strat, Im very interested in the Ultra strat and teles. The compound neck and rounded heel is already an upgrade. The noiseless pups seem to be more bassy and less brittle imo
Don't sleep on American Professional II. I actually prefer the necks on them. Can't wait to try a new Ultra and probably add one to my mini army of Stratocasters.
I have a MIM Strat and an ultra tele. The MIM Strat feels like a toy after having an ultra even though I still like it. I found a mint used ultra for $1600 it’s worth it.
I bought the 70th anniversary ultra strat and absolutely love it! The five way switch is my only complaint with it. My ultra strat is my go-to guitar over my Gibson es335. Both are pretty amazing. I don't care if you play a Squire bullet strat or an ultra strat. Either way, rock on!!!
• That price tag is bonkers! Thankfully the great thing about Strats is how easy they are to mod. • To me, the best looking Strat of all time is the Fender Player Strat in pearl white with the maple neck. I got mine new for about €630. I've since replaced the 3rd knob with a push-pull knob so I can get the 2 extra pickup configurations with the 5-way switch and I also changed the bridge to a Fender Professional bridge so the whammy bar is easier to manage. Basically, I now have a Fender Professional Strat but I saved €850 just by modding it myself (which wasn't very difficult). • Now that I've heard the Fender Ultra II Strat, I may consider installing these new noiseless pickups on my Strat. I'd then basically have a much cheaper and better looking Fender Ultra Plus II (minus the compound neck and locking tuners which I don't care much for) with minimal effort.
Fantastic review, thanks !! I already have an Eric Clapton signature Strat, but rather than lugging it on the train whenever we go to our other house, I just bought a Squire to leave there, based on your comparison video, and I love it ! Thanks a lot for your work.
When some 40 years ago I compiled my own "Strat" I also wired the 3 pick-ups in a way that I could mix all 3 pick-ups independently (in the bridge position I had a PAF humbucker, though). Especially bridge & middle & neck in parallel sounded amazing: lush, rich, warm, with definition, sustain, power, determinedness - just overwhelming. I think they did a wonderful thing adding the two other possible combinations which the traditional Strat didn't have: bridge & neck, and bridge & middle & neck. Great versatility - not typically "Strat" however.
Wonderful playing! I have an American Ultra (sunburst with maple fb) and it has nearly identical specs. I appreciate Fender's incremental approach to improving this iconic guitar.
Great review, and I also get a relaxing vibe from your videos! The 'jangly' element to the tone is interesting. I recently bought a 70th Anniversary 70s Antigua. The 70s voiced pickups have a beautiful warm tone across each position, and a lot of low end in the neck position. But I did notice a very feint jangling in the tone as well, but perhaps not as distinct as the Ultra.
He’s right about not thinking or fighting your guitar. Most players just want to play and not have a guitar working against them. Fender (like Gibson now) makes a modern Strat for those who want modern. They make a 57 and 62 reissue I believe for those who want vintage. The best of all worlds!
I have a '92 Strat Deluxe that has some of the same design points. It came with Fender Lace pickups, but they sounded really flat with no sparkle or spank. I replaced them years ago with SVL Daytona pickups. They sound great, and I don't really mind the noise. It also has a metal nut with roller bearings. Seems to work very well. It does seem possible to have innovative improvements over time. We should be open to experimentation.
I think their new Ultra guitars are super well made and sound sparkling yet still thick and deep. They do have some of that Fender vintage thingy in the sound!...Thought I wouldn’t prefer it to a vintage one as that’s another personality...and i would keep both if i could. I think we guitarists - if i may admit on behalf of everyone - are simply joking to ourselves when we say “ah..yeah I think i finally found MY GUITAR!” How many times did i say it already?!! 😂 But it would be more precise to say “this guitar surely has it’s own personality that I like and that fits well what I’m doing right now”
I just got an all original 1963 last week, best guitar I’ve ever held in my hands, maybe some bias/placebo effect, it still has original frets so I want to refret it, but the feel is just so different. Also comparing to reissues, the nut width and side to side width of the body are both skinnier on the ‘63 than the ‘61 AV II
I bought a Cobra Blue Ultra when they came out as my "expensive " Strat . I still think they would make a working musician"s perfect Strat and they look gorgeous . However I could not get on with the P/ups or the S switch . So I traded it in for a 2007 EJ Strat . Horses for courses as they say , always nice to have a PD video to watch ,thanks .
Glad to see you review this seeing as how I've seen you play so many Fenders over the years. I've had the Elite 1 Tele for about 4 years now and I do really like most of the guitar. You mentioned in the video that you thought you'd like the S-1 switch if it was durable or something to that effect. I don't know what the mean-time between failures is for potentiometers, but mine crapped out on me earlier this year. Guitar is probably 8 or 9 years old so, I guess that's a pretty average time for hardware failure.
I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio I purchased brand new in 1985. I played a new Epiphone les paul studio that looked just like mine at GC a year ago and it blew my Gibson away!!! The new stuff is just so much better!!!
For me , that volume knob on a Strat will always kind of be in the way as will be the middle pup . . My pick always gets tangled up in that darn middle pup . . Though Strats are excellent guitars . Nice vid , thank you 🙏
It's funny. I felt the same way about all the noiseless pickups I've ever tried, but... a) these sound great and... b) the in-between settings sound, to me, like the middle position of an LP or tele. I know Paul didn't like those positions so much, but I love those sounds! That's a win for Fender in my book.
I'm no Paul Davids, but I've been around Strats since the '60's, and was old enough to buy my own in the '70's (the dark years for legacy guitar companies). I have a first gen Ultra, and I wouldn't go back. I actually enjoy the S1 functionality, but I understand where a purist would find it bizarre. My pickguard doesn't have that gap, so I don't have that complaint. Great guitar. Great video, Paul.
Great Video Paul! For my own, terribly unrefined taste, my favorite "Strat" is still the G&L S500, which is (it is said) Leo Fender's own final word on the guitar...
Hi Paul, I really enjoy watching your videos, because I think you are an excellent guitar player, and I look forward to new ones! Since I am an amateur player myself, I would like to ask what kind of pick do you use for playing? Thank you!
Except for noiseless pickups, I upgraded my $220 Firefly FFST and for less than $350 Total for guitar and upgrades, it has all of these features including 7 way Gilmour mod, locking tuners, 2 pt Tremelo with alan wrench tremelo bar seat to hold whammy bar just where you want it whatever resistance you choose, plus ball end stainless steel frets with flame roasted compound radius maple neck and gorgeous Ash body in Vintage Cherry Burst. This really doesn't feel like much of an evolution for $2,500. I've gone in the store many times trying to buy a Fender Strat. But then I didn't like their necks as well, and they didn't play as well as my firefly FFST. Eventually, I just decided I have to get over not seeing Fender on the head stockl lol.
I bought a classic player 50s strat 10 years ago - and had to mod the thing afterwards. First of all the truss rod is adjustable WITHOUT having to take off the neck now. Second, after replacing the capacitors and separating the tone controls via a super switch you can dial the tone of the 5th and 4th position (the most needed on a Strat I think) independently. This alone always struck me: How for GS can it be that those two positions are connected serially to the tone knobs? Third: There is no Fender Logo on the Headstock anymore. You can see "Antifender" in the original decal script and even the neck joint plate has changed into Antifender - Anticaster with a subtitle: Fuck Dennis Galuszka - that's the "master builder" who put two point tremolo in that thing but forgot to make the neck adjustable without fucking it up. Amen.
You said in the past video "Upgrading my PICKUPS!" that your 2007 Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe was your first Fender Start. The American Deluxe is similar to the Ultra II features.
I put headphones on and covered the screen when you did the pickup comparison. I would say there is a little difference but it was only on a few notes where they ‘screamed’ a little more but it was very subtle. On that basis I liked your usual Strat. However I loved the knobs and as I use a thin pick it would fit perfectly in the gap. The only reason I would not buy the Ultra is I cannot afford it. Thank you for the review.
The "jangly" issue in position 4 may come from the output of the noiseless pickup. In combination with an aggressive compressor it can produce kinda distorted clean sounds that sound like they're about to burst. You get the same effect with your regular single coil pickups if you configure them too high, I mean too close to the strings. That's one thing you should always think about.
People saying there’s no innovation need to consider the decades of history. These guitars have had different woods, different necks, different bridge and trem systems, different tuners, different pickups… all while remaining iconic. When you’re the market leader you cannot afford to completely change your best products without regard for your customer base. Look at Gibson, they went strange with all sorts of crap and had heaps of quality issues, then nearly went bankrupt. Covid saved them because old fans could finally get on to the hobbies they always wanted to - but only after they went back to their core product. Who out there IS being innovative? What do you call innovation? These instruments do all sorts of genres but they are mostly geared toward certain ones. You don’t generally want evertune on a Strat. So ask yourself. What actual innovation do you want? The only thing I’m disappointed about is the nickel frets. Though I bloody love the forearm carve on the tele! So ask yourself, what more do you want in the Ultra series? Squier and Mexican Strats is where fender push the boundaries on their products. You don’t make huge risks on the expensive ones.
I did get why a companies lack of innovation even bothers some people in the first place, I mean buy what you want, you want some crazy looking guitar with active humbuckers, 8 strings, no headstock, locking trem, fanned fretboard etc etc go and buy one of the many on the market. Who cares play what you like. The 3 biggest guitar brands in the world are Fender, Gibson and Martin, obviously plenty of people enjoy their classic designs.
This Strat is prob the best new Strat we could hope for. Love that fender is doing the D shaped neck with the sculpted heel. Add on jumbo frets!! Winner. I want one.
I've had the HSS Ultra Strat since 2020 in Texas Tea, I definitely think the pickguard suits it better than it does on this new sunburst one. (personal preference) if I was buying an ultra II I might choose the sinister red. Overall I've been very happy, its my only electric and does everything I want in comfort, 4 years of daily playing and hanging from a stand (rarely see the inside of its case) and not a single crackle or issue with any of the electronics. Mine definitely came with the whammy bar so I think someone just forgot it when they sent it to Paul.
I like the modern features a lot only the finish looks a bit too polished for my taste I like it when there's a little woodgrain shining through the sunburst. But other than that I like the new approach so far
Hi Paul! I own four strats myself and among them an Ultra as well. None CS but all of them have their own nice features that I like. But if I pick one that should be my only strat, it would be the Ultra. So I agree with you. :-) Thanks for another great video as always!
Very nice updates, I might have to work myself up to liking the bridge pickup. I also prefer the slotted tuners..guess I'm just too old...lol...playing for 60 years.
Wow. I modded my Strat 35 years ago so I can switch on the neck pick up and have all three and I can also put them all out of phase - it's an ultra thin sound but quite unique. I took out the bridge pickup and put in a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails and coil tapped that too. Nice to see Fender finally catching up. Sculpted heel is a great idea but the rest is not really innovation in my book - already did it. Oh and also have locking tuners too.
Very nice demo. In this price range, I wish that these guitars featured a nitro finish to allow for graceful aging, after the first nicks and dings occur.
F the haters. I'll say the same thing I've said on all of these Strat videos cropping up during the anniversary: You can't mistake that sound. "Iconic" is too weak of a word.
Great video Paul! All the guitars sounded great, especially with your fingers playing them! I get the impression that you got more inspired while playing the 63 and the Firsta Red. Seemed like your fingers were noodling more organically than the ultra. Could be because you are used to your own guitars of course. What do you think?
This is a beautiful guitar, hands down. I prefer the bigger headstocks though. I have the 1978 model and it looks badass. Weighs a ton, but creates an amazing stability, like driving heavy but powerful SUV at high speed.
I love Luminlay dots, but you're right as they do look a bit different. I think the blue Luminlay work the best but they would look weird on that Strat.
In fact : no no boost for warm tone of the neck pickup no 3 voices hb pickup like before the bridge pickup is less powerful than the modern tap hb so we have a better bridge (for more sustain, they said) the famous quartersawn maple neck that Charvel used too good colors new tuners that's all so owners of ultra 1 : I think you must think about that before but if this guitar can more stay in tune than the ultra 1 (which had this problem In a lot of comments too) maybe buy it !
I went in guitar center the other day looking at used pedals. While I was there I played an ultra II. Then I played a black made I Mexico with a maple neck. The Mexican played great. Like butter. Neck felt perfect. The Ultra II to my surprise, was not even close to the MIM, neck felt terrible. Overall felt like playing a cheaper guitar. But about $1200 more. Anyone else ever noticed this between the two! I’m guessing that one guitar just got overlooked.
Amazing guitar! Although I would love a review of some of the cheaper fenders. Players, but also the vintera’s ect. When upgrading from an old squire, it is so hard to choose from all available models, not even mentioning the second hand options. Those are even harder to consider, especially when not buying them from a shop. Your opinion is more than welcome
Hello sir paul your content is amazing it helps guitarists to know what they need, thank you for sharing ideas and great topic, however i havnt seen some classical guitar personalities and acoustic fingeratyle guess, i hope you cover them soon, thank you
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Paul! Thank you for the shout out. So good to hear you liked the quartersawn explainer! Thanks for a great video too. ❤
There's something so relaxing about your videos, I could watch you talking about anything for 10 hours straight 😁
I would say : this one for the functions, the fiesta for the look and the love, the old one for the mojo
I don't envy any heritage guitar company. People just want to buy the same guitar again and again and get so angry at any significant changes. Sounds like Fender did a great job making some nice updates without tripping anyone's alarms. I hope they'll offer a chambered body at some point. My guitars are all around 6 lbs or lighter, and picking up a Strat is like handling a sledgehammer.
If a strat is a sledgehammer then what's a les paul lol
@@FubbernuttMjölnir
I saw that the Fender Mod Shop has chambered ash bodies now. They are a $150 upgrade though and only come in 2 colors.
Then go warmoth o mightymite
les paul left the chat ;-)
I can’t decide if I love your playing or your editing/scripting the most. There must be sooo much work to make a review feel this informal and effortless.
I'm actually not a vintage-is-best purist type, but when you went to position 4 of the vintage Strat, it just sounded sooo much nicer. The tone sounded better, I also kind of liked the static sound while you were switching.
ME TOO ITS SO NICE.
Paul’s approval goes a long way. I have the original ultra and absolutely love it. I don’t think I could give up that neck.
For real I have an ultra tele and it’s amazing. Playing my MIM Strat feels like a baseball bat.
Most people never mention having 22 frets instead of 21 but I definitely prefer 22. Also love the sculpted heel. 🎸
You always liked the heels
70 years and I still love the Strat ! Old or the new ones! Great invention ever made! ❤
not gonna lie, my heart skipped a beat every time you plugged/unplugged the jack, even though the amp somehow managed not to produce a sound of an atomic bomb landing at your mic
Because there are cables that don't let electricity pass until they are plugged. There's like a notch/switch and when it is plugged in then electricity passes.
You can get cables that don’t make noise unless they’re plugged in. So unplugging won’t make a sound with those cables
He is just dubbing 😅.
And also Volume Pedal
Noiseless jack baby
I love my Ultra and I love my CS! It’s like chips and chocolate. Not every day is the same and I am glad that I have the choice and can choose according to taste every time
Agree. I have an ultra and a standard. Two different sounds. Love them both.
I must say, even though i am not very into the Stratocaster, it is easily the most recognizable guitar with some of the greatest legacies in the world.
Honestly the Fender Strat is THE GUITAR! It hasn't changed all that much cause it's always been perfect! Bless them for keeping it perfect!
That is one very good guitar, which easily stands up to the vintage ones. Well done Fender. I have an American Deluxe from 2005 and after a while I changed the Noislesse pick-ups it came with - they sounded good and my humbucker-loving friends thought it was the best Strat they ever heard, but I missed the true single coil sound. I have to say that if I bought the Ultra I would not change this iteration of noiseless pick ups, they sound great! The 2 point Trem is the same as the one on my Am-Deluxe and it is vastly better than the vintage style ones, it's much more responsive and more stable too. Excellent video Paul, thank you.
Why anyone would complain about this is beyond me. Buy a Vintage spec one if you don't like innovation. They make so many different reissues I don't even know where to begin. But some people want modern finishes, more ergonomic shapes and sophisticated pickups/electronics that are reliable and dead quiet. to each their own, Fender has you covered.
Even if they don't currently sell the exact specs you want, the designs are so easy to mod. Even something as significant as "I want a wenge neck with a zebrawood fretboard, stainless steel jumbo frets, 11" radius, and block inlays," you can get a fender-licensed neck exactly to those specs and swap it in.
@@sagittatedBut if you’ve paid so much money and still haven’t gotten what you want, then need to add more money, then is it worth worth the money and the hassle?
@@sagittated Just build your own strat if that’s what you’re going to do. It’s not hard with predrilled bodies and necks. It’ll feel more like yours.
I'm an honorary captain of team "no treble bleed" -- particularly as my #1 is a telecaster, where the volume knob is part of your tone control. Take that away and you're two steps away from a banjo.
The thing with the ultra II is that except for the shaped neck and auxiliary light on the top of it, there's nothing in it that you can't kind of easily wire up yourself. The not-for-amateurs wiring job that I'm working up the courage to do is replacing the push-push pots with extra stops on the switch, getting two coaxial (I forget what the catalog name is) pots that will control tone/tone and volume/volume. You'd have the best of Fender -- the guitar, plus the best of Gibson: independent tone and volume controls for each pickup.
But yeah, I mean, that has to be an extremely dope rolled neck, since just about everything else on the Ultra II just puts it in the league of modded guitars. The anodized aluminum looks nice, but (psst... you can buy those separately).
[edit: I'm using headphones on my laptop, but best I could tell, the noiseless pickups retain that (warning: buzzward) shimmery quality that single coils should have. The excess jangliness... do you have the volume on 10? Because that's sort of why I don't like treble bleeds, which the ultra 2 has, and your fiesta red strat doesn't (presumably)]
You play so beautifully mate
I own a 70th anniversary ultra and it’s the second nicest guitar I’ve ever played. That having been said, fender and innovation are not words I’d put together much
or at all
I have a 2009 American deluxe 2 tone, natural board with the noiseless pick ups. I love this guitar plus the neck is amazing. ❤
Love you Fenders ❤
Sentimos por no Brazil ser tão caro 🇧🇷
As someone who just recently bought a MIM as my first strat, Im very interested in the Ultra strat and teles. The compound neck and rounded heel is already an upgrade.
The noiseless pups seem to be more bassy and less brittle imo
Don't sleep on American Professional II. I actually prefer the necks on them. Can't wait to try a new Ultra and probably add one to my mini army of Stratocasters.
I have a MIM Strat and an ultra tele. The MIM Strat feels like a toy after having an ultra even though I still like it. I found a mint used ultra for $1600 it’s worth it.
I bought the 70th anniversary ultra strat and absolutely love it! The five way switch is my only complaint with it. My ultra strat is my go-to guitar over my Gibson es335. Both are pretty amazing. I don't care if you play a Squire bullet strat or an ultra strat. Either way, rock on!!!
• That price tag is bonkers! Thankfully the great thing about Strats is how easy they are to mod.
• To me, the best looking Strat of all time is the Fender Player Strat in pearl white with the maple neck. I got mine new for about €630.
I've since replaced the 3rd knob with a push-pull knob so I can get the 2 extra pickup configurations with the 5-way switch and I also changed the bridge to a Fender Professional bridge so the whammy bar is easier to manage. Basically, I now have a Fender Professional Strat but I saved €850 just by modding it myself (which wasn't very difficult).
• Now that I've heard the Fender Ultra II Strat, I may consider installing these new noiseless pickups on my Strat.
I'd then basically have a much cheaper and better looking Fender Ultra Plus II (minus the compound neck and locking tuners which I don't care much for) with minimal effort.
My #1 guitar is an American Deluxe strat from 2010. It has most of these modern features and I love it! I really want to try the new Ultra II's!!
Love the Ultras just wish they would have added stainless frets.
That is what the Luxe II will charge you for. 😂
At that price point they absolutely should have.
@@Taylor.B.Martin - Harley Benton pickups sound like crap.
s.steel will take away fender trademark tone..
You could go with the Bruno mars strat. It has a compound radius with stainless frets.
Frankly I love it! The old ones are great. But on the gig: no noise: yes. Big frets, yes please. Locking tuners: yeah.
Looks and sounds great!! That is all! Now everybody go practice!
Fantastic review, thanks !!
I already have an Eric Clapton signature Strat, but rather than lugging it on the train whenever we go to our other house, I just bought a Squire to leave there, based on your comparison video, and I love it ! Thanks a lot for your work.
Nice to see you again Paul.
Mike - UK
the 63 sounds sooo good....
It really does!
That orange body guitar you have sounds amazing
You make this guitar sound better than other reviewers I've heard.
When some 40 years ago I compiled my own "Strat" I also wired the 3 pick-ups in a way that I could mix all 3 pick-ups independently (in the bridge position I had a PAF humbucker, though). Especially bridge & middle & neck in parallel sounded amazing: lush, rich, warm, with definition, sustain, power, determinedness - just overwhelming.
I think they did a wonderful thing adding the two other possible combinations which the traditional Strat didn't have: bridge & neck, and bridge & middle & neck. Great versatility - not typically "Strat" however.
Ultra sounds warmer and the red Strat has more clarity/presence to my ears.
Wow, wat een prachtige gitaar!!
Die sculpt bij de hals en de xtra fret had ik graag op mijn ouwe japanner.
Groet,
P
Wonderful playing! I have an American Ultra (sunburst with maple fb) and it has nearly identical specs. I appreciate Fender's incremental approach to improving this iconic guitar.
Great review, and I also get a relaxing vibe from your videos! The 'jangly' element to the tone is interesting. I recently bought a 70th Anniversary 70s Antigua. The 70s voiced pickups have a beautiful warm tone across each position, and a lot of low end in the neck position. But I did notice a very feint jangling in the tone as well, but perhaps not as distinct as the Ultra.
I will never be able to unsee that gap in the pick guard 🎸
I'm looking at mine right now and cant even see the gap lol, cant even slide a piece of paper in it, maybe his one just needs straightening out?
He’s right about not thinking or fighting your guitar. Most players just want to play and not have a guitar working against them.
Fender (like Gibson now) makes a modern Strat for those who want modern. They make a 57 and 62 reissue I believe for those who want vintage. The best of all worlds!
You need to do an interview with
Daisy Tempest! See and play one of her acoustic guitars!!
I have a '92 Strat Deluxe that has some of the same design points. It came with Fender Lace pickups, but they sounded really flat with no sparkle or spank. I replaced them years ago with SVL Daytona pickups. They sound great, and I don't really mind the noise. It also has a metal nut with roller bearings. Seems to work very well. It does seem possible to have innovative improvements over time. We should be open to experimentation.
Innovation of releasing the same guitar over and over again.
you can't improve something already perfect
This isn't the circlejerk subreddit.
Truly, the Apple of the guitar world
@@sekoncen9559 **cough** gibson **cough**
@@ArtyShatew.
I think their new Ultra guitars are super well made and sound sparkling yet still thick and deep. They do have some of that Fender vintage thingy in the sound!...Thought I wouldn’t prefer it to a vintage one as that’s another personality...and i would keep both if i could. I think we guitarists - if i may admit on behalf of everyone - are simply joking to ourselves when we say “ah..yeah I think i finally found MY GUITAR!” How many times did i say it already?!! 😂 But it would be more precise to say “this guitar surely has it’s own personality that I like and that fits well what I’m doing right now”
Well said. I really appreciated the "- if I may admit on behalf of everyone -" too.
I just got an all original 1963 last week, best guitar I’ve ever held in my hands, maybe some bias/placebo effect, it still has original frets so I want to refret it, but the feel is just so different. Also comparing to reissues, the nut width and side to side width of the body are both skinnier on the ‘63 than the ‘61 AV II
I bought a Cobra Blue Ultra when they came out as my "expensive " Strat . I still think they would make a working musician"s perfect Strat and they look gorgeous .
However I could not get on with the P/ups or the S switch . So I traded it in for a 2007 EJ Strat . Horses for courses as they say , always nice to have a PD video to watch ,thanks .
Glad to see you review this seeing as how I've seen you play so many Fenders over the years.
I've had the Elite 1 Tele for about 4 years now and I do really like most of the guitar. You mentioned in the video that you thought you'd like the S-1 switch if it was durable or something to that effect. I don't know what the mean-time between failures is for potentiometers, but mine crapped out on me earlier this year. Guitar is probably 8 or 9 years old so, I guess that's a pretty average time for hardware failure.
I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio I purchased brand new in 1985. I played a new Epiphone les paul studio that looked just like mine at GC a year ago and it blew my Gibson away!!! The new stuff is just so much better!!!
sculpted heel? man, this is the future!
That made me laugh pretty hard. Cheers lol
For me , that volume knob on a Strat will always kind of be in the way as will be the middle pup . . My pick always gets tangled up in that darn middle pup . . Though Strats are excellent guitars . Nice vid , thank you 🙏
It's funny. I felt the same way about all the noiseless pickups I've ever tried, but... a) these sound great and... b) the in-between settings sound, to me, like the middle position of an LP or tele. I know Paul didn't like those positions so much, but I love those sounds! That's a win for Fender in my book.
I'm no Paul Davids, but I've been around Strats since the '60's, and was old enough to buy my own in the '70's (the dark years for legacy guitar companies). I have a first gen Ultra, and I wouldn't go back. I actually enjoy the S1 functionality, but I understand where a purist would find it bizarre. My pickguard doesn't have that gap, so I don't have that complaint. Great guitar. Great video, Paul.
Man, your red strat- it's just the best
thanks Paul. great tone and great playing.
I think it looks beautiful and sounds great
Great Video Paul! For my own, terribly unrefined taste, my favorite "Strat" is still the G&L S500, which is (it is said) Leo Fender's own final word on the guitar...
No guitar in your arsenal will beat the tone of the red relic . That’s the real deal . Game over 🏅
Position 4 sounds great.
Hi Paul, I really enjoy watching your videos, because I think you are an excellent guitar player, and I look forward to new ones! Since I am an amateur player myself, I would like to ask what kind of pick do you use for playing? Thank you!
Except for noiseless pickups, I upgraded my $220 Firefly FFST and for less than $350 Total for guitar and upgrades, it has all of these features including 7 way Gilmour mod, locking tuners, 2 pt Tremelo with alan wrench tremelo bar seat to hold whammy bar just where you want it whatever resistance you choose, plus ball end stainless steel frets with flame roasted compound radius maple neck and gorgeous Ash body in Vintage Cherry Burst. This really doesn't feel like much of an evolution for $2,500. I've gone in the store many times trying to buy a Fender Strat. But then I didn't like their necks as well, and they didn't play as well as my firefly FFST. Eventually, I just decided I have to get over not seeing Fender on the head stockl lol.
I bought a classic player 50s strat 10 years ago - and had to mod the thing afterwards. First of all the truss rod is adjustable WITHOUT having to take off the neck now. Second, after replacing the capacitors and separating the tone controls via a super switch you can dial the tone of the 5th and 4th position (the most needed on a Strat I think) independently. This alone always struck me: How for GS can it be that those two positions are connected serially to the tone knobs? Third: There is no Fender Logo on the Headstock anymore. You can see "Antifender" in the original decal script and even the neck joint plate has changed into Antifender - Anticaster with a subtitle: Fuck Dennis Galuszka - that's the "master builder" who put two point tremolo in that thing but forgot to make the neck adjustable without fucking it up. Amen.
@@gnatiu lol
You said in the past video "Upgrading my PICKUPS!" that your 2007 Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe was your first Fender Start. The American Deluxe is similar to the Ultra II features.
I put headphones on and covered the screen when you did the pickup comparison.
I would say there is a little difference but it was only on a few notes where they ‘screamed’ a little more but it was very subtle.
On that basis I liked your usual Strat.
However I loved the knobs and as I use a thin pick it would fit perfectly in the gap.
The only reason I would not buy the Ultra is I cannot afford it.
Thank you for the review.
The fiesta red Strat is my favourite for sound
You are completely right, same for me and IMHO the cobra blue ones, too ❤❤
I’m glad fender is back at making great guitars…. Just got my American pro 2 tele last week and it’s wonderful all around.
The "jangly" issue in position 4 may come from the output of the noiseless pickup. In combination with an aggressive compressor it can produce kinda distorted clean sounds that sound like they're about to burst.
You get the same effect with your regular single coil pickups if you configure them too high, I mean too close to the strings.
That's one thing you should always think about.
People saying there’s no innovation need to consider the decades of history.
These guitars have had different woods, different necks, different bridge and trem systems, different tuners, different pickups… all while remaining iconic.
When you’re the market leader you cannot afford to completely change your best products without regard for your customer base. Look at Gibson, they went strange with all sorts of crap and had heaps of quality issues, then nearly went bankrupt.
Covid saved them because old fans could finally get on to the hobbies they always wanted to - but only after they went back to their core product.
Who out there IS being innovative? What do you call innovation?
These instruments do all sorts of genres but they are mostly geared toward certain ones. You don’t generally want evertune on a Strat.
So ask yourself. What actual innovation do you want?
The only thing I’m disappointed about is the nickel frets. Though I bloody love the forearm carve on the tele!
So ask yourself, what more do you want in the Ultra series?
Squier and Mexican Strats is where fender push the boundaries on their products. You don’t make huge risks on the expensive ones.
I did get why a companies lack of innovation even bothers some people in the first place, I mean buy what you want, you want some crazy looking guitar with active humbuckers, 8 strings, no headstock, locking trem, fanned fretboard etc etc go and buy one of the many on the market. Who cares play what you like.
The 3 biggest guitar brands in the world are Fender, Gibson and Martin, obviously plenty of people enjoy their classic designs.
I love my Ultra HSS. It's the only guitar I really need. You will end up loving the glow dots too Paul. :)
Great video as usual, Paul! I watched Daisy's video yesterday. She's truly a master luthier!
This Strat is prob the best new Strat we could hope for. Love that fender is doing the D shaped neck with the sculpted heel. Add on jumbo frets!! Winner. I want one.
Bot says what bot is told to say.
Great comparison...Both guitars have their own voice...not better or worse, just unique. Playability? Purely personal.
I've had the HSS Ultra Strat since 2020 in Texas Tea, I definitely think the pickguard suits it better than it does on this new sunburst one. (personal preference) if I was buying an ultra II I might choose the sinister red.
Overall I've been very happy, its my only electric and does everything I want in comfort, 4 years of daily playing and hanging from a stand (rarely see the inside of its case) and not a single crackle or issue with any of the electronics. Mine definitely came with the whammy bar so I think someone just forgot it when they sent it to Paul.
Great review. Nice little upgrades on this strat.
I like the modern features a lot only the finish looks a bit too polished for my taste I like it when there's a little woodgrain shining through the sunburst. But other than that I like the new approach so far
Hi Paul! I own four strats myself and among them an Ultra as well. None CS but all of them have their own nice features that I like. But if I pick one that should be my only strat, it would be the Ultra. So I agree with you. :-) Thanks for another great video as always!
Beautiful guitar, love the sculpted heel, but I prefer the sound of your custom shop. 😊
You don't love a guitar because it's the best.
You love because you've got habits on it.
Yep, 100%. And the history with it.
Great review loved your take on the new Fender.
Very nice updates, I might have to work myself up to liking the bridge pickup. I also prefer the slotted tuners..guess I'm just too old...lol...playing for 60 years.
Wow. I modded my Strat 35 years ago so I can switch on the neck pick up and have all three and I can also put them all out of phase - it's an ultra thin sound but quite unique. I took out the bridge pickup and put in a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails and coil tapped that too. Nice to see Fender finally catching up. Sculpted heel is a great idea but the rest is not really innovation in my book - already did it. Oh and also have locking tuners too.
Very nice demo. In this price range, I wish that these guitars featured a nitro finish to allow for graceful aging, after the first nicks and dings occur.
F the haters. I'll say the same thing I've said on all of these Strat videos cropping up during the anniversary: You can't mistake that sound. "Iconic" is too weak of a word.
What amp is that at 1:00? Sounds great. Two amp setup?
It could be a Kemper profiler
Great video Paul! All the guitars sounded great, especially with your fingers playing them! I get the impression that you got more inspired while playing the 63 and the Firsta Red. Seemed like your fingers were noodling more organically than the ultra. Could be because you are used to your own guitars of course. What do you think?
This just reminds me that the best Strats Fender has made since the buy-back from CBS is the Strat Plus Deluxe.
This is a beautiful guitar, hands down. I prefer the bigger headstocks though. I have the 1978 model and it looks badass. Weighs a ton, but creates an amazing stability, like driving heavy but powerful SUV at high speed.
If you want change from the 50s and 60s strats by Leo, get a G&L Comanche or S-500. They have more modern pickups and dual fulcrum tremolo. ☺
Great blend of vintage and modern. Same but more refined.
I have a 50th anniversary strat, so that is 20 years old by now. Sort of vintage, I guess.
I love Luminlay dots, but you're right as they do look a bit different. I think the blue Luminlay work the best but they would look weird on that Strat.
Fender and innovation went away together with Leo and lets be real for that price no stainless steel frets is crazy!
That gold scratch plate would have to go.
I agree.
True, it looks ass
Spot on.
No! Thats what gives its uniqueness!
Agreed. Not a fan.
I got an Ultra a month ago and now this one comes out.
So elegant, as usual.
In fact : no
no boost for warm tone of the neck pickup
no 3 voices hb pickup like before
the bridge pickup is less powerful than the modern tap hb
so we have a better bridge (for more sustain, they said)
the famous quartersawn maple neck that Charvel used too
good colors
new tuners
that's all
so owners of ultra 1 : I think you must think about that before but if this guitar can more stay in tune than the ultra 1 (which had this problem In a lot of comments too) maybe buy it !
I went in guitar center the other day looking at used pedals. While I was there I played an ultra II. Then I played a black made I Mexico with a maple neck. The Mexican played great. Like butter. Neck felt perfect. The Ultra II to my surprise, was not even close to the MIM, neck felt terrible. Overall felt like playing a cheaper guitar. But about $1200 more. Anyone else ever noticed this between the two! I’m guessing that one guitar just got overlooked.
Amazing guitar! Although I would love a review of some of the cheaper fenders. Players, but also the vintera’s ect. When upgrading from an old squire, it is so hard to choose from all available models, not even mentioning the second hand options. Those are even harder to consider, especially when not buying them from a shop. Your opinion is more than welcome
Hello sir paul your content is amazing it helps guitarists to know what they need, thank you for sharing ideas and great topic, however i havnt seen some classical guitar personalities and acoustic fingeratyle guess, i hope you cover them soon, thank you
Goed review, bedankt.
Old time vintage still the best. Still got the blues for u .❤
Well I'm convinced. It goes on my list for future purchase.
Thanks David.
🦘
A Made in Japan Strat from ‘80s / early 90s will do the trick for me.
I like the sound of the red one more for sure.