BRAND NEW Fender Ultra II: The Sequel to the Cutting Edge Series
Published on 15 October 2024
The Godfather Part 2.
Terminator 2.
Alien…2?
You know what I’m getting at. Sometimes the sequel is better than the original, and that’s what I’m looking at today. Fender have created a ‘sequel’ to their own hit Ultra series, and it’s very much a case of ‘more, but better’, so why don’t I drop the movie sequel analogy and get down to the brass tacks of what makes this new range so exciting?
Contents
What’s in the New Ultra II Range?
Features of the Ultra II Range
The Ultra Ethos
A great deal of Fender’s output is retrocentric. They are one of the most historic guitar brands in the world and so they rightfully riff off their heritage, since that’s mainly what we want from them.
But whilst 50s Teles and 60s Strats are excellent - and they are - some of us want to see a Fender branded guitar that reflects and carries some of the updates and refinements that have taken place in the guitar world since that golden era. Without jumping onto something entirely different and outlandish, we want modern-era instruments with a touch of the contemporary alongside those famous, timeless silhouettes.
This was and is the aim of the Fender Ultra Series, with added compound radius fingerboards and noiseless pickups to a mix of features that was rich and modern. They’ve proven popular enough to require a refresh of the offerings, and here’s where we step in with the Fender Ultra II Series. Read on to find out more!
What’s in the New Ultra II Range?
First off, why don’t I quickly outline the models that are included within the Fender Ultra II range? You’ll see some familiar faces of course, but you may also find a surprise or two!
Here’s an at-a-glance look at the rundown…
- Stratocaster
- HSS Stratocaster
- Left-handed Stratocaster
- Telecaster
- Meteora
- Precision Bass
- Jazz Bass
- Jazz Bass V
- Meteora Bass
So, no traditional offsets with the guitars here, but there’s the very cool inclusion of the Meteora, which we first saw introduced via the Mexican Player II Series. This marks its first appearance as a USA-made production model.
There also seems to be no sign of any Ultra-Luxe models (the guitars with Floyd Rose tremolos amongst other things) so I guess they are either remaining as they are or are simply not being continued. Time will tell!
New Colours
Part of any range’s identity is the colour palette. Fender have given us a nice blend of classics and bold new colours with the Ultra II series.
Check out the pics throughout this blog to see these finishes in all their glory, but here’s a quick list of the names:
I expect you’ll be able to tell by guessing which one’s which! It’s worth noting that pickguard and parts colours also change depending on the guitar model and finish on offer. For example, the Sinister Red Strat has a black pickguard and cream knobs & pickup covers, whereas the HSS Strat in the same Sinister Red finish actually has black plastics to go with the black pickguard. This gives it a slightly more ‘80s hard rock’ look, which makes sense given the additional humbucker.
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This sort of decision enlivens the range as a whole and treats each particular instrument as its own individual thing, as opposed to arbitrary variations on a theme. Fender are good at this and I’m glad they’ve kept it up here with the Ultra II’s.
Features of the Ultra II Range
Many of the features that mark this range apart from Fender’s other offerings are adopted on all models. Whilst obviously there are variations from guitar to guitar, all of the following is to be found on every Fender Ultra II instrument:
- Ultra II Noiseless pickups: these have a more vintage-voiced tone than the previous iteration. Where humbuckers are used, it’s Fender’s Haymaker units.
- Locking tuners
- Medium D neck profile with Medium Jumbo frets: modern without being alienatingly so for those who don’t want a ‘shred-stick’ of a neck. Very ‘performance-pro’ though.
- Stainless Steel saddles in bridges: stronger, better transfer of energy/vibration so more tone. The Tele has chromed brass saddles.
- 10-14” compound radius fingerboard: flattens out toward the higher frets for a best of both worlds situation: open position chords feel great; upper fret solos are smoother.
- Luminlay side dots: you won’t lose your place on even the darkest stages thanks to glow in the dark positions markers along the side of the neck.
- Quartersawn necks: cut from the log at an angle that promotes the greatest strength due to cutting across the grain.
Now, those are the things you can expect to see across the board, but there are also cool features relevant to each model, and I’ll pick them up as I skip through the range with you now…
Ultra II Stratocasters
The Fender Ultra II Stratocaster gets the full range of finishes, with the associated changes I mentioned earlier. I do love how the Ultraburst (sunburst) option gets a gold anodised pickguard!
The Strat’s tremolo has stainless steel saddles and a cold-rolled steel block, again for better energy/sonic transfer. There’s an S1 switch that brings in the neck pickup to selections 1 and 2 on the Strat’s 5-way pickup selector, a popular addition to many Strats these days.
The HSS Ultra II model adds a Haymaker humbucker at the bridge for more fierce rock tones, and loses the white finish option.
Lefty Ultra II Strats are available in Ultraburst, Texas Tea and Avalanche. In other words, lefty Strats are available in Sunburst, Brown-Black and White! No Solar Flare for you southpaws!
Ultra II Telecaster
The Ultra II Telecaster retains all of the features mentioned earlier, including chromed brass saddles in the string-through bridge. Brass is the vintage preference for Tele bridges, though this idea of chroming the brass is an interesting take!
You get all finishes except the Noble Blue, with neck and pickguard options changing with the finish choice, as with the rest of the series.
Ultra II Meteora
The inclusion of the Meteora in this line is a welcome surprise. Fender don’t introduce entirely new guitar shapes all that often, and with their inclusion here, they seem to be doubling down on the Meteora as a future classic.
It’s a decidedly retro-futuristic design anyway, so it fits well into the Fender ‘house style’ without looking anachronistic. Earlier Mexican-made examples had tremolo bridges but Fender have opted for a hardtail Meteora here, coupled with a pair of Haymaker humbuckers. I for one think this is a good idea, since it brings to mind lots of mighty 70s ‘shape’ guitars, and also sets it even further apart from the likes of the Strat.
There’s three control knobs here, so in addition to the expected volume and tone controls, you also get a bass-cut circuit, which is a very useful tool for ‘skinnying up’ a guitar sound without actually changing its character. It’s not a coil tap at all: it’s a different beast entirely, and a very effective thing to have at one’s fingers.
Fender Ultra II Basses
Basses feature highly in the new Ultra II series, with four distinct models available. The Fender Ultra II Precision Bass brings its A-game with a PJ pickup configuration, so you get the best of both worlds, sonically. The anodised pickguards look awesome on the P-Bass (as always) and you get all of the finishes except for the red and yellow. I mean, Solar Flare!
The Fender Ultra II Jazz Bass offers two J-style single coil pickups, as you’d expect. As with all other models in the series, these are vintage-voiced Noiseless units. No white or yellow finishes, but everything else is available.
You can also choose a five-string version of the Jazz with the Fender Ultra II Jazz Bass V. Spec-wise, we are in exactly the same territory as the 4 string version, but with the added low B string of course, and a choice of three finishes: Ultraburst, Avalanche and Sinister Red.
The inclusion of the Meteora style has spread to the bass models too with the Fender Ultra II Meteora Bass. This is armed with bass versions of the Haymaker pickups that are featured on the guitar version of the Meteora.
All of the basses have onboard EQ controls for powerful tone-shaping right at your fingertips, and hi-mass bridges to add more definition and sustain to your notes.
Ultrasonic, Ultra-Expressive
What do you think of the new Ultras? Have Fender gotten the balance right between their own famous heritage and the need for a more contemporary instrument?
I love the new colours and anodized pickguards: I think it feels like a ‘today’ take on what Fender were doing back in the 50s with their Space Age shapes, cool colours and innovative technology. Back then, they were thinking of the future, with no idea how long-lasting those initial designs would be. These new instruments are proof that there’s still lots of wiggle room within those paradigms to usher in some fresh flair and developed ideas. Why don’t you head across to your local guitarguitar store and see these in the flesh?
Click to View our Full Range of Fender Ultra II Instruments
