Fender American Ultra Series Overview 

Mine is three color sunburst and there are much prettier looking ones but the elite I have plays amazingly and 'kills' everything else I've got so, I know exactly what you mean.

I have an 86 start too, a 62 reissue and it’s my favorite Strat of 3 . Don’t hate me, but It’s candy apple red, with gold showing through where your arm rests.

@yossarian ?? Real name ? Or a Catch-22 fan?

That’s really the one that I was surprised with.

Thanks for checking it out, Kevin!

These are features that exist for decades in competitors' model. They also removed the tinker truss rod adjustment in the neck. But sure, for more than $2000 you can get some fancy new colors.

Fender nailed it with the Ultra series. Tried one, bought one.

AhlStar88 l’ve gotten a chance to try one recently as well, wasn’t setup well out of the box. And the store didn’t attempt to set it up either. I like the heel joint. It is more comfortable to reach the higher frets. But l kind wish it was more sculpted like the new charvel dk24’s. Which l think is perfect. Neck is still a bit chunky. Thought it might be a bit slimmer. But overall it’s a nice guitar. Don’t know if l want to drop 1800.00 on it though. I played the blue HSS, which one did you get?

@@byronh77 Click on Plasma Red Burst dot shop.fender.com/en/intl/electric-series/american-ultra/american-ultra-stratocaster-hss/0118020734.html Ash body, maple neck. I like when they want to show off the grain. It cost a little more than the alder but I know I got a choice pick. If the heel was any thinner it would not have that solid feel. I use the whammy bar all the time and I want the guitar solid. Swamp Ash has good sustain, firm bass tones, bite in the midrange, and airy highs. Leo Fender's preferred tone wood was ash. Maple neck: www.strat-talk.com/threads/maple-cap-vs-round-lam-maple-vs-1-piece-maple.341651/ On the Ultras they use a good cut which can be the cuts you see in the picture.

@@byronh77 I make make it a point to find a reputable dealer and always order a brand new item from the supplier. No dusty demo models. If a guitar is not perfect I will exchange it. I will not take factory seconds. That is the purpose of having a local dealer. I never order a guitar online.

They normally release lefties once they know which colorways are the most popular. These are going to run $2000 though...

Lefty players are 10% of the market. No company has a full line of lefty guitars or amps. Mesa Boogie has a backwards (right to left) TC-100 amp..

I miss the old ultras

@@happybenjful you mean the american deluxes? or the elites?

GCKelloch yeah I hear you but in my opinion the lace sensors are the best sounding pickups I have heard in strats,not sure how the tele plus or ultra was but id have an old ultra over a custom shop or masterbuilt any day

@@TheDunateen77 best pickup ive heard is a shawbucker. I own 4 strats, 3 with shawbuckers. Perhaps im a lil biased but it allows me to play metal on strat and still sound killer. Its a hot pup, my cup of tea. Not everyones tho. In the end, its all subjective.

I definitely prefer a treble bleed. But if you don't like it you can easily cut it out with some clippers.

@@jacobseal Truth be told since posting this I have had a few incidents where treble bleeds have enhanced guitar circuits. You are 100% right on it being removable.

SAME!

Not to sound like a Sweetwater salesman but, go to their site and type into the search box “Daphne Blue Stratocaster”. Quite a few models pop up. And in different price ranges all the way up to custom shop level. Love the color myself. Especially when it’s aged a bit. Good luck!

GrumpyMJK Thanks. 🎸👍✌️😎

Custom Shop has anything you want for approximately double the price. Which is reasonable because it generally takes 8 times as long to make by hand than by mass production.

270 in 1960 for a Strat, is around 2300 USD today. Also, you can get an American strat for much less than this.

@@metalupyourass9 "much". huh?

Where did the truss rod adjustment go? Litterally, the most important thing that set the Elite apart, and the Only modern feature that, vintage specs.or not, should be on ALL guitars. So the Elite series has lost a feature, ahhhhh

@@salmonline 500 bucks less for a standard/pro is a considerable amount yeah..much

2000 for a guitar is a good price to spend. a 2000 dollar strat can take u anywhere and sound as good as the big boys.

I think I saw they're "modern D" if that means anything to you?

@@Empyrean55 Yep, saw that too. But without a yardstick that I know to refer to, that description is pretty subjective.

Stock, left usually is the American pro and a few models below. I'm sure you can get an ultra, but you'd probably have to order it.

No - no left-handed Ultra models.

Dude don't bother, get yourself an American vintage tele , they don't get any better even in the custom shop.... they discontinued them for that reason

@@alexgarnett5373 that was a great guitar, and used good prices right now. Inconsistent though. Just played one the other day that the squire next to it was built better, but I've played 2 a few years ago that blew me away. I like vintage frets and radius though, but for someone looking for modern, like the elite, it may be too vintage for them

The two guys talking??

Michael Dumas yoooo.....duuuuude.....hear that hollow sound? That’s my skull! Whoa.....gnarly!

Kentucky Windage 22 well they just can’t start making V bodies or single cut stuff They have legendary shapes that they gotta keep on going.

@@Nightshade1881 We're obviously not talking about the body shapes. He clearly said features. There's nothing new on these guitars, their competition had these features for decades. But sure, go ahead and pay $2000+ for a metallic paintjob

Wrong. The changes are not small. Try one. There are changes under the hood too. Pickups, tone circuit, ash body, neck.

@@TheEchelon The competition had crude changes, not refined like this. Plasma Burst ash body is stunning and is not metallic paintjob in any way. Tone control magnetic click at 10 to disengage tone circuit like bypass switch on Elite. On HSS, Double tap humbuckers new, splits coil unlike any other humbucker, it's hot. The neck and middle pickups are hot too. Treble bleed circuit. Volume control does not lose treble as you turn it down. Noiseless but with more of a 50's character but still hot.

You have to try the guitar. No one is going to wake you up. Try the guitar.

Fender got the curve and taper where it needs to be. Mayer did it for aesthetics to avoid copyright issues.

AhlStar88 the S-type body does not have any copyright, trademark, or patent... the only thing fender can trademark is the headstock (which they don’t sue other makers for using because it’s not worth their time and competition is the catalyst for innovation)... the carve on the lower horn of the silver Sky not only serves an atheistic purpose, but one of functionality... I should know since I own a silver Sky and a strat. Reaching the upper registers of the neck on the prs is much more comfortable than the fender because of that carve

@@jakobmorningstar Tell that to Phillip McKnight , the "Know Your Gear" RU-vid guy. However, after playing the Ultra, their carve works pretty good too. I have a few Strats myself and I definitely like the Ultra carve. Fender is definitely going for a vintage vibe while still putting new features in. New sample: tone dial magnet clicks at 10 to bypass tone circuit. Double tap coil mod sounds hot & great when single coil is engaged through S1 switch. Vintage sample: the neck, Ultra satin smooth Ultra rolled edges great D shape solid feel. Seems like Silver Sky and Ultra are aiming for the same experience but with different approaches. The customer wins, it's a buyers market. However, Fender also has the new hand wired 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb amp with output tube bias tremolo. Fender has a lot of goodies.