Fender American Ultra Strat vs. Suhr Classic Pro - My thoughts. 

Fender stratocaster standard neck pickup sound is incomparable. It's has that iconic sound for decades.

Your subtle humor is underappreciated. Your vibe when you're painting notes is unparalleled. Class act, Shawn, always great videos.

I was always a fender guy but once i tried a suhr everything changed. The craftsmanship is amazing. Suhr was created buy a fender master builder. So sold off my custom shop strats and have never looked back.

Finally, a guitarist that doesn’t skip clean tones when reviewing a guitar! Jesus, so f-ing refreshing.

The "better" instrument is the one that makes you want to pick it up and play it. That's been my rule of thumb and why I've sold on several lovely guitars over the years. I've tried many, many Fenders (never got to a custom shop model) and while I've often liked the tones, they just weren't keepers. The noiseless pickups I found to be too sterile in the Elite series. So I took a punt on a used Suhr Classic Antqiue SSS, bought it over the internet without ever having picked one up. I've never looked back. And now I have a second HSS one.

I know it's silly, but having that Fender logo on that classic headstock shape is what makes me pick the Fender everytime in a race this close

I recently picked up a Suhr Classic S Antique and am loving it. This video helped me in my choice. One of the reasons is the 3-screw bridge humbucker on Fenders vs 2-screw on most other S-style HSS guitars (in case I want to swap the bridge pup). Whatever the noiseless voodoo electronics Suhr has built into the Classic is astounding.

Love how the Humbucker on the strat partially matches the pickguard. Keeps the iconic look of the sss style unless you pay close attention.

The Nick Johnston schecter custom shop at the back 😍

The Suhr sounded very bright and thin as opposed to the Fender. However Mr. Shawn is an amazing player ! Be blessed sir !

I've had several suhr s styles, defenitlely more bright and actually thinner, The Fender strat is it for me, I sold off my suhrs.

Great playing... Fender in the neck position, or neck and middle sounded perfect for me...

Great Video. I love my Suhr, they’re just built like beasts, especially if you gig and fly a lot they’re just great.

It's quite good fun how the zebra striped HB on the Fender makes it look like 3 single coils if you shut one eye and screw up the other.Most sound great. Your playing is the star of the show as always

I actually prefer the sound of the Fender in this vid. They aren't night and day different and it's really hard for Tubbs to make any average to pro level guitar sound bad. lol something about the Fender just grabbed me.

Great demo. I think that Fender is very responsive to players requests and needs. That strat sounds really great.

Shawn, I am always blessed by your reviews and your killer playing!!!

One of the best reviews I have seen on YT. Thank you for including the clean tones.

I own Suhr Modern, they are great guitars, but between those two that you have showed use here my clear preference is Fender - more "body" in sound, and neck position sounds fatter (which I like, some may not). Considering 1000 USD price difference I would buy Fender.

If some one came walking up to me with one in each hand and "hey man, pick one its yours" I would go with the Fender.

I like the neck pickups equally well for what they are, the bridge humbuckers are tied for me in the bottom of the 9th inning, but oh, my, that position 2 on that Strat - delicious. I found myself bouncing back and forth between about 2:50 and 7:12 in the vid to A-B compare them. Fender wins in a photo finish.

To me the Strat sounded fine until you played the Suhr. Then the openness of the Suhr you mentioned became very apparent. I'm no fan of the noiseless pups. I never played a Suhr, but they sound great, and I do prefer C shaped necks too. My guess is that Fender is aiming at gigging musicians that do anything from churches to weddings and such. Less worries about single coil noise, sounds good, solidly made, and can take a beating pretty well. I personally prefer the Suhr though.

Great stuff Shawn, really appreciate the open comparison, but also giving us a bit of your personal preferences as well.

People might disagree but the video shows that pickups are the most important aspect, forget the woods. Both are fine instruments but the Suhr is a level above for me sonically. Much strat-ier sound, especially in 2nd/4th position and the bridge sounds fantastic. My American strat suffers from the same problem, the pickups are just mediocre despite the reviews. They are okay but they don't do anything well. They don't sound vintage, they don't sound modern, they don't take overdrives that well. They just have a "ballpark" strat tone that's not good enough for me. I'll definitely check out the Lollar's. Great video as always Shawn.

Definitely not as important as tone and feel, but I just find the Fender sexier. On a more important note, I actually liked the tone of the fender. I thought that I would like the tone of the Suhr over the Fender, initially.

The fender neck pickup tone KILLS

Great job Shawn, enjoy your playing too, thank you!

I have an Elite Strat with that EXACT set of Lollars you spoke of. It is amazing!

28 people didn't like the groin comment! For the record I wasn't 1 of them! There is nothing to dislike about this video!

Hi Shawn, Edit: since my last comment, I have built a Strat with an ML ML SSV+ config that took me quite a while to tweak (pu height, screwpoles, etc.) but once it’s been done, it’s the most satisfying, balanced, dynamic HSS I’ve played. Btw: the loaded pickguard is a Suhr, I’ve been assembling the rest of the parts from gathering bits and pieces on the net. The neck is a gorgeous flamed roasted maple that plays like Butah ;-) and the trem has a floating traditional 6 screw bridge with bent steel saddles that keeps in tune spot on ! Cheers

Great review. I own one Suhr and several Custom Shop strats and the quality of the finish is better on the Suhr, it just seems like Suhr puts a little more care into building his guitars. I told Fender about the bubbles under the paint job on my 54 Custom Shop Strat and they said send it back and we will take care of it, then I have to pay for shipping one way and have a refinished Custom Shop guitar which we all know takes away from the value of the guitar. Fender should never let a Custom Shop guitar go out of the factory with defects on it, same thing with Gibson, I own a couple of Custom Shop Gibsons and you can see over spray on the binding on the neck close to the body, another one has a lacquer finish across the back like a raised line 1/8” all the way across the back of the body. Gibson factory says, we do not warrant finishes. If you want excellent quality, buy a Suhr, Tom Anderson, Friedman, Tuttle, James Tyler, Gene Baker, etc.

Nice comparison! I owned a Suhr Classic Pro for 3 years, and thought it was great. Then I bought a second hand Fender 60th anniversary strat, just because I liked the 2-tone sunburst look. I tried to convince myself for the next 2 years that I preferred the much more expensive Suhr, but eventually I sold it and kept the Fender. I just preferred the neck shape and the fret size/shape on the Fender, and found myself always reaching for it when it came time to play. Pickups, bridges and tuners are easily changeable on both, but if you don't like the feel of the neck and the frets, then there's not much you can do other than replace the whole neck! I will say though that the satin finish on the back of the neck of the Suhr was the silkiest, smoothest satin finish I've felt on any guitar. I keep having to rub the Fender neck with a scotchbrite to get it to the same smoothness.

Suhr guitars are amazing. And Greg Kinnear is a fantastic player!! Two thumbs up!

Great vid - couldn't ask for a better comparison. Appreciate the clean tone and fair dryness.

I really want to own a fender. The only thing that kept me from getting one is they don’t have stainless steel frets. Have those on my Music Man Majesty. It’s 201 now, so believe unless a guitar is specifically designed no replicate a vintage instrument, there should be stainless steel frets on a guitar more than $1000. The durability and feel are just amazing. Some may notice added high ends but they can always dial them out with the EQ in mere seconds if they don’t want that.

In Germany, where I come from, you have to be lucky and/or invest some time, to find a 'good' Fender though. A lot of them have severe quality issues. I never ever encountered that with Suhr, each Suhr you find here is pretty much 100%.

I have had both, among several other strats, and although Fender did step up with the Ultra, the stainless Plekd frets on the Suhr are absolutely better (no, there’s no discernible tone difference and they’ll last forever). I personally think that once you go 10-14” radius you lose a certain “stratness”... it makes me play differently. My Suhr had the ML pickups (instead on V63) which I regard as one of the best strat pups, clear and sparkly (especially when playing loud and high gain). Ultimately I decided to sell both and get two strats from an independent luthier. All good now! Love the video! 🙌🏼

That is probably Fender's best noiseless pickups to date. 👌

@Shawn Tubbs I was shopping recently for a strat and watched your video before hitting some stores. It proved to be very helpful. Like you suggested, I tried both and after a few go arounds preferred the Ultra. I discovered the Fender has a tone bypass, which allows it to sound brighter. I bought one with the rosewood fretboard.

Very nice demo, and one of the very few that sounded out the difference right away. I say difference because better is personal preference.

That Suhr outplays that fender in my opinion

great breakdown of both guitars Shawn. Totally agreed with you. you gave each guitars its great points. super video

It's really hard to take tone comparisons seriously when YT compresses the crap out of all audio. We're only hearing half the tones of either guitar. I've never played a Suhr but I just bought the Ultra strat SSS in Arctic white with a rosewood board and I really don't have a single complaint, except maybe the blast of car paint fumes when I open the case. It's my first strat (LP guy) and I'm alot more impressed with it than I thought I'd be. Build quality, playability, and tuning stability with a floating trem are all rock solid. I also really like the gen 5 noiseless pickups, clean, clear, and articulate w/o being thin. Thanks for the comparison, now I know what I'm not missing :)

That Pedal Show sent me here! Fabulous playing... just heart-breakingly good

Both sounds nice, but I like the Suhr because of the Rosewood board.

Really well done. Both guitars sounded great, though I kind of liked the more "barky" tone of the fender. I felt like the Suhr was a little more scooped sounded which I think is part of the rosewood board, but maybe the pickups had something to do with that too. In any case, first though was "how was this mic'd" because it sounds great. Then I read through and saw it was the rev20 into daw.... without looking that up, the rev has a di out? Regardless, that tone was fantastic with both guitars. And I think there is one lick in there which I never heard before which maybe I can get under my fingers. ;) Have a great day! :)

Hello...this is one of the best, if not THE best equipment review I have ever seen. Your musicianship is exemplary...you are a gifted man, indeed! Bravo!

I was looking for just such a review! Excellent mate. Cheers.

I think the humbucker in the suhr and the singles in the fender .

In addition to what was mentioned here, I would always choose Suhr's stainless steel frets. When I tried a Suhr, years ago, t took me just a few seconds to realize SS frets made it really easy to bend strings and... they last forever.

I have an American deluxe from 2004 and a 2019 American professional Strat. The deluxe is obviously much older than the ultra model you have here, but honestly it oozes quality. Everything about the build is perfect - even 16 years later it’s still my most comfortable guitar. The noiseless pickups have their own character; still very much a Strat tone but fatter and maybe a tiny bit darker than the traditional fender sound. My American Professional has the V-Mod single coils and a shawbucker at the bridge. It feels a bit more basic than my deluxe; although it is very well built and flawless, somehow it just can’t quite match the softer quality feel of the deluxe. The V-Mod pickups on the Professional are just out of this world. Easily the best single coil sound I’ve ever heard. They’re bright, lively and articulate. Fender carefully blended different alnico magnets to create the sound and really hit the spot. A lot of people probably think that these are just average bland stock pickups but they really are a step up and are great sounding. The shawbucker is medium output but it sounds brilliant overdriven and is a great combination with the middle pickup. You still get some of that classic quack.

Great comparison reveiw, straight to the point with all the important things! Very tasteful playing too!!

YES SHAWN! Been kinda hoping you’d do this sort of comparison ... thanks and interesting outcome.

I've been playing, buying, and selling guitars for some forty years now. I've owned and played Gibsons, Epiphones, Fenders, Squires, Music Mans, G&L's, Collings, Eastmans, you name it. And yet, I had never played a Suhr guitar until I just purchased a Suhr, Pete Thorn Signature model. I was blown away with the perfection of this instrument. On par with Collings for fit, finish and set-up, only with stainless steel frets that are perfect. I immediately sold my Fender American Elite Stratocaster with the noiseless S-S-S configuration. I have plenty of other Strat style guitars that will be posted on Reverb soon. I have medium sized hands and bonded right away with the Suhr C-Slim Neck shape, the 10 to 14 compound fingerboard radius with those beautiful, stainless steel Jumbo Frets! The Thornbuckers sound amazing and can move between Humbucker bliss to Fenderish Single coil tones. After all these years I finally found my keeper guitar! I don't know why it took me so long???

This is very interesting for me, because I’m actually considering both guitars. I am erring towards the Fender Ultra Strat, but I have to admit on this showing, the Suhr sounds more Stratty!!!. The Fender Ultra still sounds great to me too. I have a Fender Jeff Beck so I’m familiar with noiseless pickups, which I really like as you can get a good all over strat tone, and with a little boost/gain a gritty, kind of overdriven tone, a bit P90ish, in the neck position. Two great guitars, and of course price is a strong factor... I have to say that much of what I learned on guitar has been on Fender Stratocasters, which are just so good to play and feel completely natural to me, but I have a Suhr Guthrie Govan which plays absolutely beautifully too.

Shawn. You have a true feel for the guitar. Well done.

The Suhr is a beautiful guitar. It does not have a swich to split the bridge pickup, but the pickup is automatacally split in position 2, so that sound is very close to the position 2 on Strat.

To my ears I like the Fender. Just sounds more “original”.

fantastic review, Tubbs ! I have a Fender CS Strat, one of the first out long ago .. but I am just not a 25.5" Scale guy :)

I don't know why fender keeps pushing the noiseless pickups in the deluxe/elite/ultra, when I replaced the ones on my deluxe it was a different world.

I have the same pickups in my Classic Antique. SSV + ML Standards. Honestly...best pickups I've ever had in any guitar.

Love your vids, playing and commentary, stellar!

Great demo from a great player and class act. Thanks Shawn, you da man!! .

I almost went for the elite hss (last gen before ultra but after deluxe) and played an ebmm cutlass hss and had to go with that. I'd love to see the suhr and cutlass go head to head.

Someone who can play and knows how to get a killer tone.

Well I was debating about buying either a Suhr or a fender. First chord you did on the Suhr give me the answer. The Suhr sounds nicerand fuller.

Hmmm......Based on this very nicely played (and fair) demo of both guitars......I'd have to take the Strat over the Suhr at first blush. I think the fleshier neck on the Strat helps in giving a more 'rounded' overall timbre on all settings. Also, it just sounded more ample than the upper end, airy output of the Suhr. And, like Tubbs said, if that is the sound you're chasing, the Suhr fills the bill. For me, though, I need more meat on the bone and with the addition of the S1 switch, it’s kinda hard to make a true comparison of these two fine guitars.

Nice Shawn! It's so key, IMO, to make the point that ultimately it comes down to personal preference. Well done!

so nice to hear a guitar player that actually plays making this reviews. Great job, and nice playing!.

Damn Shawn.. I love your playing!!! Thank-you for the review

Nice comparison. Seemed to me that I preferred your playing on the Fender - you sounded fuller, more confident and authoritative as a player. I felt the Suhr tone sounded thinner by comparison in your hands.

Nice playing and feel man, you make them both sound great!

When Fender finally decides to put stainless steel frets on, it's over with for everyone else.

Love my suhr. I do think it’s a precision instrument compared to the fender. Only thing I don’t like is the weight

Thanks for the video Shawn. I have a Suhr Classic Antique and a Kiesel and several Strats and I play the Suhr and Kiesel more than anything. My friends all jokingly tell me I play cheap Fender knock offs because a guy on Facebook once told me a Suhr is just an overpriced cheaply made Fender knock off. But now I have to reconsider Fender and will check out the American Ultra! That being said... I LOVE the Suhr SSV pickup and the bright characteristics of the Suhr. And I agree that those bridge saddles are a pain. I used to use Thomastik-Infeld strings and my Suhr would break the high E often.

Thank you man, great video as always.......... ....On guitars i can't afford. I' m just here because you play like a beast all the time.

A really sensible, well judged and measured assessment. Congrats on a very professional and helpful video.

There is a very good reason that they all compare themselves to the stratocaster ! 🎸🤟🍻

The Ultra is highest annual sales volume in Fender history. It's a really great guitar. But if you're thinking about buying it, go for SSS. HSS's single coil has dark tone for balance with humbucker

i will never get a Suhr unless it's cheap, 'cause whenever i see the prices i quickly realise that for that kind of money i can't get something else.....( i do have a set of his pickups in my Strat and that's frankly all i need from him, with the utmost of respect to his highly technical factory

Noiseless pickups have their place. I prefer the sound of Single Coil Alnico Pickups.

I have a Suhr Pro S2 which is one of their 'mass' production models. I also have a 1988 Fender American Standard Strat which I have had since new - I love it, it is my goto in any situation because I know exactly what it will do in the circumstances. The Suhr came into the fold recently. The Suhr has become a favourite instantly, and I think it may be due to what you imply - the Suhr has a neck that feels instantly 'right', not exactly the same as the old Standard Strat, but just 'right'. This to my mind tells me something about the way that Suhr guitars are designed and built. No bells and whistles, just a feeling that all components are specced for an instrument designed with the player in mind. The Strat has a rosewood fingerboard, the Suhr a maple fingerboard - I prefer rosewood by a mile, but that says something about how good this maple neck Suhr was. Of course the compound radius made a big difference on the Suhr compared to my Standard Strat - all those choking probs just disappeared, but the new Fender Ultra range has compound radius too. Nice to see and hear an honest review, many thanks.

Dear Mr. Tubbs, Both no doubt are great guitars in their own right. Tone wise I do not dare to comment. The Fender Ultra Strat tries as much as it to retain its core identity, while the Suhr Classic Pro (identical to 'S' except for hardware,electronics and frets?) able to implement features towards practical usage. However the innovation fell short at the pickguard to neck pocket area. I recently help a friend reinstall a stock treble bleed back into his Suhr Classic S. I saw the neck bolt screws were botch a bit prior but think nothing of it. I finally figured out I had to dis-assemble the neck to take the pickguard out just to get to the electronics. So in short, when you want to swap pickup(s), must take out the neck. Changed your mind about the pickups? Must take out the neck. Need to change the pots? Must Take out the neck. Want to put mojo tone cap? Must take out the neck. If a pickup slip-off the height screws? Yes, Must take out the neck too! While the Ultra Strat neck and body able to maintain good coupling for years without any unnecessary neck dis-assembly, I hope who ever that took out your Classic Pro/S for the forth time knows what his doing. Sure a worn hole can be re-patch and re drill professionally but is it prematurely necessary after spending a couple of thousand? I hope Suhr will correct this issue. I think service friendly factor should be included into a gear review because eventually each of us will have to deal with it one day. As a consumer, I would be piss if a flaw were to originated from the manufacturer themselves which can be month,years or decades later. Thank you for a great content and keep up the good work. Sincerely YGT

I just got the fender ultra HSS model today. Got $400 off the regular price and $200 in rewards at GC. 4th of July sale! Paid $1977 with tax (in 2024) and still have a free $200 to spend at GC. I'll take the fender! It's a killer guitar and I love the humbucker in this guitar. Got cobra blue with a rosewood board. Very nice!

Both sound good but (and I know this would involve an editing PITA) it would make for an easier comparison if the various pick-up positions were compared side by side.

It’s you that makes those guitars sound beautiful Bud!!!!

Btw, I've subscribed and saving this vid just for the amazing doodling bits for your demo. Good work.

the fact is you play really good thats make the guitar sounds good :0

Great video bro! Lots of folks wondering about this comparison.

I like the way you keep down the Suhr guitar with so much care💚

Hi Mate - Dave from Aussie - you sure a wonderful musician - beautiful playing!! and very helpful comparison - Cheers

gotta get my hands on that ultra Strat.... and yes your effortless playing makes me realize... yeah Tubbs is goooood.

It really depends on what you like, they are both great guitars. You can’t go wrong with Fender, you can’t go wrong with Suhr. There will be no regrets on those two great guitars.

Fender and Gibson need to offer stainless steel frets... This is the only reason I even looked at and considered a suhr over a fender and eventually ended up building my own ‘strat’ with a licensed neck and stainless steel frets. Harder to do with the Gibson but why the stubbornness from fender, Gibson and PRS with this ? Even Ibanez has figured it out...

I just bought my 2nd Fender American Ultra....my first was the strat with maple neck and the HSS config in "Ultraburst". My 2nd guitar is the Telecaster with Rosewood neck and in Texas tea. I LOVE THESE GUITARS. There's something about them being a real "Fender" as well that makes them so impressive. I haven't bought a guitar since 1995. This year I bought 2....and I want that jazz bass badly (and I am not a bass player). The fender sounds better. Thanks for the video. BTW the HSS strats are hotter than the SSS ones in the ultra line...they have more midrange.

I like you better on the Fender than on the Suhr. You play differently, I think with more "feel". Love your micro-bluesy bends -- well executed, my friend.

Well done, it all comes down to personal preference. I have Tylers and a Fender, they all sound different, but my Tylers feel similar to each other. My go to is my first Tyler classic, and I still stink

The Suhr sounds a little more focused and snappy in all pickup positions. The middle pickup sounds really good, particularly for a country or chicken picking style.

Amazing playing and tone!!!! In this case I choose the Strat... Cheers

"focusing on the sonic differences" - The pickups are arguably the easiest/cheapest thing to change, but most significant part of a solid body electric guitar. I'd guess that roasted maple (more stable, etc.), SS frets would have more to do on the "fit and finish/playability" side of things. All that said, if you're inclined, just build/assemble your own. There's no need to pay these sorts of prices for anything anymore. Get exactly what you need, cheaper. MJT/Musikraft/Warmoth...Amazing stuff. I've been selling off all my top end name brand guitars ever since I "built" mine.