Glad I got my ulta tele in plasma burst with binding when they first came out. Most beautiful guitar I’ve seen. Such a dream to play. Not too impressed with these new ultra 2s. Feel like they could have done a better job cosmetically for that premium price.
This guy and his attitude, perfect for showing off guitars that are so expensive they don’t even flash the prices onscreen, yet somehow don’t come with stainless steel frets. 😂
Agreed. The latest Squier Affinity Teles have a belly cut - I recently traded in my old slab bodied Sqiuer tele for one, and it makes so much difference to the comfort in playing, for me at any rate. Less than a tenth of the price of these too! Love the tele vibe, but hate the slab body.
@@MajicFreeman yeah I'm so picky though and I just can't vibe with their headstock design. So this is a good Tuesday for me! Definitely loving the quarter sawn neck too
I just brought home a Charvel Pro-Mod... It has basically the same specs as the Strat (I'd say even better, with Duncan PUs). Made in Mexico. Costs a third.
Okay, surprisingly, the Meteora is my favorite. It just makes the most sense. It has all the high-end features without the noiseless pickups compromise. I sold my Ultra Tele recently. It sounded good and played great, but it never sounded 100% like I wanted.
I agree. The Fender Japan Hybrid II HSS Strat that I bought from Andertons in a sale last Christmas is a stunning guitar - exceptional value at less than a grand! 😎
Cool to see this is what Fender has been teasing over the last little while, all of these sound awesome and I love the look of those Strats and that white/silver Tele…
These pickups sound so much better than the Ultra 1's. Wouldn't have known they were "stacked humbucker" noiseless (at least on my computer speakers here).
@@shook9042 Huge difference in lifespan. Less importantly, if you live in certain climates(like I do) ns frets oxidize in like a week and need to be polished with every string change basically. SS pretty much stay buttery smooth for years.
Have had an am pro strat for 2 months and think the Ultra II sounds great. I'd have to do a side-by-side to really pick out the differences, and even then, I can't imagine that with an EQ pedal, you could get the brightness you want. More than anything, I'd make my decision over the neck shape.
I feel like I'm listening to a certain phone brand seller who tries to hype something that has very few changes. Or maybe it's just the American way of talking about things. I think it's crazy to pay Ultra prices for what you get.
I'm a Jag/Jazz player, but I picked up the second Tele style in my life in the more recent Sonic Tele series. Same red here. But man... that Fender Tele in red with that beautiful neck color, that's really something. I could be convinced, I have really enjoyed the Sonic Tele, I bet this plays like a dream.
I love Fender guitars, they are my favourite, i wish i could afford to buy one of these! Fender should employ me, as I could come up with nice designs for the guitars, and some fantastic colours!
The haymaker humbucker sounds great. I love when the Captain said what we were all thinking about the S1 switch and Jimi Hendrix. That's literally what I was thinking anyway, as I was watching this video. And then quickly the Fender guy says "and they come with locking tuners" 😂 I just hope Fender keep putting out new guitars ao Anderson's can keep putting out more videos! I'm basically here because it's an Anderton's video which are definitely my favorite thing to watch on RU-vid aside from UAP information. I have a Fender Player Player Series 2 Stratocaster that I really enjoy and I don't think I'm missing out on anything. By the way Pete, that intro is great. You probably sell more Fender guitars than anybody else on RU-vid. They really should be giving you some free guitars.
It’s really amazing, I’m reading the incredible features of this Ultra, and I have all that for a fifth of the price with my Cort. Fabulous, Cort is an extraordinary manufacturer!
I bought a really good Cort acoustic $120 on sale at guitar center. Great guitar all around. Very surprised, too good to not buy. Played better than most in the store. I find them gems as a one off time to time but haven’t heard anyone else that has one. Good to know I might start looking at Cort more.
Ultra II reminds me of a lot of stuff G&L has been doing for decades. Brushed anodized metal pickguards, quartersawn necks, super satin necks, belly and arm cuts on the t-type. Hey at least fender is finally catching up to fender.
I think Fender/Squier have finally got it figured out with each line. Fender is producing the stuff real big, pickier enthusiast want. These all have great features. Then they're really experimenting with what wacky stuff they can try on the Squier side. The Paranormal series is a great example, but even the Sonic series lately has had some really interesting good stuff, moretraditional in some ways but experimental in others like color ways, pickup combos, etc. Both have things I love. I think I'd pick one of these Teles up for sure. While with Squier, I've been enjoying the Sonic strat and Tele, as well as the Contemporary series Jag and Jazz for a few years.
What happened to the binding on the Tele? The loss of binding is a big miss for me. Immediately off the list. Good news is the OG Ultas are now discounted.
Man, I still wish they would do a hardtail Meteora. It's such a cool shape, but it needs a hardtail. edit: oh, it is. That's intriguing. That's actually basically my dream spec. The colors aren't my favorite, but I think I may need to check one of those out.
It sounds like a very little thing, but an angled selector switch on a tele is brilliant. Im going to hunt down an after-market one, I never thought of that !
I prefer the way the old S1 switch works on starts my old HSS elite does this: Position one: all three pickups wired in series Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in series Position three: middle and neck pickups wired in series Position four: bridge and neck pickups wired out of phase, with a special tone capacitor Position five: bridge and middle pickups wired in series and out of phase, in parallel with neck pickup A lot of tone. I especially love S-1 position 4 and 5 on that guitar. Its still a beast to this day
I've fallen in love with that Meteora. Shame about the not-ss frets! I love the Bass cut control idea!! Great for recording!! Anyone know what kind of cut and frequency/curve it's doing?
So, next year, will you turn the Volume/pickup-switchplate 180° on the teles? So it's easy to reach and play/swell in with the volume knob. The volume closest to the neck, then the tone and last the pick-up switch.
Look at any other industry.... Fender guitars are barely any better than when they were invented in the 50s and in their infancy, the 60s. What other industry is like that? Honestly..
Actually kinda digging the Meteora...not usually my style but it's sobering a bit different. Especially in that "Texas Tea"...pretty cool! Gotta go check these out!
You can get stainless frets on guitars 1/5 the price. Seems like these are aimed at people who want modern guitars. I dont omitting the stainless is a great move by fender.
I've got one of the american deluxe teles from 04' (which became elite and now ultra). Its heavy, but overall not bad. Got it used in 05' for 800 bucks. Funny thing is that nowadays everyone says the original SCN tele pickups are really good. So just buy your guitars used and then hold onto them for 20 years, folks! Sooner or later people will say its good, even when it really isn't.
well i can’t complain,they do offer a left handed strat with the Texas Tea finish which looks amazing 🤘🏼🎸 a little steep at $2000 but id definitely would want one for my collection
Not really complaining as I'm not in the market for Fenders, but if you're only offering one model lefty why not the Meteora, there is no shortage of lefty Strats and Strat-a-alikes (I play both Suhr and Anderson) I'm sure there must be a lefty market for the Meteora, if you have a strat you probably not be going to buy a new one with a few upgrades from what you already have, but of course no lefty has a Meteora
@@trident1314 Absolutely they do, I was just thinking (from a lefty point of view) I have strats and teles, no need for another, but Meteora is something I don't have, maybe I'd get one, Ultras are strange guitars, you hardly ever see anyone using them, pros will use standards, custom shops, then Suhrs or Silver Sky's, ultras seem a bit niche, I remember getting one for a blokes wife to give to him for a 50th birthday present, it wouldn't have been my choice :o)
The noise gate on the voice mics is going nuts today and it's really distracting. Cool guitars, but the Tele NEEDS binding for that price - but I can see why they couldn't with the body carve. I assume most would prefer the binding on the front with the contoured body on the back instead.
Whoa, I arrived for the Tele but stayed for the Meteora. Stunning! This is a pricey line however. You could be well on the way to a custom shop or a nacho Tele for this sort of money.
Nice guitars. I thought Pete got more of a Strat single coil sound out of that Meteora (with only humbuckers) than he did with any of the Fender 'noiseless' guitars on offer. Fender need to be looking at what PRS are doing with their humbuckers that sound more like single coils...
I think Fender are smart to keep trying to integrate the Meteora as one of their major designs. Everything else is a little underwhelming, but I understand why they have to periodically make minor updates and give it the big sales push.
Why do slab fret board fenders have skunk stripes? Why not just place the trust rod in before placing the fretboard on top that way the neck can stay one piece?
G&L doesn't do skunk stripes, and bi-cuts the neck then flips it before glueing it together so they don't warp in the same direction if they do warp and counter each other's warping.
Wait my tele ultra has stainless frets and binding but the more expensive tele ultra II doesn't.. .. Keep it. How very Fender. Version 2 is less for more $
I'm a f ndernguy but honestly I'd love it if they just went "this is a strat, this is a Tele" maybe have 3 versions of each and then focus on making something different and totally new each year. I get it, they wouldn't sell as well but we need brands like fender to make the next gen classics to be revered in 20-39 years on. Strats and Teles are amazing, but really other than some new pickups that sound the same as all the others , there's nothing new here we haven't seen before. I mean quarter sawn necks are what all the US models should already have. I just wish it wasn't all led by the commercials but I understand why it is
Are they going to do a meteora model in this line with a trem? Can't really call it an upgrade if it doesnt do all the things the cheaper version does.
You know how we've essentially bred a generation of people who can't concentrate, continuously seek memes to entertain them, take no accountability or responsibility and call everyone: "Karen" who asks them to do their job with pride or effort, yeah, well, they're now becoming the workers who make your guitars and check quality. They're not just teenagers serving burgers, this whole generation will soon take over. American "quality" should be discerned for what it is. Japan and most Asian countries take much more pride in, are not as greedy and are less distracted in everything they do. If you want quality, avoid USA.
As a Ultra SSS Strat owner I can tell you, you won't want anything else after you played it for some time And I don't mean spend 10 minutes trying it in store but really spend time with it, it's phenomenal
I'm the opposite. This is one of the first Fenders that has really caught my attention lately and it's because of the compound radius. Nothing else quite like it.
Tbh, after yesterday, I'm not sure why I'm watching this channel any longer. You guys finally demoed a device I already own, and I know what it sounds like and how it performs, it's an awesome piece of gear. That said- when you guys demoed it, it sounded horrible. So now I realize, we're not getting an accurate example of what this gear really sounds like or how it performs watching Anderton's. We're getting whatever Oz or Pete or whoever thought sounded good to them in the room I suppose. I'm not saying you guys did anything wrong- I'm just saying I no longer think this is the proper forum for demoing gear- apparently even stuff that normally sounds great can sound horrible once it's been YouTub'ed.
