I'm sure this will cause someone grief when they eventually sell their early Ultra Strat on the used market and get called out for having the wrong pickups in it. Apparently, these early Ultras will use the same PCB as the old Gen 4s. Fun trivia to know - though I feel these should've come with special paperwork explaining it! Reverb: reverb.com/item/29922745-video-2019-fender-american-ultra-stratocaster-sss-texas-tea?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly 0:20 - Should You Upgrade? 3:33 - 90s Strat Ultra 4:35 - First Impressions 6:43 - A Precursor to Texas Tea? 8:01 - Inside Look/Specs 8:45 - The Wrong Pickups? 16:33 - Tone Talk - Regular 18:04 - Tone Talk - S1 20:35 - Dirty Demo 22:34 - Final Thoughts 24:09 - Condition 25:23 - Blacklight Test 25:44 - Case + Candy
Not sure but I was thinking I read somewhere that the old HM Strat Ultras from the late 80s to early 90s had a 25 inch scale. Or at least some did. Not sure though I just remember reading that. Have a good day.
I am glad you are there watching out for us. However, Fender's explanation was logical. The part that was substituted did work. Your appraisal of the workmanship was far more detailed than I have ever seen. But you should wear a mask like Batman. I remember seeing a movie called Trog back in the late 1960's, with Joan Crawford. Come to think of it, Fender got back to you pretty quick. I guess they felt they had better answer you and not let you speculate to the world. Looking forward to more reviews. How about the 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb Hand Wired amp. The Fender Tre-Verb vs the Strymon Flint. The Fender MTG: LA tube 80's style distortion vs the Boss OD 200.
Hmm...so I wonder what qualifies as an "early Ultra Strat." How many of these old PCBs in inventory did those cheap bastards have to burn down? I've got an Ultra Strat arriving tomorrow. Now, i'm wondering whether i'm getting what was advertised. If they had 4th gen noiseless PCB inventory to burn down, they should have made more guitars that used them.
(@ 10:00) FYI - not a treble bleed, just a ceramic tone cap. Treble bleeds are tone cap/resister pairs that are wired in parallel to the middle and one of the outer lugs of a volume pot. This is just the tone cap soldered to both tone pots.
Lol, looking to buy a used one of these today (Oct 2023). Yet never really noticed the Oversized new control knobs...........now that Austin has brought it to my attention.....I can't UNSEE it!!!!!!!
The addition of the option to run all 3 and bridge+neck is something that G&L guitars have been doing for a one while now. But it's cool that fender is finally doing some upgrades
You know Trog, I've been subbed quite a while now and listening to your playing, you have improved quite a bit. The chords you play that are your own (you know the ones I mean) they sound like their becoming part of a song now. Are we gonna get some bass and drums to go with it? Well played in this vid as well. I hope you keep improving until you are satisfied you can play as well as you want to. Ha Ha. That's what we all want.
Nice demo Austin! I always learn a lot from your videos! I checked out one of these but in the Cobra Blue... great to learn I can switch out that bridge pup to a humbucker! That would be my perfect Ultra...though this Texas Tea finish is a really growing on me...I love to mod one of these with a set of Humbuckers in both the neck and bridge. Can't help but wonder what it would look like with a black mother of pearl pick-guard and all gold part's! Oh baby! Thanks for sharing! YOU ROCK! 😎🎸🐦🤘
I'm not a huge fan of noiseless pickups in general, but the Texas Tea color on these Is probably my favorite Fender color. It's just awesome, especially with that gold pickguard.
Fun Fact: Eric Clapton, a well-known Strat player did a commercial for Michelob in the 90s. Maybe they are planning a "reunion tour" sponsored by Michelob Ultra and the Fender Ultra Strat?
I picked up two of these I made sure that Both have serial numbers that begin with “20” meaning made during at least this year . And yes inside these are gen 5 noiseless , so they did update the pickup situation. I have “ Cobra Blue with maple fretboard SSS” & also “ 3 tone Sunburst with Rosewood fretboard SSS “ .
Love that Stratocaster finish and pickguard. Off subject, but I find myself laughing when you do,after saying something funny. Lol,thank you so much for all you do. I don't comment much but I'm a big fan of your channel. Take care
OK, I have been considering a Strat for quite a while now...wasn't sure what I wanted....saw this video last week and it pushed me over the edge. I bought one less than an hour ago...I feel a bit sick about it because in total I paid just over 2k....I paid off one of my credit cards just hours before! ugh....I hope I made a decent purchase.
please let me know if you liked. I want to buy a Fender American Stratocastet but I don't if I get a Ultra SSS or HSS or Professional SSS or HSS or if a built my own. Similar the Ultra but with differents pickups. I want a strato sunburst, maple neck...
Way too late with this comment but keep in mind a USA made strat will still sell for quite an amount if desperately need the cash! That aside, it's an insanely good guitar that'll last a lifetime. You can always change stuff later such as stainless steel frets or different pick ups.
Hey dude really nice demonstration. There are tons of videos that focus on the tone of these ultras but i am glad you went into all this trouble to show the workmanship (and minor flaws) of the instruments. I am torn between this and the HSS version. Is it possible that you could do a tonal comparison between the 2 in all positions but especially i want to see what is the difference in the single coil bridge setting for both (HSS and SSS). Thanx again
Single coils have their own distinct sound whereas the sound of humbuckers require external sources to be coloured to your liking (eqs, pedals, amps). Single coils aren't noisey like they used to be, so the purpose of humbuckers are almost pointless. You want Strat sound? Go single coil.
Hi there ! Nice observations , another reason why the Texas tea finish seems so familiar - check out the Fender American Deluxe Montego Black finish .(2004-2010 models ). It’s exactly the same Color ,except they’ve just used white knobs and pick up covers on the ultra (Instead of black ). It’s just a branding thing of calling it “ Texas tea “. I own the same finish , but it’s 2008 American Deluxe , Montego Bay .;) Loved the review ! Cheers !
I have two guitars with the fender locking tuners and haven't had any problems at all with them. You do have to make sure you tighten up the locking part. The S1 switch works like the neck addition button on the fender Performer series guitars
That is me beautiful Strat! I do t quite get the big deal about the cutout at the neck though. I have played the same Fender Strat since 2003 and have never had a issue reaching the high frets.
Very cool color - but it's clear that Fender wouldn't be competitive in the high-end market if it weren't for the name on the headstock. Not sure what the issue is with modernizing their designs for players while keeping reissue-type guitars in the lineup for the collectors.
I agree, fender just do a few subtle changes, raid the parts bin, then charge way too much for a few changes, as the prices keep going up the less they will sell.
My Ultra is 5th Generation. High E and D string pole pieces are same height. My 4th Generation Elite E & D different heights. 5th Generation pcb are Red for HSS hot pickups. Blue for SSS pcb. 4th Generation tan color. Maybe 100 or so Ultras had the 4th Generation PCB.
I think the only improvement is sculpted heel. I honestly think you get most of the benefit of the neck heel just by rounding off the corner. I prefer the spoke wheel for the truss rod.
I heard you say the thing about the increased price a couple times, but it should be noted that actually the Elite series used to be $1,899 (that’s what I paid for mine). It dropped in price to $1699 towards the end of its cycle.
@@ISaudio just bought a mocha burst strat in unplayed condition for $1599 plus tax from my local mom and pop, great guitar. My butterscotch ash body elite tele is still my love though. The necks are nearly identical on paper but the elite is butter.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a Wilkinson nut on the 90's Strat Plus Ultra you showed? It doesn't look like an LSR but I couldn't really see it that well. They did switch to an LSR at some point before those went out of production, I'm pretty sure.
Hey, you didn't use the tremolo bar! Just kidding. I'm revisiting. I just ordered the 2023 version with gen 5 vintage noiseless single coil pickups in surf green with roasted maple neck, a Sweetwater exclusive. Thank you for your review of the earlier Ultra iteration!
That's quite interesting. I've got this fender strat that was sold for like a year, so it's quite rare, but it's got the opposite. It's got a button and when you press it it adds the bridge pickup. So you can have the neck and bridge with no middle pickup and it sounds like a tele that way. You can even do the 4th position (neck and middle) and add the bridge to that and it sounds incredibly quacky. I've never seen another fender strat do it that way, so it's interesting to see something similar
@@TheZooropaBaby Do you mean he doesn't actively use it, or are you saying he doesn't do that mod to his guitars? Cause it's actually a quite famous mod.
@@duffman18 That's actually the same as here, just executed differently. They both add the same options for selected pickups, except the five way toggle switch will be in a different position.
@@duffman18 That is the MIM Deluxe series. it also has the the cut out on the heel. i have it, its awesome!! check it out, its not rare. www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StratDSP2CS--fender-deluxe-stratocaster-2-color-sunburst-with-pau-ferro-fingerboard
To be honest it would be fun if you demoed the american performer series after you're done with this series becouse american performer is the cheapest american made fender
The finish looks very good. I once had a '99 US Strat that had a painted maple fretboard. The paint was up on the side of the frets in higher positions and broke/peeled off in larger flakes while playing, displaying raw wood of the fretboard. When I sold it online the buyer wanted to give it back. I was done with Fender after that until I bought a Squire Tele two years ago, which had the satin PU finish like yours. Worlds apart.
My '95 had finish so thick it was refretted without removing it. Giant SS frets, hip deep in finish - they feel like medium jumbo. If I could pry it away from my daughter - I gave it to her - I'd strip it and oil finish it.
I like the vmod generation best. Even the fat50s gen but prefer neck on vmod. No need for Ultra. Buying a new one I’d also prefer nice bright maple and letting it age on its own.
I never liked strats. Love Telecasters and all the bass guitars. However between your recent Fender videos and Ola Englund showing his new Stratocaster, I have been more receptive and honestly, like the clean and distorted tones both of you have done. Love the videos, channel and you doing what you love as well. Thanks for changing my mind on the classic Stratocaster!
Great job literally taking this guitar apart and going through the craftsmanship and setup. I think the other two positions with the S1 change the way the pickups are wired in the circuit. Without S1 engaged in position 4 the neck and middle pickup are in parallel, with it engaged they are wired in series (I might have it backwards), but that's the idea.
Clarification: according to the Fender's service manual, all pickups are parallel when combined. If you activate the S1 switch, the neck pickup will be "always-on." So, for positions 4 and 5 the switch is redundant. Position 3 will turn into a duplicate of position 4.
Hey hey hey, I checked my 4th Gen Elite vs my 5th Gen Ultra and my Ultra is legit. Comparing high E string pole piece and D string pole piece same height to be legit. Checked yes. Then Checked Elite and poles pieces are definitely different. Must see up close but definitely different. My Ultra vs my Elite are different pickups. Can tell by color of PCB board too. Current Ultras will have a red (HSS) or blue (SSS) color depending on the model and will also say "Ultra" on the silkscreen. Also get a Certificate of Authenticity. I got well over 500 on the serial number. So the first few or the first few hundred were mixed. After that they are pure Ultra. Checked S1 switch settings and which tone control controls which pickup combo.
That S1 switch option is a feature I've had and used for several years on My G&L S-500 Tribute. I paid $350 for it and prefer it to any Strat that I've ever played.
I, too, have an '05 clear red S-500 Tribute in great shape. I added Sperzel locking tuners, and graphite nut, cleaned up the fret ends, added copper shielding, and this baby rocks! Plays great! I bought it used from GC. It basically just needed a set up.
@@robertclinger7351 They are great guitars, my S-500 and Fallout Tributes have better fretwork than my American Standard Telecaster or my American Professional Jazzmaster. G&L put out amazing low cost imports that come stock with great pickups and bridges/trems. The nut and tuners are ok but like you I replaced them with locking tuners and Graphtech nuts. I replaced the pickups, pots, switch and jack in my Fallout to a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Bareknuckle True Grit P90 in the neck but honestly I didn't even need to. The only thing that was necessary was the jack because the stock jack was a little noisy. I have no need to buy a Strat because my S-500 gets me close enough and I love it. I loved that I could the ability to use all pickups at once and the neck and bridge pickup together. I also prefer the master treble and bass bleed over the traditional tone knobs and I prefer G&L trem and saddles over Fender's.
@@JG-ux7of the imports are not G&Ls. If you ever own one and get use to the necks you'll never be able bond with a tribute. G&L pays the factories $40 per box, they don't have anything to do with the construction of the instrument. The only thing american on any tribute are the mfds, the trem, saddles, wiring is all indo. They are great guitars, you love your guitar even with it falling way short of the us standards. Go find a used s500 and you'll have a guitar that Jake from Umphreeys plays every night when he could easily buy any guitar he wants. G&Ls also use a Passive treble bass system.
That color reminds me of my 2008 MIM Strat I used to have. It was a 3-tone burst, but it had sparkles in it so it looked kind of rootbeer-esque. Wish I still had my Strat. Had to sell it, sadly, to pay bills. If I could find another one for the price I had paid I'd never let it go. Played really nice, and sounded great too.
@@horacebond9394 But I want a maple board like the new Ultra. The new Ultra has a vintage vibe with the new appointments. Hotter HSS pickups work for me. I have one and I love it. They looked all the way back to 1954 for this new Ultra. The only mod I would make is to put on a bypass button like on the Elite HSS.
Love the Ultras! Great guitars! Had one on the workbench for a client that had terrible fret sprout! Those stainless frets are awesome but they will chew up a diamond file pretty fast if you do have to round them over. I havent had one of the Ultras or Elites with maple that didnt have fret issues from the Factory.
I miss the wheel adjustment- made the Elite look more versatile and a modern fender. Might as well just mould a contoured heal into my American Professional Strat 🤘
Idk I actually very much appreciated all the extra, you can get a quick demo anywhere and most people who buy these probably try them first I know i did before buying mine
Great video Trogly. I find the bridge and neck is a really great tone on my stuff. Dont really care for the tone of all 3 pickups on. Have a elite with the shawbucker that is a really cool guitar with the s1 and passing lane button. Passing lane button just by passes all controls and its just the shawbucker at full throttle. Doesnt matter were you have pickup selector.
@@IrisGalaxis its kinda between the tone control and lower i dont have the guitar in front of me at the moment ill check when i get home. Its a small white button that is a push in to activate and push it in again and it pops out and deactivates.
Its only on the elite model with the humbucker in the bridge postion. Hss. The ultra migjt have it but not sure. Any thing with the three single coil pickups didn't have the passing lane button.
I had a Fender Ultra Jazz bass for a bit. I discovered that it actually had the wrong neck installed from the factory, along with the wrong bridge. Fenders QC is really all over the place.
Trogly, I love the Texas Tea paint. Otherwise - by your description only - I would consider these a waste of money. If others enjoy them, great. Why aren't guitars given the attention to details prior to leaving the shop? At $1,700 I can't imagine allowing a non-perfect guitar out of the shop. Do fingerboards often have satin put on after frets are installed? Hey friends, if you have the opportunity to see John Jorgenson, do it. He is a tremendous player that needs to be seen; not just listened to. He's also a very, nice guy. Thanks for the review & hopefully answers to my questions. Chris
That color was an option on some of the higher end Chryslers from the 90s and early 2000s. I'm thinking the double stickers are QC and final QC. What would be cool is if Fender could have a circuit ind the middle position whoth the switch on that would double or add some other effects to it. Think what I'd change about this guitar I'd have the whole neck and fretboard in a baked look. Good they changed th case or at least the latches. The one I have also can be used with strat or tele but the latches have to be checked to make sure the caught the lid part of the latch. Thought I had mine closed up when I went to move it the lid popped open and the guitar flopped over on to the lid yanking loose the straps that hold the lid from opening further. I was able to fix that with a little gorilla glue but now I double check the latches.
I wouldn't have been surprised. I ordered a 2019 American Original 60's P Bass and it showed up with the WRONG PICKUPS in it. I contacted Fender, confirmed they were wrong. Talked to the company I purchased from and they said it would take 3-4 months to get the replacements from Fender... I returned it and bought a Music Man.
That bridge+neck position I used to have it in my strat with an extra 2 way toggle switch xd also I had another switch that made the bridge and middle pickup being in series and, when you put the 3 pickups working, you can use them all in series xD
The biggest issue I have with this lineup is the lack of options for Rosewood with the better colors (texas tea, cobra blue) in SSS config. There are too few options with rosewood and it's a big shame.
Neck and bridge would be more of a tele sound or should be. Not sure how Gibson is involved if you had P90s I suppose. Great job thanks for the review, love the channel
I have a 2012 strat, which was the year they switched to Fat 50's pickups but mine still had the American Standard series pickups in it. Someone told me it was because they made the pickup switch a couple of months into the year or something like that.
It's what Ford used to do at their major UK plant in England back in the 80's - why vehicles such as the Granada, Capri and Transit van shared brake parts, radiators, etc. Particularly when a model was going out of production - saves the cost of developing and manufacturing a new specific part, adapt the car to take the existing part instead.
In regards to the knobs it looks like they went back to the original 1954 knobs found only 9n the 1st run of strats and also on the 50th anyversy 1954 strat that they made 1954 guitars in the run. Very cool if this is the case.
I'm sure this will cause someone grief when they eventually sell their early Ultra Strat on the used market and get called out for having the wrong pickups in it. Apparently, these early Ultras will use the same PCB as the old Gen 4s. Fun trivia to know - though I feel these should've come with special paperwork explaining it!
Reverb: reverb.com/item/29922745-video-2019-fender-american-ultra-stratocaster-sss-texas-tea?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly
0:20 - Should You Upgrade?
3:33 - 90s Strat Ultra
4:35 - First Impressions
6:43 - A Precursor to Texas Tea?
8:01 - Inside Look/Specs
8:45 - The Wrong Pickups?
16:33 - Tone Talk - Regular
18:04 - Tone Talk - S1
20:35 - Dirty Demo
22:34 - Final Thoughts
24:09 - Condition
25:23 - Blacklight Test
25:44 - Case + Candy
I always thought that you were a Strat guy
Not sure but I was thinking I read somewhere that the old HM Strat Ultras from the late 80s to early 90s had a 25 inch scale. Or at least some did. Not sure though I just remember reading that. Have a good day.
Wicked kool strat, Austin ..
I'm partial to ebony boards, if that had the board of that older Ultra I'd rock it for shure ;) Cheers
I am glad you are there watching out for us. However, Fender's explanation was logical. The part that was substituted did work. Your appraisal of the workmanship was far more detailed than I have ever seen. But you should wear a mask like Batman. I remember seeing a movie called Trog back in the late 1960's, with Joan Crawford. Come to think of it, Fender got back to you pretty quick. I guess they felt they had better answer you and not let you speculate to the world. Looking forward to more reviews. How about the 64 Custom Deluxe Reverb Hand Wired amp. The Fender Tre-Verb vs the Strymon Flint. The Fender MTG: LA tube 80's style distortion vs the Boss OD 200.
Hmm...so I wonder what qualifies as an "early Ultra Strat." How many of these old PCBs in inventory did those cheap bastards have to burn down? I've got an Ultra Strat arriving tomorrow. Now, i'm wondering whether i'm getting what was advertised. If they had 4th gen noiseless PCB inventory to burn down, they should have made more guitars that used them.
These actually come with four silica packets so we know you ate one.
theu actually taste good in barley soup. lol. although u need go to poison control right after...
😂😂😂
QC is everything... especially in that price range.
(@ 10:00) FYI - not a treble bleed, just a ceramic tone cap. Treble bleeds are tone cap/resister pairs that are wired in parallel to the middle and one of the outer lugs of a volume pot. This is just the tone cap soldered to both tone pots.
There are some SMD components on the PCB attached to the volume switch, probably that's the treeble bleed
Those locking tuners are actually one of my favorites. You don't need to pull the string that tight... Might be operator trouble.
I can’t get over how good this fender looks ! Probably my all time fav
I can't wait until Fender release more colors for the Ultra series.
I can tell you’ve been practicing. Your playing is getting so much better/cleaner!
Thank you for your in depth review! I've been wanting to get the arctic white Ultra Strat with a rosewood fingerboard
Lol, looking to buy a used one of these today (Oct 2023). Yet never really noticed the Oversized new control knobs...........now that Austin has brought it to my attention.....I can't UNSEE it!!!!!!!
The addition of the option to run all 3 and bridge+neck is something that G&L guitars have been doing for a one while now. But it's cool that fender is finally doing some upgrades
Anyone with $20 and soldering skills have been doing it since the 70s on their Fenders
I'm happy I am in love with my MIM FSR Gilmour vibe. As is , stock it slams for the price.
You know Trog, I've been subbed quite a while now and listening to your playing, you have improved quite a bit. The chords you play that are your own (you know the ones I mean) they sound like their becoming part of a song now. Are we gonna get some bass and drums to go with it?
Well played in this vid as well. I hope you keep improving until you are satisfied you can play as well as you want to. Ha Ha. That's what we all want.
Nice demo Austin! I always learn a lot from your videos! I checked out one of these but in the Cobra Blue... great to learn I can switch out that bridge pup to a humbucker! That would be my perfect Ultra...though this Texas Tea finish is a really growing on me...I love to mod one of these with a set of Humbuckers in both the neck and bridge. Can't help but wonder what it would look like with a black mother of pearl pick-guard and all gold part's! Oh baby! Thanks for sharing! YOU ROCK! 😎🎸🐦🤘
I'm not a huge fan of noiseless pickups in general, but the Texas Tea color on these Is probably my favorite Fender color. It's just awesome, especially with that gold pickguard.
They sound perfect Its a good trade off with the v5 vs v4 IMO Try one if u get the chance
I'm so glad that you're into Fender now!
Fun Fact: Eric Clapton, a well-known Strat player did a commercial for Michelob in the 90s. Maybe they are planning a "reunion tour" sponsored by Michelob Ultra and the Fender Ultra Strat?
Doesn’t Eric Clapton have peripheral neuropathy? It’s real difficult for him to play now
I picked up two of these
I made sure that Both have serial numbers that begin with “20” meaning made during at least this year . And yes inside these are gen 5 noiseless , so they did update the pickup situation. I have “ Cobra Blue with maple fretboard SSS” & also “ 3 tone Sunburst with Rosewood fretboard SSS “ .
I have the texas tea sss i love this guitar.
Best strat ever made 🤟🙂
Love that Stratocaster finish and pickguard. Off subject, but I find myself laughing when you do,after saying something funny. Lol,thank you so much for all you do. I don't comment much but I'm a big fan of your channel. Take care
“The nut is made of bone...” Sounds like an old blues lyric.
JohnnyArt Pavlou sounds like skeletons having sex to me
@@SyzygyEmbrace the bones are their dollars
It’s like a kidney stone but instead of to much sugar, it’s cannibalism
Or dead person sex
OK, I have been considering a Strat for quite a while now...wasn't sure what I wanted....saw this video last week and it pushed me over the edge. I bought one less than an hour ago...I feel a bit sick about it because in total I paid just over 2k....I paid off one of my credit cards just hours before! ugh....I hope I made a decent purchase.
How would you rate your purchase now that you have had the guitar for a while?
please let me know if you liked. I want to buy a Fender American Stratocastet but I don't if I get a Ultra SSS or HSS or Professional SSS or HSS or if a built my own. Similar the Ultra but with differents pickups. I want a strato sunburst, maple neck...
Heck yeah, that's a beautiful instrument to have for the rest of your life.
@@leandromatias86 G&L
Way too late with this comment but keep in mind a USA made strat will still sell for quite an amount if desperately need the cash! That aside, it's an insanely good guitar that'll last a lifetime. You can always change stuff later such as stainless steel frets or different pick ups.
Hey dude really nice demonstration. There are tons of videos that focus on the tone of these ultras but i am glad you went into all this trouble to show the workmanship (and minor flaws) of the instruments. I am torn between this and the HSS version. Is it possible that you could do a tonal comparison between the 2 in all positions but especially i want to see what is the difference in the single coil bridge setting for both (HSS and SSS). Thanx again
Single coils have their own distinct sound whereas the sound of humbuckers require external sources to be coloured to your liking (eqs, pedals, amps). Single coils aren't noisey like they used to be, so the purpose of humbuckers are almost pointless. You want Strat sound? Go single coil.
I work at a Guitar store and we received an Ultra strat that had a non functioning bridge pick-up,
Reminded me of this video
I love the ultraburst color. So I just bought the Tele Ultra in ultraburst with the rosewood fret board. Love it
Hi there ! Nice observations , another reason why the Texas tea finish seems so familiar - check out the Fender American Deluxe Montego Black finish .(2004-2010 models ).
It’s exactly the same Color ,except they’ve just used white knobs and pick up covers on the ultra (Instead of black ).
It’s just a branding thing of calling it “ Texas tea “.
I own the same finish , but it’s 2008 American Deluxe , Montego Bay .;)
Loved the review ! Cheers !
This thing sounds amazing!! Nice playing Trogly!
I have two guitars with the fender locking tuners and haven't had any problems at all with them. You do have to make sure you tighten up the locking part. The S1 switch works like the neck addition button on the fender Performer series guitars
There should be a discount for the ones using old parts. Dirty on Fender's part. Great catching that!
Is there any chance of you acquiring & documenting the Page Dragon Telecaster? Really enjoy your channel. Thanks.
4:36 That is a cool reflection. It looked like a different shaped guitar for a second or two:)
Just placed an order this exact model and color. 5-7 days I can't wait!
Same. How do u like it. Does the pick guard bother u?
Love the in-depth review on this beautiful Fender guitar.
Austin that was an amazing strat and I loved the flamed too. I appreciate your channel and I have learned a lot.
yo trebble bleeds go on the volume pot. this guitar has the normal caps on the tone pots, found in almost every guitar
Yep. And the PCB on the volume pot is basically Fender's Tone Saver 250k (the treble bleed circuit) optimized for space.
That is me beautiful Strat! I do t quite get the big deal about the cutout at the neck though. I have played the same Fender Strat since 2003 and have never had a issue reaching the high frets.
Very cool color - but it's clear that Fender wouldn't be competitive in the high-end market if it weren't for the name on the headstock. Not sure what the issue is with modernizing their designs for players while keeping reissue-type guitars in the lineup for the collectors.
They make charvel. Just get one of those. There's a reason every high end brand rips their designs off
Do a real 70s Strat or a Vintera 70s Strat!
YESSSS!
Yeah. A Texas tea American ultra strat sss, and the 70s vintera strat in natural, are probably the two best looking stratocaster designs ever!
Seems a bit cheap for Fender to repurpose old parts in a guitar that retails for that much money.
I agree with Dave...Top of line production...with last years parts....sorta...lol
@@richardb8317 The pickups are new. The PCB board does not affect sound. Watch the video: ua-cam.com/video/yY00D1kLXWc/v-deo.html
So Fender is fucking their customers, with generation 4 pickups instead of 5. Shame on them, thanks for such a high price.
I agree, fender just do a few subtle changes, raid the parts bin, then charge way
too much for a few changes, as the prices keep going up the less they will sell.
My Ultra is 5th Generation. High E and D string pole pieces are same height. My 4th Generation Elite E & D different heights. 5th Generation pcb are Red for HSS hot pickups. Blue for SSS pcb. 4th Generation tan color. Maybe 100 or so Ultras had the 4th Generation PCB.
I'll take 90s Ultra.
Indeed!!
I think the only improvement is sculpted heel. I honestly think you get most of the benefit of the neck heel just by rounding off the corner. I prefer the spoke wheel for the truss rod.
The PCB at the Volume control is the treble bleed and the Capacitor at the tone control is the Tone Capacitor.
Ooh. That 90s ultra is pretty awesome. Drool. I like them both. But the older the berry the sweeter the juice.
Jeremy Jones its the blacker the berry but i get what you mean hahaha
like always done with love to detail & huge knowledge of instrument history. i am with you trogly. Thanx a lot !
Hey trogley the yellow iridite finish on the aluminum pickguard will wear through if you scratch it deep enough. It's like stained aluminum.
I heard you say the thing about the increased price a couple times, but it should be noted that actually the Elite series used to be $1,899 (that’s what I paid for mine). It dropped in price to $1699 towards the end of its cycle.
A couple years later and the Ultras actually went up in price. Currently $2100 usd
@@ISaudio just bought a mocha burst strat in unplayed condition for $1599 plus tax from my local mom and pop, great guitar. My butterscotch ash body elite tele is still my love though. The necks are nearly identical on paper but the elite is butter.
They are now 2,969.99 in Canada at Long & Mcquade
I just bought an ultra in mocha burst, great guitar and the S1 switch is a good addition and adds to the versatility.
I like the mocca burst the most
How are you liking the ultra noiseless pickups, now that you’ve had it a couple of years?
@@newspapertaxi-fredrodgers96 sold it a while back, loved the guitar but something else came up
i have ordered one, with sunburst and rosewood and i like it
Excellent review and great attention to detail! Helps me decide on purchasing and what to look for. Thanks!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a Wilkinson nut on the 90's Strat Plus Ultra you showed? It doesn't look like an LSR but I couldn't really see it that well. They did switch to an LSR at some point before those went out of production, I'm pretty sure.
Lewis A. I know you weren’t asking me, but yes you are correct Wilkinson nut
2005 they did a montego black american deluxe with a gold pock guard. I loved that guitar. Lsr rolling nut.
The comfort cuts make these fenders a must have for me.
I've never wanted a green guitar but a Texas Green Tea finish would be awesome.
Hey, you didn't use the tremolo bar! Just kidding. I'm revisiting. I just ordered the 2023 version with gen 5 vintage noiseless single coil pickups in surf green with roasted maple neck, a Sweetwater exclusive. Thank you for your review of the earlier Ultra iteration!
Love this channel. Many thanks.
The switch is just a David Glimoure mod. He used to add a toggle switch to his guitars to add the neck pickup to whatever is selected at that moment.
That's quite interesting. I've got this fender strat that was sold for like a year, so it's quite rare, but it's got the opposite. It's got a button and when you press it it adds the bridge pickup. So you can have the neck and bridge with no middle pickup and it sounds like a tele that way. You can even do the 4th position (neck and middle) and add the bridge to that and it sounds incredibly quacky. I've never seen another fender strat do it that way, so it's interesting to see something similar
David apparently doesnt use that switch tho....
@@TheZooropaBaby Do you mean he doesn't actively use it, or are you saying he doesn't do that mod to his guitars? Cause it's actually a quite famous mod.
@@duffman18 That's actually the same as here, just executed differently. They both add the same options for selected pickups, except the five way toggle switch will be in a different position.
@@duffman18 That is the MIM Deluxe series. it also has the the cut out on the heel. i have it, its awesome!! check it out, its not rare. www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StratDSP2CS--fender-deluxe-stratocaster-2-color-sunburst-with-pau-ferro-fingerboard
New strings are pulling more on the springs ,only needs some adjustment ,great video austin
Excellent review you always do the best reviews ✌🏼❤️🎸😎
To be honest it would be fun if you demoed the american performer series after you're done with this series becouse american performer is the cheapest american made fender
@@primeDecomposition i was going to buy that tele in penny, but i decided to buy a meteora, maybe one day :)
I love my American Performer Tele
finally they decided to add in strats gilmourish "the seven-way switch"
The finish looks very good. I once had a '99 US Strat that had a painted maple fretboard. The paint was up on the side of the frets in higher positions and broke/peeled off in larger flakes while playing, displaying raw wood of the fretboard. When I sold it online the buyer wanted to give it back. I was done with Fender after that until I bought a Squire Tele two years ago, which had the satin PU finish like yours. Worlds apart.
My '95 had finish so thick it was refretted without removing it. Giant SS frets, hip deep in finish - they feel like medium jumbo. If I could pry it away from my daughter - I gave it to her - I'd strip it and oil finish it.
Staggering of pickup magnets is only a matter of gently pushing in or out whilst bobbin is removed from base, then reasemble.
I like the vmod generation best. Even the fat50s gen but prefer neck on vmod. No need for Ultra.
Buying a new one I’d also prefer nice bright maple and letting it age on its own.
I never liked strats. Love Telecasters and all the bass guitars. However between your recent Fender videos and Ola Englund showing his new Stratocaster, I have been more receptive and honestly, like the clean and distorted tones both of you have done.
Love the videos, channel and you doing what you love as well. Thanks for changing my mind on the classic Stratocaster!
Biggest difference for me between Strat and Tele, look at what fret the neck strap button is at.
18:48 Call me crazy, but I think they sound different, the second being brighter and fuller, more 'present', richer.
For sure,i must be crazy too
Great job literally taking this guitar apart and going through the craftsmanship and setup. I think the other two positions with the S1 change the way the pickups are wired in the circuit. Without S1 engaged in position 4 the neck and middle pickup are in parallel, with it engaged they are wired in series (I might have it backwards), but that's the idea.
Clarification: according to the Fender's service manual, all pickups are parallel when combined. If you activate the S1 switch, the neck pickup will be "always-on." So, for positions 4 and 5 the switch is redundant. Position 3 will turn into a duplicate of position 4.
Happy to see more Fenders on The Trogley Show!!!
Hey hey hey, I checked my 4th Gen Elite vs my 5th Gen Ultra and my Ultra is legit. Comparing high E string pole piece and D string pole piece same height to be legit. Checked yes. Then Checked Elite and poles pieces are definitely different. Must see up close but definitely different. My Ultra vs my Elite are different pickups. Can tell by color of PCB board too. Current Ultras will have a red (HSS) or blue (SSS) color depending on the model and will also say "Ultra" on the silkscreen. Also get a Certificate of Authenticity. I got well over 500 on the serial number. So the first few or the first few hundred were mixed. After that they are pure Ultra. Checked S1 switch settings and which tone control controls which pickup combo.
I played a few of the Jorgensen Hellecasters when they came out and still wish i had picked one up, they were a really cool guitar
Unrelated to the Strat, what do you think of the 1966 Epiphone SGs?
Can't complain with a Texas Tea strat! That Jazz bass Texas Tea is over the top on good looks I think! (its awesome)
That S1 switch option is a feature I've had and used for several years on My G&L S-500 Tribute. I paid $350 for it and prefer it to any Strat that I've ever played.
I, too, have an '05 clear red S-500 Tribute in great shape. I added Sperzel locking tuners, and graphite nut, cleaned up the fret ends, added copper shielding, and this baby rocks! Plays great! I bought it used from GC. It basically just needed a set up.
Fender American Ultra is different. Especially the HSS Strat.
@@robertclinger7351 They are great guitars, my S-500 and Fallout Tributes have better fretwork than my American Standard Telecaster or my American Professional Jazzmaster. G&L put out amazing low cost imports that come stock with great pickups and bridges/trems. The nut and tuners are ok but like you I replaced them with locking tuners and Graphtech nuts. I replaced the pickups, pots, switch and jack in my Fallout to a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Bareknuckle True Grit P90 in the neck but honestly I didn't even need to. The only thing that was necessary was the jack because the stock jack was a little noisy.
I have no need to buy a Strat because my S-500 gets me close enough and I love it. I loved that I could the ability to use all pickups at once and the neck and bridge pickup together. I also prefer the master treble and bass bleed over the traditional tone knobs and I prefer G&L trem and saddles over Fender's.
@@JG-ux7of the imports are not G&Ls. If you ever own one and get use to the necks you'll never be able bond with a tribute. G&L pays the factories $40 per box, they don't have anything to do with the construction of the instrument. The only thing american on any tribute are the mfds, the trem, saddles, wiring is all indo. They are great guitars, you love your guitar even with it falling way short of the us standards. Go find a used s500 and you'll have a guitar that Jake from Umphreeys plays every night when he could easily buy any guitar he wants. G&Ls also use a Passive treble bass system.
That color reminds me of my 2008 MIM Strat I used to have. It was a 3-tone burst, but it had sparkles in it so it looked kind of rootbeer-esque. Wish I still had my Strat. Had to sell it, sadly, to pay bills. If I could find another one for the price I had paid I'd never let it go. Played really nice, and sounded great too.
That Strat with gold hardware... Perfection! 🤌🙌✌️
Are those frets gold-tinted? Damn, this is the single most beautiful strat I've seen. Am really a tele guy, but might just give this a go!
I liked the 90s one better; ebony fretboard, micro-tilt.
John Splitt this new version is a sad attempt at previous Ultras, ebony board is enough to win!
@@horacebond9394 But I want a maple board like the new Ultra. The new Ultra has a vintage vibe with the new appointments. Hotter HSS pickups work for me. I have one and I love it. They looked all the way back to 1954 for this new Ultra. The only mod I would make is to put on a bypass button like on the Elite HSS.
Texas Tea looks the best
Love the Ultras! Great guitars! Had one on the workbench for a client that had terrible fret sprout! Those stainless frets are awesome but they will chew up a diamond file pretty fast if you do have to round them over. I havent had one of the Ultras or Elites with maple that didnt have fret issues from the Factory.
I don’t know man I got no clue
What a gorgeous guitar 😍
I miss the wheel adjustment- made the Elite look more versatile and a modern fender. Might as well just mould a contoured heal into my American Professional Strat 🤘
I'm always amazed at how long it takes to get interested in the important stuff: How does it SOUND and how does it PLAY???
Well... he puts time stamps for the video in the comments which not a lot of people do... so take advantage of his hard work into these videos
Idk I actually very much appreciated all the extra, you can get a quick demo anywhere and most people who buy these probably try them first I know i did before buying mine
Starting to dig the Fenders? You should keep that one 😉
The bridge and neck one sounds so good
Great video Trogly. I find the bridge and neck is a really great tone on my stuff. Dont really care for the tone of all 3 pickups on. Have a elite with the shawbucker that is a really cool guitar with the s1 and passing lane button. Passing lane button just by passes all controls and its just the shawbucker at full throttle. Doesnt matter were you have pickup selector.
@@IrisGalaxis its kinda between the tone control and lower i dont have the guitar in front of me at the moment ill check when i get home. Its a small white button that is a push in to activate and push it in again and it pops out and deactivates.
Look up a stratocaster elite with the humbucker in the bridge postion. You should be able to see it. Mine is a 2017.
Its only on the elite model with the humbucker in the bridge postion. Hss. The ultra migjt have it but not sure. Any thing with the three single coil pickups didn't have the passing lane button.
@@IrisGalaxis your welcome luka its a great guitar.
A little card reads : This guitar subject to specification change without warning
I had a Fender Ultra Jazz bass for a bit. I discovered that it actually had the wrong neck installed from the factory, along with the wrong bridge. Fenders QC is really all over the place.
Eric Clapton Fender Stratocaster Blackie
I think there's a Kenny Wayne Ultra out and that has block inlays.
The scoop reminds me of the Silver Sky. They wouldn't do it for the John Mayer sign model and it costs them his endorsement
Trogly, I love the Texas Tea paint. Otherwise - by your description only - I would consider these a waste of money. If others enjoy them, great.
Why aren't guitars given the attention to details prior to leaving the shop? At $1,700 I can't imagine allowing a non-perfect guitar out of the shop.
Do fingerboards often have satin put on after frets are installed?
Hey friends, if you have the opportunity to see John Jorgenson, do it. He is a tremendous player that needs to be seen; not just listened to. He's also a very, nice guy.
Thanks for the review & hopefully answers to my questions. Chris
Thanks for the tip, I've not listened to John Jorgenson in a long time.
That is gonna change right now.
That color was an option on some of the higher end Chryslers from the 90s and early 2000s. I'm thinking the double stickers are QC and final QC. What would be cool is if Fender could have a circuit ind the middle position whoth the switch on that would double or add some other effects to it. Think what I'd change about this guitar I'd have the whole neck and fretboard in a baked look. Good they changed th case or at least the latches. The one I have also can be used with strat or tele but the latches have to be checked to make sure the caught the lid part of the latch. Thought I had mine closed up when I went to move it the lid popped open and the guitar flopped over on to the lid yanking loose the straps that hold the lid from opening further. I was able to fix that with a little gorilla glue but now I double check the latches.
I wouldn't have been surprised. I ordered a 2019 American Original 60's P Bass and it showed up with the WRONG PICKUPS in it. I contacted Fender, confirmed they were wrong. Talked to the company I purchased from and they said it would take 3-4 months to get the replacements from Fender... I returned it and bought a Music Man.
That bridge+neck position I used to have it in my strat with an extra 2 way toggle switch xd also I had another switch that made the bridge and middle pickup being in series and, when you put the 3 pickups working, you can use them all in series xD
Aw man, I wish you hadn't mentioned the giant knobs, now I can't unsee them!
FlyingV2112 * you won’t see them if you’re playing the guitar
The biggest issue I have with this lineup is the lack of options for Rosewood with the better colors (texas tea, cobra blue) in SSS config. There are too few options with rosewood and it's a big shame.
$1800 axe because you like the finish?
He lost me when he said it all came down to looks...
Neck and bridge would be more of a tele sound or should be. Not sure how Gibson is involved if you had P90s I suppose. Great job thanks for the review, love the channel
I have a 2012 strat, which was the year they switched to Fat 50's pickups but mine still had the American Standard series pickups in it. Someone told me it was because they made the pickup switch a couple of months into the year or something like that.
Repurposing old parts in a new product? Leo would be proud.
Yes if it was sold on a budget... not as an ultra expensive model.
It's what Ford used to do at their major UK plant in England back in the 80's - why vehicles such as the Granada, Capri and Transit van shared brake parts, radiators, etc. Particularly when a model was going out of production - saves the cost of developing and manufacturing a new specific part, adapt the car to take the existing part instead.
In regards to the knobs it looks like they went back to the original 1954 knobs found only 9n the 1st run of strats and also on the 50th anyversy 1954 strat that they made 1954 guitars in the run. Very cool if this is the case.
That Texas tea color is amazing