[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey.
This is Jamie Kime.
In this video, we're taking a look at the new Fender American
Ultra Stratocaster guitar.
It's available in a three single-coil model as well as
an HSS configuration.
The Ultra line is the most advanced series
of Fender production line instruments,
with modern features that will benefit players onstage
as well as in the studio.
It's
Comfortable right out of the box and ready for performance.
The sound you heard at the top was
a guitar plugged into a couple of pedals down here.
There's an overdrive and a delay,
and I'm going right into the front of a 68 Custom Deluxe
reverb.
We'll get into some distorted tones in a minute,
but right now, let's hear it clean.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
Let's talk about a few of the features on this guitar.
We'll start with the neck.
It's a modern D shape with slightly wider shoulders
than a C neck shape.
It's got an ultra satin finish on the back
of the neck for an incredibly smooth feel with none
of the stickiness.
It's got a great tint to it.
It's almost vintage looking.
There's a maple fretboard on this guitar,
but it's also available in Rosewood.
It has rolled edges for a nice, comfortable feel on the neck,
22 medium jumbo frets, a compound radius
that goes from 10 to 14 inches, so it's
much flatter up at the top for comfortable bends.
It's got a bone nut as well as locking tuners
for tuning stability as well as easy string changes.
The neck is a huge part of what makes
this guitar so amazing to play.
It's not too small and not too big.
It fits right in your hands and feels like home.
One of the first things I noticed when I played
this guitar was the heel.
Every ultra model has a sculpted contour on the back,
making access to the upper register super comfortable.
It's the most accessible heel that Fender has ever designed.
It's tapered, fades into the neck,
and it makes access to the upper registers easier than ever.
And it's super comfortable all around.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
The Ultra bodies are alder or ash depending on the color.
The transparent colors get the ash.
Solid colors are alder.
This is an amazing new color called plasma red burst,
and it's on an ash body.
The pick guard on this one is a three-ply mint green.
The pick guard colors differ depending
on the color of the guitar.
We've got to talk about these pickups.
The Ultra Noiseless Pickups are the newest version
of Fender's noiseless pickups, and they
offer beautiful single-coil Strat tones
without the 60-cycle hum.
Three Ultra Vintage Single Coils are on this model,
and on the HSS, we add an Ultra Double Tap Humbucker along
with two Ultra Noiseless Hot Single Coils for all the best
Strat tones without the noise.
A great feature on the Ultra Strats
is the S1 switching, which is hidden right here on the volume
knob.
On the three single-coil model, that
lets us add in the neck pickup to positions 1 and 2,
giving us pickup combinations not typically available
on a traditional Strat.
Let's take a listen to those.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
OK.
I switched over to the HSS model in cobra blue,
which is a great new color.
This one has a Rosewood fingerboard.
And here's what that neck contour looks like on this one.
This Double Tap Humbucker is really
big-sounding with a lot of clarity.
Also, we can split the humbucker to get
a really nice single-coil tone.
Typically, when you split a lower output humbucker,
the single coil sound is usually kind of weak and thin.
With the Double Tap, Fender has come up
with a way with the S1 switch to split the coil
and still have it retain the body
and feel of a traditional single-coil pickup.
It also matches well with the other pickups,
which is great for the combo positions.
Let's run through some of those.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
On the controls, each model has a five-way switch--
standard function there-- along with the S1.
And on the bridge, we have a two-point deluxe synchronized
tremolo with a pop-in arm.
OK.
Let's take a listen to this guitar
with some pedals, maybe some drive
and a little bit of delay.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
And there you have it.
The Fender American Ultra Stratocaster--
all of the best modern features with amazing comfort
and classic Strat tones.
Learn more about these guitars and the rest of the Ultra line
at Fender.com.
Thanks a lot, and we'll see you soon.
[PLAYING GUITAR]