FENDER American Ultra Jazz and Precision

Yet more Fender P and J variants, you say? Let’s see what Stuart Clayton has to say, in this in-depth first look at the new Ultra series

- Stuart Clayton

The latest offerings from Fender come in the form of the American Ultra series, an evolution of the American Elite range, aimed at ‘discerning players who demand the ultimate in precision, performance, and tone’. These new models consist of Jazz and Precision basses—the latter with a PJ pickup configuration—with a five-string Jazz option also available. Retailing at $2,009 apiece, they occupy that tricky space at the top end of the mid-range price bracket. With that figure in mind, we’ll be expecting good things. We were sent the four-string Jazz and Precision basses for review.

Build Quality

Each instrument comes with a moulded hardshell case that has a TSA-accepted centre-locking latch, a ‘military grade’ outer shell, and a comfortable handle. The instruments themselves are certainly eye-catching: our Jazz bass might appear black, but it’s actually a very deep bronze color referred to as Texas Tea. Paired with the gold-colored aluminium pickguard, maple board and black Pearloid blocks, it’s suggestive of the instrument’s rich heritage, whilst more modern accoutrements such as the chrome HiMass bridge remind us that we’re looking at an instrument built for today’s player.