It’s obvious Fender has spent a lot of time in R&D for the American Ultra Jazz. The midrange is wonderfully present without any of the hollow quality that sometimes plagues less-than-perfect Jazz-style instruments. Fender.com; ... American Ultra Jazz Bass® V. $4,299.00 5 colors Compare. When initially playing the Ultra, two of its new features were glaringly obvious in five seconds. There's that low end solidity, the warmth, and then that more mid-heavy sound that pares nicely with a pick. PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo: The PG Review, 3. Treble and bass controls share one stacked tone control with the midrange position of the other stacked control. Who is the best acoustic guitarist of 2020? Fender American Ultra Jazz V Electric Bass, Maple Fingerboard (with Case) Your bass tone can go lower! Both the Precision and the Jazz are super-comfortable to play. I first noticed this with the launch of Fender’s Elite series a few years back, and it was the quality and innovation of the Elite basses that drew me back to Fender. The pickups are even more punchy and noiseless. The Precision's controls are set up similarly, though only the split-coil is operational in the passive mode. Fender literally wrote the book on electric basses, laying the foundation for musical innovation and evolution. You'll find this to be a on-the-money when it comes to classic P-Bass tones. I was also pleasantly surprised with the fullness of the 1st and 2nd strings with the bridge pickup favored—a big selling point for me. But then, we are drawn back to the gold-foil logo on the headstock, and the idea of a premium US-built Fender is never going to go out of style, whatever its vintage. The ergonomically shaped body has deep cut-out.. Sure, this is Fender taking a leap into the future, but they have also been mindful of the past, and when you pick up a Precision or a Jazz there are certain expectations of tone and feel, and, ultimately, these are not going to alienate anyone whose favourite bass predates the colour TV. Let me start off by saying that I am not a Jazz bass fan, in fact dare I say, I strongly dislike Jazz basses. I had a hard time forcing myself to dial in other tones, simply because the home-base sound was so good. The Jazz's midrange control is similarly musical, adding an expansive range and an up-front punch that's ideal for busier passages, Jaco-style fingerstyle, that sort of thing. That includes the Modern “D” neck shape and compound radius, Noiseless pickups, and redesigned preamp. Buyers' guides to all the best music gear, Arturia responds to Behringer’s KeyStep MIDI keyboard lookalike Swing: “This is not fair competition”, The 12 best audio interfaces 2020: top audio interfaces for music-making and production, Free music samples: download loops, hits and multis from SampleRadar, The best DAWs 2020: the best digital audio workstations for PC and Mac, Bidding starts at $1 million, as Eric Clapton's 1954 Fender Stratocaster ”Slowhand” is up for auction. MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The three-band EQ offers wide-ranging tones. The satin finish is a winner, too. CLA EchoSphere: Waves’ free Black Friday VST plugin is a slap delay and plate reverb from Chris Lord-Alge. The Precision Ultra has the same set of controls as the Jazz, although in passive mode only the neck-position split coil pickup is operational. With just a slight boost of the low end on the onboard pre, Miller’s clean, scooped, and big slap tone was there to be devoured. The logo is inscribed in gold on a chrome hardware bass, which is rare, but flows nicely with the yellowish hue of the maple. It’s obvious Fender has spent a lot of time in R&D for the American Ultra Jazz. I don’t rely on the bridge pickup that often, but of course I had to see if this modern version of the Jazz could deliver in the Jaco zone. The Fender American Ultra Jazz V bass has an alder body for a wide tonal range and Fender Ultra Noiseless pickups for zero hum. Here comes my review of the Fender Jazz Bass V Ultra. With the pickup selector control set right in the middle and the tone control rolled off ever so slightly, the bass delivered the robust, growly fingerstyle tone that a Jazz bass has to be able to offer. You can reach him at vbroden@yahoo.com, #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:100%;} The newly designed noiseless pickups and a more ergonomically sculpted heel were the big talking points with the electric guitars, and these have made their way onto both the Fender American Ultra Jazz Bass and Precision Bass. This is a worthy update. This is pretty common, however, and wasn’t audible at all when playing though an amp. But is the American Ultra Series really such a radical update on the American Elite models, which were introduced in 2016 to widespread acclaim? The finishes are pretty tidy, too, with our Jazz resplendent in Texas Tea – an oily off-black colour. Thank you for signing up to Musicradar. The designers in charge of conceiving new products for the original brand or model keep their eyes on the custom market, and take its innovations into consideration when redesigning or tweaking. If the bridge pickup is close to the Jazz, the neck pickup and the EQ is positioned just nicely to unearth a heap of interesting tones that should please most players. The changes and updates to the look and design are both clever and commonsense. The American Ultra Series features the new HiMass bridge, a new preamp and Noiseless pickups as standard. I feel that Fender’s preamp compliments the instrument rather than changes it completely, which all too often is the case with onboard preamps. The Jazz Bass offers you the option to run it active or passive. It is one of the finest Fender has come up with in a while, but then the new Mocha Burst, sadly not available for the Jazz, is another stunner. The Precision Bass has a split-coil Ultra Precision Bass pickup in the middle position and an Ultra Jazz Bass in bridge while the Jazz has two Ultra Noiseless Vintage Jazz Bass pickups in the neck and bridge positions. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? Overall the bass … I did notice a very small hiss from the preamp while recording the Ultra Jazz direct. The attention to detail warrants the price tag—which is still positioned below many other bass makers’ boutique Jazz … All Rights Reserved NBD, Fender Ultra Jazz... the bass everyone already hates, but refuses to try. The Fender American Ultra Jazz Bass V sells for $2,199.99, which puts it somewhere near the upper-middle of … Visit our corporate site. There was a problem. $3,299.00 […] I wanted to know what many players would likely be concerned about when playing the modern version of this classic: Does it sound like a proper J in passive mode? The famously fast, slender neck on the American Ultra Jazz Bass V sports Fender’s Modern D profile, which, along with its super-slick Ultra Satin finish, enables enhanced maneuverability. In passive mode, the three-band EQ is offline so you only have as master tone control for tweaking. It boasts a bolt-on maple neck, solid alder body, maple fingerboard and a beautiful satin finish that is quintessentially Fender. The midrange control is similarly musical, adding an expansive range and an up-front punch that's ideal for busier passages, Jaco-style fingerstyle, that sort of thing. System Activated The Precision Bass has a split-coil Ultra Precision Bass pickup in the middle position and an Ultra Jazz Bass in bridge while the Jazz has two Ultra Noiseless Vintage Jazz Bass pickups in the neck and bridge positions.