Fender has marked its coin in the music industry because they have designed an excellent range of guitars to make sure there is something for every musician, irrespective of the music genre.
In fact, the company has a premium guitar range, which includes Fender Ultra and Fender Elite. So, if you want a guitar with advanced features and performance, it is important to understand the differences between these guitars!
Comparing the Fender Elite vs Ultra
| Features | Fender Elite | Fender Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Alder and body wood | Ash body |
| Neck | D-shape neck with satin finish | C-shape with satin finish and maple fretboard |
| Switch | S-1 switch | S-1 switch with ten pickups |
| Tuners | Rear locking tuners | Locking tuners |
| Tone | Full-body, warm, and classic music | Bright and light |
Fender Elite
Launched in 2016, Fender Elite is designed with a refreshed look and a headstock logo that improves the visual appeal of the guitar.
The guitar is designed with rubber control knobs with a soft-touch feature, which makes it easy to make changes. The guitar is integrated with an advanced neck shape that improves overall control over the guitar.
As compared to the previous Fender guitars with micro-tilt adjustment, this guitar has an advanced truss-rod adjustment with a wheel-style design to have better controls over the guitar’s truss.
1. Design
The shape of the guitar has a slightly new design and heel geometry. The guitar is integrated with noiseless pickups and S-1 switching, which can be easily activated with the help of a push switch.
The switch is integrated into the volume control knob’s top. The best thing about this guitar is the deeper contouring along with jumbo frets and compound-radius fingerboard that helps achieve a deep and rich sound.
The guitar has a color-dependent body wood, but you can also find Fender Elite in maple wood and rosewood boards. The guitar’s hardware has an exceptional twin-post vibrato, which makes it easy to raise and lower the bridge.
The vibrato has been integrated with a pop-in arm as well as six block saddles that improve the functionality of the bridge.
There are rear-lock tuners with a chrome finishing that helps reduce the slippage of strings since it has a tremolo. As a result, the tuning problems will be reduced as the strings will remain in one place.
The tuners have low-height posts that enhance the back angle on bass strings. There is a string tree available that increase the back angle on the two top strings.
The S-1 switching system of the guitar allows the users to combine different pickups to create different types of sound. There is also a passing lane button between the pair of tone pots, which makes it easy to set up the bridge pickup.
The controls are designed with soft-touch knobs and rubber covering to ensure better grip. In addition, it has a urethane finish that creates a smooth finish.
2. Sound
The neck has a C-to-D neck shape that looks pretty subtle. This is because when you move up the guitar’s neck, the shoulder of the C shape’s lower position will fill out, resulting in the flat back and contemporary aesthetics.
The neck shape is particularly chosen to complement the jumbo frets and compound radius. It has a low setup of 0.009s, which creates a mainstream feel.
The guitar has been integrated with an S-1 switch out, and you can use the first tone control to maintain the neck pickup.
There is a no-lead tone 2 that helps monitor the bridge and middle pickups. As far as the sound is concerned, the guitar has a bright and light tonality, and you can increase the treble-to-bass stagger to minimize the gaps in pickup heights.
Overall, it helps create a classic sound. There is a magnet stagger in the guitar, which results in a softer string response.
It has a refined sound and a higher output. When used at a low volume, it can be used to play the jazz songs, while playing the rock rhythms requires a higher volume setting.
However, you need to keep in mind that the high volume and gain will lead to a background hum, but it’s still less than the single-coil guitars
It’s safe to say that Fender Elite is suitable for creating contemporary as well as vintage sound, but you will need to upgrade the guitar to make contemporary music.
Pros
- Improved noiseless pickup
- Advanced neck profile
- Expanded sound range
Cons
- Need an upgrade to play contemporary music
Fender Ultra
Fender Ultra is an advanced guitar and is a modern overhaul of one of its older models. This guitar is widely used by people who like to play the guitar regularly and want improved tonal versatility.
The guitar has been designed with an S-1 switch, which adds versatility to the music because it can cut the highs in first and second positions.
The guitar is known to create a warm and rounded tone which makes it suitable for creating rhythm sections and bluesy music.
In addition, the guitar can easily shift from blues music to rock music and country music without any hurdles. Overall, Fender Ultra is a comfortable and playable guitar.
1. Design
The guitar has been designed with the Modern-D neck profile with ten inches to fourteen inches thickness, which means the neck will become flatter as you move up.
It has an extremely subtle taper, which adds to the speed, efficiency, and comfort. The guitar is designed with a sleek and smooth satin finish on the neck, and the maple wood is properly toned.
In addition, there are beveled edges to ensure buttery music transmission.
The neck is integrated with a curved heel joint as well as contouring and promises free access to the bridge and beck. The guitar weighs around 8.2lbs and is known for a transparent ash grain reflection.
The integration of the neck into the guitar creates the bottom-end presence, which does a great job of mellowing down the treble in the sound spectrum.
The guitar is integrated with noiseless pickups to add contemporary fullness and punch to the music. Similarly, it can be used for rock music.
The volume control of the guitar has been designed with a treble bleed capacitor to help retain the high end during the roll-off.
In fact, the knobs are designed with tactile and soft-touch rubber edges on the knobs to ensure higher control over the knobs. These features make the guitar a versatile and impressive choice and provide value for money.
2. Sound
Fender Ultra is one of the most addictive-to-play and convenient guitars, given the defined character. This is because the guitar is integrated with a unique set of pickups.
The guitar is extremely well-balanced when it comes down to the body and neck. It has a restrained mid-range, with which the sound will have higher clarity, and the chords create a transparent sound texture.
The integration of humbucker leads to a thick character. In addition, it has been designed with the treble bleed circuit that helps achieve constant tone, even when the volume is lowered.
Having said that, it’s a great choice for situating the guitar in a mix. There are three noiseless strat pickups that improve the warm and full-body sounds, along with a higher emphasis on the midrange.
This focus on midrange helps add smoothness to the tones and can significantly tame the quacks in the music.
The best thing about Fender Ultra is the double-tap feature that allows coil tapping without causing any volume loss or severe changes in the tone.
Overall, it’s an exceptional choice with the locking tuners and push-button control to make quick changes.
Pros
- Improved playability
- Extensive range of tones
- Contoured design
- Rubber-covered knobs for better grip
Cons
- Not suitable for left-handed people
The Final Verdict
Both of these guitars are pretty amazing as they have been designed with cutting-edge features and better control of the features. However, the final choice depends on the music genre.
The Fender Elite is a suitable choice for guitarists who want full-body and warm sounds, while Fender Ultra promises bright and light tones.
Neither one of these expensive guitars is suitable for hard rock music