Bonnie Raitt once said, “I’m no Ry Cooder, but I don’t buy ‘em for the colours either.”
One look at this stunner of a guitar might change that habit. The 75th Anniversary American Ultra II Tele looks like the traditional Telecaster body shape has been dipped in liquid gold, which is how Fender describes the finish. I suspect they were inspired by looking through a glass of good whiskey!
Then there’s a hint of green shining through, just like the worn edges of an old Gold Top. I don’t know why the matching headstock is not a more common feature on Fender guitars, especially those with dark wood fingerboards, and it looks great here. All of this golden bliss is set off by a matte-black scratch plate, black chrome hardware and some gold appointments.
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It plays and sounds as good as it looks.
The 75th anniversary of the Telecaster is being celebrated with a five-guitar series, all presenting distinct playing experiences, features and looks at various price points. The production run will be limited to this anniversary year only. The Ultra II is the top of the Fender production line, and this limited edition shares features with other Ultra II models but has, just like the finish, unique qualities.
They all have a comfortable, contoured alder body with a sculpted neck heel that gives unrestricted access to the top notes. The quarter-sawn maple neck has a modern narrow ‘D’ profile that sits really comfortably in the hand (quarter-sawn wood has finer grain and more strength). A 25.4-35.56cm (10-14 inches in the old money) compound radius ebony fingerboard -so smooth, like the satin finish on the neck- has rolled edges and medium jumbo frets.
Then there’s the short post locking tuners, which, Fender claims, give a more consistent break angle over the nut for more sustain, better tuning stability and allow faster string changes. I’d like to know how they strung this guitar with not a hint of string end from the tuners!
Greater sustain is more obviously likely from the 6-saddle through-body hardtail bridge with the raw brass block saddles. Again, there’s the detailed attention given to the nut (Graph Tech Tusq), the slightly luminous side dots and the lap steel-style inlays. The volume and tone knobs turn firmly as you’d expect. Even the case has an ergonomically placed handle and is almost flight case standard, with strap locks included. The guitar has a 75th anniversary-stamped neck plate.
The pickup selector on a traditional Telecaster has always been a bit of a bugbear for me. I’ve never found fitting a finger between the volume knob and the top hat selector easy at speed. The Ultra II addresses this nicely with a Strat-like angled selector — a smart and welcome upgrade. Personally, I’d still lean towards an up-and-down switch like on the excellent Cabronita model in this anniversary range, but the Strat-style solution is an improvement and one most players will appreciate.
So, all class so far. Let’s move on to how it sounds and why it sounds like it does.
The bridge pickup is a 75th Anniversary Ultra Noiseless Tele pickup, probably similar to that designed for the other Ultra guitars, though this has had its output jotted to match the bridge pickup. It’s a really beautiful-sounding pickup and the most interesting innovation. It is Fender’s first-ever single-spaced, dual-coil humbucker, monikered the ‘Fastlane.’ Both these pickups have incredible clarity and musicality, and one suspects Fender will be looking to further develop and promote the Fastlane humbucker well past this anniversary model
Then there’s the switching system that takes them to another level. You are most likely familiar with the S-1 switching systems on modern Fender guitars that activate a series or parallel function. There are two S-1 switches on the volume and tone knobs on this Telecaster. These are activated by pressing into the centre of the knob, rather than by the usual push-pull action, which can be accidentally activated whilst playing. Much more sensible.
The S-1 switch on the volume knob activates series mode, engaging both pickups wired in series, that give a noticeably fatter and grittier sound with increased volume. The S-1 on the tone knob changes the humbucker from series to parallel, with a slight drop in volume, but brings a sharper, Telecaster single coil bridge sound.
I’d have to say this guitar twangs, but not to the extent a country picker would desire (there are other Teles in the range that provide that), but it can give a throaty roar, especially when adding a little dirt. The centre position of the selector brings a lovely Tele chime, but my favourite is at the neck selection, especially in parallel mode. It has just gorgeous rounded tones.
I think this will be a fabulous studio guitar as well as for the stage. It takes to pedals like ducks to water, and its noiseless pickups are just that. The combination of the pickups and wiring gives it enormous versatility. In fact, all the above description clearly indicates that this is not a traditional Telecaster by any measure, rather ironically, as the top of the line tribute on the 75th anniversary of the greatest workhorse guitar ever designed. But let’s get real here. No guitar ever designed fits every player’s needs, which is why, in the case of the Telecaster, there have been countless variations in those 75 years, and Fender is still innovating.
This 75th Anniversary American Telecaster Ultra II is just one hell of a guitar.
Check it out here.
