Fender elite series.

[nilorius]

Why did Fender did not want to make elite series basses no more? I think they where pretty cool.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Maybe they cost too much to make and they didn't sell enough?

[acidbass]

They were replaced with the inferior (IMO) Ultra series.

[gjones]

I think that the only difference between the Elites and the Ultras is that the Elites have a wheel at the bottom of the neck which allows you to tweak the truss rod (like a Stingray). It comes in very handy and is very easy to use.

 

Personally, although I own an Elite Precision, I thought the name was a bit sh*t. It makes me think that the type of people who would want to buy an Elite Fender, were all hedge fund managers and Blues lawyers. which might have been the reason they changed the name to Ultra.

Edited September 27, 2022 by gjones

[nilorius]

If they really changed elite to ultra it's damned bad. I had only one chance to try out an elite jazz bass at a local shop, it sounded really good, but the price was very high. After 2 years they put a 25% money low and someone bought it.

[gjones]

9 hours ago, nilorius said:

If they really changed elite to ultra it's damned bad. I had only one chance to try out an elite jazz bass at a local shop, it sounded really good, but the price was very high. After 2 years they put a 25% money low and someone bought it.

I have a Fender Deluxe Jazz (which is pretty similar to the Elite and Ultra) and that is a lovely bass. I bought it for £800 which over £1000 less than a new Elite or Ultra.

[nilorius]

46 minutes ago, gjones said:

I have a Fender Deluxe Jazz (which is pretty similar to the Elite and Ultra) and that is a lovely bass. I bought it for £800 which over £1000 less than a new Elite or Ultra.

Lucky Youuuuuu !!!

[acidbass]

14 hours ago, gjones said:

I think that the only difference between the Elites and the Ultras is that the Elites have a wheel at the bottom of the neck which allows you to tweak the truss rod (like a Stingray). It comes in very handy and is very easy to use.

The bridge on the Elites is also superior, offering 3/4 slots per string to get the alignment over the pickups correct.  The Ultra has that new big block Fender bridge which doesn't have the same option.

[Dan Dare]

15 hours ago, gjones said:

the type of people who would want to buy an Elite Fender, were all hedge fund managers and Blues lawyers

 

Exactly. Those types of people buy most of the "special edition/limited production run" instruments.

[BlueMoon]

5 hours ago, acidbass said:

The bridge on the Elites is also superior, offering 3/4 slots per string to get the alignment over the pickups correct.

Also offers string-through body as well as the usual BBOT anchorage. I think this was not transferred to the Ultra, which is a shame imo.

[thodrik]

I tried one Elite Jazz and thought that they were the best 'American Deluxe' type active Jazz basses Fender had ever made. 

Not tried the Ultras, but I was a big fan of the truss rod wheel on the Elites so in several ways I though that the Ultras were a bit of a regression rather than progression. However if the pickups and preamps have been improved further on the Ultras then maybe I could be persuaded otherwise. 

I personally think that the Elites looked nicer.

Edited September 28, 2022 by thodrik

[Reggaebass]

I’ve got the elite jazz and they are definitely very good, I normally play US jazzes but the elite feels just one step better than any I have,  and they are worth the extra money imo, the only reason I didn’t get an ultra was I liked the truss rod wheel on mine , I believe they upgraded the noiseless pickups on the ultra and maybe the preamp, apart from that I couldn’t see much difference