Fender's Most Advanced Strat Yet
Picture this: you're tracking leads in the studio, and the fluorescent lights are buzzing like crazy — but your guitar stays dead silent. That's the Ultra II Stratocaster in a nutshell. This is Fender's flagship production Strat, built in Corona, California, and it carries forward everything Leo Fender got right in 1954 while fixing the stuff modern players actually care about. The neck feels broken-in from day one thanks to that Ultra Satin finish and heavily rolled fretboard edges. The sculpted neck heel means you're not fighting the body when you're up past the 17th fret. And those Ultra II Noiseless Vintage pickups? They sound like proper single-coils — that glassy, spanky Strat thing — without the hum.
The Noble Blue finish over select alder gives you that classic Fender snap and resonance, while the ebony fingerboard adds a focused brightness that players often compare to maple. The compound radius fingerboard goes from 10 inches at the nut to 14 inches up high, so cowboy chords feel natural and string bends don't choke out. Fender's S-1 switch lives inside the volume knob, adding the neck pickup into positions one and two when you push it down — a mod players have been doing to Strats for decades, now built right in.
This guitar is for players who want a Strat that works as hard as they do. Whether you're gigging five nights a week, laying down tracks in the studio, or just need a reliable #1 that covers everything from clean chord work to searing leads, the American Ultra II Stratocaster delivers without the quirks or compromises of a vintage instrument.
A Neck You Won't Want to Put Down
The quartersawn maple neck on the Ultra II features Fender's Modern D profile — a touch fuller than a C-shape, but it tapers as you move toward the body for maximum comfort when you're playing leads up high. What really sets this neck apart is the finish work: Fender takes extra time on the Ultra Satin urethane, leaving it smooth and fast without feeling sticky under your palm. The fretboard edges are rolled more aggressively than any other Fender production model, giving the neck that played-for-years feel right out of the case.
The ebony fingerboard isn't just for looks. It's dense, smooth, and adds a bit of snap to the top end — players often describe it as sitting somewhere between rosewood's warmth and maple's brightness. The 10-to-14-inch compound radius means the fingerboard flattens out as you move up the neck, making it easier to grab full barre chords down low and bend strings without fretting out when you're soloing. You also get Luminlay side dots that glow in the dark — a genuinely useful feature if you've ever tried to navigate a fretboard on a dark stage.
Fender uses a bi-flex truss rod, medium-jumbo frets, and a Graph Tech TUSQ nut that's pre-slotted and lubricated for smoother tuning and better sustain. The 25.5-inch scale length and 1.685-inch nut width are pure Strat specs, so if you've played Fenders before, this will feel immediately familiar.
Pickups That Actually Stay Quiet
Fender's Ultra II Noiseless Vintage Strat pickups are the result of years of refinement. The challenge with noiseless single-coils has always been this: stack two coils to cancel hum, and you usually lose that airy, dynamic quality that makes a Strat sound like a Strat. Fender's latest version uses Alnico V rod magnets in the top coil and a calibrated bottom coil that rejects hum without choking the tone. The result is a pickup that delivers the chime, snap, and clarity you expect from a Stratocaster, but you can crank the gain or play under harsh stage lights without any of the 60-cycle buzz.
The five-way switch gives you the standard Strat positions: bridge, bridge-and-middle, middle, middle-and-neck, and neck. But push down the S-1 switch hidden in the volume knob, and you add the neck pickup into positions one and two — bridge-plus-neck in parallel, or all three pickups together. These are the tones players have been adding via aftermarket mods for years, and now they're just there when you need them. The treble bleed circuit on the volume knob keeps your high end intact even when you roll the volume back, so cleaning up your tone doesn't turn it into mud.
Hardware Built for the Long Haul
The two-point American Ultra synchronized tremolo uses polished stainless steel block saddles and a cold-rolled steel trem block. This design keeps the guitar in tune better than vintage-style six-screw trems, and the pop-in arm means you're not threading anything or dealing with loose socket arms. The bridge responds smoothly to subtle vibrato moves but stays stable when you're digging in hard. Deluxe locking tuners with short posts give you a consistent break angle over the nut, which helps with tuning stability and sustain while making string changes faster.
The one-ply anodized aluminum pickguard comes in black to complement the Noble Blue finish, and the aged white pickup covers, knobs, and switch tip keep the aesthetic clean and traditional. Fender finishes the body in gloss urethane for durability, and the nickel/chrome hardware will hold up to years of playing and gigging. The sculpted body contours and tapered neck heel aren't just comfort features — they give you unfettered access to all 22 frets without having to twist your wrist into awkward positions.
Product Features:
- Select alder body with sculpted contours and tapered neck heel for enhanced upper-fret access
- Quartersawn maple neck with Modern D profile and Ultra Satin urethane finish
- Ebony fingerboard with 10-to-14-inch compound radius and Ultra Rolled edges
- Three Ultra II Noiseless Vintage Strat single-coil pickups with true single-coil tone and zero hum
- S-1 switching system adds neck pickup to positions one and two for extended tonal range
- Two-point American Ultra synchronized tremolo with stainless steel saddles and cold-rolled steel block
- Medium-jumbo frets, Graph Tech TUSQ nut, and Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side dots
- Deluxe locking tuners with short posts for improved tuning stability
- 25.5-inch scale length, 1.685-inch nut width, 22 frets
- Gloss urethane body finish in Noble Blue with one-ply black anodized aluminum pickguard
Brand: Fender
Model: American Ultra II Stratocaster
SKU: 0119141776
Condition: New
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