Have an Ultra V for 2 years now, it is my main bass, play it everyday and luckly never had battery issues. Love the tone.

I have this bass in white. It’s a great bass. Make sure you unplug it when not in use and switch it over to passive otherwise batteries are flat in no time

I think they are great. No problems going active. My batteries have lasted 6 months. 2.2 k is alot of money but you're also buying an American with a $250 hard case

Had the same issue with the batteries in my bass. Took it back and the tech worked on it and finally got it working properly.

I just acquired one of these... it came with flat batteries... I might put a usb charge circuit in it... I already have an Ibanez sr885 active and the battery should be changed for each session. However! I am impressed with the passive tone, so perhaps I may follow suit and use it as a kill switch.

I have an Ultra Jazz bass and it sounds amazing. The sustain on each note is great and I love the neck profile. I think it has plenty of personality and a large range of tonal options. I also have a 1978 P bass, a 1965 Hofner, and a vintage Ricky 4005. They are all great, but the Ultra Jazz is my fav.

I had a 1978 Jazz Bass, biggest mistake I ever made, I sold it, as broke. Was without doubt the best guitar I have ever owned.

I have it in Mocha Sunburst but with Maple Neck, picked it up for $1,400 by waiting for a while came down from $2,200 but you can find' them around $1,500. a Rickenbacker is $2,300 but nobody gripes about the price and only has one sound

Best bass I’ve owned to date

I've had this bass since early June of '23. I have the same factory batteries and I play an hour a day. One time, I left the switch on active overnight. I love it and wouldn't part with it for anything.

@theotambourini-kay

7 ай бұрын

I'm glad you're loving the bass! I have ended up parting with mine. Picked up a 1975 P-bass and mine went to a shop, it just wasn't for me

As others have commented the active side should last 100s of hours on a set of batteries. Make sure you always unplug it, that activates the circuits, If it's still burning up batteries take it in for warranty work. I go back and forth about selling/trading my ProII P for one of these.

With most active basses you have to unplug it and or turn off the active switch, otherwise the battery will drain when not in use.

@theotambourini-kay

7 ай бұрын

That's the thing though, It was left un-plugged and I very rarely used the active mode so I was lost as to why the batteries were being drained. Seeing the rest of the comments though, I'm pinning it down to my lack of know-how with active basses

That is definitely a manufacturing problem. I have a hoard of active basses....the battery life is at least a year (unless you leave it plugged up 24/7) I would definitely contact Fender about it. Active basses are certainly a different beast. I never turn everything wide open ...especially volume. If you could get the battery-drain issue taken care of, I think you would fine some very usable, beefy tones in active mode. Just experiment with level (and EQ.) in a different way than you do in passive mode. Beautiful finish on the bass!

@theotambourini-kay

9 ай бұрын

Thank you for your helpful insight! :)

@cliffords2315

7 ай бұрын

Just make sure you turn down the volume knob and unplug when you arent playing it will last months

I owned one of these for a few weeks and the magnetic pull was so bad it was creating a pitch envelope on the E string that made it sound like it was chorusing. I swapped it for the Ultra Jazz which was much better but after I injured my shoulder proved to be too heavy for long gigs so its getting sold as well. I wanted to love the Precision as it was super easy to play, both were in fact. Weight and the shitty active electronics and the way way way too hot strong magnets really lets the instrument down. Ill stick to my lighter vintages and reissues and my new JMJ Mustang.

I own a fender jazz ultra V it’s by far and away the best bass I have ever owned and played

I have a 2000 American Deluxe J, which is active only. It does 'run' when the cable is plugged into the input jack. Is this draining even if there is no cable plugged in?

@theotambourini-kay

10 ай бұрын

From what I can tell, it's like it's always draining because there is surely no way two batteries run out of power after only being plugged in for less than a couple hours

@mariusm4623

9 ай бұрын

It is draining battery only when cable is plugged in. Anyway I recommend rechargeable batteries.

The comments here seem to still be active, so I’ll ask all of you; I’m on my second one of this exact bass (returned the first one, purchased two months ago) due to the neck pick-ups giving me an extra hard plunking/thumping sound while playing my D string. The bridge pick-up gives me no such trouble. I’ve put it down to my clumsy playing, but has anyone else had this on their ultra p? Any tips or advice for such a problem while playing this bass? I play mine mainly in passive mode (though I can confirm active mode is easy on my batteries) with the pick-up mix nob at center, or towards the bridge pick-up (because of this thump) I’d be grateful for any insights as to whether the current assembly line has churned out some bad pick-ups, or if there’s something in my playing technique that needs specific attention. I love how this bass plays, feels and looks. The ultra light machine heads and high mass bridge balance the rig perfectly on my strap.

@theotambourini-kay

8 күн бұрын

@@RupertWild I don’t want to offer any advice that may just be completely wrong for your situation, but a shame you’ve had to return one already for an instrument that’s supposed to be the highest end of modern fender. I never made a follow up to this vid, but I did end up selling it and buying a vintage P-bass. Best thing I could’ve done, I love the bass!!!

@RupertWild

8 күн бұрын

@@theotambourini-kay Understandable not wanting to offer bad advice, cheers. Yes, it's been frustrating now having two basses in a row that do the same thing. Leads me to question if the problem is me. But, as I say, on my other Bass my playing of the D-string doesn't seem to make the thwomp the neck (p-bass) pick-ups do on this ultra. I'd give up on the thing if I didn't LOVE the way it plays and feels, and of course if that bridge (jazz) pick-up didn't blend in such a way that the thwomp is a lot less predominant. If anyone out there has experienced anything like this due to a faulty pick-up, OR faulty playing , I would love to hear about it.

I had the same bass in the same color. I had no issues with the active side, the battery lasted months with at least 30mins worth of playing 5 days a week. - I sold it for lack of personality in the tone.

@theotambourini-kay

7 ай бұрын

It must just be my lack of savy-ness with active basses then hahaha! just got it sold though, managed to pick up a proper P-bass with no active faff!

You have a short somewhere in your preamp. The batteries should last 3 to 6 months depending on how much you play your bass.

“Worth” indicates a value of some kind. “It” could be everything or nothing, tangible or imagined, high value or no value. So, the answer to whether the bass is worth “it”, the answer is “yes”. Whether it’s worth $2200 depends on how much money you have and how much you can make withe the bass. By the way, the likely reason the battery discharges quickly is wiring to the battery itself.

That's probably why it was a B-stock to begin with ! 100 Percent fault On the Active preamp ,

My active Aria disconnects the power when there is no cable plugged-in. If it's just your particular instrument with this problem I would get the socket checked. For my opinion... I don't think I'd buy a PJ Precision - I can only see the point of a PJ Jazz. If I bought a Precision it would be just to get that classic Precision sound and I'd never play it far enough up the neck to need the cutaway. It's the Jazz that's for the fancy stuff.

@theotambourini-kay

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, I'm in agreement with you over a P bass being a P bass. I have my eyes on one...

Very nice PJ Precision..the 18v battery active pre-amp system should last at least 500hrs of playing, probably longer...my only active bass's are 2 Ibanez bass's SRX360 & SR-E600...the battery lasts months in either...i've read they should last hunderds of hrs as the active/passive switch saves power when used as a kill switch when not playing the bass active ...maybe need a good guitar repair person who deals with active Fenders...i would phone Fender as they may be able to help...good luck

A bass you end up rarely playing is really not worth keeping. You'll just end up resenting it, and especially the brand. I personally don't think any American fender basses are worth their price. I have Squire and Mexican made P & J basses that to me are superior in sound. The American models do feel slightly higher grade, but they don't really live up to their name in sound. Fender design has always excelled in passive mode. Their active mode sounds are 50%/50% hit or miss. For me they've always been more misses mainly in a full band setting. Their active sound just doesn't blend in well with my guitarists' tones. And by this I mean country, rock, and metal genres. Passive sounds better for country and rock (& old school metal). Active Fenders just sucks for any metal scenerio (old & new).

@gregnunya5090

8 күн бұрын

I've been playing Fender basses most of my life. Had a Mexican P Bass, was horrible! I have an Ultra and a Japanese Geddy Lee. The Geddy Lee has been my favorite thus far. Two more days until I get my Ultra. But I disagree the Mexican basses I've played have cheaper electronics and not worth it.

Swap it for a Sandburg.

@theotambourini-kay

10 ай бұрын

The multi-coloured Sandberg pops up at least once a year on my instagram fyp. One day, it will be mine!

Thanks, very helpful, won't buy one.

I had an active Fender Jaguar PJ which gave me to many noisy problems...i prefer passive bass's so ripped out all pots, jack socket, pre-amp & re-wired using Fender cloth covered hook up wire, hifi grade 5% tolerance polypropylene capacitors,1% resistor, 8% linear 250K CTS pots, pro sheilded, brass 3 groove saddles,brass nut, Tiny Tone quad contact jack socket, mono but 200% more contact & finally a pair of Epic Custom 1/4" AlNiCo V polepiece PJ pickups,10K each, excellent tone & quiet....it sounds much better set up as a passive PJ Jaguar...a new 1 piece scratchplate to hide the old active routed control holes etc...looks cleaner with Volume, Volume & master Tone (Greasebucket tone set-up)...saves on batteries now passive but sounds better imo....cost a few bucks but worth it.....