I’m a fan of the strat plus and ultra and a few times I have come across threads enquiring why fender stopped making them in favour of the American Deluxe series and that, perhaps, the plus and ultra are ripe to be reissued. However, I have wondered that if they were to be reissued, what would make them even better than the originals? New colours? New pickups? As some people on this forum may know, I’ve been searching for a firestorm ultra, but any (and there have only been a few) in the recent past have been out of my reach for various reasons. If the ultra was reissued, I’d probably like it to have a more flamed body like the current select strats (or a choice of ‘storm’ colours), but what does everyone else think?

I am afraid this will not happen as Fender would never start a reissue Plus/Ultra or even a complete new line by entering into a contract with Actodyne General Inc., (Lace Music Products). Fender took off in their own direction by introducing the Fender Noiseless series pickups and kissed Lace good-by except on some special orders. The whole Plus series was replaced by the DX series in 1998-99. Meanwhile, us hard care Plus guys have to dig around to get one of these, or off evilBay.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Its the digging around that I'm growing frustrated with (ebay, small ads, etc). I suppose what I'd like to know is - if you could choose options - what would make the ultimate Strat Ultra?

Most likely any one of these:

http://xhefriguitars.com/page5.html

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

My opinion changes from day to day so what I see as a cool feature today may not be so hot tomorrow.

Check out Xhefri's website. He's done some interesting builds with superb quality. One of my favorites is an ultra he did where he duplicated the bridge pickup configuration in the neck pickup.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Sorry , but the very guitar you wish you had I have. I love it I will change the pickguard to a pearloid white, one day.



I think if they reissued these they would have only the Fender noiseless pickups. They are well built, as per their American heritage. Mine is 22 yrs old and still looks good. I like the Tremsetter too, with the locking tuners it really stays in tune.

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2007 Classic Player Baja Telecaster
1991 Strat Ultra
1990 Gibson ES-347
1986 Yamaha SBG2100
1980 Gibson L6-S
1971 Stratocaster
Fender Stage Lead Combo
Marshall MOSFET 100 watt Amp

I occasionally will look for a Strat Plus in Graffiti Yellow or Lake Placid Blue. And I never find one. And then I silently wish Fender would just release it again. Because I loved those guitars when I was younger but could never get one (I was but a child at the time). And now I still love them, have money, and can't get one. It's frustrating.

There was a used Lake Placid Blue Strat Plus at a music store I used to frequent when I was about 13 or 14 years old. And I used to just stare at the thing and wish I could get it.

Ahh, the memories.

I'd say the deluxe should be altered to the roller nut, locking tuners, '61 thick C shape, and noisefree pickups. None of this special boost or switching systems that tend to fail.... That would be a great strat.

The nut would allow many different string gauges without binding problems, thicker neck profiles would add to the stability of the different strings, and the noiseless pickups would provide all the tone without interference from the extra gizmo's...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Ah yes qblue - I have seen this photograph before and yearned to be able to go back to my school days with the cash to order one just like yours! You're a lucky man, but don't change the pickguard as its perfect the way it is.

I recently visited a music store in Belfast and mentioned the Ultra and Plus series and the guy I spoke with couldn't have been more dismissive of them. Obviously, he was keen to sell what he had in stock (current Am Std & Deluxe) but I think they're all just a bit bland compared to what were on offer in the 1990s. It seems that, today, if you want anything with any sort of character the custom shop will make it for you and charge a fortune (I've checked how much a firestorm finish will cost with them). I'm afraid to wonder what the cost of a strat with similar specs to a 1990s Ultra would cost if I went down that route. Ash bodies on regular production models now command an additional charge, which I don't remember from my school days.

I have also found a small private local firm in Northern Ireland who could produce a firestorm finish for me on a plain body for about £250. But, I'm keen to hold out for the real thing.

Its a shame that contractually, Fender are unlikely to ever use Lace Sensors in a full production run which automatically rules out a possible reissue. Are they really THAT bad compared to fender noiseless? I'm inclined to disagree.

With the search for an original Ultra turning into something akin to finding a Golden Ticket, maybe a new Select Strat is the way to go?