The Meteoraās upscale second outing has a lot more in common with its offset siblings than its sleek modern looks implyāand thatās a wonderful thing.
Excellent array of tones, from heavy to bluesy, indie, and funky. Great playability.
Pricey. Knobs feel somewhat rough. On-the-fly contour adjustments take some getting used to.
$2,249
Fender American II Meteora
fender.com
When Fender debuted the Meteora body shape in 2018 (as the Parallel Universe Meteora), I was among those who immediately thought it looked like a pretty worthy addition to the companyās venerated line of āoffsetā guitars. Taken in hand, though, the guitar may have struck some as having a bit of an identity crisisāwhich may account for the changes we see in the third iteration, the new American Ultra II.
All Metoras feature an intriguing blend of classic Fender elements (Strat-style headstock, Jazzmaster/Jaguar-esque outline) and in the case of the Player Plus Meteora HH and the American Ultra II, more Gibson-like appointments (humbuckers and 3-way selector). But whereas the Telecaster-like Parallel Universe model and Player Plus HH leaned a little more retro, the American Ultra II both tilts more modern and fine-tunes some of the originalās tonal quirks and limitations.
Diverging Contours
Available in three finishes (here weāve got Texas Tea), the latest Meteora has Fenderās new Haymaker humbuckers, with exposed coils and matching pickup rings, that alongside the anodized aluminum pickguard and knurled metal knobs, lend a more hard rock/metal aesthetic than the original Meteoraās WideRange-styled pickups and brighter finish options. (The new avalanche and ultraburst finishes in particular, with their white and crĆØme pickups, respectively, are reminiscent of ā70s and ā80s DiMarzio-outfitted rock machines.) Having demoed the Player Plus Meteora HH inPGās First Look video, Iāll admit I prefer that seriesā looks. But thereās no arguing that both fundamental tones and the myriad permutations proffered by the American Ultra IIās unusual tone-control array feel much more useful and well thought out this time around.
Wait, āunusual?ā If youāve googled this guitar, chances are youāve seen the same conflicting information I found. Some sites say it has two tone controls, others (including the manufacturerās at publication time) list a master volume, a master tone, and a bass-contour knob. Upon plugging in and twiddling knobs, though, I was immediately confused and, honestly, initially not very impressed. So I looked through the case, found the manual, and finally came to the truth: The Meteora is actually devoid of traditional tone controls, using instead a master volume, a bass-contour knob (nearest the output jack), anda treble-contour knob (middle). This setup was a first for me. Also, unlike the Jaguar, the alder-bodied Meteora has a standard Fender-scale 25.5" maple neck, with an ebony fretboard and employs the companyās āmodern Dā profile. Thereās a Graph Tech TUSQ nut, too, and sealed locking tuners.More Offset Than Meets the Eye
I tested the American Ultra II with an EL34-powered Jaguar HC50 (with a ceramic-magnet Weber Gray Wolf), a ā76 Fender Vibrolux Reverb (with alnico Celestion G10 Golds), a KT66-driven Sound City SC30, and a bunch of drive, fuzz, delay, and reverb pedals. Through the two latter amps combined, the Meteora IIās contour controls proved most powerful, yielding a pretty astonishing array of soundsāparticularly with fuzz pedals. With the traditional control scheme on my favorite offset (and main band guitar, a Jaguar with Curtis Novak JAG-V pickups), I primarily use the lead circuitās tone knob (or the rhythm circuit) to tame fuzz pedalsāand I find that setup more versatile than a lot of other guitars. But the Meteoraās contour knobs take things much further, letting you effectively revoice filth pedals in ways otherwise only possible with an adjacent EQ pedal.
With both contours full up, the Haymaker pickups still lean brighter than some dual-ābucker fans might preferābut not as strident as the Player Plus units. And the bass contour is especially helpful for warming/toughing up the bridge unit, as well as cleaning up low-mid clutter you might encounter with the neck pickup soloed and dimed. With a clean-ish tone and both pickups engaged, dialing volume and both contours back a bit yields wiry, muscular funk tones. Boost the volume back up a bit and hit the S-1 coil tap, and you get leaner funk tones very much in the Strat realm. In all, the variety of sounds possible with this control scheme is almost revelatory. So much so that itās a wonder more guitars donāt go this routeābecause youāre no longer limited to just darkening or lightening a pickup with a single knob. The crossover EQ points between the two controls are well-tuned to complement each other and open up possibilities you simply couldnāt get with standard tone controls. And the treble-bleed circuit assures that volume adjustments donāt muddy things up.
The Verdict
Whether the tweaks to the American Ultra II Meteora alleviate its somewhat vague positioning is up for debate. Fender offset fans tend to fall in either the traditionalist/vintage camp or the more modern āI like the shape but not the weird switches and hardwareā camp. And, to most eyes, the Ultra II probably looks pretty modern despite the vintage neck and headstock tint. But tonally, even though the control scheme looks straightforward, the array of available tones is far more akin to the versatility afforded by Jaguar and Jazzmaster circuits than, say, a modern rock guitar. It is a bit of a bummer that the Ultra costs twice as much as the Player Plus HH (albeit with hardshell case) but has no vibrato option. Considering its sheer tonal quality and versatility, the latest Meteora absolutely has the edge over its predecessorābut Iād love to see future versions fully embrace their offset-ness with a vibrato system befitting the Meteoraās sonic forebears.
An expansive palette of room, hall, and plate sounds enables exploration of reverb tones from modest to monstrously huge.
Ledges is a three-mode reverb with the ability to save and recall six presets and user-assignable expression control with loads of customizable options. From classic, standard reverb tones to undiscovered sonic reaches, itās everything youāve ever wanted and needed out of a reverb.
The three switchable modes each deliver a unique blend of reverb, but are connected through a spectrum where the Room (R) reverbās longest setting is the Hall (H) reverbās shortest setting, the Hall reverbās longest setting is the Plateās (P) shortest setting, and the Plateās longest setting just keeps on going. The Room setting at its shortest achieves a small, boxy room sound that gradually gets bigger as you turn it up. As you increase the Hall setting, it morphs into a Cathedralsā¢-style reverb that becomes really big, boomy and echoey with distant reflections. Turn up the Plate setting to get bouncy reflections that recycle and reverberate forever.
Learn more here.
A maze of modulation and reverberations leads down many colorful tone vortices.
Deep clanging reverb tones. Unexpected reverb/modulation combinations.
Steep learning curve for a superficially simple pedal.
$209
SolidGoldFX Ether
solidgoldfx.com
A lot of cruel fates can befall a gig. But unless youāre a complete pedal addict or live in high-gain-only realms, doing a gig with just a reverb- and tremolo-equipped amp is not one of them. Usually a nice splash of reverb makes the lamest tone pretty okay. Add a little tremolo on top and you have to work to not be at least a little funky, surfy, or spacy. You see, reverb and modulation go together like beans and rice. That truth, it seems, extends even to maximalist expressions of that formulaālike the SolidGold FX Ether.
The Ether is tricky enough to bewilder if youāre not careful. The three modulation modesātremolo, harmonic tremolo, and vibratoāall feel, sound, and interact with the reverb differently. An economical but mildly complex control set definitely demands that you put in a little study. And few settings fit neatly into tidy categories like āvintage spring emulationā or ālight hall.ā But what the Ether lacks in super-intuitive operation it makes up for in surprises and a fluid user experience that can drag a player in new directions.
Slo-mo psychedelic power pop improvisation with SolidGoldFX Ether using vibrato, tremolo, and harmonic tremolo with many reverb decay and modulation speed and level mixes. Generated with Rickenbacker 330, black panel Fender Tremolux, and Universal Audio OX with a Vox AC30 cabinet emulation.
Deep Thought
For guitarists accustomed to simple pedal reverbs, the Ether will take some work to master. There are just five knobs for tone (color), modulation depth and speed, reverb decay, and a wet/dry mix that functions as the level for both the reverb and modulation. A 2-way toggle switches between the three modulation modes or introduces a shimmer effect. What looks simple on the surface, however, belies great complexity among the available sounds. The modulation depth control alone, for instance, is full of tricks. It controls modulation waveform intensity but can also significantly re-cast the voice and response of the three modulation voices. In addition to intensity, depth also changes the shape of the modulation. On one side of noon the pedal generates sawtooth waves; on the other side, softer sine waves. Somewhat counterintuitively, waveform depth is most intense at clockwise and counterclockwise extremes and least intense closest to noon. Additionally, the noon position is a quasi-random waveform in vibrato mode, a square wave in tremolo mode, and a flutter triangle wave in harmonic triangle mode. So, while itās fun to twist knobs at random to see what you can conjure, getting some semblance of control over the sonic outcome takes paying close attention to how these variables relate to each other.
There are cool, subtle sounds in Ether, even if subtle isnāt exactly a specialty.
The knobs are sensitive, too. This is great for fine-tuning settings when you have an intuitive, muscle-memory-based handle on how the controls work. But they can feel twitchy at first. Nowhere is this more apparent than in reverb decay and level. They each have considerable range. But the lowest level and decay settings primarily yield big reverb sounds. There are cool subtle sounds in the Ether, even if subtle isnāt exactly a specialty. On the mellower side of the Etherās envelope, I dialed in a reasonable-enough facsimile of an old Fender black-panel spring reverb set to noon, as well as some really cool tile-like, fast-reflection sounds. But the differences between them on the level and decay controls were small and it can be hard to nail in-between sounds reliably. If you largely live your reverb life on the subdued side of splashy, you might want to look elsewhere.
The Etherās controls are expansive on the modulation side as well. But each modulation mode also moves through very different ranges of intensity. Vibrato modulation, for instance, sounds very intense at high depth settings in relatively dry mixes. Harmonic tremolo voices, however, need a much wetter signal to stand out prominently. Regular tremolo settings tend to require high effect levels (which means you need to mind your reverb decay settings as well). Again, these differences make practice key. But relinquishing control can be just as satisfying. The harmonic tremolo reverbs can span phasey washes and noirish throb. Standard tremolo, while not the most radical effect, provides fast-twitching or hypnotic icing to metallic hyper-springy surf-ish settings. Vibratoās reverb settings, meanwhile, can range from surreal, robotic modulations to sweet near-rotary sounds. Finding the points where these sounds intersect and mingle is a joy if you have the time to spare.
The Verdict
Apart from the Etherās lack of low-key, conventional reverb sounds and interactive, trickier-than-it-looks controls, itās hard to not fall under the deviceās spell. If you have time to kill, getting lost in the mega-expansive controls, many combinations of modulation textures, and fields of reverb-based overtones can create pure joy. If youāre inclined toward option fatigue or dread getting lost in quirky controls onstage, there are simpler ways to get your reverb fix. But if itās big-to-bigger spaces youāre after and the ability to render them distinct, mutant, and wild with washes of tremolo, vibrato, and phasey textures, the Ether is an almost endless amusement park of clanging, bouncing, ringing, and resplendent modulations.