Crafted for comfort and ready to rumble, the potent and flexible Ultra II Meteora shatters the Fender offset mold.
Built for players boldly seeking the best, American Ultra II is our most advanced series of instruments. American Ultra II guitars and basses feature premium materials, precision craftsmanship and cutting-edge design for instruments that both advance the state-of-the-art and stand the test of time.
The Fender American Ultra II Meteora features a select alder body with sculpted body contours. For effortless playability, the quartersawn maple neck features our Modern D profile and smooth Ultra Satin finish. Ebony or quartersawn maple 10”-14” compound radius fingerboards feature Ultra rolled edges, medium-jumbo frets, Luminlay side dots and Graph Tech TUSQ nuts. The tapered neck heel and sculpted body contours allow unparalleled access to the higher register.
Under the hood, a pair of Haymaker humbuckers deliver everything from sweet cleans to modern crunch and searing leads, all without a hint of hum. Our patented S-1 switch cleverly splits the Haymakers for even more tonal variety, and you can further sculpt your tone with both conventional master tone control plus a carefully voiced bass cut knob. Additional road-ready features include 6-saddle string-through-body hardtail with polished stainless steel block saddles, deluxe locking tuners, knurled aluminum knobs and 1-ply anodized aluminum pickguard.
The American Ultra II Meteora infuses iconic style with advanced appointments to take your playing to stratospheric new heights. For players who demand flawless tone, infinite versatility and limitless performance, American Ultra II delivers.
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Fender American Ultra II Meteora Electric Guitar - Texas Tea, Ebony Fingerboard
Am Ultra II Meteora, Texas TeaGet ready to rock with the guitar that’s turning heads! For the next 30 days, you have the chance to win the iconic Billy Corgan Signature Drop Z from Reverend Guitars.
Reverend Billy Corgan Drop Z Signature Electric Guitar - Pearl White
The Reverend Billy Corgan Drop Z combines the aesthetic features of his Z-One signature model and a longer 24-fret, 26.25″ scale neck designed for drop tunings. The long scale neck provides appropriate string tension for down-tuning, so the tone is deep and full, yet still stays punchy and clear. The Alder solid body paired with Railhammer Billy Corgan Z-One Pickups delivers a heightened output and a velvety treble for a rich, weighty rock tone. The roasted Maple neck, fingerboard, and medium oval profile are comfortable to play, even with the slightly longer scale length.
When his brother-in-law passed away, this reader made it his mission to repair his old damaged Ovation guitar as a gift to his niece.
My brother-in-law passed away in March. He was a talented keyboardist and, in his heyday, played in bands that toured internationally. As a musician, he naturally had a guitar—a 1974 Ovation—and a “friend” put an unauthorized abstract paint job on it. That guitar had an extremely hard life: Its top was broken and the frets were completely worn out. As an aspiring luthier, I took the guitar to repair it then pass it on to his daughter. This proved to be a challenging task as I had never done anything more complicated than a basic setup before and I had few luthier tools.
A heat gun and thin spatula knife worked fine to remove the top and the bridge. I did my best to glue the new top halves together—but that left a visible seam, so I put a herringbone center strip over it (to match the purfling I would install later). I had no radius board, so I just clamped the pre-radiused braces I bought and was quite pleased that the new top did have a radius! Once I felt the bridge was sanded perfectly, I glued it down. I then replaced the plastic nut and saddle with bone. A hot soldering iron got the old frets out without damaging the fingerboard. (That said, next time I will clean those slots out better before installing new frets!)
“This proved to be a challenging task as I had never done anything more complicated than a basic setup before and I had few luthier tools.”
I was happy with my progress until I started routing the purfling channel. I had no workbench, and the concave Ovation body made things a bit awkward. While basically “bear hugging” the body with one arm and holding the router with the other, I heard a faint “pop.” The edge of an X-brace had come loose. I was able to squirt glue into the void with a syringe, but the concave guitar body made a brace jack useless (without fabricating a complicated caul). I removed the phono jack and jammed a pencil into the brace, keeping pressure on it with a rubber band. It worked!
Neil gave the Ovation a new lease on life with his extensive repairs, the end result of which can be seen here.
I also learned the importance of channel depth with purfling—I did lots of scraping to get everything flush. I am pleased with the finished product and my niece is so happy! I also put a new label inside the guitar body, with a dedication to her father on it.
Overall, there are multiple wins on this project. I gave tribute to my brother-in-law, made his daughter happy, and learned enough to build a guitar from scratch.