Hi, I’m in the market for a new guitar and have my eye on two Strats, the Pro American II and the Ultra. I already own a Les Paul Standard so I’m covered for smooth and rich. I’m looking at a Strat for when I want a crisper tone with more bite. On paper the Ultra seems to be the better buy, and I have quite small hands so the slimmer D shaped neck would be a plus. The only thing I’m concerned about is the noiseless pickups - that they might soften the tone too close to my Gibson, thereby defeating the object of buying a Strat. On the other hand, how much of a problem would hum be on the Pro II?
Obviously I’ll be trying both out in the shop but in the spirit of research I’d be grateful if anyone can offer some thoughts / opinions on these guitars?
Many thanks in advance
Those are pretty similar models with subtle differences in the details.
The Professional is closer to the classic Strat sound with single coil pickups & close to standard controls. Also it comes with a standard C profile neck which is a bit smaller than D, better for smaller hands.
The Ultra has the noiseless pickups, upgraded electronic controls & D neck.
I have a Strat with the N3 noiseless set, they are excellent. Definitely lose a little bit of the high treble end of the spectrum, but well worth it for the hum cancelling. Of course I'm used to that having put Dimarzio HS-3s and 4s in all my Strat for decades. I find it essential for any kind of gain tone. For clean tones I still have other Strats with standard single coils when cancelling that 60Hz hum doesn't matter as much.
Having said all that, I'm pretty sure you can get all those things as options (neck profile, pickups, electronics) on either model. And often you'll find a better deal if you look around guitar stores for sales & used models.
No matter what you do, make sure to try before you buy. Play lots of Strats until you find one that really feels & sounds good to you. Have fun gear hunting!
