Yesterday, I had band rehearsal. But since I had a gig immediately after, I just brought my little ’58 Champ in a custom 1 X 10 cabinet to keep things simple. When I arrived, our drummer, whose house we use for practice, told me to take our lead singer’s normal spot as he was out of town. And sitting there was a Fender amp. I immediately said, “Since there’s already an amp there, I’ll just plug into that instead of setting up my rig, since it’ll be faster to get set up and strike down.”
At first, at a distance, I thought it was a Twin, but when I could see it closer, I saw that it was an Ultra Chorus. I had actually never heard of an Ultra Chorus and figured it was one of the cheaper solid state Fender amps. But I thought, Whatever. We’re just practicing and it’ll do…
So I just set up my EWS Little Brute Drive, plugged in my guitar and ran a cord to the amp, and flipped the amp’s switch to the “On” position. Immediately, I got a scratching sound because I was moving my hand on the fretboard. I forgot that with a solid state amp, you get sound – now. 🙂 But it also gave me pause because even though the volume knob was set to 4, the amp was loud; too loud even for practice and a full band, so I turned it down to 1.
I just started twiddling to get warmed up, and I just couldn’t help but notice just how good the amp sounded. I played it purely clean with a little reverb and a touch of chorus mixed into the sound. I was floored at the tone! My Les Paul sounded so deep and pure. I just closed my eyes and started playing some clean runs and chord progressions. The tone was dropping me into the zone!
Not really thinking about it, I started playing the opening riff to “Dock of the Bay,” just vamping on the G, then our bassist joined in, then the drummer picked it up. Our keyboard player took notice and she started playing, and then I just started going off with a clean solo for an intro, nodded to our singer, and she just opened up.
Throughout practice, I was doing runs and fills or playing under our singer, or adding little touches when I was singing. I was so inspired by the tone, I just went off. After finishing Duffy’s “Warwick Avenue,” our keyboard player commented that that was the best rendition we’d played, and then our drummer said he liked the guitar work. I immediately said, “You know, when I’m feeling inspired, I just get lost in the sound, and play my ass off. This amp totally reinforces why I want to get a Fender Twin. I’m tellin’ ya, I’m loving this sound right now.” That was met with simple smiles of agreement.
So… this amp is solid state! The tube amp purist in me says that it shouldn’t sound this good. But the realist in me believes in what Duke Ellington once said: If it sounds good, it IS good. Hell! I play through a solid state amp with my acoustic rig, and it sounds freakin’ killer! This is no different. This little gem of an amp is a cheap amp. In fact, you can pick one up for $200 online. I’m going to get one. Maybe today.
I’m still going to get the Twin Reverb – eventually. But for playing clean, and just putting an overdrive or distortion box in front of the amp, this’ll do. And before anyone scrunches up their nose about a solid state amp, consider this: A great guitarist that I know, Vinnie Smith, owner of V-Picks, gigs with an old Roland Cube 30 that he mics on stage! In fact, when he does demos, you never see the amp, but he plays through his Cube 30! So like I said, if it sounds good, it IS good!
About the amp
From what I could gather, this amp was made from 1992-1994. By 1995, Fender re-dubbed it the “Ultimate Chorus.” This is a 2 X 65W solid state amp. It has two foot-switchable channels, with built-in reverb and, of course, chorus, and two input jacks. You can play it stereo at 65W, or mono at 130W.
As I said, this amp is LOUD. For the entire practice, I didn’t play over 1 1/2! Granted, our drummer was playing with rods, and we had our practice volume pretty far down. But even at gig volumes, I doubt I’d put it over 4. Or, if I do get one, I’ll see if I could swap the pot out for something that has a bit smoother taper.
As far as the distortion is concerned, playing around, I set up the 2nd channel for distortion, but it gave me pretty much what I was expecting: A pretty compressed distortion sound that was not at all pleasing to my ears, not matter how much I twiddle the EQ knobs. But clean, this amp oozes that “Fender-clean” goodness. Add a little reverb grease, and a touch of chorus, and it’s a nice smooth sound.
Apparently, the amp is my bandmate’s son’s amp. He had the EQ set up scooped, and I kept it set like that for the most part, though I did turn the bass down a bit because my Les Paul has a naturally deep sound; especially with the neck pickup.
Sourcing the amp…
Finding one isn’t going to be easy. And even after that, it’s not going to be easy finding one that’s in good working condition. There are a couple of them on E-Bay for $300+. But they’re only rated in “good” condition and sold as-is. That’s a crap shoot. Guitar Center has one for $200 but the face plate is bent up on the left side, exposing a sharp corner that could cut. Not sure where that amp is located, but I might be able to get them to ship it to my local GC so I could inspect it.
Guitar Gear 
I just picked the ultra up today for $225 Canadian. I sold my old Peavey Bandit silver stripe 80w as a gamble. The ultra blows the Bandit away in every possible way. I play a newer Kramer 211 and pickups really match well. The clean channel breaks up at high volume almost tube like. Add the chorus and sounds kick ass. The dirty channel is acceptable, at least better than a Transtube. I have a zoom g2.1nu for amp modelling. Overall, yes, this is a steal.
That’s awesome, Lyle! I looked on craigslist and eBay for one, and they’re SO affordable! Great sound for such a small price. 🙂
[…] Ultra Chorus and absolutely loved the delicious and lush cleans that amp produced. I wrote an article about the experience because I was so blown away by how great the amp sounded. I was actually ready to pull the trigger […]
I have a Fender Ultimate Chorus… You can’t switch it from stereo to mono…
It’s 65 watts per speaker equaling 130 watts total. there is no switch.
When you play a Marshall half stack if the head is 100 watts each of the 4 speakers blasts out 25 watts. it’s not 100 watts per speaker.
The ultimate chorus has two power amps that is in stereo for effects only and the effects loop but the guitar only output is 65 watts per speaker… totaling 130 watts.
It’s a pretty awesome amp.
What I really miss is its lush amazing true-stereo chorus. What do you think about it’s replacement? The Ultimate Chorus?
I played one at my local Guitar Center several months ago in search of a clean headroom amp. It sounded great, but I walked out of the store that day with a BOSS Katana 50. I didn’t need a 2 X 12. 🙂 At 50 lbs., it was a bit of a beast.
Yeah,I gotz to agree; it’s got MILES of Fender clean! I’m a life-long Peavey guy but I played thru an Ultra Chorus last week at a jam,and was VERY impressed with the quality of sound!! Looks like I might just get an Ultra to go with my Renown 400 “Twin” style Peavey,also 130 watts & 2-12’s….Dayum!! A 260 watt half-stack,eh? LMAO!!! Tom E. in the SF Bay,Cali……
NIIIIIICE! Hope you have ear protection with that much wattage! 🙂
This amp was not cheap in 1994. I bought it for $500 at the time. I also loved the clean tone but the distortion channel never quite grew on me. I laugh now that I spent that much on an amp when I had little use for its power, even gigging in college. It could not have been very popular, as I traded it in around 2004 and got a Peavy Envoy 110 straight up for it. Actually, a new Envoy will run you more than a used Ultra Chorus now a days, so maybe I didn’t get such a bad deal!
Yeah… that’s one of those things that you’ll never know until years later. But what Fender is doing with the Tone Master series right now is pretty damn cool. I’m not a big fan of the breakup with the Deluxe, but the Twin has a nice breakup sound. Cleans are as expected with both. Just gorgeous.
I too bought one in 1994 for $500, and I still have it. It’s mint, but I really don’t need the power and was thinking about letting it go. All I really need is a small practice amp.
Just saw one of these at the GC here in Augusta. Showroom condition, for $350. Sister amp to the Stage 185 I own. These were a Fender design (at least their copyright on the boards) but made near Portland in the old Sunn factory. Really good cleans, through quality loudspeakers. Dirty channel isn’t worth it in my book, so it’s a 65W amp. Still gets plenty loud. Oh, real spring reverb tank. By now, most need the pots cleaned.
The unit at Guitar Center Augusta is a Power Chorus (red knob), the precursor to the Ultimate Chorus.
I bougth an Ultra Chorus in Argentine in 1994 for $900, new in a shop. I still have it and I love it.
Long shot…I found this article while trying to lookup specs for my Fender Ultimate Chorus Amp. I bought it new from a guitar center probably in 2004. It’s still in great working condition. I’m thinking the guy who wrote this might want to buy it. If anyone in this message board wants to buy it shoot me a note cjayhow@gmail.com. I live in Bend, OR. Posting it on my local Facebook market place 6/23/22
Normally, I’d be interested, but I just got a Tone Master Deluxe Reverb so I’m a bit “amped” out for the time being. 🙂
Just found one of these Ultra Chorus at an auction is in mint condition. Pots needs cleaning found sweet spot last trying it out on stage. Guy is right omg could only turn it up too 2 tried running it half open omg it will hurt ya. Gotten the bid and paid 45 bucks for it what a stinking treasure.👏👏😊🎸
I’ve had one since 1992, and it still sounds great. Picked it up on sale for $350 after my guitar teacher spotted it and told me I needed to grab it. Said it was a steal, and he was right. Good luck finding one!
I have no idea what I paid for it back in ‘94, but I still have it. The knobs don’t really work anymore, so i was thinking of getting them replaced. I was totally shocked when i got to our rehearsing room for the first time (a couple of years ago) and found another one sitting there, doing nothing. It’s our singers studio and i’ve told him that if he’s ever going to sell it, he’s selling it to me. I think it’s a great amp and I agree that the clean channel is absolutely great. I also agree that it’s a very loud amp!
Rolf, I traded a Princeton Chorus for an Ultra a few months ago. The Ultra had some scratchy pots when I traded. Got a can do CRC electronics cleaner from Walmart and sprayed all the pots from inside and out. There a little slot on the back side of the pots that I gave a squirt. Anyway turn the knobs while still wet to work it in. Please unplug the amp before you start. Bottom line, no more scratchy pots all for around $5. This thing put the Princeton Chorus to shame. Btw, traded an Ovation Applause straight up for a Fender Cyber Deluxe that had a scratchy trim pot. No more, all pots cleaned up on it as well with the same CRC cleaner. Might be worth a try before changing out the pots!