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Post subject: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:15 pm
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I've never heard of it.

http://cnj.craigslist.org/msg/2328258711.html


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:28 pm
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Hmmmm, looks very dodgy to me. "Once owned by Eric Clapton" I don't think so.
I know there are a few models Fender made that never really took off such as the Coronado and the Electric XII.

I've never heard of a Lead II though


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:44 pm
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They were for real. I remember making fun of them way back and trying to figure out what Fender was thinking. Today I'd probably give them a second look. Never played one but have seen plenty of them. The Clapton thing is the deal breaker for me. If he bullshits you with that one, I'd be a little nervous about it. You can find 79's on the bay for around 5 or 6 bills.

http://jfetdel.free.fr/lead/indexEn.html
http://www.electricguitartrends.com/200 ... d-history/

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:16 pm
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he probably ment that eric once owned one himself.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:20 pm
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Eric Clapton did indeed own one and he gave it to the original Hard Rock in London to reserve his favorite seat...his donated instrument was red though...but this one is like it otherwise...well other than it is a good bet it was never owned by the man himself that is

T2

:mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:44 pm
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They were Fenders answer to the Kramers and Charvells of the day. Needless to say, the Metal Guitarist thought they were too Straty, and Fender Guys thought they were to 80's. Nice guitars that just didn't catch on.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:00 pm
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FirstMeasure wrote:
They were Fenders answer to the Kramers and Charvells of the day. Needless to say, the Metal Guitarist thought they were too Straty, and Fender Guys thought they were to 80's. Nice guitars that just didn't catch on.




would have been a better intery for the pawnshop series.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:15 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
Eric Clapton did indeed own one and he gave it to the original Hard Rock in London to reserve his favorite seat...his donated instrument was red though...but this one is like it otherwise...well other than it is a good bet it was never owned by the man himself that is

T2

:mrgreen:


Here it is . . .

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:17 pm
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way cool jr wrote:
FirstMeasure wrote:
They were Fenders answer to the Kramers and Charvells of the day. Needless to say, the Metal Guitarist thought they were too Straty, and Fender Guys thought they were to 80's. Nice guitars that just didn't catch on.




would have been a better intery for the pawnshop series.


:idea: Cool idea !!!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:41 pm
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these were the ture pawnshop guitars. i use to see loads of them back in the 80s in pawnshops. back before ebay and CL, we didnt have many options.
the music stores tried to rip you on trade in's.
the news paper was way to slow.
pawnshops were fast cash right now kind of places, so thats where a ton of them ended up. i missed one a while back on CL. wish i would have snagged it up. :roll:

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 1:42 am
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I'm still fascinated by these guitars, and just thought I'd bump this thread. ;)


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:57 am
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The LEAD SERIES instruments (Lead I, Lead II, Lead III and Lead Bass) were conceived as budget model Fenders before Fender Japan models took over the budget niche in the Fender line with the Squier JV models in 1982.

The Lead series run was a short one as Fender models go since it ran only from 1979 till 1982. The series was discontinued without the Lead Bass model ever actually getting into production even though there was at least one Lead Bass prototype built. The Lead Bass prototype looked a lot like a Stratocaster bass with a 34" scale and is possibly the inspiration of many Stratobass project bass concepts. It should have been built, but it wasn't. The reason the Lead Bass didn't get built might have been because the Bullet Bass was already out at that time and the similarities including the price point might have been too close to make the Lead Bass more profitable than the Bullet since there was no start up cost involved in just continuing to make Bullets. Bullets were selling well enough. Why fix something that isn't broken? The Lead Bass was a more versatile instrument with 2 single coil pickups, a 3-way selector switch, one volume and one tone control. The Bullet of course used the Mustang Bass split coil. The Lead Bass would have cost more than a Bullet and might have ran nearly as much as a P-Bass. It actually looked pretty versatile and desirable.

Lead model guitars actually played and sounded pretty good and were remarkably stable since there was no floating tremolo. They incorporated design elements from the Strat and Tele but sold for less than either. The coil switching options on the Lead III humbucker was especially interesting.

Not only did Mr. Clapton play one, but also Bono of U2, Elliot Easton of The Cars and Steve Morse used one in both The Dixie Dreggs and Deep Purple! Morse is said to be the first endorsing artist for the Lead series but I have no proof of that. You can find photos of Bono, Clapton, Easton and Morose playing them online though.

Several very famous names had a hand in making these instruments. Seth Lover designed the humbucking pickups. He had previously designed humbuckers at Gibson and had also designed the second generation Fender Telecaster Bass humbucker. Dennis Handa of Fender Marketing came up with the general concept and also with the model name. Gregg Wilson, Freddie Tavares and John Page had varying degrees of input and control over the model from birth to death. And it did have some design changes in the last year that impacted headstock changes.

All in all I'd call it a real successful budget Fender as they still play and sound good today. It was a full scale budget Fender when most Fender budget models seen before were short scale. It had the goods for an instrument of that time. I know of a Lead II in a local pawn shop right now. It's beat up but plays OK.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:26 am
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I'd rather have a Lead III

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:36 am
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Looks like a Gibby/Epi clone. Wilshire/Crestwood-ish:wink:

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Last edited by ZZDoc on Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead II.
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 6:38 am
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The one I'm looking at getting is a Lead III in pretty good shape, all original, with the original case (maple board, wine red in colour). Still not sure, but if I get it I'll post pics.


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