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Post subject: Hot rod
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:21 am
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:29 am
Posts: 53
I recently bought ragged black Lead I (no case). Here it is so far: The original neck is great but the frets and nut are shot so I replaced the neck with a 70's maple Strat neck. It has a Seymour Duncan bridge pickup. I don't know which one. I replaced the knobs with small black Tele-like knobs. It has a custom black-red-black pickguard and is without the two toggles. I replaced the funky original bridge saddles with gold spring saddles. The body is funky, the paint is cracked. There is a faint impression from a scallop decal that has been since removed. A few dents and dings.
I guess it's not possible to upload an image here. I will email a jpeg to those interested in seeing this guitar.


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Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Source
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:58 am
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Who at Fender would I contact for information/production data on the Fender Lead series guitars? I would like to know how many were produced and what the suggested retail price was. I'd like to get an estimate of how many still exist, in any form. I have three and one, believe it or not, copy body with two cavities for single coil pickups only.
Grazi mille, Fender benders.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 7:58 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:22 am
Posts: 349
Location: Victoria, Australia
Well, I can see I'm not the only Lead fan around here, which is encouraging.

:D

http://jfetdel.free.fr/lead/indexEn.html

There's that link to Jef's Lead II fan site again. If you like these guitars, it's well worth a look.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:23 am
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Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:56 pm
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Location: Little Rock, AR
I've got a Lead II from 1980. I have the original case, strap & user manual. Love it!!!


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:43 pm
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Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 3:04 pm
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Location: South Florida
The very first piece of memorabilia given to the Hard Rock Cafe in London was Eric Clapton's Fender Lead II. Here's what it looked like in October '08.

Image


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:54 pm
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Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 1:35 pm
Posts: 2303
Location: DC
Another fender model I had never seen before till now :)


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:43 pm
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Leads are fantastic guitars. Hard to find nice ones anymore though. Here are mine. I have all three models....however I stored away the original pickguard/pickup assemblies and installed the same single humbucker/volume in all three. The pickups are Seymour Duncan "JB" models. They have been refretted with medium wire and bone nuts installed. I also have the original tolex "Fender" cases for each.

Image

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Thank God for modern Hi-Gain crunch!!!!


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:16 am
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Very nice. Three Sienna Leads modified. I've just finished installing some American Vintage Telecaster pickups in a specially cut pickguard on white Lead body with a 50s RI Strat neck. I bought the body on Ebay. It had been repainted and it weighs 9 pounds. This arrangement sounds great.
Image


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:20 pm
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Nice guitar bluemercedes. I like when someone does a good job restoring old guitars/parts that otherwise would have just been lost forever or horribly neglected. Thanks for your compliments on my Leads. I also have two Fender Lead endorsement contracts with Elliot Easton of the Cars. I believe they are from 81 and 83. I also have the photo and negative used for the Fender Legends catalog. Pretty cool stuff for the Lead fans. 8)

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Thank God for modern Hi-Gain crunch!!!!


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:37 pm
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Roadie
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:10 am
Posts: 286
Location: Houston, TX
My old drummer's Dad (Peter Bas of the Dave Starsky Five) had one of of these, a Lead II. He would loan me the guitar when we played shows. I loved that thing, sounded killer, had a great feel, and I like the boost switch on them. He still owns this guitar. I would ask him to sell the guitar to me, and he'd just laugh and say If he's not buried with it, then he may consider selling to me. I'd love to get my hands on one someday.


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 2:13 pm
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I've got a Lead II in red, had it from new back in 1981. Spent years thinking I should have got the red Strat that was in the shop instead - it was only £35 more - but I'm rather pleased I didn't as I now have a guitar that's pretty hard to come by, sounds great, and plays really well. Certainly wouldn't part with it. My one regret is changing the neck pup for a cream one some years ago and I don't have the orignal.


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 9:43 am
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I bought a Fender Lead III from a friend (rodsguitars) who was gonna part it out on "UGHbay". Won't tell you for how much. :D But I looked around and found a fellow who sold pickguards for Lead's. Got him to cut one with a slot for a 5-way switch and wired it like a Strat. V/T/T are the pots n knobs on it and relocated the jack plate to the bottom (like on a Tele). Pretty sweet sounding axe.


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Post subject: Re: The Official Fender Lead I, II & III String
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 9:56 am
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Too many Strats is right; this applies to me with six variations. I've done a number of mods on Lead guitars. The best is what I have now with Novak P90 on the neck and Novak HB on the bridge. I had one configured with Vintage American Telecaster pickups that was a great guitar but the neck, guard and pickups didn't fit tight so I took it apart. I've got a stock Lead I sitting here since I bought it in 1982. I don't care for that Seth Lover pickup and since these guys will probably never be valuable in its stock form I'm thinking of putting some Lollar P90s in it for kicks. The Lead is a great guitar to modify. Ash body, great neck. I've also found out a lot about SC pickups with all the variations I've done on a rat Lead I bought a few years back.


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