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Post subject: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:49 pm
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I have been told that fender changed the tuners on the lead sries in the last year of production, is this true or am I wrong in my argument with this person that all lead series guitars were made with the same tuners?


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:21 am
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mikekinder wrote:
I have been told that fender changed the tuners on the lead sries in the last year of production, is this true or am I wrong in my argument with this person that all lead series guitars were made with the same tuners?


I wouldn't think that Fender would change the tuners in the last year before discontinuing the guitar, but you never know. Since they had changed to sealed tuners on the 2-knob "Standard" Strat that came out in 1983 I suppose they could have used those if they ran out of "F" tuners before they stopped making the Leads.

Does anyone have a photo of a 1983 Lead model? Mine is a '79 and it has the "F" tuners.


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:25 pm
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I have three of the series, a lead1, a lead2 and a lead3 all made in the last year of production and they all have the standard Ftuners.


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:38 am
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Agreed; I've never seen a Lead that didn't have the "F" tuners from the factory either; any Lead series I've ever seen with tuners other than "F" tuners had been modded somewhere down the line.


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:14 am
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The Fender Lead series electric guitars were manufactured from 1979-1982. This series was produced at the Fullerton factory under the direction of Greg Wilson and John Page.

They resemble Fender Stratocasters in appearance but have a unique set of features. Steve Morse is without doubt an influential endorsee of these guitars.

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In 1979, Fender introduced the Lead I. The Lead I had a single humbucker in the bridge position. The Fender Lead series models all had a shorter 24 3/4″ scale neck, rather than the 25 1/2″ neck of a Fender Stratocaster. All Lead models were available with either maple or rosewood fretboards.

The Fender Lead I controls are unique. There is a 3-way toggle selector (Neck pickup, Neck & Bridge parallel mix, Bridge pickup) a phase switch, master volume and tone controls. The volume and tone potentiometers are 250k and the tone capacitor is 0.05 uf ceramic.

The Fender Lead I was manufactured until the end of the Lead series in 1982. The price of a Fender Lead I in 1979 was $399. Today a Fender Lead I in excellent condition sells for $400 - $475 and a Lead II for $450 - $550, while the Lead III sells for $600 - $700.

The Lead II was also introduced in 1979. It featured 2 specially designed X-1 single-coil pickups. The X-1 pickups were promoted as “wide range single-coils” and are slightly hotter than a standard Strat of that era. Both the Lead I and Lead II were normally finished in either black or brown.

The Lead III was manufactured in 1982 only. It sported a hot humbucker at the bridge and an X-1 single-coil in the neck. Some models had dual humbucking pickups.

The Lead III models were made in a greater variety of colors than the Lead I and Lead II electric guitars.

Eric Clapton's red Lead II was the first guitar ever donated to the Hard Rock Cafe.

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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:16 am
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Chromeface - I don't know what site you got the Lead series info from, but I can guarantee you that the Leads have a 25 1/2" scale length; here is mine that I've owned since new in November '79 and it measures 25 1/2":

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Also the color is wine red, not brown. When the Lead III came out Fender did expand the available colors for all 3 models. Also Lead IIIs have 2 humbuckers, not a humbucker and a single coil. My mistake on production into 1983; I thought they were made up through June 1983 but likely these were just the factory assembling left-over parts and shipping them out in early 1983.

Morse appeared in the ads for these guitar but really only used a modded Lead I as a backup - his was a "Lead I 1/2" because it had the Lead I humbucker bridge pickup and a Lead II neck pickup; his also had 3 toggle switches instead of 2 like the Lead I/Lead II. Supposedly he only used the guitar for one song per set and used his mutant Tele for the rest (of course he is now an Ernie Ball/Music Man endorser).


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:03 pm
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I am also sure the neck scale is 25 1/2" because I own five of the lead series guitars and they have the 25 1/2" necks.


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:20 am
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General features

Manufactured Fall 1979 through 1982.
Vintage style “Soft C” profile neck with a 7¼" (184 mm) radius.
Neck width at nut 1.60" (40.64 mm), plus applied finish thickness on 1981 models.
Truss rod adjustment at the heel of the neck.
2 vintage style string trees.
21 medium frets.
"F" tuners (West German-manufactured), and "F" 4 bolt neck plate.
3 Ply BWB through 1981 and WBW through 1982 pickguard with foil backing.
White plastic nut.
25½ scale length.
Bridge uses a string spacing of 0.404" (10 mm).
Hardtail through-body mounted strings.
The saddle screws used lock nuts, not springs.
Comes with a tolex or moulded plastic case.
[edit]History

Manufactured between 1979 and 1982 by the Fender Musical Equipment Co. under the direction of Gregg Wilson and Freddie Tavares. Gregg Wilson was succeeded by John Page, who eventually headed the Fender Custom Shop. The Lead Series have elements of the Stratocaster and Telecaster in their design with a body that is slightly smaller and with a slightly different shape than the Stratocaster, a Stratocaster like neck (and headstock), and hardtail bridge with Telecaster-like string ferrules at the back of the body.
The Lead Series headstock was smaller than that of the then Stratocaster models and similar though not identical to the 1954 Stratocaster design. The Stratocaster models at the time of the Lead Series release in late 1979 were still using the larger headstock design until the introduction of the Dan Smith Stratocaster in 1981. At some point during 1982 the lower bout of the headstock was shifted towards the body giving the headstock a more elongated look.
The Lead Series were manufactured at Fender's Fullerton, California plant and priced below the Stratocaster models of the time (approx. $495.00). They were eventually replaced in Fender's line up by the Fender Japan Squier JV model in 1982 as Fender expanded its operations by starting Fender Japan.
Notable guitar players who have utilized the Fender Lead series include:
Bono of U2 (used during the War Tour in 1983; can be seen playing a black model in the Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky video)
Eric Clapton
Elliot Easton of The Cars ("Touch and Go" guitar solo from the Panorama album by The Cars)
Roger Miller of Boston post-punk legends Mission of Burma
Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple [1] ("Punk Sandwich" track from the "Night of the Living Dregs" by the Dixie Dregs).
[edit]Models

Lead I, 1979–1982: A single specially designed bridge position split humbucker. 3 position coil selector switch (single coil, both coils, single coil), 2 position humbucker series-parallel select switch which operates only when both coils are selected (middle position). Master Volume and Tone Control.
Lead II, 1979–1982: Two specially designed X-1 single coil pickups, one at the neck, and the other at the bridge. The X-1 pickup was also used in the bridge position on the "Strat" and the "Dan Smith Stratocaster" models. 3 position pickup selector switch (neck, neck and bridge, bridge), 2 position phase shift switch (in phase, out of phase) which operates only when both pickups are selected (middle position). Master Volume and Tone Control. It was a Lead II, once wielded by Eric Clapton, which started the now famous Hard Rock Café guitar collection.
Lead III, 1982: Two specially designed humbuckers, one at the neck, the other at the bridge. 3 position pickup selector switch (neck, neck and bridge, bridge), 3 position coil selector switch (neck single coil, both coils neck or bridge, bridge single coil) which determines if a single coil or both coils of each pickup will be selected. Master Volume and Tone Control.
Fender Lead I/III Humbucker Pickup Specifications
The DC resistance of the Lead I/III humbucker pickup is approximately 13 kΩ. The Lead I/III humbucker pickups have 12 adjustable pole pieces and have a ceramic magnet.
Fender Lead II Single Coil Pickup Specifications
The DC resistance of the Lead II X-1 single coil pickup is approximately 7.5 kΩ (9600 coil winds) vrs (7600 coil winds) on a Stratocaster. Lead II single coil pickups have flat ALNICO polepieces. Early Lead II single coil pickups have bobbins formed of green/grey fibreboard and later Lead II single coil pickups have plastic moulded bobbins that are the same as that used on current Stratocasters.
Fender Lead Series General Specifications
The Lead Series use 250 kΩ volume and tone potentiometers and use 0.05 µF tone capacitors. The body is usually made of 3 pieces of either alder or ash while the necks are maple with a walnut 'skunk stripe' on their backs and a matching plug on the face of the headstock covering the end of the truss rod.
Maple fingerboarded necks are made of one piece of maple (no separate fingerboard) while rosewood fingerboarded necks have a thick veneer of rosewood stuck over the pre-radiused face of the neck. Interestingly, while the Lead neck is approximately .04 in narrower at the nut than typical Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters of that era, the neck width at the 21st fret is the same as the Stratocaster and Tele (measuring 2.182 inches).
The pickup body routing is the same for the Lead I and the Lead II models (humbucker bridge and single coil neck routing). Later year Fender Lead models have a more contoured body and there are two subtle variations in headstock shape, one of which (softer contour) using tooling dating back to the 1950s Stratocaster (as with the Dan Smith Stratocaster). Neck profile and headstock thickness varied slightly throughout the production run for all Fender Lead models of different years. Many instruments used a polyurethane finish which is brittle, chips easily, and develops spider cracks if exposed to extremes of heat or cold. The finish is also prone to clouding.
[edit]Serial Numbers

The Fender Lead Series use the usual Fender USA serial number format where S = seventies and E = eighties, and the first digit of the serial number represents the year.
For example S9XXXXX = 1979, E1XXXXX = 1981.
[edit]Sources

Fender Lead I, Fender Lead II, Fender Lead III manuals.
[edit]External links

http://support.fender.com/manuals/instr ... ad_I_(1979)_manual.pdf
http://support.fender.com/manuals/instr ... d_II_(1979)_manual.pdf
http://support.fender.com/manuals/instr ... _III_(1982)_manual.pdf
http://www.electricguitartrends.com/200 ... title=Main

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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:53 am
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This is great info- I've has a lead 2 since 1985- got it for 100 bucks and was my main guitar for years. the finish is TRASHED!!! it came from the factory all broken up- is this why they were recalled? I love it- everytime the weather changes it gets foggy under the finish so I call it the "baromatar".


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:06 pm
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PRSWILL wrote:
This is great info- I've has a lead 2 since 1985- got it for 100 bucks and was my main guitar for years. the finish is TRASHED!!! it came from the factory all broken up- is this why they were recalled? I love it- everytime the weather changes it gets foggy under the finish so I call it the "baromatar".


The Leads were never recalled for finish; it was the 25th Anniversary Strats - they were originally white; the white finish cracked up and was replaced by the silver finish.

I think the Leads used a similar type of finish, but they never recalled them. Fender just quietly change the finish (but used the same colors) sometime in 1981. Mine started getting cloudy after about a year; it started cracking after about 5 years.


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:57 pm
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John C wrote:
Chromeface - I don't know what site you got the Lead series info from, but I can guarantee you that the Leads have a 25 1/2" scale length; here is mine that I've owned since new in November '79 and it measures 25 1/2":

Image

Also the color is wine red, not brown. When the Lead III came out Fender did expand the available colors for all 3 models. Also Lead IIIs have 2 humbuckers, not a humbucker and a single coil. My mistake on production into 1983; I thought they were made up through June 1983 but likely these were just the factory assembling left-over parts and shipping them out in early 1983.

Morse appeared in the ads for these guitar but really only used a modded Lead I as a backup - his was a "Lead I 1/2" because it had the Lead I humbucker bridge pickup and a Lead II neck pickup; his also had 3 toggle switches instead of 2 like the Lead I/Lead II. Supposedly he only used the guitar for one song per set and used his mutant Tele for the rest (of course he is now an Ernie Ball/Music Man endorser).



NICE GUITAR!


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:29 am
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TTSC wrote:
John C wrote:
Chromeface - I don't know what site you got the Lead series info from, but I can guarantee you that the Leads have a 25 1/2" scale length; here is mine that I've owned since new in November '79 and it measures 25 1/2":

Image

Also the color is wine red, not brown. When the Lead III came out Fender did expand the available colors for all 3 models. Also Lead IIIs have 2 humbuckers, not a humbucker and a single coil. My mistake on production into 1983; I thought they were made up through June 1983 but likely these were just the factory assembling left-over parts and shipping them out in early 1983.

Morse appeared in the ads for these guitar but really only used a modded Lead I as a backup - his was a "Lead I 1/2" because it had the Lead I humbucker bridge pickup and a Lead II neck pickup; his also had 3 toggle switches instead of 2 like the Lead I/Lead II. Supposedly he only used the guitar for one song per set and used his mutant Tele for the rest (of course he is now an Ernie Ball/Music Man endorser).



NICE GUITAR!


Thanks! I don't get her out that much these days; maybe 5-6 times per year - I have a repetitive strain hand injury and really only play shorter scale guitars these days to give my hands a break. That photo is about 8 years old now, but she still looks pretty much the same (not much more clouding or cracking in the finish).


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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:17 pm
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mikekinder wrote:
I have been told that fender changed the tuners on the lead sries in the last year of production, is this true or am I wrong in my argument with this person that all lead series guitars were made with the same tuners?


I have 3 lead series and they all have the F tunners on them, and my lead III is Feb 1982.

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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:59 am
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I had one from 82 and it had the sharpest V neck on it...it was almost a triangle on the back...anyone else? Most I saw had a rounded C neck.

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Post subject: Re: fender lead series guitars
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:03 pm
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Lead body with a 50s RI MIM Stratocaster neck from the 90s. Great combination for me because of the soft V profile. This guitar was pieced together from a body, a pickguard from another project and the neck I bought from an Ebay seller:
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