Fender Lead Series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fender Lead I | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1979—1982 |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Ash or Alder |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Rosewood or Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Hardtail, strings through body |
| Pickup(s) | Variable, see models |
| Colors available | |
| 1979—1981: Black and Wine (transparent red).
1981—1982: Black, Arctic White, Cherry Sunburst and Sienna Sunburst. |
|
Fender Lead Series electric guitars were produced by Fender and included the Lead I, Lead II and Lead III models.
Contents |
[edit] General features
- Vintage style “Soft V or C” profile neck with a 7¼" (184 mm) radius.
- Neck width at nut 1.650" (41.9 mm).
- Truss rod adjustment at the heel of the neck.
- 2 vintage style string trees.
- 21 medium jumbo frets.
- "F" tuners (Schaller), and "F" 4 bolt neck plate.
- 3 Ply WBW, or BWB pickguard.
- White plastic nut.
- 25½" (648 mm) scale length.
- Bridge uses a string spacing of 0.39" (10 mm).
- Hardtail bodythrough mounted strings.
- The saddle screws used lock nuts, not springs.
- Comes with a tolex or moulded plastic case.
[edit] History
Manufactured from 1979 to 1982 by Fender under the direction of Greg Wilson and John Page from the Fender Custom Shop. The Lead Series have elements of the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster in their design. The Lead Series have a body that is slightly smaller and a slightly different shape than a regular Stratocaster and have a Stratocaster like neck (and headstock) and have a hardtail bridge with Telecaster like string ferrules at the back of the body instead of a Stratocaster tremolo.
The Lead Series were one of the first USA Fender models to return to the original Leo Fender small headstock design. The Fender Stratocaster models at the time of the Lead Series release in 1979 were still using the large headstock design until the introduction of the Dan Smith Stratocaster in 1981. Although they are not Stratocasters the Lead Series played a pivotal design role between the large headstock Stratocaster models and the return to the original small headstock Stratocaster models in 1981.
The Lead Series were made at the Fender Fullerton California plant and were priced below the Stratocaster models of the time. They were eventually replaced in Fenders line up by the Fender Japan Squier JV model in 1982 as Fender expanded it's operations by starting Fender Japan. Some notable guitar players that have played the Fender Lead Series at various times include Eric Clapton, Elliot Easton ("Touch and Go" guitar solo from the Panorama album by The Cars), Roger Miller and Steve Morse ("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 (Seth Lover designed). 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 (Seth Lover designed), 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.
[edit] Technical information
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 use an Alnico V 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). Lead II single coil pickups have flat polepieces that are not staggered and have Alnico V magnets. 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 a 3 piece body and the neck and body wood types are either Ash or Alder with Ash being used for the transparent finish models ie Wine Red. 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 a larger headstock than earlier Fender Lead models. 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
- Mr Gearhead Fender Lead Series Manuals.
