Fender’s LEAD Series: CBS Era Gems
In 1980 or so I accompanied a friend to a music store to help him pick out his first guitar. My friend didn’t play at all so he wanted someone along who could help evaluate the instruments that caught his eye and his wallet. I believe he had something like $300.00 to spend.
We arrived at the music shop and headed straight for the used section. We both knew that’s where the bang for buck instruments would be hanging. Along the way I spotted a single pickup Fender guitar in the new Fender area. It was a deep red double cutaway number with a maple neck. It turned out to be a Lead I – part of the new-ish LEAD Series guitars by Fender. I don’t recall the actual price but it was within my friend’s budget. I pulled it down to check it out.
The maple neck was awesome. It reminded me very much of the era’s Stratocasters. It had the classic Fender radius and felt perfect in my hand. It was a solid feeling guitar and was probably fairly heavy but at the time heavy guitars were just guitars. It felt great and inspiring. Upon plugging it into whatever amp was available I recall really liking the fat sound of the pickup. I handed it to my friend to see if it spoke to him. It did and he purchased it – brand new with hardshell case.
I recall being more than a little jealous. At the time I would have still been a year or 2 away from Gibsons and Fenders and was still playing a mid-level Japanese made guitar. He couldn’t even even play yet and he had a REAL FENDER! That said, I was truly happy and excited for him.
At some point my friend and I slipped out of each other’s circles and I don’t know if he ever learned to play that guitar but the experience of discovering that model has stuck with me all these years.
The Lead series guitars were manufactured between 1979 and 1982. There were a number of models – LEAD I, LEAD II, LEAD III – with various pickup configurations. The bodies were ash or alder. The horns of the body were different than a Stratocaster – almost Les Paul Junior-esque. Every one I’ve ever encountered has felt exceptionally well balanced.
Notable players were Eric Clapton, Elliot Easton, Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) and -possibly most famously – Steve Morse who replaced his savagely, er… heavily modified Telecaster with a LEAD II which I guess was supposed to speak volumes for the model’s versatility.
All in all I think it was a great line of guitars from an era when competing with a foreign manufacturer often meant getting creative and developing a bare bones quality instrument from the ground up instead of merely building a cheaper Stratocaster from cheaper parts and cheaper labour in another country.
I’d love to see Fender Reissue this line. I think it’s completely worthy.