You can purchase this guitar on eBay
Starting price: $649.00 (View Auction)
Is it a Buy It Now?: no $0.00, eBay Seller: bob_amp

1980 Fender Lead II made in the USA I am including as much information as I can find about this guitar most of which is on wikipedia. Some of the content has been edited for space. Much of it seems to be manufacture specs and information. I am not the original owner of the Guitar and have little knowledge of its history. I am not warrantying this information but it seems to be the most accurate I can find. 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.History The original concept for the Lead Guitar series, including the name lead came from Dennis Handa, then Marketing director for Fender Guitars. The idea was to have a guitar that was cheaper than the Stratocaster and be attractive to players because of the neck feel as well as the pickup options. The smaller headstock and the neck were both patterned after earlier Fender necks. Originally Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs was the first endorser of the guitar and premiered it at a Namm show in Atlanta Georgia. The Lead Guitars were 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 on 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. 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 ClaptonElliot Easton of The Cars ("Touch and Go" guitar solo from the Panorama album)Roger Miller of Mission of BurmaSteve Morse of the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple [1] ("Punk Sandwich" track from the album Night of the Living Dregs by the Dixie Dregs) 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. Three-position pickup selector switch (neck, neck and bridge, bridge), two-position phase shift switch (in phase, out of phase) which operates only when both pickups are selected (middle position). Master volume and tone controls. It was a Lead II once owned by Eric Clapton that started the now famous Hard Rock Cafe guitar collection. 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) used 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. <<<(this seems to be a bit conflicting as I had found some information claiming that fender painted their black guitars in 1980 with Nitrocellulose Lacquer.) That said this guitar suffers from these exact issues. See below notes. 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. A few items of note about this guitar...The finish on the guitar seems to be the original. Although the guitar seems to not have been abused I am guessing it was in an attic or somewhere that it was exposed to dry heat. The finish is cracking heavily. It has a cool vintage look too it but if you are looking for a glossy perfect finish this is not the guitar for you. I have included pictures to show the condition the best I could. There are areas of paint that have chipped out but the finish is NOT flaking off. Please ask any questions if you need additional information prior to bidding/buying. I will not accept a return based on the finish not being as advertised.The Original hard shell case is being included. It's in pretty good shape, the "neck strap" is in good shape and the hinges and handle are all intact and operable.The neck of course is a Maple neck and fret board. It had what appears to be a original clear coat lacquer finish on it and is in good condition relative to age. The fret wear is minimal in my opinion. There is a good deal of information online about the Fender Lead Series even a collectors forum. guitars and a cool video on you tube. Look up Although this guitar is not known as collectible it is one of the cooler guitars in my personal collection and I am not interested in simply "moving it". I am going to list the Lead II as "buy it now" but I will consider a reasonable offer. It is more affordable to leave the listing up by doing it this way. If you have any questions please contact me and I will answer the best I can. Thanks for looking.

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