A look into the brand-new Player Series Lead guitars…
(Image credit: Fender)
NAMM 2020: St Vincent, Bono, Eric Clapton and Steve Morse are just a handful of names that have been associated with the Fender Lead series over the years, its history stretching all the way back to 1979. The unique-looking double-cutaways will be making their return this year, in the form of these Player Lead II and Player Lead III reissues.
The Lead II - available in Crimson Red Transparent, Black and Neon Green - offers dual-slanted Player series single coil pickups, a modern C-shape neck, medium jumbo frets and Dual-toggle switches (one for pickup selection, one for phase-reverse.
(Image credit: Fender)
The Lead III, which comes in Olympic White, Sienna Sunburst and Metallic Purple, features two Player humbucking pickups, dual-toggle switches for pickup selection and coil-splits.
And much like the early 80s model in that video, the new versions offer high-quality tone and durability in a quirky, compact package - and best of all - at fairly low prices: just $599 apiece.
Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, Record Collector, Planet Rock, Rhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).
