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.
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.
Just a few weeks ago, St Vincent (aka Annie Clarke) uploaded a cover of Jimi Hendrix classic Little Wing on her Instagram channel, demonstrating just how glassy and chimey her original neon green Lead II can sound in the right hands.
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.
For more information, visit Fender.
