Fender Lead III

Credits: Anais Gallagher

Model: Fender Player Lead III
Color: Olympic White
Year: 2020

Used in...

- 2022

- used during the recording sessions of the Council Skies album

Details

The Lead series was introduced by Fender in 1979 as an entry-level offer: these guitars were manufactured at Fender's factory in Fullerton, California and priced below the Stratocasters & other Fender guitars.
Three different versions were available: the Lead I (with a single humbucker pickup), the Lead II (with two single-coils) and the Lead III (with two humbuckers, only offered in 1982).1

In late 1982 the Lead series was discontinued: Fender started its Japanese branch and the Lead models were de facto replaced with an entry level Strat lookalike marketed under the Squier name.2

In 2020, Fender reissued the Lead models for the first time, albeit with a few differences: like the original, they were marketed at an attractive price and featured very versatile electronics.3

Credits: Anais Gallagher

Noel's Lead III is one of the 2020 reissues: maybe it was gifted to him by Fender, or maybe he bought it himself because of the early '80s looks.

The guitar has two toggle switches: the first one is the usual 3-way pickup selector, while the other one is a coil-split switch that cuts out one coil from the humbuckers, making them work as single-coil pickups.4

Noel has used the Lead III in early 2022 to record guitar parts for the Council Skies album: in the making-of video filmed by Anais Gallagher Noel is seen recording riffs for the song Pretty Boy with it.

Credits: Anais Gallagher

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  1. https://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-fender-lead-series.html ↩︎
  2. https://www.accordo.it/article/viewPub/42790 ↩︎
  3. https://guitar.com/reviews/electric-guitar/review-fender-player-lead-ii-player-lead-iii/ ↩︎
  4. https://www.guitarworld.com/reviews/fender-lead-iii-review ↩︎

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