Southpa Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 (edited) I'm currently doing some painting at a gentleman's house and we got to talking about guitars. He recently bought a Made in USA, 1981 Fender Lead III, all black w/ black pickguard. I figure its relatively rare, firstly, because I've never seen one before, and secondly, my research tells me that Fender only built them from 1979 to 1982. It was originally designed to be a beginner's, studio type of guitar. Its very solid construction and you can see that its been played alot, lots of REAL body wear, finish cracks etc. a TRUE relic. All maple neck, double humbuckers, 1 vol. , 1 tone and 2 toggle switches. One toggle is for switching between pickups and the other toggle is for "phasing". It definitely needs a fretjob, however there are a few areas where I need some input from you guys. The picture shows the notches in the edges of the fretboard around the 2nd and 3rd frets. Its like that on both sides. Do you think there is anything hard enough to build up these notches back to the original profile?? Or should we just let it go? The owner is not overly concerned about it, just something to get used to when sliding up and down the neck. Also, the spots where the neck got "dinged" have resulted in loss of finish on the sides of the neck. Here are more pictures of the guitar: http://img35.exs.cx/img35/7209/Lead5.jpg http://img35.exs.cx/img35/7309/Lead4.jpg http://img35.exs.cx/img35/7056/Lead3.jpg http://img35.exs.cx/img35/9233/Lead1.jpg And another thing, the owner is interested in maintaining its value. I told him that he should leave it AS IS and not have it refinished. We are both interested in any suggestions. The guitar is still solid, original and functional. Edited October 27, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Maybe some super-glue fill to get rid of rough edges of chipped finish. If they are dented areas of wood, maybe some steam repair first, although that could cause more finish damage. Frets, if original, were crammed in sideways on that. Body is heavy, right ? Northern Ash Tuners are known for not being good. I'm always surprised when I see that kind of finish wear on Fenders from that time, because I think it's probably a tough poly type coat. The paint on the body (if just like my Lead II) is very thick and tough. It should be kept as stock as possible to keep the value, but if he's picky about modding it for better tone, it would be better to sell it and get another guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 If he is interested in the value I will keep it as is. As soon as you start fooling around it depreciates. Have him get it appraised to see the actual value. I don't care for the value of a guitar as long as the tone and playability is good for me! But if he is just interested in value... let it be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 No offense to anyone here, but what value? The Lead series was a failed price-point experiment by the CBS/Fender marketing department in the last days before CBS jumped ship. The reason most people haven't ever seen one is because they sold very badly (at $450 list, they weren't really high enough in quality to compete with similar guitars at lower prices from other manufacturers), and they were discontinued after a couple of years. In near mint condition, with a hardshell case, they might be worth what they sold for new. There's always the possibility that the next Kurt Cobain could come along playing a Lead III, and cause the price to skyrocket, but it's extremely unlikely! Of course, that's just my take on it, and considering the current prices on those rubbish big-headstock, three bolt tilt-neck CBS Stratabortions, I may be giving the Fender "collectors" market more credit that it deserves, so take this with a block of salt. My opinion is worth every cent I get paid for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 If it's Fender, if it's made in the USA, if it's now a "vintage guitar", then maintaining it's value is a top consideration. If I still had mine, and could get $400.00 for it, I'd take the $400.00 and build two better partscasters with used parts. I "modded" mine with my "great ideas" in my late teens/early 20's. I threw the value out the window by doing that, and still had this pretty lifeless sounding "baby" strat ( Fender Lead II). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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