Conference napalm::guitar

    
    I have a Lead I (with a Lead II neck, I liked the rosewood fingerboard
    better). Only one pickup, a Fender humbucker type, with two selector
    switches. One is a 3-position to select the coil (top, both, bottom),
    and the other is a phase switch (when in humbucker mode).
    
    I've actually replaced the pickup in mine with a Demarzio, for a
    cleaner, more high end sound (better for the folk/rock I'm playing at
    the moment). The original seems more mid-rangey, and has a pretty
    strong output. Probably good for rock on the heavier side.
    
    I do like the way it plays though. Nice sunburst finish, and I picked
    it up pretty cheap (new) a few years ago. Roger Miller of Mission of
    Burma fame (and currently NoMan) plays a Lead I.
    
    Rob

The lead 1 came with a single fender humbucker with switches for phasing and
split coils. I have one of these lying around somewhere...

the lead 2 came with two single coils

the lead 3 cmae with two of the above mentioned humbuckers..

my lead one doesn't even resemble one anymore (kahler trem, warmouth neck, 
duncan humbucker and two hot stacks...)

dbii

     My Fender Lead 1 has the stock humbucker and a Dimarzio single coil
     pickup. I'm looking to find a Cheap lock trem. for it {40$ in
    Musicians friend catalogue}  . This is a cool axe. It may replace my
    aging Kramer Focus 3000.
    
                                              JT
    

    2 Fender pickup questions - 

    On a 3 single-coil Stratocaster, what is the "mapping" of the pickups
    to the 5-position switch?   (I have a used clone with no manual.) 


    Also, I couldn't find a lsiting (or a listing) for Fender Lace Sensors. 
    Are these passive or active?  What do the various colors signify?  What
    is the stated advantage of these units?

    Thanks, 
    \Gary

    
    The top position of the switch is neck pickup only.
    
    Mid/top position is a combination of the neck and middle pickups 
    (sometimes referred to as a "out-of-phase" sound.
    
    Middle position is middle pickup only.
    
    Mid/bottom is a comination of the middle and bridge pickups (also
    "out-of-phase').
    
    Bottom position for the bridge pickup only.
    
    The volume control is a master volume (you can't blend the pickups
    like a Les Paul).  The two tone controls are for the neck and
    middle pickups  (I guess by definition, if you want to use the
    bridge pickup you must want lots of TREBLE).
    

    RE: lace sensors
    
    Lace sensors were designed for Fender by Don Lace.  They are quite
    different in design to Fender single coil pickups, so Fender likes
    to call them "sensors" instead of "pickups" (a rose is a rose...)
    
    Lace sensors are supposed to offer the follow advantages:
    
    	o VERY quiet (as anyone who has played a "traditional"
          strat under flourescent lights can appreciate).
    
        o Lower magnetic field (the magnetic field of a standard Fender
          pickup is quite high, and this can dampen the vibration of
          the string)
    
        o No pole-pieces, so no loss of signal when bending strings
    
        o Hotter output
    
    
    Lace Sensors come in three flavors:
    
        o Gold -- for a "vintage" Fender tone
    
        o Blue -- for a "richer" tone with greater lows and mids
        
        o Red -- high output 
    
    
    I put a blue FLS in my (very unstock) '68 Fender Telecaster bass 
    when the original pickup decided to self-destruct  (I could not find
    a replacement single-coil bass pickup and didn't want to re-rout
    the body for P-bass pickups).  I like the sound, and I never
    thought I'd see the day when that Tele bass would be the
    *quietest* electric I own.
    
    
    Jim

    FLS's also come in `silver', but I can't remember what's so special
    about them.  I've got a blue FLS in the bridge position on my American 
    Standard Strat, and I love it.
    
    Scary

    
    re silver FLS:
    
    They are like the gold's, but have more midrange. I found them to suit
    perfect in the bridge position; if i put a gold here, the tone was sort
    of too sharp - the silver having a more 'smooth' tone. On the middle and
    bridge positions on my Levinson Blade, I plan to put on gold's, them
    having more brilliance...I'm doing tape recordings of every combination
    to find out what's best - if the FLS's ARE better than my conventional
    Blade single coils - but it's a kind of slow process, takes a set of
    strings for every try...:-(
    
    Poul
    

    I played a tele with red sensors in it, it had two hooked together to
    make a humbucker at the bridge, now that's a sound I liked. The single
    red at the  neck left me cold though.
    
    dbii

    I had a FLS Red on one of my Strats. The guitar had three different
    pickups on it, all three replaced the stock pickups. I started out by
    replacing the Bridge pu with a diMarzio HS2, and completed the
    bastardization by placing the FLS Red in the bridge and replacing the 
    DiMarzio to the middle, and a Seymore Duncan 1/4 pounder in the neck. 
    
    I wasn't impressed with the FLS. Not that it wasn't any good, but for
    all the hype about 'em and the theory and all, I expected more. Maybe I
    expected the damn thing to play for me, I don't know. But it just came
    up short in A/B comparison with my other Strat which has a DiMarzio
    Super Distortion Humbucker in it, and I think that's the sound I wanted
    out of the bridge position.
    
    One other thing about FLS quietness theory, the Dimarzio HS2 was dead
    quiet, period! I could introduce noise to the FLS by Holding the axe
    next to the transformer.
    
    "sakman"

    Looking for a used ( or new if you got one),Strat p/u. I need it for my
    50's reissue Strat (81). The original went missing and I'm S.o.L trying
    to track it down. Also have a SEmore D ( i think ,To trade -partial or
    seperate deal).
    
    -kev