FENDER LEAD I AND LEAD II GUITARS

Fender guitars are undeniably part of rock n roll. They came into their own when rock n roll did; in fact, the music would not have been the same without the Fender instruments and amplifiers.

Although there have been several changes down through the years, and although the Fender company is now part of a larger corporation, the Fender company name has always been a popular one.

Fenders newest effort is directed toward producing a lead guitar that has the Fender quality and sound at a reduced price. No doubt this is because there are so many guitar manufacturers today compared to the handful in existence when Fender started out in the late 40s.

In creating the new Lead I and Lead II guitars, Fender designers have stuck pretty close to Fenders tradition, with a couple of updated features integrated into what is basically a simplified Strat design. The bodies and necks of both instruments are the same. Only the pickups and wiring are different. ,

The body style is a lot like the old Epiphone solid-body "bat-wing" design, except the Fender body is slightly asymmetrical and has the contours of a Strat. Either guitar is available only in black or wine red.

The necks are made of hard rock maple and have either maple or rosewood fingerboards. The truss rod is adjustable at the body end of the neck, like the older Fender models. The necks have a 25V2" scale and 21 frets. Like the Strat and the Telly, all six tuning machines are on one side of the headstock. The Lead I and II have bolt-on necks with four bolts instead of three; in this respect they are like the older Fender guitars.

The bridge on both guitars is basicaly a non-tremolo Strat bridge, sometimes called a "hardtail". The only difference is that the string spacing on these new bridges is a little closer. Each string is individually adjustable for intonation and string height. «

The Lead I guitar is a single-pickup instrument, with a high output humbucking pickup mounted close to the bridge. The pickup can be operated in a single-coil or humbucking mode by means of a toggle switch on the pickguard. The pickup has 12 adjustable pole pieces. The Lead I pickup also has series/parallel capability, which simply means that it has a variation of tone and putput. That versatility is essential if this guitar is to be any good; even the most die-hard audience gets tired of the same guitar sound all night long.

The Lead D instrument features two single-coil Strat style pickups. In addition to a master volume and tone control that effects both pickups, the Lead II has a three-position toggle switch and a phase-reversal switch.

Although these guitar bodies are a little smaller than a Strat, they are made of a heavier wood, which gives them the proper amount of mass and density. The headstocks of both models look more like pre-CBS Strats than new ones, and finally, both instruments are fully shielded from unwanted electronic interference.

And on top of all that, the Fender Lead I and Lead II guitars are endorsed by a rock star!

GIBSON GK-55 GUITAR

Well, I cant say something about Fender without mentioning that other venerable institution in American Guitar: Gibson. Yeah, the boys from Kalamazoo have got a few tricks up their sleeves, so before we go any further were gonna get the cards out on the table.

First of all, those of you who collect guitars (or wish you could afford to!) know that the most coveted of all rock n roll pickups is the Original Gibson "Cream Coil" pickup, circa 1958. This humbucking pickup, so called because of the cream-colored bobbins on which the pickup was mounted, was only produced by jGibson for a couple of years in the late Fifties, and has since become one of the hottest items in rock n roll.

So desirable was this pickup, in fact, that several young manufacturers were able to cash in on the nostalgic appeal of new replacement pickups that simply looked like the old cream coils. ,

After 20 years without a cream coil, Gibson finally conceded to make them once again. Yes! Cream Coil Gibson pickups are being shipped from the Kalamazoo factory on some new Les Pauls and other models.

Another interesting thing concerning Gibson is the fad that they have begun producing some Les Pauls and other solid-bodies in the old fadory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is big news in Guitarland because for several years now the solid-body instruments were all made at the new Gibson factpry in Nashville.

And get this: the factory at Kalamazoo is turning out stock Les Pauls with two-piece curly maple tops, solid one-piece mahogany bodies, and cream-coil pickups! No joke! Were it not for the bigger headstock and chrome-plated tuning machines, these instruments would look like the Gibsons of yore, and in any case, they are . indicative of a fresh response to the industry trends and to the desires of musicians.

Another new goodie from Gibson is an1 instrument called the GK-55, which is a remake of a 55 Gibson Les Paul Spedal with a bolt-on neck. The body is one solid piece of mahogany, the neck is mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard. The GK-55 has a stud tailpiece with a new feature, violin-bridge adjustment screws that alloy/ easy and precise intonation adjustment. The bridge is the new tunamatic design, and the pickups are full cream coil humbuckings. The guitar is finished in a dark brown sunburst.

Gibson has tried many new designs in recent years, and certainly some of them have been worthwhile. But my guess is that Gibson will get further in the industry by doing what they did in the first place: build the most attractive, most functional solid-body guitar that they possibly can. All it would take is a look back at some of the old ones, and a careful balance of new design principles against good wood, good finishes and the proper cosmetic touch.

N NEW ITEMS

The Roland CSQ-100 Digital Sequencer is capable of storing up to 168 notes. Patterns can be loaded according to pitch and time value simultaneously, or separately. Stored sequences can be played back at any tempo, and can be transposed to other keys by interfacing the unit with a keyboard. Sequences can be advanced a single note at a time, or repeated indefinitely. The CSQ-100 features a portamento control, calibration control for precise tuning, a built-in metronome, and rear-panel jacks that allow the unit to be controlled by an external pulse from an electronic rhythm unit such as the Roland CR-78.

The Yamaha CS-5 monophonic synthesizer is a new low-end product that has features worthy of consideration by musicians that want to expand into synthesis with a minimum investment. The unit has 37 keys, and a six-octave selector switch that expands the instruments range to eight full octaves.

The CS-5 has Sample and Hold, Portamento, Noise Generator-all the ear-catching functions of'which cheap thrills are made—as well as the serious stuff of synthesis: LFO, VCO, Pulse Width Modulation, Voltage-Controlled Filter, Envelope Generator and Voltage-Controlled Amplifier. Oh yes, and dont forget the Pitch Bend Control! Perfect for the guy who wants to learn to fish but doesnt want to buy a yacht. m