A pre-electrode for a stimulation lead includes a generally cylindrical body having an exterior surface, an interior surface, a proximal end, and a distal end. The body includes multiple segmented electrodes disposed along the body connecting material disposed along the outer surface of the body and coupling each of the segmented electrodes to one another and multiple cutouts defined between adjacent segmented electrodes. The body also includes one or more of the following 1) a end wall step section formed in the exterior surface of the body on either the distal end or the proximal end of the body 2) an alignment feature selected from a slot or a notch extending inwardly from the exterior surface of the body, or 3) a longitudinal step section formed in the exterior surface of the body.