yamsa2000 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I've just spotted a Levinson Blade strat style guitar in a shop window, I haven't checked out further details of this particular guitar but a quick browse on the net has got me interested.Does anyone play one of these and what's the verdict? Are they crap or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I had a friend who was a monster shredder who still favored more "vintagey" axes as well, and he had a Levinson that he liked. It had a lot of trim-pots inside it. He said he never fully tapped all of the sounds that it was capable of! He wound up trading it for another axe, and, of course, missed it for a number of reasons. But, then, he was always doing that; he went through so many great guitars that way! Anyways, it was a great guitar, very much a cleverly modernized twist on a vintage Strat, straddling the two worlds quite well, I'd say. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral light Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I have one, Levinson Blade Classic (see avatar pic). Not only does it look great but the sound is amazing too (I still havethe stock pickups in). Pickups are active, there are 3 pots on the rear that control overall tone. I demo'ed one in a music shop years ago and finally bought one about 4 years ago. Check out www.bladeguitars.com and www.bladeguitarsus.com for more info (I emailed the company after I bought it regarding the tone controls and got an email from gary levinson himself!!). www.windhamhill.com - Shameless Advertising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 i have never heard anything bad about Blades, in fact i recall the studio player for Garth Brooks used a Blade. they are a modern Strat. which can only be a good thing. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Mammoth Music in Anchorage used to be a Levinson dealer (they may still be, not sure, haven't lived there for awhile). They were beautiful guitars, played and sounded great. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc taz Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Nothing wrong with the Blades, but I was only attracted to them when I noticed that some models used the twin blade pickups to make single coil tones without the 60 Hz noise. Now that I know a bit about getting replacement pickups for that purpose, I could get just about any good Strat style guitar I want, and do the same thing, minus the coil taps. sevenstring.org profile my flickr page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Björn Fröberg Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 One of my teachers in a music school has a Blade which looks like the one in spiral light's avatar, with active pups that you could turn passive with a miniswitch on the front. I can't remember if it had any pots on the rear, though. I played it a few times, and it was really good. He played mostly jazz and classic rock, and it work fine for that. Probably works for about anything. - Bob Freebird A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Douglas Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamsa2000 Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 Thanks guys - now I feel it's worth going inside the shop and see what it sounds like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danzilla Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Steve ROthery of Marillion started using a Blades strat type on their last album, "Anoraknophobia" and his comments on them were very positive. His tone is less brittle than when he was using other strats (although he used EMG's in his Strats). He's also using it a ton on the new album, "Marbles", coming out next month. Check them out! www.Marillion.com "Am I enough of a freak to be worth paying to see?"- Separated Out (Marillion) NEW band Old band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral light Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Originally posted by gotMYgrits: Thanks guys - now I feel it's worth going inside the shop and see what it sounds like. Go for it, you won't be disapointed, it's a great all round guitar. I forgot to mention in my earlier post that it has (the classic) a levinson floating trem that allows you to bend one string without the others going down in pitch (like other notable floating trems). The trm itself can be set flush on the body or can be set to pull up on the strings (instead of just down). www.windhamhill.com - Shameless Advertising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FULLREFUSAL Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Originally posted by Tedster: Mammoth Music in Anchorage used to be a Levinson dealer (they may still be, not sure, haven't lived there for awhile). They were beautiful guitars, played and sounded great.Ted..I have a Blade that I bought at Mammoth Music in Anchorage in 96. It's a classic Strat 3 PU style but has all the crazy Blade electronics, ebony fretboard, Sperzel Locking Tuners, Levinson Tremelo...Really Really serious custom strat basically. I'll never sell it as it's my Number 1 Gig and studio axe. A Fiend of mine in Miami is endorsed by Levinson, has been over to Switzerland to the Factory and everthing. He says they are popular in Europe but not so much in the US. I think thats cool. All the players who check my Blade out really dig it. www.seanmormelo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revolead Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Anyone know how much they cost? The distributor is only an hour drive away from here, which is cool, but for some reason I doubt they sell them there. Shut up and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FULLREFUSAL Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Originally posted by revolead: Anyone know how much they cost? The distributor is only an hour drive away from here, which is cool, but for some reason I doubt they sell them there.They probably are not cheap. Mine was almost 2K when i got it in 96...Well worth it though..They are top notch instruments that can hang with any other world class axe. www.seanmormelo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral light Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Originally posted by revolead: Anyone know how much they cost? The distributor is only an hour drive away from here, which is cool, but for some reason I doubt they sell them there.I got mine 3 or 4 years ago, cost about $800 (worth every penny my wife spent on it!), back when musicians friend (still) carried them. www.windhamhill.com - Shameless Advertising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FULLREFUSAL Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Originally posted by spiral light: Originally posted by revolead: Anyone know how much they cost? The distributor is only an hour drive away from here, which is cool, but for some reason I doubt they sell them there.I got mine 3 or 4 years ago, cost about $800 (worth every penny my wife spent on it!), back when musicians friend (still) carried them.Is yours made in Japan of the made in Switzerland Models? Levinson had a shop in Japan back a few years ago when Musicians friend was carrying them but he no longer does from what I understand. The MIJ models were under a grand but the MIS models were upwards 2K...If you got one of the high end models like mine, you SCORED for that price!@!! Either way, they are great guitars. www.seanmormelo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral light Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Originally posted by FullRefusal.com: Originally posted by spiral light: Originally posted by revolead: Anyone know how much they cost? The distributor is only an hour drive away from here, which is cool, but for some reason I doubt they sell them there.I got mine 3 or 4 years ago, cost about $800 (worth every penny my wife spent on it!), back when musicians friend (still) carried them.Is yours made in Japan of the made in Switzerland Models? Levinson had a shop in Japan back a few years ago when Musicians friend was carrying them but he no longer does from what I understand. The MIJ models were under a grand but the MIS models were upwards 2K...If you got one of the high end models like mine, you SCORED for that price!@!! Either way, they are great guitars.It's the blade classic (pic on the left). Mine was made in Japan but still plays beautifully. www.windhamhill.com - Shameless Advertising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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