PSA: Levinson Blade, '90's model, FS at my local music shop.

Alnico

Saw this yesterday at my local music shop in case anyone's into them.........
It's at the Music Centre in Bedford - 01234 346206

Apparently quite a special 90's model.

http://i.imgur.com/DXy5QPR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nQVLC8r.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CxjrX5s.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9NhScV6.jpg

Alnico

Apologies for the crap photos it was the best I could do with my phone.

guitargeek62

Where's @Malam when you need him?

*edit* Aha! He's now @Rave ;

Alnico

I don't know a lot about them but I thought if someone's really into them it looked in good condition and not priced all that high,......... could be a real find for someone.

Hope it helps.

Epsilon

That is an excellent price. I've played a few of these and they have been without exception extremely nice guitars. Anyone looking for a high performance strat could do much worse than this.

Alnico

Epsilon said:

That is an excellent price. I've played a few of these and they have been without exception extremely nice guitars. Anyone looking for a high performance strat could do much worse than this.

I briefly looked at it and it looked and felt stunning,  hence the post.
The shop owner is a really good guy. I've bought guitars from him loads of times over the last 10 years.
I just thought it's too nice to not tell people about.

Kebabkid

Bloody hell. That seems really cheap.

Nice guitars

Gassage

I'm pretty sure that's a Swiss one. All the MIJ's have a 6 digit sril starting 11.

I may be wrong.

Gassage

Yup, it's a swiss one, not MIJ.

Funkfingers

Were the actual pickups active or was the battery power only required for an output booster device?

Gassage

Funkfingers said:

Were the actual pickups active or was the battery power only required for an output booster device?

It's a 25dB Clapton style mod boost.

Alnico

Gassage said:

Yup, it's a swiss one, not MIJ.

More knowledgeable people than me about these, you're almost certainly right it's just what I was told in the shop.
I'll edit the title.
He said there are micro switches inside the back of the guitar that change / adjust the sound. Could that be a trim pot for the mid boost maybe?
Whatever the guitar is, it looked nice and fairly uncommon so I posted it here in case it's a big "Wow" for someone.
I walk near to this place almost every day so I can always go back in and ask more or you could call Ross up yourself and ask him, he's a really nice guy.

I don't mind helping out if someone wants me to ask something.
I'll edit the post title now.

stuagu

Thats a brilliant price for a swiss one isnt it? 
Stunning guitars, a strat but better. 

ICBM

It's just the preamp which is active, the pickups are standard. The three trimpots control bass, middle and treble boost - the toggle switch on the front then gives bass & treble boost, bypass (which still works if the battery goes down, usefully), and mid boost.

I wasn't aware that any were actually made in Switzerland, but I could be wrong - I thought they were all Japanese-made and finally assembled/set up in Switzerland.

Parker

Love Blade.@gassage - could be a UK Eggle built one looking at the logo?

AuldReekie

Parker said:

Love Blade.@gassage - could be a UK Eggle built one looking at the logo?

Doubt it, only the early Blades were Swiss made; well before the Blade Eggle era

guitars4you

ICBM said:

I wasn't aware that any were actually made in Switzerland, but I could be wrong - I thought they were all Japanese-made and finally assembled/set up in Switzerland.

I'm pretty certain that is the case as well  - Gary Levinson started in Switzerland with a small work shop and early designs and a few early R4 models came from Switzerland but a deal was quickly done with Moridaira in Japan for production - I believe the custom work shop continued for design purpose - I believe the 'misunderstanding' suited Blade to add additional prominence

Recall many players thinking similar to Kramer in the 80's as the neck plate still said Kramer Neptune NJ and players with a far eastern Focus model still thought it was a USA model - side story but all the bodies/necks for the USA models came out of the ESP factory - they were only assembled/finished/set-up in the USA

mudslide73

Again off to the side but some early Kramer  wooden parts were made by a baseball bat company. 

richardhomer

mudslide73 said:

Again off to the side but some early Kramer  wooden parts were made by a baseball bat company. 

They really knocked it out of the park with those parts....

ICBM

guitars4you said:

I'm pretty certain that is the case as well  - Gary Levinson started in Switzerland with a small work shop and early designs and a few early R4 models came from Switzerland but a deal was quickly done with Moridaira in Japan for production - I believe the custom work shop continued for design purpose - I believe the 'misunderstanding' suited Blade to add additional prominence

I should also say that I don't regard Japanese-made parts assembled and set up in Switzerland as in any way a negative. The early Blades I've seen have been faultless for parts and build quality - in fact, to date they are the only guitar company I've seen do something which has no discernable benefit in the short term, and adds a small cost - but *is* worthwhile, because it increases long-term reliability… they wire the two sides of the 5-way switch in parallel. A little thing I know, but it shows the right approach to doing things right.

guitars4you said:

Recall many players thinking similar to Kramer in the 80's as the neck plate still said Kramer Neptune NJ and players with a far eastern Focus model still thought it was a USA model - side story but all the bodies/necks for the USA models came out of the ESP factory - they were only assembled/finished/set-up in the USA

They're far from the only ones - Washburn did it on some models as well, for example.

AuldReekie

Alnico said:

Saw this yesterday at my local music shop in case anyone's into them.........
It's at the Music Centre in Bedford - 01234 346206

Apparently quite a special 90's model.

http://i.imgur.com/DXy5QPR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nQVLC8r.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CxjrX5s.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9NhScV6.jpg

Thank you for the "heads up".  I called the shop first thing this morning and the Blade will be making its way to Edinburgh sometime this week. Will be interesting to see how it compares with my three other Blades including an RH4 that I bought new in June 1991.  Thank you again and yes, I'm a wee bit excited!