From the late 1980s, the Levinson company brought something a little more sophisticated to the world of Strat copies. For the previous few years, much of the variation on the Strat theme had been focused around the genre of hard rock, with humbuckers, pointy headstocks, divebomb-compatible trems and luminous finishes combining to produce guitars of which Spinal Tap would have been proud. Invariably, ads for these slick, metal-honed behemoths would feature whichever spandex/headband-clad dude could currently pack the most notes into the space of a single second. Or, the cheaper option: a model – once again, wearing the obligatory spandex/headband combo. So imagine the shock, in this climate, of asking for information on the Strat of the future, only to be handed a catalogue with a bloke in a double-breasted suit on the front cover! 'Yeah, I lurve u babe, and you're so bea-oooo-tiful. But have you considered updating your life insurance this year at all?' Yes, it's that catalogue. Yes, that was the Levinson Blade brand. Guitars not for metal gods, but for, well insurance salesmen, apparently. Actually, it wasn’t quite as laughable as it sounds. Admittedly, the guy did look like he’d be more at home auditing a high end furniture store than posing on the front of a catalogue with a guitar round his neck, but Levinson’s message that electric guitars could still feasibly be used by people who didn’t look like David St Hubbins, was refreshing. And indeed it was Levinson’s message. Gary E Levinson himself had directed the art for the catalogue, and the individuals in the photos were diverse. Of the ten men and women modelling guitars, only one looked as if he’d been anywhere near a metal band, and you got the distinct impression he’d been thrown out for trying a funk lick in the middle of Smoke on the Water. Mar 02, 2017 BLADE bass guitar (Levinson made). I sent the serial number to blade and got this reply. You own the original handmade Gary Levinson Blade B4. It was obvious, then, that the main thrust of the Blade range was towards a market as yet untapped. Whether Levinson was expecting legions of yuppies to suddenly form bands in the ‘nineties I can’t say, but these were without question guitars for people who wanted sophistication, diversity, variety and fundamentally, quality. Actually, if you could tear yourself away from wondering where the hell they’d bought all the clothes from, and look at the guitars, you realised that this was far from some comedy outfit trying to trick the staff of Sun Alliance into buying six-string fashion accessories. The spec was high (encompassing premium woods, innovative hardware, and active electronics), the look was contemporary and attractive, and you got the sense that Fender were in for another major challenge. I bought my Blade R3 (serial number 90442) on payday, 26th September 1991.
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