# Blade guitars... Wow i'm impressed



## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Stopped by the Calgary Rock shop on the weekend and noticed they carry a new line... Blade guitars out of the UK.

http://www.bladeguitars.com/

I played a couple of different strats, teles, and a Diablo which is sort of like a PRS... well sort of. I was really taken back by the 3 wat mini toggle switch EQ. What a stellar job they did voicing this guitar's electronics. The build quality was outstanding too. I'm a ESP fan and was seriously taking a look at a Vintage Plus ( $1200 )... not any more the Blade Texas Standard Pro ( $800 ) just kills the ESP and many Fender strats I've played and owned. Truthfully I'm biased as I'm not a Fender Strat guy and up until now I was an ESP Strat guy.

Anyone here own a Blade Guitar?
Any comments, concerns, cudos...

Im seriously taking a look at the Texas Standard Pro or the Texas Deluxe.

Craig


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

I thought they were Swiss, not from the UK. They have a great reputation in Europe and the European mags always have rave reviews, but at those price points, those would most likely be an Asian made knock off, wouldnt they be?.........


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## Jimi D (Oct 27, 2008)

Accept2 said:


> I thought they were Swiss, not from the UK. They have a great reputation in Europe and the European mags always have rave reviews, but at those price points, those would most likely be an Asian made knock off, wouldnt they be?.........


Ya, as I understand it, they're currently designed by Gary Levinson (he's Swiss but might be a UK ex-pat) and built in Korea or Japan using high quality parts... I've always wanted to try their Strat clone myself, but I've only ever seen one of the original European builds and that was some years back. Still, they're very highly thought of across the pond... All the same, I'd be looking pretty carefullly at Fender, G&L, Ernie Ball Music Man, Hamer and other North American venders in that price range; tag their obscurity with the Asian manufacture and the resale value on a Blade is probably just about nil... Which would suggest they might be quite a bargain used... lofu


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## Brennan (Apr 9, 2008)

I've got a Blade, it's an older model from when they were still using strat headstocks. They are (were?) Swiss made, as Accept2 said, and the build quality is fantastic. It has noiseless active pickups, locking tuners, roller bridge etc... A 5-way pickup selector and 3-way toggle on the pre-amp give this thing a huge range of tones. I haven't played the newer ones, so I can't really comment on them, but if they're even half as good as mine they're a bargain at $800. The closest model to mine from their website would be the rh-4 classic (identical minus the humbucker).










Sorry for the bad pic, I need to get some better ones online.


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## WEEZY (May 23, 2008)

yep, Swiss made. I just tried one out at a shop near me and was quite inpressed too. It was a Tele copy w/ P-90 style pups. The neck was a bit skinny for my taste but it felt like a quiality build for sure. ...not a fan of the headstock logo though...


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

they do look georgous, but the head stock....grrr....they missed on that one


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Brennan... nice Blade. 

So I learned a little more hear today. Swiss design/build with current production in Korea.

Like I said comparing them to the ESP Vintage Plus which I like far more than a Fender Strat... the Blade comes out on top a clear winner.

I may try to get a used origional swiss made Blade now that I've read and seen the pros and cons.

It would be good to hear from someone who has experience with both the Korean and Swiss made Blades.


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## RHGraham (Nov 13, 2008)

I've picked a few Blades up over the last month and I too must say I'm more than a little impressed, very nicely-made axes. Nice finishes too, creating a real issue in the store I visit regularly and started out with 20 years ago, Gibsons and Fenders hangin on the wall beside the blades.... makin some of the floor guys VERY uncomfortable, some tough questions coming up.

Randal


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

> some tough questions coming up.


and rightfully so... I've owned to American made Fender Strats and sold both... I still have the Music Man Sihlouette Special... great guitar as well.

The Blades I've playes are all set up well and had not nut, neck or bridge issues and as mentioned the finishes are great.

I went to the Calgary Rock Shop and played 6-7 on tues night and all were awsome the Diablo was surprising after playing the Tele in that it was so light... must be a chambered body.

Cheers


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## vds5000 (Apr 14, 2008)

Back in the mid 90's, there was a pawnshop on Church St. in Toronto that had a translucent blue swiss-made original Blade strat copy up for sale. The price was between $400-500 and it sat in that window for at least a year and a half. From what I recall, it weighed a ton (heavier than your average Les Paul).


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## RHGraham (Nov 13, 2008)

vds5000 said:


> Back in the mid 90's, there was a pawnshop on Church St. in Toronto that had a translucent blue swiss-made original Blade strat copy up for sale. The price was between $400-500 and it sat in that window for at least a year and a half. From what I recall, it weighed a ton (heavier than your average Les Paul).


I was just at the music store today, ( turns out I'll be working there again...wierd full circle thing goin on there...) and I checked out the four blades they had again, at this point at least, they seemed completely on par weight wise with the models they were emulating... strat, tele, long-scale jazz bass, and the one that keeps knockin my socks off is the little teeny-weeny PRS style axe. Wow... I'd be hard-pressed to build better from scratch for the money, and I ain't real happy admitting that, but it is a super-nice guitar.
The only thing I found with them was I do believe the shipping is hard on them, wherever they come from, the strat and tele styled ones both needed very minor adjustment to get a couple of minor buzzes off the top frets, but other than that, they played really well and sounded nice unplugged, and the fit/finish was very, very good.
The owner is going to let me go over them much more deeply next week, I'm going to set-up a bunch of stuff in the store, while I'm at it I want to take a look at the parts and internal stuff in detail. 
They are pricey though, but I'm becoming of the opinion that the bucks are warranted. I'll make a solid opinion for myself one way or another after I see under the hood.

Randal


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## vds5000 (Apr 14, 2008)

RHGraham said:


> I was just at the music store today, ( turns out I'll be working there again...wierd full circle thing goin on there...) and I checked out the four blades they had again, at this point at least, they seemed completely on par weight wise with the models they were emulating... strat, tele, long-scale jazz bass, and the one that keeps knockin my socks off is the little teeny-weeny PRS style axe. Wow... I'd be hard-pressed to build better from scratch for the money, and I ain't real happy admitting that, but it is a super-nice guitar.
> The only thing I found with them was I do believe the shipping is hard on them, wherever they come from, the strat and tele styled ones both needed very minor adjustment to get a couple of minor buzzes off the top frets, but other than that, they played really well and sounded nice unplugged, and the fit/finish was very, very good.
> The owner is going to let me go over them much more deeply next week, I'm going to set-up a bunch of stuff in the store, while I'm at it I want to take a look at the parts and internal stuff in detail.
> They are pricey though, but I'm becoming of the opinion that the bucks are warranted. I'll make a solid opinion for myself one way or another after I see under the hood.
> ...


Are these the Korean ones you speak of?


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## RHGraham (Nov 13, 2008)

They may be Korean, I really don't know yet, I was at the store today for other reasons and was playing them while I was waiting for somebody, didn't think to look for a origin sticker or mark on them, or to ask. It's the first time I've been exposed to them any great deal, aside from pics and other posts, ads, that sort of thing.

To be honest, over the last few years, i find I don't care that much where they come from, as long as they're good, well-made, well-fitted/finished axes... there's dog crap coming outta every country, and great stuff coming out of the same places. Some of the indonesian Fenders and Chinese Squires I've just recently handled have been fantastic, surprisingly so, for example.
Then last year, for some reason, there seemed to be a whole rash of Fenders from overseas that had just the worst assembly I've ever seen, necks on crooked, string trees partly sideways, terrible set-ups, bad solder joints, buggered pots, you name it. So after a while, I stopped wondering where they came from and just started judging them on thier individual merits.

As I did with the blades; these ones are really nice guitars, good finishes, good parts, sound and play great, so, if they are made in Korea, they are being made well.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

> So after a while, I stopped wondering where they came from and just started judging them on thier individual merits.


Is'nt that the way we should be looking at guitars anyways?

Really... I'm happy to hear you say that.


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## RHGraham (Nov 13, 2008)

KHINGPYNN said:


> Is'nt that the way we should be looking at guitars anyways?
> 
> Really... I'm happy to hear you say that.


I think so, but I'm the kinda guy that plays my old guitars regardless of some other persons perception of it's "value". They are fine instruments and should be played. IF they sound great, play great, they are great. What a collector will pay for it means nothing to me. The cash value isn't what makes them fine instruments.

On the flip side, the sticker on the headstock, the marketing campaign, or the other guys that have guitars with the same sticker, means absolutely nothing with regards to how *this* guitar plays now. Nor does the price.
And lately, there seems to be this deal where a sticker or inlay is what determines the price and somewhere along the way the quality issue has been completely and blatantly ignored.

I'm ranting, sorry, I havn't been around here long enough to have a right too.

We have some chinese strats and teles in the shop right now as well, that are perfectly fine, and I think the prices are great too, although I don't do the retail part, I'm just the tech. I've had plenty of old "vintage" strats and teles that were no better than these ones really, except for maybe the random-wound pickups in my old ones... And in one of these new fangled digital amp things, who cares anyway?

Judge them, critically, and carefully, but not by the paint, the decal, or the advertising.
Play it. Listen.
You'll know.

Randal


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## twoonie2 (Jan 19, 2008)

Tried out the Delta Standard (tele) and a Texas standard pro strat and they were both fantastic ( well built and sounded excellent!) and both have major tonal versitility due the the following:


http://www.bladeguitars.com/files/vsc_settings.pdf


They have an eq on the back of each instrument as well as an additional toggle switch next to the pots.. 

http://www.bladeguitars.com/files/Delta Standard - Spec Sheet.pdf

I was able to go from nice clear crisp twang all the way to scorching metal! Try one of these out next time you visit your local music store (if they carry the Blade line)..


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