Gary Levinson's Blade electrics have been around since the 1980s and are still winning friends. You won't find them everywhere but when you do they'll usually.
I use to own a Levinson Blade California model. I traded it because I did not like the neck profile, but that was not a reflection of the quality, tone, or playablity of the guitar. In all those areas it was a great guitar that was every bit the equal to a MIA Fender. My guitar was MIJ and was really well made. It is actually very hard to get any info on the guitars. If you have the serial number you can email Levinson and they will give you info on the model and build of the guitar.
I was impressed with the guitar and had I not gotten such a great trade offer I probably would have kept the Blade. They make really nice stuff! But I needed a killer acoustic and that was what i was offered in trade (a $1100.00 acoustic) so I couldn't refuse. Definitely look into it.
![Blade Guitars Serial Numbers Blade Guitars Serial Numbers](http://www.rare-guitars.co.uk/guitars/SwissMade/Levinson-Blade.jpg)
As far as I know, Gary Levinson still owns the company and they are still headquartered in Switzerland. OK, the guitar arrived and it was packaged well. I gave it a little inspection and found only a few minor scratches in the clear coat on the back of the guitar. The guitar looks great it is a dark blue burst that looks almost black in darker light. I take off the strings so I can polish the frets and oil the fingerboard. After taking all of the string off I notice that the fretboard has begun to seperate from the neck. The glue bond is gone from the nut down to about the 5th fret.
The good thing is that it is a clean seperation, there is no lacquer on the fingerboard sides so it doesn't look bad. It looks like a cheap and easy fix. I take the guitar to a local shop and they tell me that for $25 they will glue the fingerboard back and be careful not to get any glue in the truss rod channel. I should get the guitar back on Thursday this week.