Levinson Blade R4 pickup advice needed

Whistler

Inspired
Long shot I know, but has anyone got experience of changing the stock pickups on these guitars?



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I've had the guitar since 1991 and just fancy a change. It's got the VSC active circuitry and just wondering if this limits my pickup choice.

http://www.bladeguitars.com/fileadmi...SC%20Chart.pdf

The difficult thing is, I'm not sure what sound I want from it. I've got shred guitars already and probably just want a classic strat sound, but I really need them noiseless as the current set are and I'm used to that:)

So basically what I'm asking is what pickups did you put in your Blade R4 and what type of sounds did you achieve??

Many thanks
 
I worked on one a few years ago and from what I recall, you'll need to stick with active pickups if you want to keep the original circuit/controls. It would not be very expensive or difficult to convert it to a traditional strat circuit. You'll then be able to choose whatever pickups you want. As far as noiseless goes, I have a set of Kinman Blues that sound as close to Fender's Custom '54's as I've heard and would recommend looking at other pickups they offer. Dimarzio makes some very well respected noiseless pickups as well with a broad range of tones, from classic to modern. Lindy Fralin split blades and Zexcoils are a couple of others that come to mind that have reviewed well.
 
I worked on one a few years ago and from what I recall, you'll need to stick with active pickups if you want to keep the original circuit/controls. It would not be very expensive or difficult to convert it to a traditional strat circuit. You'll then be able to choose whatever pickups you want. As far as noiseless goes, I have a set of Kinman Blues that sound as close to Fender's Custom '54's as I've heard and would recommend looking at other pickups they offer. Dimarzio makes some very well respected noiseless pickups as well with a broad range of tones, from classic to modern. Lindy Fralin split blades and Zexcoils are a couple of others that come to mind that have reviewed well.


Thanks for the reply, great info and much appreciated. I think I'll keep the active circuitry as it makes the guitar very versatile, so now I just need to do some research on which pickups are compatible. That bit might take some time :)

Thanks again.
 
Just curious what you think of this guitar? I am thinking of buying one myself. What is it that you don't like about those pickups? Are the pickups active? Or is only the preamp active? And is it completely noiseless in all pickup positions? And how is the tremolo system and the tuning stability? Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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Hi
I've got mine in the early 80s and it's my main guitar for mor than forty years now( it's the one in my profile pic) it goes from traditional to modern with a flick of a switch, it is a very versatile guitar which covers a lot of ground
I did change the pickups to a set of joe hardens, pretty much in the same year I bought it, since then I've tried several other pickups but always came back to the Joe Bardens they are noiseless they work perfectly with the active cercuit and you don't need active pickups as the active circuit is nothing more than an active eq which for example is deactivated when you put the little toggle switch into middle position
So you can choose whatever pickup you like
Hope that helped
Cheers
 
Hi Bodde, I never did change the pickups. I think I was just bored and thought about an upgrade but realised the stock pickups are just fine. The guitar itself is very versatile and you can get a sparkly tele, spanky strat, and full on shred sound out of the various options using the VSC toggle switch.
I know a lot of session guitarist had the R4 as it really is so many guitars in one.
The pickups are totally noiseless in all 5 positions but I'm not sure if the pickups are active or just the pre-amp which was my reason for posting the original question.

I've had mine from new since 1991 and would never think about selling it. The build quality really is top class. The trem is very stable and can take a fair bit of use, I remember the Falcon trem being raved about at the time because you can pull up almost like a Floyd Rose.

I personally prefer the neck shape compared to a Fender as its slightly thinner. Just my preference.

Mine is the R4 which is 3 single coils as I wanted a traditional strat set up.

Hope this info is useful to you and let me know your thoughts if you buy it,

Dan
 
Mine is the R4 which is 3 single coils as I wanted a traditional strat set up.

Yes that's also why I like it. I don't like HSS guitars and most super strat type guitars are HSS not SSS. I already have a 'normal' strat and I think an R4 will be nice for a more modern strat sound.
 
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