Blade Guitars R1

strat copy made in switzerland, 22 jumbofrets, maple neck with rRosewood fretboard, locking-tuners, graphit-nut, vintage style tremolo with rollers, sss noiseless pu's with active electonics (can be switched of!, 5-way strat switch, one mastervolume, one toneknob, 3-way miniswitch for active electrinic (switch on with preset sound, bypass electronic, switch on with individual sound adjustable with three mini-controlls on the back - treble, middle, bass)

I use the guitar with amp simulators like digitech gnx and johnson j-station. i owned a lot of strats before but this one is one of the best i ever heard. it is a classic strat with modern features. it gives you traditional and vintage sounds and with the active electronic you can get a lot of individual sounds. no noise, ecept a little bit when activating the electronics on high gain sounds, rich full strat tone with a lot of "crying" and life. compared to a blade rh-4 from a freind of me, this r1 is a "real" strat and lives more than the rh-4.

i buyed it used, so i can't say something about the factory settings. the action of the guitar is perfect, everything is perfectly build, with high quality.

my blade is about 14 years old and everything is o.k.! what should i say more ???

i had some questions abou the guitar, because i buyed it used and wanted to know more and they answered fast to my mails.

if youre looking for a great strat with vintage and modern characteristics, try to get a blade r1. i can't understand that this guitar is not build anymore, the newer rh-4 is not as good as the r1. maybe the newer modells like the texas version are very good too, but i don't know them.

The Blade R1 is basicly a strat copy, but bears a load a modern features. It was built by Gary Levinson in the early 90s in Japan or Switzerland. The body is made of one piece of ash whereas the neck is one piece of maple. It has a rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo-frets. The headstock is pre-CBS Fender (at least for Europe, Blade was not allowed to sell those in the US). It has Levinson locking tuners, that work quite well. I'd prefer Sperzels, though.
The R1 features a S/S/S pu-configuration and a five-way-switch. The pu's, special levinson noiseless with plastic covers, have a slightly higher output than Fender's vintage ones, but do not hum at all!Even at high gain settings, the guitar stays calm. A master volume and a master tone poti give sound shaping options. Both of them work linearly. No losses of trebles if the volume is turned back.
A really nice feature is the VSC, which is an active electronic.
Settings can be chosen via a three-way-mini-toggle switch right by the volume poti. Settings: switch up: treble and bass boost while mids are cut, switch in the middle: passive, switch up: gain boost. Settings can be altered by turning three mini knobs in the guitar's back with a screw driver.
The R1 features a Blade FT-3 vibrato, which is kinda like a Fender American Standard, but has rollers.
My model is all white, which gives it a real classic look.
The case was included in the price.

I play rock, pop and funk. Usually I play through a Marshall 6101LM Anniversary Series Combo and a Rocktron Intellifex.
The R1 thanks to the noiseless pu's doesn't hum at all, not even if the Marshall is cranked up.
The sound depends a lot on the VSC setting. In passive mode, the Blade sounds like a really good Fender Strat. But it's not very vintage, but more the smoother rich sound. The R1 has sustain to spare with a nice balance of mids, highs and lows. The in between
When VSC activated (bass and treble boost) you get the real funk! That's it! Try this setting straight into your mixing console and you'll experience an almost acoustic like sound.
When gain boost activated, the guitar sings. The bridge pu gives the typical aggressive sound, while the neck pu sounds smooth, almost like a Les Paul. Believe it or not!
The variety is simply inconceivable.

The R1 was very well setup. The guys at Blade take their time to control the quality of their product, not to be compared to the ridiculous mass production crap Fender and Gibson do. Everything was workin fine. Even the height of the strings was adjusted exactly how I liked it. The vibrato worked so good that even after excessive use the guitar pretty much stayed in tune.
The neck is a bit thinner than the ones on a vintage strat. But that provides even better action without loosing sustain. Where the neck is bolt onto the body, Blade removed a little wood so that the higher frets are easier to be accesed and played. Great!

Since the finish is white, you have to take care alot of it, unless you want a totaly messed up finish. One tuner was broken when I pruchased this guitar. The strap buttons have already been substituted by Schaller Security Locks. But I did this with every of my guitars anyway.
I always use a backup in case a string brakes, but I think Blades are very reliable in general. I always take an extra battery (9V) with me, in case the one for the active electronic runs low. But even if that happens, you can still play it in passive mode.

I once contacted Blade in order to find out about the German distributor and they answered within 24 hours via e-mail. I wanted a replacement for the broken tuner and they sent it within a week, which is acceptable.

I've been playing for 8 years now. Besides my Blade R1, I own a Fender Strat with EMGs, an Argus Live Road Model (the best '59 Les Paul copy ever!) and a Blade RH3. The R1 is one of my favourites. I mean, hey, consider the price! Where do you get so much guitar for so few money?! I want to have another one, just as backup.
I fell in love with this guitar when I played it first. Why? Pure Strat Sounds with a much higher quality and variety of sounds and interesting and useful features.
The only thing I wish it had is a push/push poti with which you could activate the neck pu, so that you can combine bridge and neck pu.