PICKUPS
When I started with Blade I set out to design pickups that would perfectly fit my guitars. I have always looked at my guitars as “the total is the sum of the parts.” The instrument is a unit. I probably made over 100 pickups for testing until I found exactly what I wanted.
I tried using different wire gauges (AWG) and insulation material until I found the sound that became the Levinson pickups. Almost all of my pickups used AWG 42 wire with enamel insulation. I like the treble response with AWG 42 and find produces a clear, tight and full sounding pickup and using enamel insulation accents this with more clarity and a tighter low end than polyurethane. The chart here gives you a rough idea of how wire gauge affects sound...
Over the years I have used ALNICO 2,3 and 5 magnets in various pickups. As I have said in other articles, I designed the Sceptre line as a modern guitar line with a contemporary sound and for this I chose ALNICO 5 for all of the pickups. In my opinion it produces the best balance of solid bass, warm midrange and sparkling treble.
These are the specifications I chose to use for the Levinson Sceptre pickups. We made dozens of sample pickups and tried them head to head in our workshop until we got it right. They are custom wound to my specifications to give you great sound. And that is what you get.