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Sceptre by Levinson

To learn everything about this amazing guitar brand learn more here: https://levinsonsceptre.com/ 

 

Features That Make Levinson Sceptre Special:

MACHINE HEADS

All Sceptre electric guitars use the DJ234 model tuners. They have a diecast housing with sealed lubrication for smooth operation and long life. The 1:14 gear ratio provides fast and accurate tuning. I chose the D5 zinc button because it is small and solid for the 6-in-a-line headstock configuration. Another feature I like is that they do not need a mounting screw to maintain a solid positioning. Two small nibs on the housing fit in holes routed into the back of the headstock by our CNC machine. It’s rock solid.

"I have chosen Der Jung Tuners for all Sceptre Instruments. Der Jung is a Taiwanese company founded in 1960 with manufacturing in Guang Dong, China. I have used their products now for over 10 years and have been very pleased with their consistent quality throughout their product offering."

BRIDGES

"I have always paid special attention to the nuts and bridge on my instruments. They are the anchor for the string ends and affect how the vibrational energy of the string gets into the wood – and yes, the type of would makes a big difference but I’ll talk about that in the wood feature section later.

All Sceptre instruments have a real bone nut. I prefer this because of its medium hardness and tone. Many of the newer synthetic nut like PPS (Polyphenylene Sulfide) can be too soft and not durable or glass filled, hard and brittle sounding to me."

For the Ventana and Arlington Series I have chosen to use Wilkinson hardware. I have known Trevor Wilkinson for so long that I won’t embarrass him by indicating his (and my) age. Trevor’s hardware is well thought out, well manufactured and reasonably priced.

The Ventana Standard and Ventana Deluxe are both outfitted with the Wilkinson WOV02 tremolo system. The string spacing is 2 1/16” or 52.5mm. This works very well with both three single coil (SSS) or two single coils and a humbucker (SSH) configurations with good string/magnet alignment for balanced output of the pickups. I wanted the Ventana Series to have a versatile contemporary sound and chose this tremolo for its solid nickel plated zinc diecast saddles and full sized tremolo block. A full size block is heavy and gives a more solid attack and better sustain the tapered blocks often used. The tremolo arm is push-fit into the black and the tension on the arm can be adjusted with the screw on the tremolo block so that it can fall away from your playing hand or stay exactly where you want it to be. The base plate is chrome plated steel and ground to an edge where the holes for the mounting screws go through. This gives a smooth, accurate operation – and a long life.

The Arlington Series utilized the Wilkinson WOT03 bridge. As with the Ventana Series I wanted this to be a contemporary instrument. This bridge has a 2 ¾” or 54 mm string spacing for excellent string alignment over the pickup magnets. The saddles are nickel plated diecast zinc alloy and the bridge plate is chrome steel.

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.

REVIEWS

   

 

 

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Standard SSS - Sonic Blue w/ Laurel Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Standard SSS - Metallic Purple w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Standard SSS - Candy Apple Red w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Standard SSS - Black w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Standard SSS - 3 Tone Sunburst w/ Laurel Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Deluxe HSS - See Thru Red w/ Laurel Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Ventana Deluxe HSS - Misty Violet w/ Laurel Fretboard

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    Ventana Deluxe LSV2-MV Nestled between the coast and cliffs of Big Sur, Ventana has attracted novelists, poets, artists, and filmmakers for almost ...

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    Levinson Sceptre Arlington Standard SS - Sienna Copper w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Levinson Sceptre Arlington Standard SS - Olympic White w/Laurel Fretboard

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    Arlington Standard LSA1-OWH Home to the Arlington Guitar Show, Arlington is slowly gaining on Austin as the live music capital of Texas and now hom...

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    Levinson Sceptre Arlington Standard SS - Blonde w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Arlington Standard LSA1-BLDE-M Home to the Arlington Guitar Show, Arlington is slowly gaining on Austin as the live music capital of Texas and now ...

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    Levinson Sceptre Arlington Standard SS - Black w/ Maple Fretboard

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    Arlington Standard LSA1-BK-M Home to the Arlington Guitar Show, Arlington is slowly gaining on Austin as the live music capital of Texas and now ho...

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    Levinson Sceptre Arlington Standard SS - 3 Tone Sunburst w/ Walnut Fretboard

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    Home to the Arlington Guitar Show, Arlington is slowly gaining on Austin as the live music capital of Texas and now home to the Dream City Blues Fe...

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