The Blade brand was started by Gary Levinson, who began repairing guitars in the early sixties. Levinson has multiple degrees in applied and natural sciences and uses the scientific approach to guitar building. Levison opened his Swiss workshop in 1977, by 1982 he had developed a series of instruments that would become the Blade product line. These guitars used innovative pickup systems and a position-determined-profile neck. In 1987 agreements were reached with manufacturing partners to mass produce enough guitars to distribute Blade instruments worldwide.