kodiakblair Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I've been following an American lad's restoration thread and he's no idea what model he has. The Wilson catalogue list both models but,apart from £20 in price ,they appear almost identical. Can anyone clear this up ? Also the 4 way switch, can anybody remember the function ? Mine goes Bridge pickup/both pickups/Neck pickup/ Bridge pickup with, I suspect, the cap working. Another lad has a different set up, on his it's the neck pickup appearing twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I bought a new left handed Sapphire in 1969 along with a Wem ER40 and 15" Starfinder cabinet, both from Bell's Music catalogue. I remember it as being a pretty good and playable bass. I never had a Rapier though and apart from the price I don't think there was a lot of difference except perhaps for the finish, machine heads and perhaps pickups and sorry, can't remember the switch function, in fact, I can't even remember it having a switch. Nice bass though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Ah, Bell's Music Catalogue. Jumpers for goalposts etc. 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Ah, Bell's Music Catalogue. Jumpers for goalposts etc. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 The first guitar in our house was a Wilson Rapier 33: had previously belonged to a cousin. wish if kept it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Link to the restoration thread please? It sounds interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 13 minutes ago, Steve Browning said: Ah, Bell's Music Catalogue. Jumpers for goalposts etc. 🙂 I’ve still got one Steve I found it in an old bass case I had in my loft 😁 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 hours ago, BigRedX said: Link to the restoration thread please? It sounds interesting. Of course,happy to oblige. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/incoming-resurrection-project-67-wem-watkins-rapier-sapphire-short-scale.1467988/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 1 hour ago, kodiakblair said: Of course,happy to oblige. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/incoming-resurrection-project-67-wem-watkins-rapier-sapphire-short-scale.1467988/ Fantastic stuff thanks! My first band (back in the 70s) briefly had a guitarist with a Rapier, 33 I think although I'll need to find the photos to make sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 hours ago, Reggaebass said: I’ve still got one Steve I found it in an old bass case I had in my loft 😁 Those were the days!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inthedoghouse Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I used to dream of gear from Bell's catalogue 🙂 The first electric guitar I ever touched was a Watkins Rapier 33. Knowing what the owner was like for hanging onto gear I wouldn't be at all surprised if he still has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 23 minutes ago, inthedoghouse said: I used to dream of gear from Bell's catalogue 🙂 The first electric guitar I ever touched was a Watkins Rapier 33. Knowing what the owner was like for hanging onto gear I wouldn't be at all surprised if he still has it. I gave it to a mate who painted it rainbow colours. knowing him he took it to a gig and smashed it. glad I head butted him when I had the chance, tosser. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I seem to remember that the Watkins brand was part of WEM who made some pretty good amps. Then the Wilson brand came along after and I think they were the same guitars made by whoever ( probably an Italian co.) but for a non WEM company when they stopped selling guitars and basses. Times had changed and imports from more exciting places were available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I’ll correct my previous post, made in England. Sid and Reg Watkins made the guitars in their factory in Chertsey Surrey. In the late 60's the decision was made to split the guitars away from the amps as a separate company and the name Wilson was adopted. Wilson wasthe maiden name of the brothers' mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 The restoration thread gave me a kick up the backside ,now with a set of NOS Picato tapes 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I had a Watkins Rapier 33 guitar about 13 years back, picked it up at the local car boot, cost me £12 for that and a Kay Strat copy that looked like it had been found in a ditch. The Rapier was a really interesting guitar, did a lot of reading & research about them - they were proper garden shed instruments in many ways - no truss rod, hand-wound pickups, switches cannibalised from Morphy-Richards hairdryers & so on. The finish was an odd sort of plastic coating rather than conventional paint/lacquer - very prone to cracking & flaking, probably due to age-related shrinkage - mine wasn't an exception! The one I had turned out to be a pretty early example - the features & serial put it at around '63, I think. What was good was that everything worked fine, a couple of frets needed re-seating but it played quite nicely after a clean, fettle & re-string. Sold it for around £350, if I remember - which was quite pleasing considering it cost me £6. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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