Rapier 33 Fiesta Red 3 Pickup Electric Guitar

This is a Rapier 33 electric guitar in Fiesta Red finish. During the ‘50s & ‘60s, American made instruments were nigh on impossible to come by in England. Restrictions were placed on the import of American-made instruments for most of the ‘50s, meaning that the burgeoning UK music scene was almost completely deprived of American instruments. Indeed, it is widely agreed that Hank Marvin’s Fiesta Red Strat was the very first Stratocaster in the UK, having been imported for him by Cliff Richard around ‘59, arriving in 1960. This led to an influx of British manufacturers capitalising on the demand for electric guitars, and one of the most prominent was Watkins with their Rapier line of instruments. The 22 was a two pickup model, the 33 was a three pickup model with a visually striking slanted middle pickup, and the 44 was fitted with a whopping 4 pickups. Despite import restrictions being lifted in the early ‘60s & American-made instruments becoming widely available, the Rapier was produced well-into the ‘70s.

This reproduction model was designed by John Entwhistle in collaboration with John Hornby Skewes, & was introduced around 2021. Whilst not an exact copy of the original Rapier, it does carry many of the features which made the guitars so beloved. Of course featuring a bolt-on construction, this guitar comprises an Okoume body, Canadian Hard Maple neck & 22 fret Rosewood fingerboard. Nickel hardware is fitted including a tremolo tailpiece, Roller ToM bridge & a set of Wilkinson sealed tuning machines. A trio of Entwhistle Low Noise EWR64 Mini humbucking pickups are installed, and are wired to a 3-way toggle switch, neck & bridge volume & master tone controls, along with a slider switch to engage the middle pickup & a bass cut slider switch.

The Canadian Hard Maple neck plays very well, with the Soft ‘C’ profile filling the hand nicely without feeling at all cumbersome. Chord playing & rhythm parts are well accommodated, whilst lead lines & solos are a breeze. The Rosewood of the fretboard is pleasant under the fingers & provides a smooth & durable playing surface to explore. The Medium fret wire ensures that string bending & vibrato techniques feel nice & smooth. The dual cutaway body design offers improved access to the top frets, really opening up the full range of the instrument.

Amplified, the trio of Entwhistle Low Noise EWR64 Mini humbuckers deliver a wide, versatile range of tones that are ready for any musical situation you may find yourself in. With a 3-way toggle switch & two slider switches alongside dual volumes & master tone controls, there are an absolute plethora of tones to be found in this instrument. There are 7 distinct pickup settings, and with the addition of a bass cut switch, you’d be hard pressed to find a musical situation that you couldn’t tackle with this instrument. An interesting & highly usable reissue of an instrument that was once ubiquitous.