Return of the Rapier 33

Offset

thecolourbox said:

Offset said:

Mildly similar vibe on his Eastwood - just far more cool :-)

...but I could see him with one...

That's not an Eastwood

Oooh I thought it was - what is it????

Offset

Offset said:

thecolourbox said:

Offset said:

Mildly similar vibe on his Eastwood - just far more cool :-)

...but I could see him with one...

That's not an Eastwood

Oooh I thought it was - what is it????

Ah shite - Airline???

thecolourbox

Offset said:

thecolourbox said:

Offset said:

Mildly similar vibe on his Eastwood - just far more cool :-)

...but I could see him with one...

That's not an Eastwood

Oooh I thought it was - what is it????

That's an original Airline resoglass (fibreglass) JB Hutto model from the early 60s.

They too were not luxurious guitars and I believe had no truss rods (hence particularly in later Stripes years it goes out of tune all the time) but that and the other red junkshop ones have been locked away in storage since the Stripes called it a day in 2010. Occasionally his hollow slide guitar comes out for Seven Nation Army, and he does play old Acoustic guitars, but the old junk electric guitar thing was pretty much only with the Stripes

/Fanboi mode ends

JamesSGBrown

Just got 3 of these in the shop. They’re actually fab…totally unexpected! Think I’ll have one! 

Grangousier

Somewhere  I have a 1960s Rapier 44, which... I like the idea of the ridiculous switching (which I never worked out and which may well be wired wrong, as some positions don't seem to do anything), the neck I remember as being better than expected. The worst thing about it was the very square, very thin body that seemed to have been made out of a shelf (and the fact that the nut had been filed for ridiculously thick strings). But if I could swap it for a more comfortable body, I'd be quite happy to have it for the idiosyncratic gold foil thing it's got going on. 

Teflon

I don't know how the original models were wired, but the modern versions are wired thus:

"1)The 3 way toggle switch on the lower horn, acts rather like a two pickup guitar, It accesses Neck, Neck and Bridge, Bridge, and these are controlled via Volume one.

2)The first slide switch introduces the middle pickup into the mix, and this is controlled via Volume two.

3)The second slide switch introduces a Bass cut, and this gives a rather typical jangly 60's sound, (Surf also) the Bass cut works with the toggle switch selections, but the middle pickup can be mixed in with it.

4) The tone control when fully wound back gives a nice warm "Woman tone" without going too muddy (depending on your amp settings)."

Info taken from a Facebook posting by Alan Entwistle 

Henrytwang

I never expected to see such a thing. I started playing guitar in 1963 and my first solid electric guitar was a Hofner Colorama. Not exactly a dream instrument but it got me through a summer season playing five gigs a week at holiday camps, £30 well spent! Of course it was swiftly dumped as soon I could afford the HP payments on a used Fender Telecaster. I don’t think that anyone really enjoyed playing those fairly terrible European made guitars, we all really wanted the real deal made in the USA. Nostalgia is a funny old thing but I suppose if you want one you’ve got to have it.

JayGee

Teflon said:

I don't know how the original models were wired, but the modern versions are wired thus:

"1)The 3 way toggle switch on the lower horn, acts rather like a two pickup guitar, It accesses Neck, Neck and Bridge, Bridge, and these are controlled via Volume one.

2)The first slide switch introduces the middle pickup into the mix, and this is controlled via Volume two.

3)The second slide switch introduces a Bass cut, and this gives a rather typical jangly 60's sound, (Surf also) the Bass cut works with the toggle switch selections, but the middle pickup can be mixed in with it.

4) The tone control when fully wound back gives a nice warm "Woman tone" without going too muddy (depending on your amp settings)."

Info taken from a Facebook posting by Alan Entwistle 

That actually sounds like a pretty well thought out setup.

I think my favourite non traditional switch setup for a 3 pickup guitar is probably the one Matt Oram uses on the Fidelity Stellarosa, which has two independent 3-way switches, one for neck and bridge combinations, one for combinations with the middle pickup, and a 2-way to select between them. Super flexible, and once you get your head around it (or in my case once someone’s explained what’s going on and how it works!) perfectly logical and easy to work with for something which gives that many combinations…

Teflon

A bit more info here: https://www.musicradar.com/news/rapier-33-electric-guitar  Looks like they can be bought for around £399.  Have to admit, I'm sorely tempted, but it would be hard to justify as I already have 4 electrics, and my playings not that great, so that's probably already 4 too many 

Teflon

Well this guy seems to like it The Rapier Returns - YouTube  Have to say the video hasn't done anything to diminish my yearning for one!

PolarityMan

I had a watkins rapier that belonged to my dad when he was a kid...its was shit. Action a mile high, almost unplayable and def not a great guitar to learn on as a beginner!

Voxman

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think that the new 33s actually a bit nice and is growing on me, especially in all white. 

Teflon

PolarityMan said:

I had a watkins rapier that belonged to my dad when he was a kid...its was shit. Action a mile high, almost unplayable and def not a great guitar to learn on as a beginner!

Fortunately, I think the similarities between the originals and the re-issues are purely cosmetic.

ICBM

Voxman said:

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think that the new 33s actually a bit nice and is growing on me, especially in all white. 

I just really, really hate that crooked middle pickup - it's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'd maybe consider a 22 if they made one. I agree the white is the best-looking - and I'm normally not a big fan - but the blue is also quite nice.

Voxman

ICBM said:

Voxman said:

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think that the new 33s actually a bit nice and is growing on me, especially in all white. 

I just really, really hate that crooked middle pickup - it's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'd maybe consider a 22 if they made one. I agree the white is the best-looking - and I'm normally not a big fan - but the blue is also quite nice.

It's definitely quirky I agree but it is very distinctive and different.  I seem to recall the G&L Asat special also looked odd with a slanted rectangular pickup.  

RoadStar666

I’d buy one.  I used to play a 22 back in the day 

Voxman

PolarityMan said:

I had a watkins rapier that belonged to my dad when he was a kid...its was shit. Action a mile high, almost unplayable and def not a great guitar to learn on as a beginner!

My cousins Rapier 44 was similar and it's neck was quite thick as I recall. 

Teflon

ICBM said:

Voxman said:

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think that the new 33s actually a bit nice and is growing on me, especially in all white. 

I just really, really hate that crooked middle pickup - it's an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'd maybe consider a 22 if they made one. I agree the white is the best-looking - and I'm normally not a big fan - but the blue is also quite nice.

I know what you mean - it's very awkward looking.  Has to be there though, as it really evokes the look of the original and to my mind it just nails that eccentric look that so many Brit guitars of yesteryear seemed to have. A bit like Fenders ugly sister  .  I think I like it all the more because of the centre pickup.

My one (minor) complaint is that the headstock is too nice looking. The original headstock was oddly stretched and was a pretty ugly affair. I would have loved it if they had been brave enough to replicate it, but then I would probably be the only one to buy one!

roberty

Might get one just to annoy people in this thread. @JamesSGBrown what's the neck like mate? 

DrumBob

As far as I know, Rapier guitars were never sold in the USA ( I could be wrong), so I have never played one, much less ever seen one. All I know is, reading articles over the years, I have seen many British guitarists mention they started on a Rapier and it was a total piece of junk. The Rapier looks somewhat like the Magnatone Typhoon guitar. 

The guitar nostalgia phenomenon continues unabated. About 8-9 years ago, the Supro Company of Long Island, NY, released a line of amps and guitars based upon the old 50's and 60's designs. The amps did pretty well, but were frightfully overpriced. The guitars were cheap and overpriced, but they looked cool. Basically, they were a flop, and Supro ended up blowing them out to dealers at greatly reduced prices. About two years ago, Supro was bought out by the corporation that produces D'Angelico guitars. The guy running Supro totally screwed his marketing up; he tried to turn Supro into a purveyor of higher end gear, when everyone remembered it as budget student stuff and it backfired in his face. 

I bought a Supro white Holiday guitar direct from the company and it needed over $200 worth of work to get it playable. The Sahara model I got a few months ago from Texas blues guitarist Lance Keltner is much better by far, so maybe I just got a bad one.