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(Lefty) Wilson Rapier Bass - rare gem? or skip material?


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Hi guys just signed up to this forum for your expertise and knowledge.

I've just been rooting in the loft and I've come across the old bass and was wondering if its rare / worth anything? I've not tested the electrics still work, but was wondering if any of you could help me out with any info at all.

Cheers guys :)

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Just spent ten minutes researching these. They're quite interesting, made in the mid 60s, and sold under various brand names, they were also known as WEM, or Watkins.

Info on their construction here: [url="http://www.guitarsite.com/hotlicks/about2419.html"]http://www.guitarsit.../about2419.html[/url]
[quote]Charlie Watkins made the amps, his brothers Reg and Sid did the guitars. Reg was in the furniture business (I think he may have made the cabinets, too). Instead of using a pin router, the bodies are made from two halves (looks like white pine), so that pup and neck routs could be just jig-sawn out. The two were then glued together and, once the body was rounded and painted, the join's not visible until you remove the scratch and pup plates. The paint, BTW, was an early polyester and cracks easily if subjected to big temperature changes.
[/quote]

Even more info here: http://www.watkinsguitars.co.uk/basses.htm

Apparently Ice Blue ones like yours were quite a rare colour offering!

Also more here about WEM basses:
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/2981-wem-bass/

According to completed ebay listings, this one sold for £399, but that seems like a very high price for one to go for. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-WATKINS-WILSON-BASS-LATE-SIXTIES-/171146011050?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27d918e1aa

There are also completed listings for slightly more sensible prices:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-1950S-60S-BASS-GUITAR-WILSON-WATKINS-/111161701329
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEM-SAPPHIRE-RARE-1960s-BRITISH-BASS-GUITAR-WATKINS-/181226065607

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[quote name='syntaxerror' timestamp='1385817880' post='2292500']
I've just been rooting in the loft and I've come across the old bass and was wondering if its rare / worth anything? I've not tested the electrics still work, but was wondering if any of you could help me out with any info at all.
[/quote]
I've had a few Watkins, Wilson & WEM basses and a still have a couple. They are interesting from a nostalgia point of view for me.

The Blue colour you have is less common than the Red that most were but isn't that rare. Most bassess are either Red, Blue or White but they also made them in other colours which are by far the rarest. Blue was the second most popular colour.

Being left-hand makes it rarer than a right hand one but that doesn't make it worth more as most collectors will want a right hander.

P.S. It certainly is NOT skip material. It may not be the best bass you'll ever play but plenty of groups had these in the 60s and with very little work you have a nice piece of British beat group history.

Edited by BetaFunk
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I picked up a scruffy '63 Watkins Rapier 3 guitar at my local car boot a few years back. I bought it along with a wreck of a Strat copy & paid 15 quid for the pair - after a good clean up, the Rapier fetched £250 on Ebay.

If you bung the bass in a skip, make sure it's the one down the bottom of my road!

Jon.

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