Many aspiring British guitarists of the early 1960s learned to play on a Watkins Rapier.

The London-based company was headed by Charlie Watkins, who specialized in amplifiers, while his brother Sid handled guitars.

The Watkins Rapier line was easy to understand; Model 22 had two pickups, 33 had three pickups and 44 had four. The Watkins brand debuted in the solidbody market in 1959 with Gibson-inspired models, but their inspiration switched to Fender in 1961. This Rapier 33 looks like a poor-man’s Stratocaster, with it’s inelegant headstock shape and square-cornered pickups.

In 1965, the brandname changed to WEM (Watkins Electric Music), and the company found greater success with amplifiers, P.A. systems, and effects than it had with guitars. The brand changed again by the end of the 1960s to Wilson (the maiden name of Watkins’ mother), and Sid Watkins focused on semi-acoustic guitars, the inexpensive Ranger solidbody, and another Strat-inspired model, the Hand Made Mercury.

Watkins/WEM/Wilson guitar production finally ended in 1985.