Although a vintage inspired instrument, it sounds refreshing compared to the usual offerings that are coming up these days.

Not sure if it was a gag or if you're being serious with the "Rapier" but it's a type of sword that was commonly used in fencing. Which makes sense since this kind of guitar is great for cutting through mixes.

I love the RAF-style rondel on the headstock.

No way, they reissued this thing? Although originally a low-price instrument, it's one of my favorite basses ever; it's like they took the Fender shape, made it even cooler and gave it four extra frets. They were originally made under names WEM (yes, same as the famous amps), Watkins and Wilson and also with the model name "Sapphire", a Rapier that's just more deluxe-looking. The original controls were just a master volume and a 4-way switch that does... something to the pickups and tone, I'm not sure what exactly. Awesome, really would like to get the new version even though I own a vintage one already!

Thanks for the review, Jonny! It’s nice to see companies and builders release instruments that aren’t always the same boring J and P knockoffs. It looks quite big for a short/medium scale bass. How is the weight and balance?

31" scale is a bit odd feature but this bass sounds good and looks good. I am sure there will be people who like it

That's such a beautiful bass. And the price is amazing, too.

I like the way you demo the basses With amp sim and di

I have a completely original 1964 long scale Watkins Rapier bass. It had spent 54 years in a case before I bought it so it's _almost_ like new. 😁

It looks and sounds real nice, with some very decent tones. Impressive all round in my opinion. Recently got hold of the Rapier 22 six string and that plays and sounds pretty damn good too.

Jonny for the god sake, pls i dont have enough money to buy every single beatty you review

I really like these Rapier basses. I think most Gibson basses are 30.5" so that's nearly 31! I borrowed a Gibson EB2 once which played and sounded fantastic.

Nice tone. Dig that neck, and headstock logo.

I want one. Hopefully they come to the States. Thanks for this demo.

Alan Entwistle! I replaced the dead middle one on an opshop guitar find with one of _his_ pick-ups only fairly recently! 😀 I admit I'd never heard his name up to that point, though 😄

Looks really good

Great Review and: quite a discovery! I was absolutely not aware of that brand. From its looks and specs, it reminds me a little bit the Hagstrom HB-4, but has a much better positioning of the upper strap pin. My main fretted bass is a 32" scale - it absolutely kicks. I wish there were more basses like this out there on the market! It would be cool (for example) if Ibanez brought out a more "pro" version if its Mezzo 32" line with better pickups, electronics and hardware. Medium scale is "serious sounding" and not only for kids, youngsters and beginners.....

I have just bought one after watching your video just because I already have a 30, a 32, a 33 and a 34" scale basses, but no 31" scale bass. Probably the worst reason I know.

Thanks for the demo!!! It sounds like you're clipping the input, maybe dial that back a bit(?) 😀 Other than that, it was nice to hear the different setting combinations.

Great bass, but you can only purchase this if in the U.K and Ireland only, according to what I read. No international sales?

Looks ok'ish, quite like the idea of trying a short/mid bass. Sounds quite vintage'y, which would be great if you wanted that ...but a bit too muffled and muddy for me.

What's the thing with the string holes? These holes are too small/narrow?? Is it true you can't find strings that fits this bass according to some reviews on the net?

Really love mine (which was shipped to Korea by Ivor Mairant's music, by the way), but the string ends for Rotosound flatwounds are too big to sit flush in the ferrules on the back, and the E string bridge saddle doesn't go far back enough to intonate properly. Loving it otherwise, but I'll need to experiment with another bridge

Looks really nice, pity about the headstock.

Shmedium.

I love the concept and feature, but to me the pickup position is kinda weird, the bridge pickup sounds more like a P to my ears.

Looks and sounds really cool but what size strings do you use on a 31" scale bass ?

Very mellow fruity bass tones but I'm not getting much treble for the marcus miller slap tones. i guess this is a vintage theme and the 31" gives the low mid mellifluosness. Suited the fuzz but not the chorus lol

Comment from Amazon for this bass, 5 January 2024. Buyer Beware… These are lovely basses, but sadly virtually all currently available bass strings do not fit this bass. It seems that the string through body bridge ferrules on the reverse of the body are too small to accept standard bass string ball-ends. The bass comes supplied with a set of un-branded Chinese strings… which are fine until you need to change. I tried La Bella, Rotosound and Elixir short scale strings, all designed for string through body anchoring and none will fit… the ball-ends being too large to pull fully into the body. After talking to people at JHS and Alan Entwistle, who were very helpful, it seems this has been a fault on this original run of Rapier Basses and new shipments from China will apparently be corrected. Unfortunately, this is too late for my purchase and now I am having to wait two weeks for a £400 refund. Verdict… Nice bass, but beware you don’t get one of the original run, which still seems to be in circulation at the moment, as you'll never be able to replace your strings!!

Gretsch killer 🤟🤟🤟

Almost sounds slightly phasey with both pickups on

Is a 33" scale bass extra medium? Medium, but with a bit extra?

Hey @jonnydibble did we hear the d.i. out in this review?