![]() It’s not clear if these were new or used instruments. At some point, they began buying and selling guitars and accordions, moving back to Balham in ’51. In ’49, Charlie and Reg opened a record shop in London. Following the war, Charlie briefly earned a living playing accordion with a guitarist. Born in the Balham section of Southeast London, he and his brother, Reg, served in England’s Merchant Navy during World War II, where they reportedly performed music onboard ship. WEM was founded by Charles “Charlie” Watkins circa 1951. Considerable information about WEM can be found, though no satisfactory account of their guitars or reliable chronology has yet been undertaken. Since few of their guitars made it to the U.S., they’re mainly off the radar, though the brand has a sizeable following across the Atlantic. In the ’60s, Watkins Electric Music (WEM) was one of the largest and most influential guitar/amplifier manufacturers in England, and lays claim to inventing the rock-PA concept. ![]() If you lived in the U.K., you probably had a solidbody from Dallas, Burns, or Watkins, like this Rapier 33. More likely the guitar would be from Harmony, Kay, or Supro. If you were an American teenager in the late 1950s or early ’60s, and you wanted to play the new rock music, you likely did not have a solidbody electric guitar from Fender, Gibson, or Rickenbacker. 1962 Watkins Rapier 33 photo credit: Michael Wright.
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