“Effortlessly stylish”: Rapier’s latest madcap model blends elements of Les Paul and Strat builds into a single-cut, set-neck hybrid beast

The Rapier Deluxe channels both Strat and Les Paul inspiration into one guitar.

Esteemed UK guitar builder Alan Entwistle is continuing his busy start to 2024. After working on a huge range of Vintage guitars, he's released a new generation of Rapier guitars – and our eye is immediately drawn to the Deluxe model, which looks remarkably like the lovechild of a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Stratocaster.  

Rapier Guitars first came about in the '60s, offering an affordable alternative to American Stratocasters. Originally produced by Watkins Electric Music (WEM), the same UK firm responsible for the CopiCat echo, they were ultimately discontinued in the late '70s, before Entwistle reprised the guitar with the newly-formed Rapier brand in late 2021.