Rickenbacker, also known as Rickenbacher in their earliest days, is an electric string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company became the world’s first to produce electric guitars and eventually produced an iconic range of electric guitars and bass guitars.

The Rickenbacker International Corporation (RIC) grew out of the first company founded for the sole purpose of creating and manufacturing fully electric musical instruments and amplifiers-the Los Angeles-based Electro String Instrument Corporation. Founded in 1931 by Adolph Rickenbacker and George D. Beauchamp, this pioneering firm produced “Rickenbacker Electro Instruments”, the first modern electric guitars.

Founding

The company was founded in 1931 as the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (ElectRo-Patent-Instruments) by Adolph Rickenbacher and George Beauchamp in order to sell electric Hawaiian guitars. These instruments had been designed by Beauchamp, assisted at the National String Instrument Corporation by Paul Barth and Harry Watson. They chose the brand name Rickenbacher (later changed to Rickenbacker), though early examples bear the brand name Electro.

Nicknamed “frying pans” because of their long necks and circular bodies, the instruments were the first solid-bodied electric guitars, though they were a lap-steel type. They had a single pickup with a steel cover that arched over the strings. By the time production ceased in 1939, several thousand “frying pans” had been produced.

Rickenbacher Frying Pan

Electro String also sold amplifiers to go with their electric guitars. A Los Angeles radio manufacturer named Van Nest designed the first Electro String production-model amplifier. Shortly thereafter, design engineer Ralph Robertson further developed the amplifiers, and by the 1940s at least four different Rickenbacker models were made available. James B. Lansing of the Lansing Manufacturing Company designed the speaker in the Rickenbacker professional model. During the early 1940s, Rickenbacker amps were sometimes repaired by Leo Fender, whose repair shop evolved into the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company.

Early history

It all began in 1920s Los Angeles, a city fast becoming the entertainment capital of the world. George Beauchamp was a vaudeville performer, violinist, and steel guitarist who, like most of his fellow acoustic guitarists in the pre-electric-guitar days of the 1920s, was searching for a way to make his instrument cut through an orchestra. Several inventors had already tried to build louder stringed instruments by adding megaphone-like amplifying horns to them. Beauchamp saw one of these and went looking for someone to build him one, too. His search led to John Dopyera, a violin repairman with a shop fairly close to Beauchamp’s L.A. home.

Beauchamp first conceived of a guitar fitted with a phonograph-like amplifying horn, and asked John Dopyera to create a prototype. Dopyera and his brother Rudy’s first attempt for George sat on a stand; a Victrola horn attached to the bottom and pointed towards the audience. It was a failure, so the Dopyeras then started experiments with thin, cone-like aluminum resonators attached beneath a guitar bridge and placed inside a metal body based on ideas from the highly popular an loud banjo.

A successful prototype (soon dubbed “the tri-cone”) used three of these resonators. After further refinements, Dopyera applied for a patent on the so-called tri-cone guitar on April 9, 1927. Beauchamp, so pleased with the results, suggested forming a manufacturing company with the Dopyeras, who had already started making more guitars in their shop calling the new guitars “Nationals.” Setting out to find investors, he took the tri-cone prototype and the Sol Hoopii Trio (a world-famous Hawaiian group) to a lavish party held by his millionaire cousin-in-law, Ted Kleinmeyer. He was so excited about the guitar and the prospects for a new company that he gave Beauchamp a check for $12,000 that night.

On January 26, 1928, the National String Instrument Corporation was formed and, with its new factory located near a metal-stamping shop owned by Adolph Rickenbacher and staffed by some of the most experienced and competent craftsmen available, began to produce Spanish and Hawaiian style tri-cone guitars as well as four-string tenor guitars, mandolins and ukuleles.

Enter Adolph Rickenbacker

Substantial production of the metal-body guitars began almost immediately. Beauchamp, acting as general manager, hired some of the most experienced and competent craftsmen available, including several members of his own family and the Dopyeras. The National factory was located near Adolph Rickenbacker’s tool and die shop. Rickenbacker (known to his friends as Rick) was a highly skilled production engineer with experience in a wide variety of manufacturing techniques.

Adolph Rickenbacher was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1887 and emigrated to the United States to live with relatives after the death of his parents. Sometime after moving to Los Angeles in 1918, he changed his surname to “Rickenbacker”. This was done probably in order to avoid German connotations in light of the recently concluded First World War as well as to capitalize on Adolph’s distant relation to World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. In 1925, Adolph Rickenbacker and two partners formed the Rickenbacker Manufacturing Company and incorporated it in 1927. By the time he met George Beauchamp and began manufacturing metal bodies for the “Nationals” being produced by the National String Instruments Corporation. Adolph soon became a shareholder in National and, with the assistance of his Rickenbacker Manufacturing Company, National was able to boost production to as many as fifty guitars a day.

Unfortunately, the seeds for an internal dispute within National were planted in the very beginning. By late 1928 the Dopyeras became very disgruntled with the management of company and resources. John Dopyera, who rightfully considered himself an inventor, ironically thought that Beauchamp wasted time experimenting with new ideas. Dopyera and Beauchamp lived in two different worlds and apparently were at odds on every level of personal, business and social interaction. That they could not work together successfully was a foregone conclusion. Another problem was Ted Kleinmeyer, who had inherited a million dollars at 21 and was trying to spend it all before turning 30 (when he would inherit another million). A Roaring ’20s party animal, successful losing money faster than he could make it, he started hounding Beauchamp for cash advances from National’s till. George’s fault was that he could not turn people down, especially his friends and the company’s president.

National’s line of instruments was not well diversified and, as demand for the expensive and hard-to-manufacture tri-cone guitars began to slip, the company realized that it would need to produce instruments with a lower production cost if it was going to succeed against rival manufacturers. Dissatisfaction with what John Dopyera felt was mismanagement led him to resign from National in January 1929, and he subsequently formed the Dobro Manufacturing Corporation, later called Dobro Corporation, Ltd, and began to manufacture his own line of resonator-equipped instruments (dobros). Patent infringement disagreements between National and Dobro led to a lawsuit in 1929 with Dobro suing National for $2,000,000 in damages. Problems within National’s management as well as pressure from the deepening Great Depression led to a production slowdown at National, and this ultimately resulted in part of the company’s fractured management structure organizing support for George Beauchamp’s newest project: the development of a fully electric guitar.

Electric Hawaiian Style Guitars

Along with others during this era, Beauchamp thought about the possibility of an electric guitar for several years and, though not schooled in electronics, had started experimenting as early as 1925 with PA systems and microphones. Early on he made a single-string test guitar out of a 2×4 board and a pickup from a Brunswick electric phonograph. This experiment shaped his thinking and put him on the right path. Beauchamp began experiments collaborating with fellow National employee Paul Barth and attended night-school classes in electronics.

When the prototype electric pickup they were developing finally worked to his satisfaction, Beauchamp asked former National shop craftsman Harry Watson to make a wooden neck and body to which the electronics could be attached. It was nicknamed the frying pan because of its shape (Adolph Rickenbacker liked to call it the pancake). The final design Beauchamp and Barth developed was an electric pickup consisting of a pair of horseshoe-shaped magnets that enclosed the pickup coil and completely surrounded the strings.

Beauchamp enlisted his friend Adolph Rickenbacker for his know-how, ideas, and capital. The first name of the company was Ro-Pat-In Corporation but was soon changed to Electro String. Adolph became president and George secretary-treasurer. They called the instruments Rickenbackers because it was a famous name (thanks to cousin Eddie) and easier than Beauchamp to pronounce. Paul Barth and Billy Lane, who helped with an early preamplifier design, both had small financial interests in the company as production began in a small rented shop at 6071 S. Western Ave., next to Rickenbacker’s tool and die plant at the end of 1931. Adolph Rickenbacker company still made metal parts for National and Dobro guitars and Bakelite plastic products such as Klee-B-Tween toothbrushes, fountain pens, and candle holders.

Their newly developed A-25 Hawaiian Guitar, often referred to as the “Frying Pan” lap-steel electric guitar as well as an Electric Spanish (standard) model and companion amplifiers. In the summer of 1932, Ro-Pat-In began to manufacture cast aluminum production versions of the Frying Pan as well as a lesser number of standard Spanish Electrics built from wooden bodies similar to those made in Chicago for the National Company. These instruments constitute the origin of the electric guitar we know and use today by virtue of their string-driven electro-magnetic pick-ups. Not only that, but Ro-Pat-In was the first company in the world specifically created to manufacture electric instruments. In 1933 the Ro-Pat-In company’s name was changed to Electro String Instrument Corporation and its instruments labeled simply as “Electro”. In 1934 the name of Rickenbacher” was added in honor of the company’s principal partner, Adolph Rickenbacker. In 1935 the company introduced several new models including the Model “B” Electric Spanish guitar which is considered the first solid body electric guitar. Because the original aluminum Frying Pans were susceptible to tuning problems from the expansion of the metal under hot performing lights, many of the new models were manufactured from cast Bakelite, an early synthetic plastic from which bowling balls are made.

Electro String had several obstacles. Timing could not have been worse–1931 heralded the lowest depths of the Great Depression and few people had money to spend on guitars. Musicians resisted at first; they had no experience with electrics and only the most farsighted saw their potential. The Patent Office did not know if the Frying Pan was an electrical device or a musical instrument. What’s more, no patent category included both. Many competing companies rushed to get an electric guitar onto the market, too. By 1935 it seemed futile to maintain a legal battle against all of these potential patent infringements.

Electric Spanish Style Guitars

Electro String’s first Spanish (standard) guitar had a flattop hollow body with small F-holes and a slotted-peghead. A bound neck joined at the 14th fret. By the mid-1930s, the concert-sized Ken Roberts Model (named after one of Beauchamp’s guitar-playing friends) came out. It had a bound neck that joined the body at the 17th fret, a shaded 2-tone brown top with F-holes, and a Kauffman vibrato tailpiece. In the 1930s and 1940s there were at least two electric arch top models. The SP had a maple body, shaded spruce top, bound rosewood neck with large position markers, and a built-in horseshoe pickup. The Model S-59 sported a blonde finish and a narrow, detachable horseshoe pickup. This so-called “Rickenbacker Electro peerless adjustable pickup unit” was also available as a separate accessory and would attach to most F-hole style arch tops.

Despite the popularity of arch tops, the 1935 Bakelite Model B Spanish guitar made the most history for Rickenbacker. Though not entirely solid (it had thick plastic walls and a detachable Spanish neck), it achieved the desired result-virtual elimination of the acoustic feedback that plagued big-box electrics of the day. It set the stage for all solid body guitars to follow, even though it was difficult to play sitting down on the bandstand. (A Bakelite Spanish the size most guitarists were accustomed to would have been as heavy, literally, as a sack of bowling balls.) A variation of the Bakelite Spanish invented by Doc Kauffman (who would later become Leo Fender’s first partner) was the Vibrola Spanish Guitar, an ungainly thing equipped with a motorized vibrato tailpiece. So heavy, it required a stand to hold it up.

From the very beginning Electro String developed and sold amplifiers. After all, the instruments worked only in conjunction with them. The first production-model amp was designed and built by a Mr. Van Nest at his L.A. radio shop. Shortly thereafter, Beauchamp and Rickenbacker hired design engineer Ralph Robertson to work on amplifiers. He developed the new circuitry for a line that by 1941 included at least four models. The speaker in the Professional Model was designed by James B. Lansing (JBL). Early Rickenbacker amps influenced, among others, Leo Fender who by the early 1940s repaired them at his radio shop in nearby Fullerton, California.

Beauchamp had many friends and contacts in the entertainment community and as a result many stars used his instruments. Sol Hoopii and Dick McIntyre, to name just two popular Hawaiian steel guitarists, played Rickenbackers on countless influential recordings. Perry Botkin, who did many recording sessions with Bing Crosby and other Hollywood stars, used one of the few Vibrola Spanish Models. Les Paul owned a Rickenbacker. Electro String even made Harpo Marx an electric harp. A family of Rickenbacker Electro String Instruments was born, all using some variation of the horseshoe-magnet pickup. Besides guitars and mandolins, the company invented fully electric bass viols, violins, cellos and violas. An electric piano prototype sat in the firm’s front office for years. Most of these instruments totally disregarded traditional styling. Rickenbacker realized that a fully electric instrument did not have to retain the appearance of its acoustical counterpart. This conceptual jump-the first of several Rickenbacker revolutions-liberated the thinking of designers to come.

By 1940, after fifteen years in the fast lane, Beauchamp became frustrated and disenchanted with the instrument business, partly due to his deteriorating health. His second passion, fishing and designing fishing lures, captured his attention. He patented one that he sought to manufacture; to raise the necessary capital he sold his shares in Electro String to Harold Kinney, Rickenbacker’s bookkeeper. Soon after this, Beauchamp went deep sea fishing and had a fatal heart attack. His funeral procession was over two miles long. A true pioneer of electric instruments, he unfortunately did not live to see the electric guitar reach its full potential.

Adolph Rickenbacker had maintained other interests throughout Electro String’s short history; he never had as much faith in the guitar business as his partners. Nevertheless, he continued instrument making until 1953 when he sold the company to F.C. Hall, a leading figure in the post-WWII Southern California music business. That sale marked the end of one era and the beginning of another, the dawn of modern Rickenbacker guitars.

The Modern Era of the Electric Guitar

Francis C. Hall was born in Iowa in 1909 and moved to Southern California in 1919. His father owned a small store in Santa Ana, and F.C. went to work at an early age. As a high school student, he became interested in radios and electronics. Besides the obligatory homemade radio enterprising kids of the 1920s made for themselves, young F.C. started a part-time business recharging batteries, making home pickups and deliveries. By the time he had reached 18, he was manufacturing batteries at home for sale. The battery business evolved into a prosperous electronics-parts distribution company called the Radio and Television Equipment Company (R.T.E.C. or Radio-Tel). Hall’s solid background in electronics and public address systems, which he installed in many Orange County churches, schools, and meeting rooms, made his transition into the music industry almost a natural step.

Shortly after WWII, Hall started to distribute steel guitar and amplifier sets made in Fullerton by Leo Fender. In 1946, he became Fender’s exclusive distributor and set out to build a national distribution network. Hall played a key role in Fender’s early success by providing financial backing and parts at a time when electric guitar manufacturing seemed like a high risk venture to most businessmen. F.C. was one of the first people to recognize the bright business possibilities of amplified music, but gradually grew unhappy with his situation selling Fenders. Opportunity knocked again when Adolph Rickenbacker and other shareholders in Electro String sold their interests to him. John Hall says that his father wanted to pioneer the in-house sales organization where closer ties to the decisions made at the manufacturing level would better serve the customer’s needs. The purchase of Electro String by Hall and the distribution of its guitars by Radio-Tel thus set in motion the modernization of the Rickenbacker guitar line.

Rickenbacker continued to specialize in steel guitars well into the 1950s, but the early 1950s marked a period of major change in the guitar marketplace-the popularity and sales of steels waned as the popularity of regular guitars exploded. The advent of rock music in the mid-1950s was the coup de grace for non-pedal steel guitar-the electric Spanish guitar had proven itself more versatile and adaptable to the new musical styles. In 1956, Rickenbacker introduced two instruments with the “neck through body” construction that was to become a standard feature of many of the company’s products, including the Combo 400 guitar, the model 4000 bass, and, later, the 600 series. Each differed only in its electronics-the 800’s horseshoe pickup had two coils, the unpatented “Rickenbacker Multiple-Unit.” When used in combination, these coils were humbucking; when used separately, one coil accentuated treble and one bass.

1958 Rickenbacker Capri 330 in Mapleglo

In 1958, Rickenbacker introduced its “Capri” series, including the double-cutaway semi-acoustic guitars which would become the famous Rickenbacker 300 Series. Designed for the most part by Roger Rossmeisl, there were three categories, each distinguished by a different body style. The first group had 2-inch-thick double-cutaway bodies, while the second group had 3 1/2-inch thick single-cutaway bodies. The third grouping was a catch-all category for instruments with even deeper bodies, including pure acoustics. All Capri styles came with or without Vibrato and with either two or three pickups. Customers chose either deluxe-style fingerboard inlays and bindings or standard inlays and no bindings. Capris had slim and narrow “fast action” necks, which appealed to many. Standard colors in 1958 included Hi Lustre Blonde (a natural maple finish) and Autumn glo (a 2-tone brown sunburst). Fireglo (the pink to red sunburst we now know so well) was added in 1959. Standard finishes for Rickenbacker solid bodies included Cloverfield blue-green, natural maple, gold-tinged Montezuma Brown, and Black Diamond. Virtually any color was available on any model by special order, and the factory made them. In the late 1960s the standard colors would include Azure glo-blue and Burgundy glo.

In 1963 Rickenbacker developed an electric twelve-string guitar with an innovative headstock design that enabled all twelve machine heads to be fitted onto a standard-length headstock by alternately mounting pairs of machine heads at right-angles to the other.

Rickenbacker, Rock & Roll and Beatlemania

During the 1960s, Rickenbacker benefited tremendously when a couple of Rickenbacker guitar models became permanently intertwined with the sound and look of The Beatles.

In Hamburg in 1960, Beatles guitarist John Lennon bought a Rickenbacker 325 Capri, which he used throughout the early days of The Beatles. He eventually had the guitar’s natural alder body refinished in black, and made other modifications including the fitting of a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and regularly changing the control knobs. Lennon played this guitar for The Beatles’ famous 1964 debut on The Ed Sullivan Show (as well as for their third Sullivan appearance, pre-taped the same day but broadcast two weeks later). During Lennon’s post-Beatles years in New York, this guitar was restored to its original natural wood finish and the cracked gold pickguard replaced with a white one.

Two new 325s were created for Lennon and were shipped to him while The Beatles were in Miami Beach, Florida, on the same 1964 visit to the US: a one-off custom 12-string 325 model and an updated six-string model with modified electronics and vibrato. He used this newer 6-string model on The Beatles’ sequentially “second” appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Lennon accidentally dropped the second 325 model during a 1964 Christmas show, breaking the headstock. While it was being repaired, Rickenbacker’s UK distributor Rose Morris gave Lennon a model 1996 (the export version of a 325, available exclusively in a red finish and with an F-hole). Lennon later gave the 1996 to fellow Beatle Ringo Starr.

Beatles guitarist George Harrison bought a 425 during a brief visit to the USA in 1963. In February 1964, while in New York City, F.C. Hall of Rickenbacker met with the band and their manager, and gave Harrison a model 360/12 (the second electric twelve-string built by Rickenbacker). This instrument became a key part of the Beatles’ sound on their LP A Hard Day’s Night and other Beatles songs through late 1964. Harrison played this guitar sporadically throughout the remainder of his life.

On August 21, 1965, during a Beatles concert tour, Randy Resnick of B-Sharp, a Minnesota music store, presented Harrison with a second model 360/12 FG “New Style” 12-string electric guitar, distinguishable from Harrison’s first 12-string by its rounded cutaways and edges. There was a television documentary produced by KSTP TV in Minneapolis documenting this event.

Harrison used this guitar on the song “If I Needed Someone” and during The Beatles’ 1966 tours. This 12-string’s whereabouts are unknown, as it was stolen at some point after the band ceased touring.

After the Beatles 1965 summer tour, Paul McCartney frequently used a left-handed 1964 4001S FG Rickenbacker bass, as its tone was better suited to recording than the lightweight Höfner basses he had used previously. The instrument became popular with other bassists influenced by his highly melodic style, as it produces a clear tone even when played high up the neck, its deep cutaways allowing easy access to the higher frets.

In 1967, McCartney gave his 4001 a psychedelic paint job, as seen in the promo film for Hello Goodbye, and in the Magical Mystery Tour film. A year or so later the finish was sanded off; a second over-zealous sanding in the early 1970s removed the “points” of the bass’ cutaways. McCartney predominantly used the Rickenbacker bass during his time with Wings, until the late 1970s.

Partly because of the Beatles’ popularity and their consistent use of the brand, Rickenbackers were quickly adopted by many other 1960s notables. Roger McGuinn with the Byrds is considered along with George Harrison the Godfathers of the Rickenbacker 12-string!

This rapid growth in demand led to changes in the company. Before 1964 all Rickenbacker guitars had been made at the original Electro String factory in Los Angeles. That year Hall moved it over a six month period to Santa Ana, in nearby Orange County. Despite the disruption in production during the transition, the new factory had increased production capacity. During this same period, the distributor Radio-Tele changed names to Rickenbacker, Inc., thus adopting a moniker people had used all along anyway. The company also added several novel guitars to its line.

Pete Townsend

As both the British invasion and the 1960s came to an end, Rickenbacker guitars fell somewhat out of fashion; however Rickenbacker basses remained highly in favor through the 1970s and on. Perhaps as an echo of the past, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rickenbacker guitars experienced a renaissance as many new wave and jangle pop groups began to use them.

Rickenbacker guitars and basses continue to be very popular to this day with demand persistently and exponentially outstripping new factory supply. Demand is particularly high amongst retro groups who have been influenced by the sound and look of the 1960s.

In the 1970s, Rickenbacker added guitars with detachable necks and redesigned single- and double-coil pickups. A patented feature on some new models, and an option on others, was slanted frets, which better matched the angle of the player’s hand. Two double-neck instruments became standard items: the model 4080 bass/guitar and the model 362/12 6/12-string. Rickenbacker basses dominated production during the early years of the decade-in many circles, a Rick bass was the only one to own. Then bands such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and R.E.M. hit like their 1960s forerunners, using Rickenbacker 6- and 12-strings. As the saying goes, fashions go in and out of style. Style is always in fashion.

Hallmarks of Rickenbackers

Many Rickenbackers—both guitars and basses—are equipped to be compatible with a “Rick-O-Sound” unit via an extra “stereo” output socket that allows the two pickups (or neck and middle pickup combined/bridge pickup, in the case of three pickup instruments) to be connected to different effects units or amplifiers. Another idiosyncrasy of Rickenbackers is the use of two truss rods (rather than the usual one) to correct twists, as well as curvature, in the neck. Rickenbacker guitars typically have a set neck made of multiple pieces of wood, laminated together lengthwise, while their basses have a one-piece neck that extends through the entire body. Rickenbacker instruments are known for having narrower necks (41.4mm vs 43mm at the nut for most competitors) and lacquered rosewood fingerboards, giving them a very different “feel.”

Known for their distinctive jangle and chime, Rickenbacker guitars tended to be favoured by jangle pop, power pop and British Invasion-style groups – bands such as The Who, The Byrds and The Beatles. The early Rickenbackers that made this sound famous were equipped with lower-output “Toaster” pickups. These pickups were phased out circa 1969–70 for newer “Hi-Gain” pickups, which had twice the output of their illustrious predecessors. This change was almost certainly due to the trend toward the louder “Rock” sounds of the 1970s, despite the earlier models being credited by Pete Townshend as being key to the development of “the Marshall sound” and his refinement of electric guitar feedback techniques

In more recent years, a diverse cross-section of artists have started to favour Rickenbacker guitars. In 1979, Tom Petty and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would adopt the Rickenbacker 12-string “toaster” jangle into their records and still use the vintage 1960s models. The post-1960s “Hi-gain” pickup-equipped guitars are associated with The Jam and R.E.M. The “Hi-gain” pickups are well suited to harder spiky pop/rock sounds as well as the classic clean chime.

In 2014, Rickenbacker introduced the “Walnut series” line of guitars; the 330W, 330W/12, 360W, 360W/12, and 4003W. These models possess walnut bodies with a hand-rubbed oil finish, and unfinished maple fingerboards.

Basses

The 4000 series were the first Rickenbacker bass guitars, production beginning in 1957. The 4000 was followed by the very popular 4001 (in 1961), the 4002 (limited edition bass introduced in 1977), the 4008 (an eight-string model introduced in the mid-1970s), the 4003 (in 1979, replacing the 4001 entirely in 1986 and still in production in 2012), and most recently the 4004 series. There was also the 4005, a hollow-bodied bass guitar (discontinued in 1984); it did not resemble any of the other 4000 series basses, but rather the new style 360-370 guitars. The 4001S (introduced 1964) was basically a 4001 but with no binding and dot fingerboard inlays. It was exported to England as the RM1999. However, Paul McCartney received the very first 4001S (his unit was left-handed, and later modified to include a “zero fret”).

Standard versions and collectable versions of the 4003 have included the 4003s (special)(discontinued 1995, relaunched 2015) a 4003 similar to the 4001s with dot neck markers, no body binding based loosely upon the original Rickenbacker basses and fitted with 4001 pick ups. 1985–2002 versions of 4003 and 4003s were available with black hardware option and black binding. Other later special editions have included 4003 Blue Boy, 4003 CS (Chris Squire) similar to 4001 CS Limited edition specials include the Blackstar, the Shadow Bass, the Tuxedo and 4003 Redneck.

Chris Squire

Rickenbacker basses have a distinctive tone. The 4001 and 4003 basses have neck-through construction for more solid sustain due to more rigidity. The sustain at the bottom end is particularly striking, and by routing the two outputs from the stereo “Rick-O-Sound” output, the brighter bridge pick up through a guitar rig and the bassier neck pickup through a bass setup, a particularly distinctive bass sound is produced. British bassist Chris Squire of Yes (band) was one of the first musicians to ‘supercharge’ the classic 4001 sound by splitting the output of his bass – he had his monophonic 4001 rewired to allow him to split the signal, sending the bass (neck) pickup output to a regular bass amplifier, and the treble (bridge) signal to a lead guitar amplifier. The 3000 series made from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s were cheaper instruments with bolt-on 21 fret necks. There was also a set neck 4000 version in 1975 and 76 (neck set like a Gibson Les Paul) which had a 20-fret neck, dot inlays, no binding (similar to the 4001S) but only a single bridge position mono pickup. Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive employed the 4000 extensively on the Not Fragile album, even appearing on a promotional clip for “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” playing one in Fireglo.(more info needed)

Lemmy

Along with McCartney’s usage, some of the earliest Rickenbacker bass players were Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, John Entwistle of The Who, and Pete Quaife of The Kinks.

In the 1970s, Rickenbacker basses became staples of Progressive rock, exemplified by Chris Squire of Yes (band), with his grinding “concrete mixer” sound that Squire achieved by using his Rickenbacker bass with Rotosound round wound strings, and playing with a pick, and channelling the bass through two different amplifiers. With hard rock, the Rickenbacker bass was played by Deep Purple’s Roger Glover. Geddy Lee of Rush also used the Rickenbacker basses on Rush’s earlier material. The “Ricks” continued their popularity among the punk/new wave explosion of the late 1970s and early 1980s, being favoured by Bruce Foxton of The Jam, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Paul Gray (The Damned, Eddie & the Hot Rods), Tony James (Generation X), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Michael Bradley (The Undertones) and Kira Roessler (Black Flag). Another notable bassist that was famous for use of a Rickenbacker 4001 was the late Cliff Burton, bassist for the influential heavy metal group Metallica. His bass guitar was a Rickenbacker 4001 (with heavily modified electronics) that was red with white hardware and trim, with triangle inlays on the fretboard. His first use of that bass was for live gigs during the group’s “Kill ‘Em All” era. Many bass players continue to play Rickenbackers (see “Ric” players section below).

Among hard rockers, one of the best-known players of Rickenbacker basses was Motörhead vocalist/bassist Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, for whom Rickenbacker produced a 60-bass run of “Lemmy Kilmister” signature basses; a 4004LK, fitted with three pickups, gold hardware, and elaborate wood carving in the shape of oak leaves. Lemmy last used a 4004 customised by luthier TC Ellis.

Rickenbacker Acoustic Guitars

Rickenbacker has produced a number of uniquely designed and distinctively trimmed acoustic guitars. Although a small number of Rickenbacker acoustics were sold in the 1950s and were seen in the hands of stars like Ricky Nelson and Sam Cooke, the company concentrated on their electric guitar and western steel guitar business from the early 1960s onward. From about 1959 through 1994, very few Rickenbacker acoustic guitars were made.

The model 730L/12 “Laramie” prototype owned by Roger McGuinn

In 1995, an effort was made to re-introduce Rickenbacker acoustics, with factory production beginning in their Santa Ana manufacturing facility in 1996. Four models of flat top acoustic Rickenbackers were depicted in factory literature (maple or rosewood back & sides, jumbo or dreadnaught shape). Each of these four models was also available in both six- and twelve-string configurations, yielding a range of eight distinct instruments. (The 760J “Jazzbo,” an archtop model, was only built as a prototype, with three examples known to exist.) It is estimated that fewer than 500 Rickenbacker acoustic guitars were built before the factory shut down the acoustic department in mid-2006.

In late 2006, the license to build Rickenbacker acoustics was granted to Paul Wilczynski, a luthier with a workshop in San Francisco, California. He continued to offer all eight models of the Rickenbacker flat top guitar line, each instrument being built to order until his license expired, effective February 1, 2013.

Pickups

Rickenbacker manufactures three distinct pickups for their current standard models: Hi-Gain single coil, Vintage Toaster™ single coil, and Humbucking. All three pickup designs share the same footprint, allowing them to retrofit into most current or vintage models. The tone varies from one style to the next, partially because of the types of magnets used but also due to the amount of wire wound around the pickup’s bobbin.

Most contemporary models come with single-coil Hi-Gain pickups as standard equipment. Many post-British invasion Rickenbacker players such as Peter Buck, Paul Weller, and Johnny Marr have used instruments with these pickups. Rickenbacker’s HB1humbucker/dual coil pickup has a similar tone to a Gibson mini-humbucker pickup, and comes standard on the Rickenbacker 650 C and 4004 basses. Vintage reissue models, and some signature models, come with Toaster™ Top pickups, which resemble a classic two-slotted chrome toaster. Despite their slightly lower output, “Toasters” produce a brighter, cleaner sound, and are generally seen as key to obtaining the true British Invasion guitar tone, as they were original equipment of the era.

Rickenbacker 660/12 Custom with three Toaster Pickups from my collection

In addition to the standard pickups, vintage reissue bass models are equipped with Horseshoe wrap-around style pickups, very similar to the pickups on the earliest Rickenbacker Frying Pan models.

Some Notable Rickenbacker players:

  • Cliff Burton
  • Lemmy Kilmister
  • Johnny Marr
  • John Lennon
  • Paul McCartney
  • George Harrison
  • Paul Kantner
  • Zeta Bosio
  • Kevin Parker
  • Roger McGuinn
  • Tom Petty
  • Mike Campbell
  • John Kay
  • Pete Townshend
  • Susanna Hoffs
  • Chris Squire
  • Adam Banaszkiewicz

John Hall – Rickenbacker’s Owner and Chief of Operations

Today the manufacturing and distribution of Rickenbacker guitars and basses is combined into RIC, the name used since F.C. Hall retired in September 1984 and John Hall, along with his wife Cindalee, became the sole owners of the company. RIC retains the spirit of first-class pre-1965 electric guitar manufacturing and craftsmanship. In addition to newly designed guitars and basses, the company offers faithful reissues of the classics played by the Beatles and other famous artists.

RIC has offered highly successful, limited-edition signature models endorsed by such diverse players as Roger McGuinn, Pete Townshend, Susanna Hoffs, Tom Petty, and John Kay. Improvements in construction and quality control have carried Rickenbackers into the modern era: one that respects the company’s early history and at the same time sets out to write new chapters.

Susanna Hoffs

A DJ once asked George Harrison if he liked a guitar he doodled on during a radio interview. Harrison is said to have quickly replied, “Of course, it’s a Rickenbacker!” Asked the same question 65 years after the invention of modern electrics, thousands of satisfied guitar players would say exactly the same thing.