Rickenbacker

What is the early history of Rickenbacker guitar?

In the past, music was not a large-scale form of entertainment like it is today. The guitar was an instrument which would be played at home in front of a small group of friends or family. No one knew it would evolve into such a massive entertainment culture.

There has been trace-backs from the 1800’s of people trying to power various instruments. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that people started to realise that the acoustic guitar just won’t be heard in mass groups. Adolph Rickenbacker stepped in with the invention of the electric guitar. The electric guitar was invented as the need to amplify a guitar became increasingly larger. From there it evolved into the many shapes, sizes, and styles we have today.

Rickenbacker, Fender and Gibson guitar companies are the pioneers of the modern electric guitar. The idea to create a pickup to amplify the guitar sound was shared by many inventors but the key to perfecting the pickup system was in using a solid body construction. There are several styles of electric guitars, including hollow bodies, semi-hollow and solid bodies. But the most common in use today is the solid body.

Adolph Rickenbacker and George D. Beauchamp organized the Electro String Company to produce their own Hawaiian-type electric guitar design in 1931. The "Ken Roberts Model" and the "Bakelite Model B Spanish" electric guitars were introduced to the public in 1935.

Made famous by ex-Beatle George Harrison in the early 60s, the Rickenbacker 360/12 (12-string) has become one of the most coveted guitars by musicians everywhere. More than any other guitar, this 12-string Rickenbacker shaped the sound of the 60s and changed the sound of music forever. Introduced to George Harrison on February 8th 1964 as the first ever electric 12-string, the 360/12's "twang" quickly became the hottest sound in music and was quickly spreading its way throughout the industry most noticeably with The Byrds.

The Rickenbacker 360/12C63 is an exact replica of the 1963 version of the 360/12 played by Harrison. It's semi-hollow maple body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard and pair of Vintage Single Coil Toaster Top pickups give a perfect balance of tone and resonance. The string spacing on the 360 makes each string pair as close as possible, making this 12-string a joy to play. This guitar has an amazing sound and is just as appealing to the eye with its Fireglo finish and triangle white inlays. The most impressive feature of all Rickenbacker 12 strings is its unique headstock. Unlike most 12-string headstocks which are large and confusing to tune, the Rickenbacker uses a standard size headstock with 2 sets of 6 tuners at 90 degrees to each other (one acoustic guitar style, one classical guitar style). This not only gives the guitar a sleek look and low profile headstock, it also eases the tuning of the guitar making it easy to distinguish between strings. It also easily allows the guitar to be strung as a 6 string, without looking foolish. This guitar is as much a piece of musical history as it is a versatile and excellent sounding instrument.