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Electric Hawaiian guitar
Alternate name:Electric lap-steel guitar
Date: 1934 ca.
Place Made:Los Angeles, California, United States, North America
Model: A-22 "Frying Pan"
Serial No: B232
SignedOn a metal nameplate screwed to upper end of front of headstock: RICKENBACHER / ELECTRO / RE [in flaming circle] / LOS ANGELES
N.B. Rickenbacher, not Rickenbacker on this instrument. Gruhn notes (p.8) that “literature and advertising spelled Rickenbacker with a “k,” but headstock nameplate used the original spelling – Rickenbacher – until the 1950s.” Also, Adolph Rickenbacher (1892-1976) changed the “h” to a “k” to note his “distant kinship with WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.” (Gruhn, p. 9) (see also, Bacon 1994, p. 12)
N.B. Rickenbacher, not Rickenbacker on this instrument. Gruhn notes (p.8) that “literature and advertising spelled Rickenbacker with a “k,” but headstock nameplate used the original spelling – Rickenbacher – until the 1950s.” Also, Adolph Rickenbacher (1892-1976) changed the “h” to a “k” to note his “distant kinship with WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.” (Gruhn, p. 9) (see also, Bacon 1994, p. 12)
MarkingsStamped into upper end of headstock: B232
DescriptionRickenbacker’s early electric Hawaiian guitars were made from aluminum and earned the nickname “frying pans.” The NMM’s example is a slightly smaller model, known as the A-22, for the 22-inch string length.
Made of cast aluminum by the Aluminum Alloy Casting Company. Rickenbacker was responsible for the electric pickup – a pair of horseshoe-shaped magnets surrounding a coil of wire which itself surrounds 6 individual magnets (1 at each string). This pickup was designed by George Beauchamp, a partner of Rickenbacker, who filed his patent on June 2, 1934, but wasn’t granted it until August 10, 1937 (#2,089,171). The cast aluminum was given a “lacquer wash,", some of which can be seen on the fingerboard and overall of the back of the instrument, as a “gold” color.
Made of cast aluminum by the Aluminum Alloy Casting Company. Rickenbacker was responsible for the electric pickup – a pair of horseshoe-shaped magnets surrounding a coil of wire which itself surrounds 6 individual magnets (1 at each string). This pickup was designed by George Beauchamp, a partner of Rickenbacker, who filed his patent on June 2, 1934, but wasn’t granted it until August 10, 1937 (#2,089,171). The cast aluminum was given a “lacquer wash,", some of which can be seen on the fingerboard and overall of the back of the instrument, as a “gold” color.
Dimensionsoverall length: 730 mm (28.7 in)
length of neck: 415 mm (16.3 in)
diameter of body: 177 mm (7 in)
length of neck: 415 mm (16.3 in)
diameter of body: 177 mm (7 in)
Credit Line: Board of Trustees, 1995
On view
Published ReferencesTimothy D. Miller. The Origins and Development of the Pedal Steel Guitar. M.M. Thesis. Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 2007.
“Instrumental Innovations,” Wall Street Journal (December 7, 2007), p. W4.
“Instrumental Innovations,” Wall Street Journal (December 7, 2007), p. W4.
Object number: 05917