Rick 'N' Roll

Martin Kelly, co-author of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970, retraces the evolution of Rickenbacker guitars ahead of the release of his new book, which promises to finally nail down the brand’s vital history in full

- Rod Brakes

Some 90 years ago, guitarist George Beauchamp (pronounced ‘BEE-chum’) invented the world’s first commercially viable electric guitar, which – along with its ‘horseshoe’ pickup – sparked a revolution in guitar design and sounds. With his fellow National String Instrument Corporation associates Paul Barth and Adolph Rickenbacher, George promptly formed the Ro-Pat-In company in order to take his new invention to market with a focus on electric Spanish guitars and lap steels. It was soon to become known as the Electro String Instrument Corporation, and the firm eventually settled on the more familiar Rickenbacker name (an anglicised version of Adolph Rickenbacher’s Swiss surname). Since then, Rickenbacker has remained one of the most important brands in pop culture and, to this day, continues to build some of the world’s finest electric guitars at its California base.

“A lot of people think Rickenbacker started out with lap steels only, but they actually brought both electric Spanish and lap steels out at the same time,” begins Martin Kelly. “I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding that the lap steel was where they began. In truth, they knew that the application for electric Spanish guitars was there from the outset.”

With his definitive new book chronicling Rickenbacker’s 90 years of innovation set for release later this year, Martin’s painstaking research has taken him across the globe in search of answers. Today, however, we are the ones in need of answers as we stand agog at the incredible collection of vintage Rickys that Martin and his brother, photographer and filmmaker Paul Kelly, have kindly brought along to the Guitarist studios to share with us all.