Rickenbacker Guitars & Basses

History

Rickenbacker is an American manufacturer of electronic musical instruments – primarily electric guitars and basses. The brand has been around since 1932 when they originally produced Hawaiian style guitars; thereafter they went on to produce the famous "frying pan" style guitar which was, in fact, the very first solid bodied electric guitar. Rickenbacker also dabbled with several models of combo amplifier to accompany their steel and Hawaiian guitar models but it was the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950’s that gave them their biggest commercial success.

In 1956 Rickenbacker acknowledged the teenage trend that the media had dubbed rock ‘n’ roll and, seeing a commercial opportunity, released their first "neck through body" construction solid bodied electric guitar and bass – namely the Combo 400 guitar and the model 4000 bass. Although these models became popular with the younger generation, it was a little known English band from Liverpool called The Silver Beatles – who were resident in Hamburg – that would change the fortunes of Rickenbacker.

In 1958 Rickenbacker released its Capri model, which was a double cut-away semi-acoustic guitar. This model was subsequently bought by the then unknown John Lennon whilst the band were based in Hamburg, Germany and was used extensively by him during The Beatles formative years both on stage and in the studio. As The Beatles’ fame grew so too did Rickenbacker’s. George Harrison had now also bought a Rickenbacker guitar – the 425 model – and Harrison was subsequently presented with a proto-type of the first electric 12 string guitar by Rickenbacker which was used on the album "A Hard Day’s Night".

Rickenbacker guitars had – and still have – a distinctive sound that typified the 60’s pop music era. The bell-like chime and jingle jangle, clean rhythm sounds helped to create the unique sound that groups like the Beatles developed. Rickenbacker instruments were quickly endorsed by a host of other celebrity musicians in the 1960s, with people such as Pete Townsend, Roger McGuinn and Carl Wilson all purchasing Rickenbacker guitars.

Later in the 1960s Paul McCartney was given a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar that he subsequently used on the Sgt Pepper album, and it was also his main instrument for many years with his post-Beatles band, Wings.

Differentiators

Perhaps the best historical legacy that Rickenbacker has is that its instruments helped to shape the sound of the 1960s like no other brand of instrument did. Certainly the jangly, chorus style guitar models played a part in creating The Beatles unique sound and were subsequently adopted by other bands wishing to emulate that particular harmonic resonance.

Although the likes of Fender and Burns guitars had a similar single coil pick-up arrangement, they never quite captured the tone of a Rickenbacker played through a Vox AC30 with the "Top Boost" button activated. The simple truth that rings true even today is that musicians buy Rickenbacker guitars because they love the traditional Rickenbacker sound, and, whilst Rickenbacker guitars do not perhaps fall into the category of "Rock" guitar, they were used extensively by Punk rock bands of the mid 1970’s and helped to bring a certain energy to the genre.

Rickenbacker Today

Today Rickenbacker is still as popular as ever. Their instruments are still largely manufactured in California and demand far outweighs supply. In recent years, Rickenbacker have released a number of Signature models – made to the personal specifications of their many endorsees. The model range still retains some of the original designs from the 1960s, but is supplemented with more recent models and a wide range of colours and finishes.

The target market for Rickenbacker is those musicians whose music is
influenced and inspired by retro sounds from the 1960s and 70s.
Many of the new wave and alternative bands of the 80s and 90s
took elements of the nostalgic retro sound before shaping and
crafting it into something befitting the modern era. Because of
this, Rickenbacker guitars and basses continue to appeal to
up-and-coming new generations of musicians.