At the Rickenbacker Factory

Today I spent the afternoon at the Rickenbacker factory. The factory also houses a  museum of which I am the honourary curator. Without a doubt, the star of the museum’s collection is the 1932 Frying Pan prototype – the first electric guitar. This is the instrument that was subject of my PhD. It’s hard to overstate how significant this plank of wood is; without it, there would be no Les Pauls, no Stratocasters, no electric basses, and none of the music that those instruments created. Without the Frying Pan, the 20^th century would have sounded very different!

While I was at the factory, the rock stars showed up; Andy Babuik (of the Empty Hearts and formerly of the Chesterfield Kings and a noted expert on musical instruments), Kenny Howes (sometime bassist for the Smithereens), Wally Palmar (of the Empty Hearts and formerly of the Romantics), and his wife Kelly Palmar. Rickenbacker CEO John Hall gave everyone a tour and I tagged along.

The first electric guitar, the 1932 Frying Pan prototype.

Inside the Rickenbacker museum.

Inside the museum; notice the unfinished frying pans and extremely rare electric double bass (c. 1936).

Rickenbacker CEO John Hall explains the finer points of 4003 bass construction to (l to r) Andy Babiuk, Wally Palmar, and Kelly Palmar.

Watching the CNC machine in action. (l to r) Kenny Howes, Andy Babiuk, John Hall, Wally Palmar, and Kelly Palmar.

John Hall indicates some sanguine point regarding Rickenbacker 381 construction in this obviously staged photo. l to r; John, Kelly, Wally and Andy.