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1994 Rickenbacker 330

Maker Rickenbacker International Corporation (American, founded 1931)

Date1994

ClassificationsMusic

Description1994 Rickenbacker 330 guitar, serial number K77015, in Fireglo finish. This guitar features an offset double cutaway semi-hollow maple body, wedge-shaped soundhole, bi-level pickguard, rosewood fretboard with pearl dot inlay, and an R-style trapeze tailpiece. It has two single coil pickups. In a hardshell case.

Adolph Rickenbacher (later Anglicized to Rickenbacker) and George Beauchamp co-founded what later became the Rickenbacker guitar company in 1931 as the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (ElectRO-PATent-INnstruments). The company is credited as the first maker of electric guitars and were originally known for their steel guitars.

In the early 1930s, lap steel guitarist George Beauchamp created the first electric guitar pickup, which allowed for lap steel electrification and the removal of the resonance chamber. This innovation revolutionized the guitar world, making the lap steel guitar the first electric stringed instrument and allowing for the amplification of all guitar styles. In 1932, Rickenbacker began selling the first commercially available electric lap steel, the Electro A-22, also known as the “Frying Pan."

By the 1960s, the Rickenbacker designs had expanded into conventional electric guitars, and the brand's popularity was catapulted when John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney of The Beatles began using their instruments. The Beatles spurred interest among other musicians, including John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Tom Petty, and Geddy Lee (Rush).