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Rickenbacker Guitar Shops
Rickenbacker are known for producing some of the most unique designs and are often considered one of the largest and most popular manufacturers after Gibson and Fender. Their electric guitars were some of the worlds first into general production in 1932 and all production takes place at their headquarters in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker are the largest guitar company to manufacture all of their guitars within the United States. The company was initially founded in 1931 with the aim of selling electric Hawaiian style guitars designed by Beauchamp. These Rickenbacker guitars, nicknamed "frying pans" due to their long necks and circular bodies, are the first solid-bodied electric guitars, though they were not standard guitars, but a lap-steel
type. They had huge pickups with a pair of horseshoe magnets that
arched over the top of the strings. By the time production ceased in
1939, several thousand frying pans had been produced. Rickenbacker also produced and sold amplifiers to go with their electric guitars, the first production model amp was designed by Mr Van Nest, a Los Angeles radio manufacturer. By 1940 there were
at least four different Rickenbacker amplifier models available.
One of the main features that seperates Rickenbacker guitars from others is their three distinct pickups; Hi-gain, Vintage Single Coil Toaster Top, and Humbucking. All three Rickenbacker pickup designs share the same footprint,
allowing them to retrofit into most current or vintage guitars. Most models come with single-coil Hi-gain pickups as standard
equipment. Many post-British invasion Rickenbacker guitar players such as Peter Buck, Paul Weller, and Johnny Marr have used instruments with these pickups. Rickenbacker's humbucker dual coil pickup has a similar tone to a Gibson P-90
pickup, and comes standard on the Rickenbacker 650 C guitars. Vintage reissue models, and some signature models, come with Rickenbacker Toaster
Top pickups, which resemble a classic two-slotted chrome toaster.
Despite their slightly lower output, "Toasters" produce a brighter,
cleaner sound on guitars, and are generally seen as key to obtaining the true British Invasion guitar tone, as they were original equipment of the era.
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