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Rickenbacker, Inc. American
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 684
The Rickenbacker Model A-22 Electro Hawaiian guitar is the first commercially succesful electric guitar. Nicknamed the "Frying Pan" because of its shape, it was also the first solid body guitar. It was invented and designed by George Beauchamp and then manufactured and marketed by the Rickenbacker Company. The "Frying Pan" utilized a 1/12 inch horseshoe electro-magnetic pickup. The entire instrument is made of cast aluminum with a gold enamel finish. The nut and saddle are separate and chromed. A metal plate is mounted between the slots on the headstock and reads "Richenbacher Electro, Los Angeles." The serial number is 0107, making it one of the first hundred or so electric guitars ever built and dating it early in the production of this model (produced from 1932 until 1939). The guitar was built during the craze for Hawaiian "slide" music and meant to be played on the lap (or on a stand) in front of the musician.
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Artwork Details
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Title: "Frying Pan" Electro Hawaiian Guitar
Maker: Rickenbacker, Inc. (American)
Date: ca. 1934
Geography: Los Angeles, California, United States
Culture: American
Medium: cast aluminum, gold enamel, bakelite
Dimensions: 28 3/4 × 7 1/8 × 2 in. (73 × 18.1 × 5.1 cm)
Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
Credit Line: Purchase, Amati Gifts, 2016
Accession Number: 2016.557a–d
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Related Artworks
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- In the same gallery
- By Rickenbacker, Inc.
- Musical Instruments Department
- Aluminum
- Bakelite (TM)
- Chordophones
- Enamels
- Gold
- Guitars
- Iron alloy
- Iron and iron alloy
- Lutes
- Metal
- Musical instruments
- Plastic
- Steel
- From California
- From Los Angeles
- From North and Central America
- From United States
- From A.D. 1900–present
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1939
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1935
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F.E. Olds & Son (American, Los Angeles 1910–1979)
ca. 1914
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1987
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Musical Instruments at The Met
The Museum's collection of musical instruments includes approximately 5,000 examples from six continents and the Pacific Islands, dating from about 300 B.C. to the present.
