Adolph Rickenbacker (born Adolf Rickenbacher, April 1, 1887 – March 21, 1976) was an American production engineer and machinist who, together with George Beauchamp, created the first electric string instrument, and co-founded the
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and bass ...
guitar company, also with Beauchamp.
Rickenbacker was born in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
as Adolf Rickenbacher. As a child in 1891, he immigrated to the United States with older relatives after his parents died, settling in Columbus Ohio and later southern California. He Anglicized both his own name, and that of his company's brand, to Rickenbacker to capitalize on the popularity of his second cousin, America's top scoring
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
,
Eddie Rickenbacker
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (born Edward Rickenbacher, October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Hun out of his name." Eddie was already well known as a
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
at the time, and his change received wide publicity. "From then on", as he wrote in his autobiography, "most Rickenbachers were practically forced to spell their name in the way I had..."Rickenbacker, Edward V., ''Rickenbacker: an Autobiography'', Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1967, p. 115.
The Rickenbacher manufacturing Company produced parts for the National String Instrument Corporation, manufacturer of John Dopyera's Resonator guitars. Of particular importance was his ability to form guitar bodies with one of the largest deep drawing presses available. Rickenbacker held the title of Engineer at National. In October 1931, he joined George Beauchamp and Paul Barth to create Ro-Pat-In (ElectRo-Patent-Instruments), which was later renamed Electro String and became the producer of Rickenbacker guitars. Rickenbacker who was a significant investor in the guitar businesses was given the title of president, Paul Barth vice president, and George Beauchamp secretary-treasurer.
In 1934 Rickenbacker, along with George Beauchamp, filed a patent application for an "electrical stringed musical instrument". They received the patent in 1937 and developed an electric guitar for the mass market.
Adolph Rickenbacker died from cancer in
Orange County, California
Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...