rickenbacker brand guitars???

[tom d. friedman]

i read captain eddie rickenbacker's autobiography, i know he made quite a footprint beyond ww1 ace fame. the airline industry, the pro-active strides that he accomplished in it, he tried his hand in the auto industry, owned the indy race track etc. while reading today's paper there is a company that advertised it wants to buy your heirlooms, scrap gold, collectables, etc, cashing in on the crap economy. 1 of the sought after items listed in the advertisement are "rickenbacker" brand guitars!! any relation to captain eddie??? there is no mention in his book about dabbling in the musical instrument business. can anybody shed any light??

[sdennison]

Seems in name only,

"Rickenbacker (known to his friends as Rick) was a highly skilled production engineer with experience in a wide variety of manufacturing techniques. Swiss-born, he was also a relative of WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker."

From Rickenbacker.com history page.

[airnutz]

Yep, they were cousins. Rick and his partners named it Rickenbacker riding on his cousins famous coattails.
www.rickenbacker.com/history_early.asp

[tom d. friedman]

obviously a good gene pool in that family!!

[hercules130]

entered in error

Last edited by hercules130 on Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[hercules130]

entered in error

[SaxMan]

Their bass guitars were considered world class. From what I recall, the Rickenbacker bass guitar was made popular by Geddy Lee from Rush, so all of the aspiring bass players in Rush's heyday (late 70s through mid 80s) had to have one, too.

[BLR]

Their bass guitars were considered world class. From what I recall, the Rickenbacker bass guitar was made popular by Geddy Lee from Rush, so all of the aspiring bass players in Rush's heyday (late 70s through mid 80s) had to have one, too.

Geddy was copying Chris Squire , Paul McCartney also used a Ricky as did Lemmy from Motorhead to name few. They're still a popular bass and a very good bass, I've had a couple and am in talks to purchase a new Rickenbacker 4003. I never knew about the connection with Eddie Rickenbacker!

[Dan K]

I must be getting old. I always thought Tom Petty and Rickenbacker got mentioned in the same sentence.

[tom d. friedman]

you mean mick jagger or keith richards!! they look as if they need carbon dating to determine their ages!! i had no clue of the guitars prior to the other day. cool they are still in business!! their next guitar should be called the spad!!

[marine air]

I'm pretty sure the Lane Motor Museum here in Nashville has a 1920's vintage Rickenbacker automobile (Eddie Rickenbacker) and they have Martin Aircraft's 1930's attempt at a car; a four door all wood (IIRC) sedan.

[marine air]

The Lane Motor Museum also has an example of Henri Criquet's "Flying FLea". The only one Ive ever seen in the U.S.

[MattP38]

Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickenbacker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ri ... er_players

Not a fan myself, too jangley and they have small necks.

[Airlift48]

Tom Petty?!

There was once this other band which was the most responsible for making Rickenbacker Guitars popular, and as a result, guys like Tom Petty chose it.

You might have heard of them.





Also,Paul McCartney was given a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass in 1965, which Geddy Lee subsequently copied.





More info here:

http://www.rickbeat.com/beatles/beatles.htm

[MattP38]

Paul likes the Rick and the Hofner because the thin necks on those instruments makes playing that much easier.