Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range of electric guitars and basses. Rickenbacker twelve-string guitars were favoured by George Harrison of the Beatles, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Pete Townshend of the Who, and Tom Petty. Players of the six-string include John Lennon of the Beatles, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Paul Weller of the Jam, John Kay of Steppenwolf, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Miles Holmwood of Stereos and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles. Players who have used Rickenbacker basses include Paul McCartney of the Beatles, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Cliff Burton of Metallica, Roger Glover and Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, Chuck Panozzo of Styx, Dougie Thomson of Supertramp, Paul Wilson of Snow Patrol, Bruce Foxton of the Jam, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Chris Squire of Yes, Geddy Lee of Rush, Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om, Paul D'Amour of Tool, Rick James, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, and Dave Strait of The Slow Death. History Founding Adolph Rickenbacher and George Beauchamp founded the company in 1931 as the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (ElectRo-Patent-Instruments) to sell electric Hawaiian guitars. Beauchamp had designed these instruments, assisted by Paul Barth and Harry Watson, at National String Instrument Corporation. They chose the brand name 'Rickenbacher' (later changing the spelling to 'Rickenbacker'). Early examples bear the brand name 'Electro'. The early instruments were nicknamed "frying-pans" because of their long necks and small circular bodies. They are the first known solid-bodied electric guitars, though they were a lap-steel type. They had a single pickup with two magnetized steel covers, shaped like horseshoes, that arched over the strings. By the time they ceased producing the "frying pan" model in 1939, they had made several thousand units. Electro String also sold amplifiers to go with their guitars. A Los Angeles radio manufacturer named Van Nest designed the first Electro String production-model amplifier. Shortly thereafter, design engineer Ralph Robertson further developed the amplifiers, and by the 1940s at least four different Rickenbacker models were available. James B. Lansing of the Lansing Manufacturing Company designed the speaker in the Rickenbacker professional model. During the early 1940s, Rickenbacker