Rickenbacher Manufacturing Company

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

Moderator: Brad Bechtel

Post Reply
Harry Sheppard
Posts: 406
Joined: 27 Aug 1998 12:01 am
Location: Kalispell, MT USA

Rickenbacher Manufacturing Company

Post by Harry Sheppard »

Anyone willing to take a guess at what this is? I have read that Rickenbacher made other bakelite products and this could be one. The chrome cover looks very much like a Dobro cover plate. Prewar?


Image
Image
Image
Mike D
Posts: 1064
Joined: 16 Sep 1999 12:01 am
Location: Phx, Az

Post by Mike D »

Rickenbacker did lots of things other than guitars back in those days. They were first associated with National/Dobro when they were contracted to stamp the bodies for resonator guitars. Pretty cool little item.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/history_early.asp
User avatar
Larry G. Allen
Posts: 79
Joined: 29 Dec 2013 1:36 pm
Location: Near Nashville Tennessee, USA

Post by Larry G. Allen »

Hey Harry..my wife was a 30 yr resident of Kalispell ! Ever hang out at the Library ?
A couple of Martin Armpit Gits , , a couple of my own custom S8 laps, and a Gold Tone JB Dobro
User avatar
Tom Wolverton
Posts: 2874
Joined: 8 May 2008 3:52 pm
Location: Carpinteria, CA

Post by Tom Wolverton »

OK? What is it? Looks like a cross between a fruit bowl and a patio drain.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
Harry Sheppard
Posts: 406
Joined: 27 Aug 1998 12:01 am
Location: Kalispell, MT USA

Post by Harry Sheppard »

I have no idea what it is. I just thought it was cool looking and it was made by Rickenbacher.

Larry, I spend a lot of time at the Library. In fact they just remodeled it.
User avatar
Erv Niehaus
Posts: 26797
Joined: 10 Aug 2001 12:01 am
Location: Litchfield, MN, USA

Post by Erv Niehaus »

Harry,
Since we're on the subject of Kalispell, did you know an old classmate of mine who lived there before moving to Alaska: Jim Sellen?
User avatar
Peter Jacobs
Posts: 982
Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Post by Peter Jacobs »

Prototype ashtray? The production version plugged up those holes at the bottom...
User avatar
Mark Eaton
Posts: 6047
Joined: 15 Apr 2005 12:01 am
Location: Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California

Post by Mark Eaton »

I don't know what it is, but I want one. 8)
Mark
Harry Sheppard
Posts: 406
Joined: 27 Aug 1998 12:01 am
Location: Kalispell, MT USA

Post by Harry Sheppard »

Erv, Don't know Jim Sellen.

Mark, It's on ebay. I have nothing to do with the auction.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191255687095
Paul Honeycutt
Posts: 860
Joined: 28 Mar 2005 1:01 am
Location: Colorado, USA

Post by Paul Honeycutt »

A salad spinner with the internal parts missing?
User avatar
Erv Niehaus
Posts: 26797
Joined: 10 Aug 2001 12:01 am
Location: Litchfield, MN, USA

Post by Erv Niehaus »

Thanks, Harry :D
User avatar
Peter den Hartogh
Posts: 1001
Joined: 27 Mar 2010 12:49 pm
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Contact:

Post by Peter den Hartogh »

It is a hotplate for a teapot.That is why the top plate is flat.
Small candle goes in the middle and the holes are for airflow.
ImageImage
Sam White
Posts: 6039
Joined: 20 Apr 2001 12:01 am
Location: Coventry, RI 02816

Post by Sam White »

It has to be for a Dobro.i bet it will sound great.
Sam White
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association
User avatar
Tom Pettingill
Posts: 2246
Joined: 23 Apr 2007 11:10 am
Location: California, USA (deceased)

Post by Tom Pettingill »

Thats pretty cool :D My best guess is that Peter is correct, some sort of warmer.
Raymond Jones
Posts: 116
Joined: 19 Feb 2009 3:06 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Is there a prize !!??--

Post by Raymond Jones »

My age is showing. Long before the modern spray air fresheners there was Potpourri. Made up of dried flowers, leaves and spices that smelled good, they needed a container that had air flow to spread the aroma into the air. It's my guess that is what you are looking at. And I'm sticking with it - cheers - FUN!! Ray
Steve Schell
Posts: 24
Joined: 2 Sep 2009 6:23 am
Location: California, USA

Post by Steve Schell »

Fascinating piece! My guess is that it was some sort of hand out or salesman sample, demonstrating the tool making, Bakelite forming and metal stamping skills of Rickenbacher (prewar spelling) Manufacturing Company. All of these skills were of course employed in abundance in the products of Ro Pat In, National, and later Rickenbacker guitars.

Question: does anyone know if Rickenbacher made parts for Dobro as well as National? The design of the lid on this whatchamacallit is obviously derived from the Dobro coverplate. Do you suppose that Adolph made the bodies for the fiddle edge Dobros?
User avatar
Jack Hanson
Posts: 5024
Joined: 19 Jun 2012 3:42 pm
Location: San Luis Valley, USA

Post by Jack Hanson »

Not knowing the dimensions of the piece, it appears like it could be some kind of drain stop with one or more additional parts that have since gone missing. From a school locker room shower, perhaps?


The late Bob Brozman volunteered the following information to me many years ago. As his story went, apparently Adolph Rickenbacher owned the biggest punch presses in Southern California in the mid-twenties. He used them primarily for subcontracting body parts to a long-ago defunct West Coast automobile manufacturer.

The Rickenbacher Manufacturing Company got its start in the guitar business by stamping out the metal panels for the Dopyera Brothers to solder into Tricone bodies for their National String Instrument Company. (Wouldn't it be something if Rickenbacher also stamped out parts for Crocker Motorcycles, thus establishing a Bigsby connection, as well?)

Rickenbacher Manufacturing most likely also stamped out the cover plates, tailpieces, etc. for the Dopyera's later wooden-bodied instruments (Dobros).

RMC also posessed the machinery to mold early thermosetting resins (aka Bakelite), and produced a wide variety of consumer products such as kitchenware and toothbrushes.

The activities involved in heading up a thriving industrial manufacturing business had made Mr. Rickenbacher an extremely wealthy individual long before he ever knew one end of an electric guitar from the other.

Almost certainly Paul Barth and George Beauchamp had been well-acquainted with Adolph, who was many years their senior, for years and years before they split from the Dopyeras to join up with Rick and found the Ro-Pat-In Company to manufacture "Electro" guitars.
User avatar
Jon Light
Posts: 13745
Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Saugerties, NY
Contact:

Post by Jon Light »

From the Ebay page:
It’s 6 3/4” across the top and 2 3/4” tall.
Post Reply