Ro-Pat-In Corporation

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Ro-Pat-In Corporation, also known as Electro-Patent-Instruments, was started in 1931 by Adolph Rickenbacher and George Beauchamp to make electrically amplified musical instruments. Beauchamp designed the instruments with help from Paul Barth and Harry Watson of the National String Instrument Corporation. Early Ro-Pat-In instruments carried the Electro brand. The company aimed to produce the A-25 Hawaiian Guitar, nicknamed the fry-pan, a lap-steel electric guitar, plus an Electric Spanish model and amplifiers. In 1932 they began making cast aluminum Fry-Pan guitars and some Electro-Spanish models with wooden bodies similar to those built in Chicago for National, using electric pickups that helped create the electric guitar’s sound. In 1933 the company changed its name to Electro String Instrument Corporation, with instruments labeled Electro. In 1934 the Rickenbacher name was added in honor of Adolph Rickenbacher, and the company would eventually become Rickenbacker, a leading and still-active guitar maker.