Rickenbacker Model 59

The very first Rickenbacker looked a bit like a frying pan and wasn't so much a guitar as it was something that better resembled this kind of instrument, the lapsteel. After they had invented the electric guitar pickup and got through the gloating period of being the first to do so, they got on with the job of producing the finest range of electric stringed instruments in the world, including lapsteels made as early as 1932, a year after the company began. This Lapsteel doesn't date back that early, if it did it would be worth a fair bit more than it is, but still, it's a fine example of a war period USA lap that looks like it probably did a bit of service on the battlefield as much as it did in the concert hall. Not to say it's been misused and abused, just that it's colour scheme resembles that of a tank or Battlecruiser. Happily, it produces a tone considerably less ominous, and indeed you'll be floating away with images of Hawaiian beaches before you can say 'this year's family holiday'. Please note, missing tuning button has been replaced.