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Rickenbacker Electro Spanish® Despite it's strange looks, this little instrument made by Rickenbacker, the leading manufacturer of electric lap steel guitars, was probably the first commercial solidbodied electric guitar to be on the market.. Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, the popularity of Hawaiian music and Hawaiian instruments skyrocketed, probably due to it's growing tourism industry.Both the Ukeleles and Hawaiian guitars were adored by islanders and mainlanders alike. During the 1930s, the new Electric Hawaiian steel also found it's place in a wide range of American country and pop music, it's sweet and swinging electric sound winning the hearts of many guitarists.   However, lap-style playing produced on major problem - the volume an acoustic lap guitar could project to the audience was severely reduced. Determined to make their instruments stand out from the crowd, three Los Angeles based companies-National, Dodro and Rickenbacker paved the way first with resonator guitars and then with the electrified lap steel guitar in the early 1930s. A distant relative of Eddie Rickenbacker, Adolph Rickenbacker introduced his first lap-steel guitar in 1932. The guitar was known to some as the "Frying Pan", not only for its round body and long neck, but also for the fact that it carried a huge horseshoe-shaped pickup on its body. The new guitar was played like any other steel guitar(using a steel bar), but it sounded much louder. After the success of the "Frying Pan", Rickenbacker set off to creating more sophisticated guitars, along with other well known manufacturers like Gibson. In addition to the earlier version, Rickenbacker introduced a new model in 1935, it's sole purpose being for conventional Spanish-style playing. This model, named the Electro Spanish, featured a shorter neck and smaller body, making it look rather awkward at that time. The Electro Spanish, therefore, did not find success in the 1930s, and as acoustic and hollowbodied electric guitars became popular, this beauty was left behind.