Rarest of the Rare!

[stringsncords]

I was going to post this in the Vintage section, but I think this guitar even exceeds that category.

My friend recently acquired a S59 archtop guitar that was made by the Kay guitar company; the decal on the headstock reads Rickenbacher (with an "H") Electro. It has a pickup that fits under the strings, and is attached by brackets to the sides of the guitar. It all seems to be original, except that the pickguard is missing. The action is way high, and a neck reset is probably in order to make it playable.

Graham has been a tremendous help - he identified the guitar as being circa-1940, and quite rare.

Can anyone else on the forum contribute any information? This is a rare find, indeed.

Thanks in advance!

[jimk]

Are there pictures?
JimK

[stringsncords]

Yes, but I'm not well-versed in posting pics on the forum - where can I find some instructions?

[libratune]

PM sent.

Does it look like any of these: http://www.rickresource.com/register/in ... celebrity=

[jps]

It has a pickup that fits under the strings, and is attached by brackets to the sides of the guitar.

From photos I have seen in the past, the pickup should be a mini horseshoe pickup wrapping around the strings with long brackets that attach to the sides of the body. Does your friend's S59 have horseshoes on his pickup?

[stringsncords]

PM sent.

Does it look like any of these: http://www.rickresource.com/register/in ... celebrity=

Thanks, Ron.

YES! It's similar to the first entry, from Texas.

[libratune]

Then it looks something like this, maybe even the same one? (This one has a serial number S9 according to seller):

[stringsncords]

That's the one - just like my friend's guitar.

The serial number is S31 on his.

[8mileshigh]

Here are pics of Bob's friend's S59........