BARTH

Luthier/designer Paul Barth, nephew to National´s John Dopyera, was one of the three men responsible for Rickenbacker's "Frying Pan" solidbody electric steel guitar (along with George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker). Barth left Rickenbacker in 1956, and formed his own company briefly to build and market guitars with the Barth trademark. One of Paul Barth's employees at Rickenbacker in the early 1950s was Semie Moseley, and when Moseley later formed his own company, Barth briefly used Moseley's finishing skills to complete an order of guitars. Barth later went to work for Magnatone in the early 1960s, designing models at Magnatone's Torrance, CA facilities. For further biographical information, see Bartell. Source: Teisco Del Rey, Guitar Player Magazine.