The instrument was made of cast aluminum, and featured a pickup that incorporated a pair of horseshoe magnets that arched over the strings designed by Paul Barth with George Beauchamp.

After discovering that his system produced copious amounts of unwanted feedback from sympathetic vibration of the guitar's body, Beauchamp reasoned that acoustic properties were actually undesirable in an electric instrument.

Beauchamp had previously promoted the development of John Dopyera's resonator guitar, and co-founded the National String Instrument Corporation.

He was acquainted with Adolph Rickenbacker, who owned the machine company that manufactured the aluminum resonators and brass bodies for the National instruments.

With Rickenbacker on board and having the needed financing, they began production of a lap steel guitars with a solid aluminum body and neck.