U.S. patent number 3,915,049 [Application Number 05/516,157] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-28 for stringed musical instrument with aluminum made integral unit.
Invention is credited to Clifford Travis Bean.
United States Patent |
3,915,049 |
Bean |
October 28, 1975 |
Stringed musical instrument with aluminum made integral unit
Abstract
An electric stringed musical instrument including an integral
member consisting of a head, a neck, a bridge and a soundboard
(including a mounting surface for a pickup) attached to the
instrument body made of hard wood. The unit is made from extruded
aluminum which greatly facilitates maintenance of the instrument.
Further, the pickups are solidly mounted on the soundboard, whereby
the pickups tend to exclusively capture the sounds made by the
strings to transmit proper signals to the amplifiers, resulting in
stable and versatile tones.
Inventors: |
Bean; Clifford Travis (Burbank,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
24054372 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/516,157 |
Filed: |
October 21, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
84/743; 84/293;
984/367; 84/294 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G10H
3/18 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G10H
3/00 (20060101); G10H 3/18 (20060101); G10H
003/00 (); G10D 003/00 (); G10D 003/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;84/267,291,292,293,299,1.16,294,314 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
M L. Begeman et al., "Manufacturing Processes," John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., New York, 1957, page 187..
|
Primary Examiner: Hix; L. T.
Assistant Examiner: Weldon; U.
Claims
I claim:
1. A stringed instrument comprising:
a hardwood body;
an integral unit made of extruded aluminum including a head, a neck
and a sound board, formed in sequence along its length, said neck
having a finger board and frets fixed thereto;
strings connected between said head and said sound board;
said wood body secured to said sound board;
said integral unit having at least two groove extending from the
vicinity of the head to the vicinity of the sound board beneath the
finger board to transfer the sounds generated by said strings to
said sound board;
at least one pickup means for transducing the sound vibrations to
an electrical signal directly and solidly mounted on said sound
board; and
a bridge member mounted on said wood body over said sound board to
receive said strings.
2. The stringed instrument according to claim 1, wherein the
integral unit has three grooves in parallel.
3. The stringed instrument according to claim 1, wherein the head
has an opening.
4. The stringed instrument according to claim 1, wherein the sound
board has edges extending from the sides thereof which fit into
corresponding recesses provided in the wood body.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to an electric stringed instrument, such as
guitar, base guitar, etc.
2. Prior Art
The instruments with a wooden neck taught by the prior art suffer
from a warp or bend at the neck portion, which affects the
uniformity of the fret balance and tends to cause a buzzing sound.
In fact, a wooden neck is easily broken by a sharp blow or fall.
Such wooden structures are very susceptible to changes in
temperature and humidity. Many modifications have been proposed to
attempt to overcome the above drawbacks. For instance, one
suggested structure of the prior art is a truss rod that is a steel
shaft implanted lengthwise in the wooden neck on a curving
axis.
Recent prior art has disclosed electric guitars that have a
one-piece neck and head made of cast aluminum which is, of course,
strong enough not to require implantation of a truss rod therein.
It has no separate finger board upon the neck, and frets are
installed directly into the aluminum neck. The aluminum is coated
with clear plastic so as to prevent the cast aluminum and the oxide
that forms thereon from smearing onto the hand to provide a smooth
surface. The neck is attached to the guitar body on a milled
plateau by means of four wood screws, the plateau being provided in
the body and machine-screwed to secure the joints. A pickup is
mounted with springs upon plastic frames in such a manner that the
pickup is completely isolated from the rest of the guitar body. If
the pickup had been mounted solidly, the resulting sound would be
much to tinny to make for a versatile instrument since the neck is
made of aluminum. While this guitar provides many advantages
regarding the maintenance over the other prior art guitars, there
remained some unsolved problems. First, regarding the maintenance
of the neck, the plastic coating upon aluminum is not very durable
and would wear easily, which may lead to blackening of the player's
hand and frequent recoating. Secondly, it is noted that a
considerable loss in sound efficiency is unavoidable at the pickup
of this guitar which is suspended in a frame or pickup guard and
isolated from the rest of the guitar. This is ever more evident
when playing at higher volume levels with powerful amplifiers in a
large hall or arena, or with less powerful amplifiers in a confined
area. Furthermore, the sounds coming from the amplifier speakers,
as well as from the strings, are heard by the pickup. Further, the
conventionally mounted pickup experiences vibration or rattling
itself as it hangs suspended. Both of these deficiencies result in
distorted sound. Therefore, the sound resulting from the string is
confused by sound from the speakers and by the vibration of the
pickup, and a distorted signal is sent to the amplifiers. Thus, the
prior art electric guitars have some unsettled shortcomings in
connection both with maintenance and sound.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The electric stringed musical instrument of this invention employs
greatly improved parts to overcome the shortcomings that the prior
art instruments have failed to resolve. The primary feature of this
invention exists in the material, construction and configuration of
the unit from the head to the soundboard of the instrument. Another
feature of this invention is associated with the arrangement and
mounting of the pickup on the unit.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an
electric stringed instrument having a construction made of extruded
aluminum which allows excellent maintenance.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electric
stringed instrument in which the neck is provided with at least one
groove running the length thereof, which improves the efficiency of
the transfer of the sounds generated by the strings down the neck
to the soundboard.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an electric
stringed instrument in which the pickup is mounted directly and
solidly on the soundboard, which greatly increases fidelity and
clarity of notes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a partial plan view of an embodiment of a guitar of
this invention.
FIG. 2 shows a partial sectional view of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view along line 3 -- 3 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 shows a sectional view along line 5 -- 5 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 shows a sectional view along line 6 -- 6 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 shows a partial bottom view of the embodiment.
FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the integrated metal unit of the
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, in which the entire construction can be seen,
the guitar comprises guitar body 10 made of hard wood such as maple
and an intregal unit consisting of neck 12 provided with three
grooves 28, head 14 and soundboard 16. Finger board 24 with frets
44 is fixed upon neck 12 and pickups 18 and 20 are mounted on
soundboard 16. The finger board 24 may be of wood construction
secured by fastening means such as screws or adhesive to neck 12.
Bridge 22 mounted on body 10 and strings 26 are supported by bridge
22.
More details can be seen from FIGS. 2 through 5. The integral unit
is firmly bonded to guitar body 10 with any adhesive agent, such as
A.I.R. epoxy resin. Edges 30 of sound board 16 are fixed in
corresponding and mating recesses provided in guitar body 10 so
that the two pieces virtually form one piece to assure the better
sustenance of the sound and stable sound quality (see FIG. 3).
Pickups 18 and 20 are mounted within guitar body 10 and fastened
and secured to depressions 32 and 34 of sound board 16 respectively
with screws 36 and 38 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Bridge 22 is mounted on
guitar body 10 and is fastened thereto with screws 42 which also
engage the sound board 16 of the integral unit, and strings 26 are
supported by bridge 22 (see FIG. 5).
FIG. 6 shows a bottom view of the neck unit bonded to guitar body
10. Screws 36 and 38 fasten sound board 16 to pickups 18 and 20
(see FIG. 2).
An understanding of the integral unit of this invention can best be
gained by reference to FIG. 7. The unit substantially consists of
neck 12, head 14 and sound board 16 as a single unit which may be
made of a solid billet extrusion of preferably 6061 T-4 aluminum,
which greatly facilitates the maintenance of the guitar and
prevents warping or bending without any reinforcement. In this
regard extruded aluminum has the added benefit that it does not
blacken the user's hand, while other forms of aluminum have such a
shortcoming unless specially treated, which special treatment may
not be enduring or may be costly. Neck 12 has horizontal grooves 28
along the upper side thereof, which grooves efficiently transfer
the sounds generated by the strings to sound board 16 and also
reduce the total weight of the instrument. Typically three grooves
may be employed having a cubical or rectangular cross section with
each groove 28 measuring 1/4 by 1/4 inch and spaced at 1/8 inch
interval. The number, shape and size of the grooves depend upon
note preferences.
Head 14 includes a T-shaped opening 46 and holes 24 for tuning
gears. The opening 46 is not indespensable but preferable to make
the guitar lighter.
Sound board 16 comprises edges 30 extending from the upper side and
fixed into the corresponding recesses in guitar board 10,
depressions 32 and 34 for mounting pickups 18 and 20, holes 50 for
screws 42 to fasten bridge 22 and holes 52 for strings 26. Pickups
18 and 20 which are mounted directly and solidly on sound board 16
assure better tone quality since they are free from unexpected
noise caused by the vibration of the pickups and minimize
undesirable sounds from the amplifiers.
In playing the instrument of this invention the sounds originating
by the vibrations of the strings transfer down to the pickups
through the grooves, being mellowed by the mating of wood and metal
without any sacrifice to the fidelity of string movement. The
pickups which receive the sounds almost exclusively transduce
accurate, clear signals to the amplifier. Thus, the instrument is
capable of realizing the maximum versatility, i.e., from the most
mellow "jazz" type sound clear to the most harsh rock music.
Further, this versatility is maintained in tact notwithstanding the
normal rough handling that such instruments experience as a result
of usage and shipment and notwithstanding the various changes in
humidity and temperatures to which it is exposed.
* * * * *