This invention relates generally to musical instrument strings and, more specifically, to metallic musical instrument wrap wire strings for musical instruments.
Wrapped musical instruments strings typically employ a core wire principally comprised of spring tempered high-carbon steel. (Typically, such wrapped strings [“wound strings”] are used for strings providing the lower notes on the instrument. For example, wrapped strings are typically used on all strings of a bass guitar, the four bass strings of a steel-string acoustic guitar, the three bass strings of a six-string electric guitar, and the four bass strings of a seven-string electric guitar.)
For users of stringed musical instruments, there is a continual need for wrapped musical strings which provide increased and fuller clarity and brightness.
The invention satisfies this need. In one aspect, the invention is a string for a musical stringed instrument comprising: (a) a core wire; and (b) a wrap wire coiled tightly around the core wire, the wrap wire comprising an aluminum-copper alloy comprising between about 2 wt % and about 10 wt % aluminum.
In another aspect, the invention is a music stringed instrument comprising the string described immediately above.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
In one aspect of the invention, the invention is a musical string 10 for a musical string instrument comprising (a) a core wire 12, and (b) wrap wire 14 coiled tightly around the core wire. In the invention, the wrap wire 14 comprises an aluminum bronze alloy.
In general, aluminum bronze alloys are copper alloys consisting of an addition of aluminum with a range from 2-14 wt % aluminum. However, in the invention, only aluminum bronze alloys having an aluminum content of 2-10 wt % are used. The 2% minimum is because the alloy requires a minimum amount of aluminum to provide the desired corrosion resistance. The 10% maximum is based on the manufacturability of the alloy for fine wire. Alloys containing more than 10% aluminum exceed the solubility limit of aluminum into copper and result in a multiphase structure including less ductile phases resulting in a more difficult alloy to extrude and draw into fine wire sizes. Alloys containing less than 10% aluminum are generally single phase which exhibits optimal drawability for this class of alloys thereby allowing it to be drawn to fine wire sizes to be used for strings. We came to this limit of 10% by experimental trial with manufacturing wire with alloy contents below and above 10% aluminum.
The aluminum bronze alloys may also consist of additions of up to about 2 wt % nickel, iron, manganese, iron, and/or arsenic. In our design, the optimal design consists of 5-6% aluminum with a balance of copper. The design provides a number of benefits and requires much consideration to yield a product that works well as described in the advantages of the design described below.
Corrosion Resistance
A common problem with most strings for acoustic instruments is corrosion due the use of copper alloys; however, these alloys are used due to their tonal qualities which properly voice the instrument. Other designs have sought to resolve this issue by utilizing various polymers to coat or cover the strings, however these polymers dampen the string resulting in loss of sustain and a duller sound. The present design provides greater corrosion resistance than traditional copper alloys including those used for acoustic guitar strings. This design for strings exhibits optimal sustain and tonal response while being more resistant to corrosion than traditional strings.
Manufacturability
As with any material used for wrap wire on guitar strings, the alloy must be ductile enough to draw into fine wire diameters as small as 0.004″. Aluminum bronze alloys are often difficult to draw into fine wire due to their high rate of cold working and the presence of aluminum oxide on the surface. The aluminum oxides can cause wire dies to wear out quickly if the aluminum content is too high. However, the 5-6% aluminum range draws well with a low-moderate rate of cold working and does not wear out wire dies as quickly as higher concentrations of aluminum.
Tonal Response
Lastly, the tonality of the aluminum bronze provides a unique character that is pleasant and vibrant. The alloy is a very hard alloy which yields a bright and full bodied sound.
Compared with traditional copper based alloys aluminum bronze guitar strings have an increase in low end and high end frequency response.
In another aspect of the invention, the invention is a musical instrument 16 comprising a body 18, a neck 20 and a plurality of instrument strings. The plurality of instrument strings are disposed along the front of the body 18 and along the neck 20. In this aspect of the invention, the plurality of strings includes at least one wound string 10 of the invention, as described above. One embodiment of this aspect of the invention is illustrated in
Example
Audio output comparison testing was made on (i) a wound phosphor bronze musical string having a thickness of 0.056″ diameter and (ii) a wound aluminum bronze musical string having a thickness of 0.056″ diameter.
Comparison testing was conducted on a testing apparatus with an automated plucking mechanism to ensure the strings were plucked with exactly the same attack. Except for the difference in strings, the comparison testing was carried out under essentially identical conditions.
In the comparison testing, each string was evaluated by using a guitar plucking mechanism which plucks each test string identically. The signal from each pluck was recorded using specialized software for evaluating sound profiles.
The results of the comparison testing are illustrated in
As can be seen by comparing
Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations can be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described herein below by the claims.
This application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/909,195, filed on Nov. 26, 2013, entitled “ALUMINUM COPPER WRAP WIRE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS,” the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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20150143972 A1 | May 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61909195 | Nov 2013 | US |