Claims
- 1. An intonation adjustment system for a stringed instrument having a plurality of strings and an instrument saddle supporting the strings, said instrument saddle having a saddle slot therein, said saddle slot having a width parallel to a length of said strings, said system comprising:
- a saddle setup tool having a definite number of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points within said width of said saddle slot so that a preferred one of said selectable distinctly spaced intonation points can be determined for each of said strings of said instrument.
- 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
- a set of prefabricated candidate fixed saddle segments adapted to be fixedly received in said saddle slot from which can be selected a group of selected saddle segments making up said instrument saddle and providing any possible combination of said definite number of selectable intonation points across said width of said saddle slot for said plurality of strings.
- 3. The system of claim 2, said plurality of strings being six strings, wherein:
- said group of selected saddle segments includes three selected saddle segments each of which supports two of said strings.
- 4. The system of claim 3, wherein:
- said instrument saddle has an arcuate top profile transverse to said strings, said group of three selected saddle segments including two outside segments and one inside segment.
- 5. The system of claim 4, wherein:
- said set of prefabricated candidate saddle segments includes:
- a first subset of candidate outside saddle segments; and
- a second subset of candidate inside saddle segments, said second subset being exclusive of said first subset so that no member of said second subset is identical to any member of said first subset.
- 6. The system of claim 5, wherein:
- said definite number of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points includes five and only five intonation points;
- said first subset of candidate outside saddle segments includes twenty-five different candidate outside saddle segments each having a different combination of two intonation points; and
- said second subset of candidate inside saddle segments includes fifteen different candidate inside saddle segments each having a different combination of two intonation points.
- 7. The system of claim 1, wherein:
- said saddle setup tool has an adjustable height support.
- 8. The system of claim 1, wherein:
- said saddle setup tool includes a piezo-electric pickup having output leads for connection of said pickup to an electronic tuner.
- 9. The system of claim 1, wherein:
- said saddle setup tool has a top surface having a plurality of parallel spaced grooves defined therein; and
- said saddle setup tool includes a movable temporary ridge constructed to be received in any one of said grooves.
- 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said grooves are equally spaced.
- 11. The system of claim 9, wherein said plurality of grooves includes at least five grooves.
- 12. An intonation adjustment system for a stringed instrument having a plurality of strings and an instrument saddle supporting the strings, said instrument saddle having a saddle slot therein having a slot width parallel to a length of said string, said system comprising:
- a set of prefabricated candidate fixed saddle segments adapted to be received in said saddle slot from which can be selected a group of selected saddle segments making up said instrument saddle and providing any possible combination of selected intonation points from a definite number of available intonation points spaced across and within said slot width for each of said strings, at least one of said selected saddle segments supporting at least two of said strings.
- 13. The system of claim 12, said plurality of strings being six strings, wherein:
- said group of selected saddle segments includes three selected saddle segments, each of which supports two of said strings.
- 14. The system of claim 13, wherein:
- said instrument saddle has an arcuate top profile transverse to said strings, said group of three selected saddle segments including two outside segments and one inside segment.
- 15. The system of claim 14, wherein:
- said set of prefabricated candidate saddle segments includes:
- a first subset of candidate outside saddle segments; and
- a second subset of candidate inside saddle segments, said second subset being exclusive of said first subset so that no member of said second subset is identical to any member of said first subset.
- 16. The system of claim 12, wherein said plurality of available intonation points includes at least five available intonation points for each of said strings.
- 17. A method of setting an intonation of a stringed instrument having a plurality of strings supported by an instrument saddle, said saddle having a saddle slot with a slot width parallel to a length of said strings, comprising:
- (a) determining for each of said strings which one intonation point of a plurality of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points on said saddle across and within said slot width provides an intonation test pitch closest to perfect intonation; and
- (b) assembling said instrument saddle from a group of saddle segments providing said one intonation point for each of said strings, at least one of said saddle segments of said group supporting at least two of said strings, said saddle segments being fixedly received in said saddle slot.
- 18. A method of setting an intonation of a stringed instrument having a plurality of strings supported by an instrument saddle, said saddle having a saddle slot with a slot width parallel to a length of said strings, comprising:
- (a) determining for each of said strings which one intonation point of a plurality of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points on said saddle across said slot width provides a most nearly perfect intonation; and
- (b) assembling said instrument saddle from a group of saddle segments providing said one intonation point for each of said strings, at least one of said saddle segments of said group supporting at least two of said strings, said saddle segments being received in said saddle slot.
- 19. The method of claim 18, said plurality of strings being six strings, wherein said group of saddle segments includes three saddle segments each of which supports two of said strings.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein said instrument saddle has an arcuate top profile transverse to said strings and said three saddle segments include two outside segments and one inside segment.
- 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
- after step (a) and before step (b), selecting said group of saddle segments from a set of prefabricated candidate saddle segments providing any possible combination of said selectable distinctly spaced intonation points for said plurality of strings.
- 22. The method of claim 21, said plurality of strings being six strings, wherein:
- said group of prefabricated saddle segments includes three prefabricated saddle segments each of which supports two of said strings; and
- said set of prefabricated candidate saddle segments includes:
- a first subset of candidate outside saddle segments; and
- a second subset of candidate inside saddle segments.
- 23. The method of claim 22, wherein said instrument saddle has an arcuate top profile transverse to said strings, and said second subset is exclusive of said first subset.
- 24. The method of claim 17, wherein said step (a) is performed with a saddle setup tool having said plurality of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points defined across a saddle setup tool width equal to an instrument saddle width.
- 25. The method of claim 18, wherein said step (a) is performed with a saddle setup tool having said plurality of selectable distinctly spaced intonation points defined across a saddle setup tool width substantially equal to an instrument saddle width.
- 26. A stringed instrument, comprising:
- a body having a top;
- a bridge mounted on said top of said body, said bridge having a saddle slot formed therein, said slot having a slot width;
- a neck extending from said body;
- a laureled of strings mounted on said body and neck and extending parallel to said slot width;
- a saddle received in said saddle slot and supporting said plurality of strings, said saddle including a group of saddle segments fixedly received in said saddle slot at least one of which supports at least two of said strings, said group of saddle segments having a plurality of supporting ridges defined thereon, one of which supporting ridges engages each of said strings within said slot width, each of said supporting ridges being located to provide an intonation test pitch closest to perfect intonation for its respective string out of a plurality of selectable intonation point locations distinctly spaced across said slot width.
- 27. A stringed instrument, comprising:
- a body having a top;
- a bridge mounted on said top of said body, said bridge having a saddle slot formed therein, said slot having a slot width;
- a neck extending from said body;
- a plurality of strings mounted on said body and neck and extending parallel to said slot width;
- a saddle received in said saddle slot and supporting said plurality of strings, said saddle including a group of saddle segments at least one of which supports at least two of said strings, said group of saddle segments having a plurality of supporting ridges defined thereon, one of which supporting ridges engages each of said strings, each of said supporting ridges being located to provide a most nearly perfect intonation for its respective string out of a plurality of selectable intonation point locations distinctly spaced across said slot width.
- 28. The stringed instrument of claim 27, wherein:
- said plurality of strings includes six strings; and
- said group of saddle segments includes three saddle segments each of which supports two of said strings.
- 29. The stringed instrument of claim 28, wherein:
- said saddle has an arcuate top profile transverse to said strings and said three saddle segments include two outside segments having identical top profiles and one inside segment.
- 30. The stringed instrument of claim 27, wherein said instrument is a guitar.
- 31. The stringed instrument of claim 30, wherein said guitar is a flat top acoustic guitar.
- 32. The stringed instrument of claim 31, wherein said strings are steel strings.
- 33. The stringed instrument of claim 27, wherein said plurality of possible distinctly spaced intonation point locations includes five equally spaced locations the outermost two locations of which are a forward edge of said saddle and a rearward edge of said saddle.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/897,787 filed on Jun. 12, 1992, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (30)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
The Guitar Handbook, Denyer, 1982, p. 171. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
897787 |
Jun 1992 |
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