This invention is for guitars, basses, and all stringed musical instruments consisting of a body, neck, and plurality of strings under tension, yields for performing artist an ergonomically improved instrument.
The modern electric guitar and bass are stringed musical instruments based off symphonic string instruments and the acoustic “gut string” guitar, all such instruments have in common, a neck that protrudes from body with plurality of strings under tension. The performing surface of neck that the strings are depressed against to sound individual pitches; or collectively chords, is called “the fingerboard”. It has long been the standard luthiery norm to manufacture a radius on said fingerboard, edge to edge, for the entire longitudinal length for ergonomic reasoning, to allow for bow movement on symphonic string instruments and to match the curvature of the performing artist's hand. Additionally the finger board radius has always been engineered with a topography positioning the highest vertical elevation of radius (radius crown) in the center of latitudinal width for longitudinal entirety in relationship to the face of instrument body. That constructional technique results in the requirement of the performing artist's fingerboard appendage, wrist, fingers, and related tendons to exert the greatest force and extension to reach across entire longitudinal width of neck's finger board to depress for sounding the largest gauge strings.
Therefore it is the ergonomic intention of this design improvement to reduce the effort required for the performing artist to depress single notes and chords on a stringed musical instrument neck by reducing the effort required to depress said notes and chords which in turn increases the potential for self expression and reduces the potential for appendage fatigue.
This invention resulted from the realization that creating a multi plane instrument body would reposition the neck's finger board radius crown in relation to performers torso creating ergonomic conditions that reduce fingerboard appendage muscles and related tendons required amount of contraction due to the reduced wrist and finger curvature needed for sounding the strings; particularly the largest gauge lowest pitch strings; requiring the furthest extension across entire longitudinal width of fingerboard and greatest force to actuate.
One method of Fade Away Radius creation is via the neck mounting cavity of a two piece solid body electric guitar or bass; a common current production technique made popular by Fender Musical Instrument Co. in the 1950's; often referred to as a “slab guitar” or “paddle guitar”; a mass production technique in which the instrument body and neck are fabricated separately then attached through a neck mounting cavity mortised into the body face. The neck and body are joined via four screws and a rectangular metal neck plate positioned on back of body which acts as a washer for the neck and it's retaining screws; mortising said neck mounting cavity with a “tilt” in relation to instrument body face so that the neck mounts at an angle sufficient enough to cause the fingerboard's highest elevation in relation to body face to be positioned along the entire longitudinal edge of neck's fingerboard; the edge in closest proximity with largest gauge lowest pitch string; the remaining surface area of finger-board gradually “fades away” reducing in elevation in relationship to the instrument body face, or as the performing artist moves there hand finger tips from largest gauge lowest pitch string downward across latitudinal width of finger board toward smaller gauge higher pitch strings.
Another methods for creating the Fade Away Radius neck condition is though instrument body construction via, lamination, sculpture, carving, mortising, router, CNC fabrication, or any other method that results in the stringed musical instrument having a neck/body relationship that results in the most elevated topographical portion of neck fingerboard radius to be located along the outer most longitudinal edge of neck associated with largest gauge string and in closest proximity with performers shoulder when instrument is played in a standard sitting or standing position.
Other objects, features, and advantages will occur from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which: