Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to a volume, sustain, and frequency response improvement for guitars and stringed musical instruments consisting of a body, neck, and plurality of strings under tension employing a fulcrum tremolo string bridge system.
Stringed musical instruments, such as the electric guitar, have featured an option since the 1950's called a tremolo. It is a fulcrum point string bridge located on the instrument body face that allows the performer to lower or raise the pitch of all strings simultaneously. The most widely employed type of fulcrum tremolo system generates the needed string counter tension via a plurality of springs located in a cavity on back of instrument body. One end of the plurality of springs is attached to the bottom portion of the bridge called the “block” and the other to a piece of flanged steel called the “claw”. The claw is secured to the guitar body via two wood screws to the spring cavity wall opposite that of the bridge block. The two screws allow for tension adjustment of the tremolo system. The drawback to the current tremolo system is the lack of mechanical coupling strings have with the instrument body. The screw heads and bridge fulcrum points alone fail to realize the vibrating strings full potential for sound wave transfer, thereby attenuating the frequency response, amplitude, and sustain of sound waves resonating into the instrument body and neck.
It is thereby the intention of this invention to capture a greater portion of the vibrating string's sound wave energy via improved mechanical coupling to instrument body and neck increasing amplitude, sustain, and frequency response thereby improving overall performance of instrument.
This invention resulted from the realization that employing a secondary connection point between the spring retaining “claw” and instrument body audibly enhanced the sound of an electric guitar using a Fulcrum Tremolo Bridge System.
The Fulcrum Tremolo Claw Lock Resonator is a “resonator plate” that consists of a flat piece of material capable of being drilled and tapped for machine screw thread(s) and or slotted for tee nut(s). The “resonator plate” is anchored to instrument body back, located on the inside of counter tensioning spring cavity under the plurality of counter tensioning springs and flanged metal claw of fulcrum tremolo system. The “resonator plate” anchoring is achieved via screws or adhesive agent to the innermost surface of spring counter tension cavity, the surface that is parallel to instrument face. The “claw” is then compression coupled to “resonator plate” via machine screw(s) or other multi use fastener method. The claw assembly facilitates the need of “claw” position adjustment, forward or backward. Due to changes of instrument string tension via the alteration of string gauge size or alternate tuning preference(s) of musician. the “resonation plate” must facilitate that the “claw” be repositionable. This is achieved with multiple machine screw positions, elongated screw slot(s) in claw, and/or a sliding tee nut channel. Once the tension, counter tension relationship between instrument strings and counter tensioning springs is arrived at for desired fulcrum tremolo string bridge position the “claw” can then be firmly secured to the “resonator plate” maximizing mechanical coupling of strings and their generated sound waves into instrument body.
Other objects, features, and advantages will occur from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings:
Screws 7 provide the normal manner that the spring retaining claw assembly is mounted. The modified form of spring retaining claw assembly provides slots 15 for receiving screws 14. The resonator plate in the illustrated variant comprises a series of screw holes around its perimeter where screws 13 attach to the rear of the spring cavity to the body 6. According to the adjustment position of the screws 7, screws 14 into an alternate set of threaded screw holes 11. Two parallel rows of holes 11 are provided is a position accessible between adjacent springs 2.
The Fulcrum Tremolo Claw Lock Resonator can be retrofitted or original equipment on any stringed musical instrument with fulcrum tremolo system that employs back of instrument body spring counter tension method most commonly used in electric guitar manufacturing. With the addition of two holes in flanged (L-shaped) spring retaining claw, and providing resonator plate and connecting fasteners, the kit provides an increase in amplitude, frequency response, and sustain of vibrating strings of instrument. A retrofit kit includes the resonator plate, the assembly screws 13, 14 and a spring claw assembly 1. Assembly involves replacing spring claw assembly 1 with a slotted variant, attaching the springs 2 to the spring claws, assembling spring claw assembly together with the resonator plate, and attaching the resonator plate 12 to the body of the instrument.
Adjustment involves setting the tension on the springs 2 by adjusting screws 7. If a large adjustment is necessary remove the screws 14. After adjusting the spring tension, re-attach and tighten the machine screws 14 through slots 15 in an adjacent set of the mounting holes 11.
Making the claw lock resonator plate out of a material that has magnetic properties can affect the output signal of an electromagnetic pickup in stringed instrument in a musically pleasing and beneficial way as perceived by human ear.
The instrument with the fulcrum tremolo string bridge system will be sonically improved by the addition of a Fulcrum Tremolo Claw Lock Resonator plate. The resonator provides an expanded surface area capable of transferring sound wave energy in the core of wooden string instrument. So amplitude, sustain, and frequency response are all improved. With enhanced low frequency coupling of fulcrum tremolo system to the instrument core, the entire range of pitches the instrument can produce are audibly improved. The presence of the invention enhances low frequency response to the human ear, interpreted as a warmer sound, a richer sound, and a sound that needs less electronic processing to convey musical pleasure as perceived by our ears.
The securing of the spring claw to the Fulcrum Tremolo Claw Lock Resonator reduces the potential movement of claw when tremolo is activated by player compared to the prior spring claw assembly retained only by two wood screws, thereby improving instrument tremolo systems tuning accuracy in returning to the non-pitch varied position of the tremolo bridge. Increasing the mass of the instrument body with the addition of Fulcrum Tremolo Claw Lock Resonator in the center or core of the instrument, instrument can allow the instrument to more efficiently resonate sound energy outward to exterior edges of guitar body.
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