Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6384311
-
Patent Number
6,384,311
-
Date Filed
Monday, February 12, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 7, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 084 312 R
- 084 312 P
- 084 313
- 084 314 R
- 084 314 N
- 084 646
- 084 DIG 30
- 084 267
-
International Classifications
- G10D306
- G10D314
- G10H1053
- G10H134
- G10H318
-
Abstract
A stringed instrument comprises, in combination, a body with a neck extending forwardly therefrom The neck has a tuning portion mounted opposite the body which is adapted to receive one end of a plurality of strings. The tuning portion adjusts the tension on each of the plurality of strings. The other end of the plurality of stings is attached to the body. A plurality of pickup elements is positioned on the body proximate to the neck. The plurality of pickup elements is underneath the plurality of strings. The plurality of pickup elements are also in electrical communication with a position sensitive switch which determines which of the plurality of pickup elements is actuated in response to movement of the body. A plurality of tremolo mechanisms corresponding to the plurality of strings is attached to the end of the plurality of strings attached to the body. Also, interchangeable fret boards are mountable on the neck.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to stringed instruments, and, more particularly, to a guitar having interchangeable fretboards, a novel switchboard pickup mechanism and individual tremolo mechanisms for each string thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Music has always provided a popular source of entertainment and pleasure to persons from all over the world. However, modern musicians also want control of the sounds generated by such instruments.
Electromagnetic pickup elements that detect the mechanical vibrations of the strings and convert these to electrical signals for amplification and subsequent playback in speakers are well known to those skilled in the art. Also well known is the use of multiple pickup elements placed in various configurations relative to the guitar strings to obtain distinct frequency components of the mechanical string vibrations. Moreover, musicians are able to switch from one to another of these pickup elements during play or to switch to combinations of two or more pickup elements to provide a plurality of electrically amplified guitar sounds.
One problem noted in the prior art is the inability to quickly and accurately switch from one or another of the pickup elements without interrupting the play of the guitar. Improvements in switching technology include Starr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,149, which teaches an electronic push button switching system that allows rapid, unobtrusive switching between multiple pickup elements or combinations thereof Starr thereby provides a simple and accurate switching control during guitar play.
Another improvement in switching technology includes Cota (the present applicant), U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,986, which uses the opening and closing of a hinged top portion of a multiple coil pickup device to change the tone or pitch of the resultant guitar string sounds.
It is also well known in the art to provide a tremolo mechanism which allows the musician to change the tension of the strings while said strings are vibrating. Such mechanisms generally comprise a lever having one end connected to a base plate to which said strings are attached. When the other end of the lever is lifted by the musician, the resultant pull on the base plate increases the tension on the strings thereby resulting in a different sound. However, such mechanisms always act upon all the strings of a guitar simultaneously. Thus, there is a need for a tremolo mechanism which allows the musician to selectively alter the tension on each of the guitar strings separately.
Lastly, it is also well known in the art to provide different fret board configurations to provide a multiplicity of sounds. Cota (the present applicant), in U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,986, describes interchangeable fret boards that alternately extend and are secured by screws to a playing position, or retract within a guitar body for storage or carrying. However, there is a need for an interchangeable fret board which is easily attached to and detached from the neck of a guitar.
The present invention meets these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention claimed a number of improvements are made in electronically amplified stringed instruments.
It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide an electronically amplified stringed instrument having a plurality of electronic pickup elements and means for switching between the plurality of electronic pickup elements during play.
It is still another object of this invention is to provide a plurality of interchangeable fret boards to create a plurality of different sounds.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a tremolo mechanism separably operable for each one of the strings of the stringed instrument.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of the specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be readily described by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1
is a front view of a bass guitar of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a front close up view of a body of the bass guitar of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a side schematic view of a tremolo mechanism of the bass guitar of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a side exploded view of the tremolo mechanism of
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 5
is a side exploded view of an interchangeable fret board with male and female locking member and top and bottom halves of guitar body with male and female locking clips of the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a side view of a snap used in the male and female locking clips of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 7
is a side exploded view of the snap of
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 8
is a detail showing the attachment mechanism used to interchange the fret boards of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 9
is a top view of a fret board;
FIG. 10
is a top view of a female locking member of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 11
is a bottom view of a male locking member of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 12
is a close up view of a fret board;
FIG. 13
is a close up perspective view of one of the female locking member elements;
FIG. 14
is a side view of a male and a female locking member engaged and disengaged;
FIG. 15
is a close up perspective view of one of the male locking member elements;
FIG. 16
is side view of a mercury switch used in the present invention in a three differing orientations; and
FIG. 17
is a schematic view of the mercury switch of
FIG. 16
electrically connected to a plurality of pickup elements.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring more particularly to the drawings by characters of reference,
FIG. 1
shows a electric bass guitar
10
comprising a guitar body
12
with a guitar neck
14
extending forwardly therefrom. Guitar neck
14
includes a tuning portion
18
mounted opposite guitar body
12
having four posts
20
each of which are adapted to receive one end of a guitar string
22
. Four corresponding tuning knobs
23
allow a user to rotate said corresponding posts
20
to increase and decrease the tension on guitar string
22
thereby allowing a user to tune said strings
22
as is well known in the art.
Extending the length of guitar neck
14
between tuning portion
18
and guitar body
12
is a fret board
24
having a plurality of frets
26
thereon. As is also well known in the art, a user is effectively shortens the length of guitar string
22
by use of finger pressure to bring said string into contact with a selected fret
26
thereby changing the note played when said string
22
is strummed by the user.
A pickup element area
16
is positioned on guitar body
12
in a line defined along fret board
24
underneath strings
22
and rearwardly the end of fret board
24
. Area
16
includes electronic pickups
28
, seen in
FIG. 17
, which are described in more detail below. Area
16
is generally located in the area a user strums guitar strings
22
.
As best seen in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, each guitar string
22
passes over a corresponding guitar bridge
30
positioned proximate to area
16
and is rearwardly thereafter attached to an individual tremolo mechanism
32
. One key to the invention is the provision of individual tremolo mechanisms
32
for each separate guitar string
22
.
As best seen in
FIG. 3
, tremolo mechanism
32
includes a mount
34
which receives an end of guitar string
22
, a pivot
36
mounted to guitar body
12
, a short pivot arm
38
extending rearwardly opposite guitar string
22
, a tremolo arm
40
which extends upwardly and then forwardly from short pivot arm
38
and a compression spring
42
which extends downwardly and forwardly from the distal end of short pivot arm
38
and resiliently biases pivot
36
in a clockwise direction as viewed from the perspective of FIG.
3
. The end of compression spring
42
opposite arm
36
is mounted on the interior of body
12
.
Turning now to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, one embodiment of tremolo mechanism
32
and guitar bridge
30
are provided. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the exact details of construction of these elements as provided herein are exemplary in nature and do not limit the invention to the particular details thereof.
Guitar bridge
30
comprises a rubber bridge controller
44
which is interposed between a single bridge rocker
46
and guitar body
12
to dampen harmonic interference between rocker
46
and body
12
. Single bridge rocker
46
comprises a mounting arm
48
which includes a screw slot
50
adapted to receive a intonation screw
52
which extends through slot
50
and secures mounting arm
48
and controller
44
to body
12
. A base
54
extends laterally from mounting arm
48
provides support for two pulley arms
56
which extend forwardly from base
54
. A pulley
58
is rotatably mounted on an axle
60
which extends between pulley arms
56
. A support bar
61
extends between pulley arms
56
opposite base
54
to provide further structural support for rocker
46
.
Means for attaching a guitar string to tremolo mechanism
32
comprises short pivot arm
38
having a laterally extending hollow openended cylinder
62
at one end thereof. Captured within cylinder
62
is a laterally extending string holder
64
having a cavity
66
centered therein Cavity
66
is adapted to receive and retain a base
68
of a string sleeve
70
from which string
22
extends. String sleeve
70
extends forwardly through a hole
72
in cylinder
62
. A pivot axle
74
extends through cylinder
62
. A carbon plastic slide
76
covers the forward face of cylinder
62
and is in turn covered by a slide cup
78
.
In the preferred embodiment, tremolo arm
40
comprises a tremolo arm guiding bar
80
which curves upwardly and forwardly from the rear of short pivot arm
38
where it is joined to a tremolo arm portion
82
being secured thereto by nut, bolt and washer combination
84
.
Compression spring
42
is attached to short pivot arm
38
via a mounting bracket
86
which curved downwardly from arm
38
. The opposite end of compression spring
42
is attached to the interior of guitar body
12
by an L-shaped bracket
88
, one leg of bracket
88
being secured to body
12
by screw
90
and the opposite end of compression spring
42
being secured to the other leg of bracket
88
.
The advantage of the present invention over the prior art is the ability of the user to utilize a tremolo effect for each individual string
22
as opposed to the prior art system whereby one tremolo bar is employed, that one tremolo bar actuating the tremolo effect for all strings at once. The ability to actuate each string individually provides far more control for the musician as to the sound produced by guitar
10
.
Another feature of the present invention is the ability to interchange fret boards
24
. This allows the user musician to employ differing fret boards
24
with, for example, different spacing between frets
26
, or even fret boards
24
without frets
26
at all.
The interchangeable fret boards
24
of the present invention are illustrated in
FIGS. 9
to
15
.
FIG. 9
shows the top of fret board
24
with frets
26
spaced thereon while
FIG. 12
provides a close up view thereof. A lip
92
is positioned at the tuning portion end of fret board
24
.
FIG. 10
shows the bottom of fret board
24
having a plurality of female receptacles
94
spaced therein. As best seen in
FIGS. 13 and 14
, female receptacles
94
have an open box shaped area
96
and a contiguous occluded area
98
which, in the presently preferred embodiment, shows the profile of a right triangle with the hypotenuse thereof extending upwardly and forwardly from one side of box shaped area
96
. Female receptacles
94
receive corresponding male receptacles
100
mounted on guitar neck
14
which, as best seen in
FIGS. 14 and 15
, have a box
102
with a contiguous overhang area
104
having the same right triangle profile as that of occluded area
98
.
To attach fret board
24
to neck
14
, male receptacles
100
are slidably received within corresponding female receptacles
94
as best seen in
FIGS. 5 and 14
. To secure, a snap
106
, best seen in
FIGS. 5 and 8
, is positioned on tuning portion
16
to engage a reverse prong
108
on fret board
24
. Snap
106
in combination with prong
108
prevents movement of fret board
24
relative to neck
14
. The triangle shapes of overhang area
104
and occluded area
98
firmly engaging hold fret board
24
in position with respect to neck
14
. Yet, simply releasing snap
106
allows the user to disengage fret board
24
easily and quickly.
Still another feature of the present invention is the use of a position sensitive switch
110
in conjunction with pickups
28
and resistors
112
to allow the user to control the sound of guitar
10
without ever needing to stop strumming. As shown in
FIGS. 16 and 17
, switch
110
is set up as a cross with four arms
114
extending at right angles to each other from a center point
116
. In the preferred embodiment, two arms
114
extend rearwardly and forwardly while the other two arms extend upwardly and downwardly.
As is well known in the art, the position of pickups
28
, the resistance with the circuit provided by resistors
112
and the type of pickups
28
all impact upon the sound quality ultimately produced.
As illustrated in
FIG. 16
, each such pair of arms
114
has three ball bearings
118
contained within a tube
120
but free to roll within tube
120
. At the distal end of each tube
120
is a mercury switch
122
which is actuated when ball bearings press upon diaphragm
124
which covers one end of tube
120
.
Each opposing pair of arms
114
has three possible positions.
FIG. 16A
illustrates a level position wherein neither mercury switch
122
is actuated.
FIG. 16B
corresponds to actuation of the right side mercury switch
122
when the entire switch
110
is tilted in that direction while
FIG. 16C
illustrates the actuation of left side mercury switch
122
when switch
110
is tilted in that direction.
As shown in
FIG. 17
, switch
110
and its mercury switch components
122
control which pickups are actuated by simply moving guitar
10
. Thus, the guitarist controls the pickups used by either lifting or lowering neck
14
of guitar
10
, or rotating body
12
of guitar
10
about an axis defined by neck
14
. The present invention allows the guitarist to continue play without ever having to stop actually playing strings
22
.
It will be apparent that a significantly improved guitar
10
is provided in accordance with the stated objects of the present invention, and while but a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A bass guitar comprising, in combination, a body with a neck extending forwardly therefrom, the neck having a tuning portion mounted opposite the body adapted to receive one end of a plurality of strings, the tuning portion having means for adjusting the tension on each of the plurality of strings, the other end of the plurality of stings attached to the body,at least one pickup element is positioned on the body proximate to the neck, the plurality of stings extending over the at least one pickup element, and a plurality of tremolo mechanisms corresponding to the plurality of strings, each of the plurality of tremolo mechanisms being attached to the other end of the corresponding one of the plurality of strings attached to the body.
- 2. The bass guitar of claim 1 wherein the at least one pickup element comprises a plurality of pickup elements in electrical communication with a position sensitive switch which determines which of the plurality of pickup elements is actuated in response to movement of the body.
- 3. The bass guitar of claim 2 further comprising a plurality of resistors in electrical communication with the position sensitive switch and the plurality of pickup elements.
- 4. The bass guitar of claim 2 wherein the position sensitive switch is a cross shape having two pair of arms, each pair extending in opposing directions, the two pair of arms extending at right angles to each other from a center point, one pair of arms extending rearwardly and forwardly while the other two pair of arms extending upwardly and downwardly.
- 5. The bass guitar of claim 4 wherein each arm has three ball bearings contained within a tube and separated from a mercury switch by a diaphragm at the distal end thereof, the mercury switch being actuated when the ball bearings press upon the diaphragm.
- 6. The bass guitar of claim 5 wherein each pair of arms has three positions, a level position wherein neither mercury switch is actuated, a first actuation position wherein one mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted in one direction towards the one mercury switch and a second actuation position wherein the other mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted towards the other mercury switch.
- 7. The bass guitar of claim 1 further comprising a fret board mounted on the neck, the fret board having a plurality of frets thereon.
- 8. The bass guitar of claim 7 further comprising means for interchanging fret boards.
- 9. The bass guitar of claim 8 wherein the means for interchanging comprises a plurality of female receptacles positioned on one of the fret board and the neck mating with a corresponding number of male receptacles positioned on the other of the fret board and the neck, the means for interchanging further comprising a snap for retaining the fret board on the neck.
- 10. The bass guitar of claim 9 wherein the male and female receptacles are a combination of a box shape with a contiguous right triangle shape.
- 11. The bass guitar of claim 1 further comprising a bridge positioned between the at least one pickup element and the tremolo mechanisms.
- 12. The bass guitar of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of tremolo mechanisms comprises a mount which receives an end of the corresponding one of the plurality of strings, a pivot mounted to the body, a short pivot arm extending rearwardly from the one of the plurality of strings, a tremolo arm which extends upwardly and then forwardly from the short pivot arm and means for resiliently biasing the pivot in a selected direction.
- 13. The stringed instrument bass guitar of claim 12 wherein means for resiliently biasing is a compression spring which extends downwardly and forwardly from the distal end of the short pivot arm and is mounted on the interior of the body.
- 14. A stringed instrument comprising, in combination, a body with a neck extending forwardly therefrom, the neck having a tuning portion mounted opposite the body adapted to receive one end of a plurality of strings, the tuning portion having means for adjusting the tension on each of the plurality of strings, the other end of the plurality of stings attached to the body,a plurality of pickup elements positioned on the body proximate to the neck, the plurality of stings extending over the plurality of pickup elements, the plurality of pickup elements being in electrical communication with a position sensitive switch which determines which of the plurality of pickup elements is actuated in response to movement of the body, the position sensitive switch having a cross shape with two pairs of arms, each pair extending in opposing directions, the two pair of arms extending at right angles to each other from a center point, one pair of arms extending rearwardly and forwardly while the other two pair of arms extending upwardly and downwardly, each arm having three ball bearings contained within a tube and separated from a mercury switch by a diaphragm at the distal end thereof, the mercury switch being actuated when the ball bearings press upon the diaphragm.
- 15. The stringed instrument of claim 14 further comprising a plurality of resistors in electrical communication with the position sensitive switch and the plurality of pickup elements.
- 16. The stringed instrument of claim 14 wherein each pair of arms has three positions, a level position wherein neither mercury switch is actuated, a first actuation position wherein one mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted in one direction towards the one mercury switch and a second actuation position wherein the other mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted towards the other mercury switch.
- 17. The stringed instrument of claim 14 further comprising a fret board mounted on the neck, the fret board having a plurality of frets thereon.
- 18. The stringed instrument of claim 17 further comprising means for interchanging fret boards.
- 19. The stringed instrument of claim 18 wherein the means for interchanging comprises a plurality of female receptacles positioned on one of the fret board and the neck mating with a corresponding number of male receptacles positioned on the other of the fret board and the neck, the means for interchanging further comprising a snap for retaining the fret board on the neck.
- 20. The stringed instrument of claim 19 wherein the male and female receptacles are a combination of a box shape with a contiguous right triangle shape.
- 21. A bass guitar comprising, in combination, a body with a neck extending forwardly therefrom, the neck having a tuning portion mounted opposite the body adapted to receive one end of a plurality of strings, the tuning portion having means for adjusting the tension on each of the plurality of strings, the other end of the plurality of stings attached to the body,a plurality of pickup elements positioned on the body proximate to the neck, the plurality of stings extending over the plurality of pickup elements, the plurality of pickup elements being in electrical communication with a position sensitive switch which determines which of the plurality of pickup elements is actuated in response to movement of the body, a plurality of tremolo mechanisms corresponding to the plurality of strings attached to the end of the plurality of strings attached to the body, a fret board mounted on the neck, the fret board having a plurality of frets thereon, and means for interchanging fret boards.
- 22. The bass guitar of claim 21 wherein the means for interchanging comprises a plurality of female receptacles positioned on one of the fret board and the neck mating with a corresponding number of male receptacles positioned on the other of the fret board and the neck, the means for interchanging further comprising a snap for retaining the fret board on the neck.
- 23. The bass guitar of claim 21 wherein the male and female receptacles are a combination of a box shape with a contiguous right triangle shape.
- 24. A bass guitar comprising, in combination, a body with a neck extending forwardly therefrom, the neck having a tuning portion mounted opposite the body adapted to receive one end of a plurality of strings, the tuning portion having means for adjusting the tension on each of the plurality of strings, the other end of the plurality of stings attached to the body,a plurality of pickup elements positioned on the body proximate to the neck, the plurality of stings extending over the plurality of pickup elements, the plurality of pickup elements being in electrical communication with a position sensitive switch which determines which of the plurality of pickup elements is actuated in response to movement of the body, a plurality of resistors in electrical communication with the position sensitive switch and the plurality of pickup elements, the position sensitive switch being a cross shape having two pair of arms, each pair extending in opposing directions, the two pair of arms extending at right angles to each other from a center point, one pair of arms extending rearwardly and forwardly while the other two pair of arms extending upwardly and downwardly, each arm having three ball bearings contained within a tube and separated from a mercury switch by a diaphragm at the distal end thereof, the mercury switch being actuated when the ball bearings press upon the diaphragm, each pair of arms having three positions, a level position wherein neither mercury switch is actuated, a first actuation position wherein one mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted in one direction towards the one mercury switch and a second actuation position wherein the other mercury switch is actuated when the entire switch is tilted towards the other mercury switch, a plurality of tremolo mechanisms corresponding to the plurality of strings attached to the end of the plurality of strings attached to the body, the plurality of tremolo mechanisms each comprising a mount which receives an end of one of the plurality of strings, a pivot mounted to the body, a short pivot arm extending rearwardly the one of the plurality of strings, a tremolo arm which extends upwardly and then forwardly from the short pivot arm and a compression spring which extends downwardly and forwardly from the distal end of the short pivot arm and is mounted on the interior of the body for resiliently biasing the tremolo mechanism to a selected position, a fret board mounted on the neck, the fret board having a plurality of frets thereon, and a plurality of female receptacles positioned on one of the fret board and the neck mating with a corresponding number of male receptacles positioned on the other of the fret board and the neck, the male and female receptacles are a combination of a box shape with a contiguous right triangle shape, and a snap for retaining the fret board on the neck.
US Referenced Citations (10)