Musical instrument string damper

Abstract

A string damper for a stringed instrument having an elongated block (1) of vibration-absorbing material with a plurality of slits (4-7) disposed along lower surface of said block that extend upwardly into said block and longitudinally span the front and rear surfaces of said block and are generally parallel and generally spaced apart as said strings on said stringed instrument proximate the bridge of said stringed instrument, and grooves (8-11) that extend along the length of the entrance to said slits, respectively, along the lower surface of said block forming an enlarged entrance into said slits, and a rigid support surface (2) secured to the upper surface of said block, whereby one or more of said strings of said stringed instrument may be urged into and engaged by said slits so as to damp vibration of said strings and detachably attach said string damper to said stringed instrument.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views; closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes; the distinctions between figures with different alphabetic suffixes are readily comprehended; and wherein:

FIG. 1A shows a front perspective view of the string damper.

FIG. 1B shows a front perspective view of the string damper engaged to the strings of a stringed instrument (a right-handed 4-string electric bass guitar shown in FIG. 7).

FIG. 2A shows a bottom plan view of the string damper of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2B shows a top plan view of the string damper of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3A shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 2B along line 3A-3A.

FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 3A along line 3B-3B.

FIG. 4A shows the view of FIG. 3A included with strings shown entering into the grooves of the string damper.

FIG. 4B shows the view of FIG. 4A with the strings shown engaged at the entrance to the slits of the string damper.

FIG. 5 shows a top plan view of the string damper of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 6A shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 5 along line 6A-6A showing the strings engaged to the full height of the slits.

FIG. 6B shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 6A along line 6B-6B.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the string damper positioned for operation on the right-handed 4-string electric bass guitar.

FIG. 8A shows an enlarged top plan view of the string damper of FIG. 7 showing the string damper attached to the strings of the electric bass at a position proximate the bridge.

FIG. 8B shows another view of the string damper of FIG. 8A showing the string damper attached to the strings of the electric bass at an alternative position from that of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 9 shows a front perspective view of a string damper having a damping block with forward and rearward sides having a beveled lower edge.

FIG. 10A shows a bottom plan view of the string damper of FIG. 9.

FIG. 10B shows a top plan view of the string damper of FIG. 9

FIG. 11A shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 10B along line 11A-11A.

FIG. 11B shows a cross-sectional view of the string damper of FIG. 11A along line 11B-11B.

FIG. 12A shows the view of the string damper of FIG. 11B with a string engaged in the slit to a partial height of the slit.

FIG. 12B shows the view of the string damper of FIG. 11B with a string engaged in the slit to the full height of the slit.

FIG. 13 shows a side cross-sectional view (similar to FIG. 11B) of a string damper having a damping block having forward and rearward sides that are beveled to the full height of the sides.

FIG. 14 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having only a damping block with slits along the lower surface of the damping block.

FIG. 15 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having only a damping block, a support plate, and slits along the lower surface of the damping block.

FIG. 16 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper that is flat and has no compensation for the radius of curvature of the fingerboard.

FIG. 17 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having a damping block with a flat lower surface.

FIG. 18A shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having slits that have space between their respective opposing walls.

FIG. 18B shows an enlarged view of one of the slits of FIG. 18A showing the opposing walls and with a string engaged in the slit.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show front cross-sectional views of a string damper having a support plate with a tapered thickness.

FIGS. 20A to 20F show front cross-sectional views of various embodiments of a groove.

FIG. 21 shows a bottom plan view of a string damper having a damping block made of two adjacent halves.

FIGS. 22A and 22B show front cross-sectional views of a string damper having longitudinal voids in the interior of the damping block.

FIGS. 23A and 23B show front cross-sectional views of a string damper having longitudinal channels in the upper surface of the damping block.

FIGS. 24A and 24B show front cross-sectional views of a string damper having longitudinal channels in the lower surface of the support plate.

FIG. 25 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having a longitudinal channel in the upper surface of the damping block and affixed to the support plate only at the ends.

FIG. 26 shows a front cross-sectional view of a string damper having longitudinal channels along the lower surface of the damping block between the slits.

FIGS. 27A to 27C show bottom plan views of a string damper showing various shapes that provide for non-linear variations in slit length.

Claims

1. A string damper for a stringed instrument comprising an elongated block of vibration-absorbing material sufficiently wide enough to transversely span a plurality of adjacent strings of said stringed instrument,a plurality of slits disposed along the lower surface of said block where said slits extend upwardly into said block and longitudinally span the front and rear surfaces of said block and are generally parallel and generally spaced apart as said strings on said stringed instrument proximate the bridge of said stringed instrumenta groove that extends along the length of the entrance to each said slit along the lower surface of said block forming an enlarged entrance into said slit so as to facilitate entrance of said strings into said slits,a rigid support surface secured to the upper surface of said block so as to provide support to said block and provide mass to said string damper so as to oppose vibration of said strings and provide a convenient grasping surface,whereby one or more of said strings of said stringed instrument may be urged into and engaged by said slits so as to damp vibration of said strings and detachably attach said string damper to said stringed instrument.

2. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said string damper has a long lateral side and a short lateral side such that the length of said slits varies proportionally with the diameter of said strings.

3. The string damper of claim 1 wherein the upper shape and lower shape of said string damper is symmetric about the transverse centerline of said string damper.

4. The string damper of claim 1 wherein the upper shape and lower shape of said string damper generally forms an isosceles trapezoid where the lateral sides of said string damper form the parallel sides of the trapezoid.

5. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said string damper is longitudinally curved to conforms to radius of curvature of the fingerboard of said stringed instrument.

6. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said grooves have a generally V-shaped cross section.

7. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block is composed of a resilient spongy material having a continuous structure of small open-cell voids.

8. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block is composed of open-cell polyurethane foam and said plate is composed of plastic.

9. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block is composed of open-cell sponge rubber and said plate is composed of metal.

10. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block has a beveled lower front edge and a beveled lower rear edge.

11. The string damper of claim 1 wherein each said slit has some distance between the opposing walls of said slit.

12. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block has longitudinal voids that pass through said block.

13. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said plate has longitudinal channels disposed along the lower surface of said plate.

14. The string damper of claim 1 wherein said block is composed of a plurality of sections.

15. A string damper for a stringed instrument comprising an elongated block of vibration-absorbing material sufficiently wide enough to transversely span a plurality of adjacent strings of said stringed instrument,a plurality of slits disposed along the lower surface of said block where said slits extend upwardly into said block and longitudinally span the front and rear surfaces of said block and are generally parallel and generally spaced apart as said strings on said stringed instrument proximate the bridge of said stringed instrument,whereby one or more of said strings of said stringed instrument may be urged into and engaged by said slits so as to damp vibration of said strings and detachably attach said string damper to said stringed instrument.

16. The string damper of claim 15, further including a rigid support surface secured to the upper surface of said block so as to provide support to said block and provide mass to said string damper so as to oppose vibration of said strings and provide a convenient grasping surface for said string damper.

17. The string damper of claim 15, further including a groove that extends along the length of the entrance to each said slit along the lower surface of said block forming an enlarged entrance into said slit so as to facilitate entrance of said strings into said slits.

18. A string damper for a stringed instrument comprising an elongated block of vibration-absorbing material sufficiently wide enough to transversely span a plurality of adjacent strings of said stringed instrument,a coupling means for coupling said block to said strings of said stringed instrument,whereby one or more of said strings of said stringed instrument may be engaged by said block by way of said coupling means so as to damp vibration of said strings and detachably attach said string damper to said stringed instrument.

19. The string damper of claim 18, further including a rigid support surface secured to the upper surface of said block so as to provide support to said block and add mass to said string damper so as to oppose vibration of said strings and provide a convenient grasping surface for said string damper.

20. The string damper of claim 18, wherein said coupling means includes a plurality of slits disposed along the lower surface of said block where said slits extend upwardly into said block and longitudinally span the front and rear surfaces of said block and are generally parallel and generally spaced apart as said strings on said stringed instrument proximate the bridge of said stringed instrument.