Music – Instruments – Electrical musical tone generation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-24
2001-03-06
Witkowski, Stanley J. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Electrical musical tone generation
C084S739000, C084S313000, C084SDIG002
Reexamination Certificate
active
06198036
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electric guitar and, in particular, to an electric guitar which is equipped with a tremolo bridge and a piezo pickup. In the art, when the strings are clamped on the guitar bridge, it is called a locking tremolo.
A known electric guitar equipped with a tremolo bridge
10
A is shown in
FIGS. 13-16
. The guitar strings are fixed between the guitar neck nut and the tremolo bridge
10
A, which has a bridge saddle part, and is located on the body surface of the guitar for the purpose of preventing the guitar from becoming out-of-tune at the time of performing with a tremolo.
The tremolo bridge
10
A of the known guitar comprises a base plate
11
, which is pivotable for swinging motion on the surface of the body, and a bridge saddle
31
A, which is held by base plate
11
for maintaining the guitar strings in a tunable state. In an electric guitar which is equipped with a tremolo bridge, it is possible to effectively carry out both intonation adjustment or string adjustment for adjusting the length of the cord and fine tuning for the adjustment of the tension (pitch) of the cord. As compared with a tremolo bridge which does not lock, the locking type can reduce any possibility of out-of-tune performance with a tremolo and, at the same time, to increase the amount of tune change during the tremolo performance.
The base plate
11
of the tremolo bridge shown in
FIGS. 13-16
has a forward facing, front knife edge
12
, which serves as an installation part for the base plate on the body surface of the guitar. A stud bolt
13
engages the knife edge
12
and is affixed to the body surface. A stud fixing bolt
14
and an anchor
15
for the stud bolt are provided in the guitar body. An opening or groove
16
extends along the length of the saddle body for allowing movement of a rotatable adjustment bar
47
for front and rearward movement of the bridge saddle
31
A of each string. An upstanding arm receptacle
18
is provided for a tremolo arm
17
. An installation member
19
installs the bridge saddle
31
A on the base plate
11
. A plate spring
21
biases from below against the rotatable adjustment bar
47
of the bridge saddle
31
A. A tremolo block
22
is beneath the spring
21
. Tremolo springs
23
bias the tremolo block
22
to return from tilting. A bracket
24
fixes the tremolo springs
23
on the guitar body, and screws
25
fasten the plate
24
to the guitar body.
When the tremolo arm
17
is shifted inward in the direction of the guitar body, the base plate
11
swings against and around the stud bolt
13
, which acts as a fulcrum, in opposition to the return direction force of the tremolo springs
23
. See FIG.
16
. As a result, the tuning of the chord pitch of the guitar can be changed, thereby providing a tremolo effect for a modification of the sound range of the tremolo.
In addition, the bridge saddle
31
A shown in
FIGS. 13-16
comprises a saddle holding member
32
A and a main saddle body
41
. The main saddle body
41
is held to be rotatable in the front-and-back direction on the saddle holding member
32
A about an axle
42
defining an axis of rotation. A cut or groove
33
A in the saddle holding member
32
A, shown in
FIG. 14
, is provided for the installation of the saddle holding member
32
A on the base plate
11
to allow the member
32
A also to move forward and back on the base plate
11
. A fixing bolt
34
A passes through a metal washer
35
A, and, they are above the saddle cut
33
A and fasten the saddle
31
A, and an opening
36
A for accommodating the front part of the main saddle body
41
allows it to move slidably with respect to base plate
11
, as seen in FIG.
15
.
The length adjustment of the cord S or its so-called adjustment or intonation harmonic adjustment can be carried out by loosening the fixing bolt
34
A and moving the related members, including the saddle holding member
32
A and the main saddle body
41
, etc. back and forth in the direction of the cord or string S.
A string receiving part
43
in the main saddle body
41
has a rearwardly and downwardly curved surface at the front of the main saddle body. A concavity
44
for fixing the string, a block
45
in the concavity for string fixing, a string fixing bolt
46
for holding the string fixing block are provided. A rotatable adjustment bar
47
for the saddle, and a fine tuning bolt
48
, which is in contact with the adjustment bar
47
for rotating the main saddle body
41
by its up and down movement, are also provided.
If the tip of the fine tuning bolt
48
is moved downward by rotating the bolt, the adjustment bar
47
is pressed downward against the bias of the spring
21
and the main saddle body
41
rotates in a backward direction (in the clock-wise direction in FIGS.
15
(A) and
15
(B)) with the axle
42
as the center of rotation so as to move from the state shown in FIG.
15
(B) to the state shown in FIG.
15
(A).
If the fine tuning bolt
48
is rotated to move its tip upward, the adjustment bar
47
moves upward, with the main saddle body
41
rotating against the bias of the spring
21
in a frontward direction (in the counter-clockwise direction in FIGS.
15
(A) and
15
(B)) and with the axle
42
serving as the center of rotation so as to move from the state shown in FIG.
15
(A) to the state shown in FIG.
15
(B).
The fine tuning of a specific cord or string can be carried out in this manner. Thus, the main saddle body
41
is rotated in a backward direction when the tension (pitch) of the string is to be increased and the main saddle body
41
is rotated in the frontward direction when it is to be decreased.
Because the string receiving part
43
of the main saddle body
41
has a curved surface in the above described structure, the cord S always contacts the bridge saddle
31
A at the same position or, to be specific, at a position Z at the top of the axle
42
of the main saddle body
41
. As a result, the contact position Z does not move in the string direction X when the main saddle body
41
rotates. Accordingly, the string length (the distance between the contact position Z for the cord S with the bridge saddle
31
A and the contact position with the nut portion at the opposite neck end of the guitar) does not change during fine tuning. Since the string remains in a tightened state, moreover, the harmonic tuned state of the cord S can be maintained.
On occasions, a guitar is provided with a piezo pickup disposed in the bridge. The sound collected by the piezo pickup is used for increasing the electric amplification or for collecting high frequency sound, thereby producing natural acoustic sounds in a folk guitar with a resonant trunk. In this system, a piezoceramic is utilized for the pickup. As compared with a conventional magnetic pickup system wherein electric current is generated in the pickup by vibrations of the strings, which act as magnetic material, the piezoceramic system generates an electric current or voltage through the contraction and elongation of a piezo ceramic by the string vibrations acting as a pressure signal. When a piezo pickup is used, therefore, it becomes possible to pickup the vibrations of a nylon string, etc. which is not of a magnetic material. This is not possible with systems using magnetic pickups.
An adjustment mechanism for obtaining the sound desired by the performer, for example, a reduction in excessive high range, by accommodating an equalizer at the control part, can be provided in a guitar having a piezo pickup.
When a piezo pickup is accommodated in a folk guitar having a resonant trunk, a bar-shaped piezo pickup can be inserted and fixed between a bridge saddle made of plastic and a base plate made of wood as the bridge structure is simple and the position and the height of the bridge are basically fixed.
In an electric guitar or bass guitar having a bridge or tremolo made of metal (not of the locking tremolo type as mentioned earlier), it becomes necessary to fix a plurality of small piezo pickups at the contact part with the bridge saddle, one
Hoshino Gakki Kabushiki Kaisha
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Witkowski Stanley J.
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