Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-11
2003-11-11
Hsieh, Shih-Yung (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S267000, C084S290000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06646189
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements of body structures of stringed instruments such as electric guitars.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various kinds of stringed instruments such as electric guitars are known. The basic configuration of an electric guitar is shown in
FIG. 5
, wherein a neck
31
is connected to a body
30
, and strings
32
are stretched under tension between tuning pegs
33
and a tailpiece
34
. Pickups
35
are arranged on the body
30
to detect vibrations of the strings
32
, which are converted to electric signals. Herein, electric wiring is arranged such that the electric signals are sent to a volume unit (not shown), which is built in the body
30
and which is varied and adjusted by tone controls
36
.
To play music, the player intensely plucks the strings
32
of the electric guitar and operates variable resistor(s) of the volume unit frequently. For this reason, abrasion and mechanical troubles easily occur in electric guitars. The variable resistor is configured such that a sliding member slides on the resistor surface. The resistor surface is easily damaged or abraded if the player operates the variable resistor very frequently. Further, the resistor surface may become oxidized if the user does not operate the variable resistor of the electric guitar for a long time. Abrasion or oxidation of the resistor surface of the variable resistor may cause noise in the sound of the electric guitar. Or, the electric guitar may have problems in which sound signals cannot be output due to imperfect contacts of the variable resistor.
To cope with the aforementioned problems, the electric guitar should be configured such that its electrical parts can be easily replaced with new ones. For example, an electric guitar of a solid type employs a specific structure, a partial exploded view of which is shown in
FIGS. 6A and 6B
.
FIG. 6A
shows a body
40
made of the pure wood material. A selected area of a backside of the body
40
is bored to form a hollow portion
41
for arranging electrical parts such as the variable resistor. The opening of the hollow portion
41
is covered with a back cover
42
(see FIG.
6
B), which is fixed to the backside of the body
40
by wood screws. Thus, it is possible to easily cope with replacement of the electrical parts by merely detaching the back cover
42
from the body
40
.
The present applicant has proposed an electric guitar of a semi-acoustic type, which is disclosed by Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2000-276167. This electric guitar provides a center block, and a storage portion of electrical parts is made hollow. This raises difficulties in applying the aforementioned structure specially designed for use in an electric guitar of the solid type to an electric guitar of the semi-acoustic type.
Therefore, the electric guitar of the semi-acoustic type employs another type of body structure, an exploded view of which is shown in
FIGS. 7A-7D
. As shown in
FIG. 7B
, a center block
52
is placed to engage with a space that is formed between ribs
51
of a body frame
50
, which is formed of metal material or synthetic resin. A front board
55
shown in
FIG. 7A
is adhered to the body frame
50
and the front side of the center block
52
. A back board
56
shown in
FIG. 7C
is adhered to the body frame
50
such that it covers a through hole
53
and the back side of the center block
52
.
FIGS. 8A and 8B
show a partial exploded view containing perspective illustrations of the prescribed parts of the body structure of the electric guitar. When the back board
56
is adhered to the body frame
50
as shown in
FIG. 8B
, a through hole
54
is opened to the rear of the body frame
50
. There is provided a back cover
57
(see
FIG. 8A
) whose shape matches with contours of the body frame
50
and rib
51
in connection with the opening of the through hole
54
. Fixing the back cover
57
to them by vises (or small screws)
58
, it is possible to assemble together all parts of the body as shown in FIG.
9
. Herein, the back cover
57
is detachably attached to the backside of the body frame
50
, which allows maintenance and replacement of the electrical parts that are arranged inside of the through hole
54
within the body of the electric guitar.
In the aforementioned body structure conventionally employed in electric guitars, the back cover
57
occupies a relatively large area over an entire backside area of the body. This is not preferable in terms of the appearance and sound quality of the electric guitar.
Particularly, the back cover
57
is not adhered but is merely attached to the back side of the body frame
50
by vises
58
. This gives rise to problems due to the inappropriate body structure in which resonance easily occur in the guitar's sound, so it is hard to maintain the stable performance of the electric guitar. In addition, this raises various problems due to reduction of the rigidity of the body structure of the electric guitar.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a body structure of a stringed instrument such as an electric guitar in which sound quality, rigidity and appearance are improved by minimizing the area specifically occupied by a back cover covering a storage of electrical parts within the body.
The present invention provides a stringed instrument such as an electric guitar with a specially designed body structure, which is configured by a body frame, a center block, at least one bridge, a front board, a back board and a back cover. The bridge is arranged between a side portion of the body frame and a side wall of the center block, thus partitioning the interior space of the body frame to provide a vacant space for storing electrical parts. Because of the provision of the bridge, it is possible to improve the rigidity of the body structure. Herein, the vacant space is reduced in size and area, and it is encompassed by the side portion of the body frame, side wall of the center block and the bridge. The front board is used to completely cover the front side of the body frame. The back board is partially cut out and is used to cover the back side of the body except for an opening area of the vacant space inside of the body frame. The back cover is detachably attached to the back side of the body frame in conformity with the cutout of the back board. Because the back cover has a restricted size and shape for merely covering the opening area of the vacant space in the backside of the body, it is possible to inhibit the back cover from easily resonating with the sounds produced by plucking the strings of the stringed instrument. Thus, it is possible to improve the sound quality as well as the appearance of the backside of the stringed instrument.
The aforementioned body frame and bridges can be integrally formed together by using metal material or synthetic resin. In addition, it is possible to further provide ribs for reinforcing the body, which are arranged along the side walls of the center block. In that case, the body frame, bridges and ribs can be integrally formed together by using metal material or synthetic resin.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3771408 (1973-11-01), Wright
patent: 4290336 (1981-09-01), Peavey
patent: 4359923 (1982-11-01), Brunet
patent: 5682003 (1997-10-01), Jarowsky
patent: 2841029 (1980-03-01), None
patent: 55-2460 (1980-01-01), None
patent: 2000-276167 (2000-10-01), None
European Patent Office Search Report dated Mar. 4, 2002.
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP.
Hsieh Shih-Yung
Yamaha Corporation
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