Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2002-03-19
Hsieh, Shih-Yung (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S31400N, C084S31400N
Reexamination Certificate
active
06359202
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of invention is adjustable guitar structures and their construction, as well as methods to accurately intonate stringed, fretted musical instruments, especially acoustic and electric guitars.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The six-string acoustic guitar has survived many centuries without much alteration to its original design. Prior to the present invention, one very important aspect of acoustic guitars that has been overlooked is proper intonation of each string—defined as adjusting the saddle longitudinally with the string until all of the notes on the instrument are relatively in tune with each other. Traditional methods of acoustic guitar construction intonate the high and low E strings which are connected to the bridge with a straight nonadjusting saddle. The other four strings are either close to being intonated or, as in most cases, quite a bit out of intonation.
Historically, discrepancies in intonation were simply accepted by the artist and the general public, as it was not believed that perfect or proper intonation on an acoustic guitar was attainable. The artist accepted this fact by playing out of tune in various positions on the guitar, or developed a compensating playing technique to bend the strings to pitch while playing, which was difficult and/or impossible to do.
Particularly in a studio setting, the acoustic guitar must play in tune with precisely intonated instruments and the professional guitarist cannot have a guitar that is even slightly off in intonation.
If, for example, the weather or temperature changes, the guitar string gauge is changed, string action (height) is raised or lowered, the guitar is refretted, or a number of any other conditions change, the guitar must be re-intonated. This especially plagues professional musicians who frequently travel or tour giving concerts around the country in different climatic zones. Such travel causes guitars to de-tune and spurs the need for adjustable intonation. Airplane travel, with the guitar being subjected to changes in altitude and pressures, exacerbates these problems. Accordingly, adjustability of intonation is desirable due to the many factors which seriously effect the acoustic guitar. Yet, most acoustic guitar companies still use the original nonadjustable single saddle.
In one aspect of the invention, the fully adjustable acoustic guitar bridge claimed herein is the only system known to the inventors that allows for continuous fully adjustable intonation of each string without sacrificing the sound of the instrument. Thus, there has been a need for the improved construction of adjustable intonation apparatus and methods to properly intonate acoustic guitars.
Attempts to properly intonate acoustic guitars have been made without success. In the 1960's, attempts were made by Gibson® with the Dove® acoustic guitar by putting a so called Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge® on the acoustic guitar. The Tune-O-Matic was designed for electric guitars and although it theoretically allowed the acoustic guitar to be intonated, the electric guitar metal bridge destroyed the acoustic tone and qualities of the acoustic guitar. Accordingly, these guitars were believed to have been discontinued, or have not been accepted in the market, at least by professional guitar players. In the 1970's, a compensated acoustic guitar bridge was developed which cut the saddle into two or three sections and intonated the guitar strings individually with two, three, or four strings on each saddle. However, this method is not individually and continuously adjustable and thus has the major drawbacks listed above. It is important to note that traditional electric guitar bridges either have an adjustment screw running through the metal saddle, with the screw connected at both ends of the bridge (Gibson Tune-O-Matic), or springs loaded on the screw between the saddle and the bridge to help stabilize the saddle (as on a Stratocaster electric guitar). The above construction is not adaptable to acoustic guitars. On an acoustic guitar, if either the screw is connected at both ends of the bridge, or a spring is placed between the saddle and the screw, the saddle will be restricted in its vibration, thereby choking off or dampening the string vibration, resulting in lack of sustain (duration of the note's sound), or no tone or acoustic quality.
Additionally, typically, electric guitar bridges are not transferrable to acoustic guitars because electric guitar bridges are constructed of metal, which produces a bright tone with the electric guitar strings (wound steel as opposed to the acoustic guitar's wound phosphor bronze strings or nylon). The saddles on an electric guitar bridge are fixed (springs or the adjustment bolt connected at both ends of the bridge) since the pickups (guitar microphones) are located between the bridge and the neck and the electric guitar does not rely on an acoustic soundboard to project the sound. The electric guitar strings simply vibrate between two points and the vibrations are picked up by the electric guitar pickups.
The saddles for the acoustic guitar bridge typically cannot be made of metal (steel, brass, etc.). The acoustic guitar relies on the string vibrations to be transmitted from the saddles to the base of the bridge. The vibrations go from the bridge to the guitar top (soundboard) and on acoustic/electric guitars to the pickups; either internal under the bridge and/or connected against the soundboard to pickup the soundboard's vibrations. The saddle must be constructed of an acoustically resonant material (bone, phenolic, ivory, etc.) to transmit the string vibrations to the base of the bridge. Metal saddles would dampen these vibrations, and the acoustic guitar would produce a thin, brittle tone with very little or no sustain of the notes being played.
One aspect of the claimed invention solves these problems. The saddle capture has a slight bit of slop or looseness in its threading with the adjustment bolt. While round holes with clearance will work, the preferred hole is oval allowing maximum up
and
down freedom of movement. The saddle must have this small bit of freedom to vibrate in order to transmit string vibration into clear, full bodied tones that will ring and sustain through the projection of the acoustic guitars soundboard and/or internal pickup. In another embodiment (FIG.
6
D), the set screw provides additional pressure on the saddle, eliminating any tendency of the saddle to “float” on the bridge base, providing even more sound transfer to the soundboard.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to making adjustments to the so-called Rule of 18. This aspect applies not only to acoustic guitars, but to electric guitars also. In fact, this aspect applies to any stringed instrument having frets and a nut, wherein placement of the nut has been determined by The Rule Of 18. The nut is defined as the point at which the string becomes unsupported in the direction of the bridge at the head stock end of the guitar.
After further research into the design flaw in the Rule of 18 as regards nut placement as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,783 and in application Ser. No. 08/376,601, it became apparent that additional refinement resulted in even more accurate intonation. An additional refinement to the Rule of 3.3% compensation as set forth in the above patent and application (which is incorporated herein by reference) suggested that three separate Rules of Compensation, one for the electric guitar and two for acoustic guitars, were needed. For example, the Rule of 1.4% compensation applies to acoustic steel string guitars; for electric guitars, the Rule is 2.1% compensation. The Rule for nylon string acoustics is 3.3%.
The difference in compensation is due to decreased string tension on the electric guitars, relative to the higher tension on acoustic guitars. The decrease in overall string tension (open strings) results in
more
pitch distortion when playing fretted notes close to the nut (i.e. notes such as the F, F#, G, G#, et
Back Gregory T.
Feiten Howard B.
Hsieh Shih-Yung
Lyon & Lyon LLP
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