Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-20
2002-03-19
Hsieh, Shih-Yung (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S280000, C084S281000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06359203
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to devices worn by a person for supporting an object in front of his or her body, and specifically to strap arrangements for supporting a musical instrument such as a guitar or other tool or device.
BACKGROUND—Prior Art
Many players of amplified electric stringed instruments such as an electric guitar or an electric bass prefer to position the instrument in a vertical or near-vertical position. ‘Near-vertical position’ for a right-handed player would position the instrument's tuning head above a musician's left shoulder and to the left of the musician's head.
The near-vertical position facilitates certain types of play. In particular, the near-vertical position permits the left hand to press strings to frets with minimal bending of the left wrist, which alleviates the weakness, fatigue, and potential medical problem of playing with a sharply-bent wrist.
Further, there is a method of playing stringed instruments called ‘two-handed tapping’ or ‘touch-style’ in which the player taps the fingers of both bands upon strings simultaneously, permitting piano-like music such as simultaneous melody and chords, melody and counter-melody, bassline and chords, etc. In touch-style play, both hands must be free to move lightly above the fretboard, thus requiring the instrument to be supported in such a way that no assistance from the hands is required for positioning.
In touch-style play, the near-vertical position affords the player an advantageous positioning of both hands, permitting easy access to all fretboard notes without undue hand strain; and any volume or tone controls mounted on the front face of the instrument's body are easily accessible with either hand.
Although the near-vertical positioning of an instrument affords these benefits, it is difficult for a musician to maintain a stable near-vertical position with most existing support systems such as straps, belts, and belt-hooks.
In addition, many modern electric guitars and especially electric basses are quite heavy, so that supporting an instrument during extended periods of play is fatiguing to a musician, which in turn impairs the musician's ability to play well. Consequently, a support system for a musical instrument should optimally distribute the instrument's weight comfortably upon the musician's body.
In addition, a musician may prefer to play either while sitting or standing (possibly with performance gyrations), and the musician may be required to alternately stand and sit in a single performance. However, many existing support systems function poorly in one or the other of the two playing positions.
Similar considerations may on occasion apply to other musical instruments, such as a saxophone or synthesizer controller or an electronic drum device such as those marketed under the trademarks “ZENDRUM” or “SYNTHAXE”; or to any type of tool supported in front of a user's body, especially when usage of such tool would be facilitated by a stable, near-vertical position, or when such tool requires two-handed operation by the user.
The apparently-contradictory demands for stability and freedom of expression, for simplicity and significant weight distribution, and for seated-position and standing-position play have led to the development of many musical-instrument support systems, such as straps and belts and belt-hooks. However, in this crowded field, the solutions previously developed fail to address all the issues, or in some cases create other performance difficulties such as requiring substantial time to don or remove, or such as interfering with the performer's costume.
The most popular support for electric guitar or bass has been the common ‘guitar strap,’ which is attached to the lower end (“the base”) of a guitar, from which point it passes behind the musician's back and forward over his or her left shoulder, and is attached to either the tuner head of the instrument, or more commonly to the instrument's body near the neck, as illustrated in FIG.
1
.
This type of support is simple, inexpensive to manufacture, familiar to musicians, quick to don or to remove, produces no discomfort to a female musician's breasts, and does not interfere with a musician's costume. Perhaps for these reasons, the common guitar strap has been the mainstay of guitar support systems for hundreds of years.
The selection of attachment points upon which the guitar strap is affixed to the body of the guitar as illustrated in
FIG. 1
tends to make the guitar rest in a stable fashion in a near-horizontal position that is convenient for traditional methods of play. As shown, the musician presses the instrument's strings to the instrument's neck using his or her left hand while using his or her right hand to pluck the strings.
However, for alternative methods of play that are facilitated by positioning the instrument in a near-vertical position, the common guitar strap does not fare so well. The common guitar strap will not hold an instrument in a stable near-vertical position, because as soon as the left hand is removed from the neck, the weight of the tuner head causes it to sink to a lower level where it finds equilibrium. This problem is exacerbated when playing high-pitched notes near the instrument's body, because the left hand can offer minimal support, or when playing touch-style or two-handed tapping, again because the hands can offer minimal support.
There also exist a number of ‘shoulder-pad’ designs that provide a wide pad of comfortable material through which the common guitar-strap is threaded such that the shoulder-pad rides upon the musician's shoulder and below the strap. This arrangement spreads the pressure of the guitar strap over a larger area of the musician's shoulder, increasing comfort somewhat. Although the shoulder-pad often affords adequate weight distribution, it may not be enough distribution to make the heaviest instruments comfortable. Also, shoulder-pads are frequently known to slide forward or backward off the musician's shoulder during a performance, and once so ill-positioned, they afford no benefit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,860 to Adams (1996), an additional strap segment is connected to the rear of a basic guitar strap, from which point it passes around the musician's left side to connect to the instrument. This triangulated attachment stabilizes the instrument, preventing side-to-side movement, but if the tuning head is raised high it will not remain there, and the full weight of the instrument is still borne on one of the musician's shoulders, which is uncomfortable for any length of time.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,901 to McIntosh (1981), an additional strap segment is connected to the rear of the basic guitar strap, from which point it passes over the musician's other shoulder to attach to the instrument. This distributes the weight equally on both shoulders and is much more comfortable. However, if the tuning head is raised high to a near-vertical position, gravity and the tension of the strap itself will prevent its remaining in the near-vertical position.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,367 to Jacobs (1981), an extension or additional strap is used in combination with a basic guitar strap. This second strap is attached to the instrument's body near the neck and then passes across the musician's chest and wraps around his left side and around his body to attach at the base of the instrument. While this greatly stabilizes the instrument and tends to prevent the tuning head from dipping lower, the tension of the lower strap will prevent the instrument from being supported in a stable near-vertical position. Further, although the strap offers some weight redistribution to the musician's torso, most of the instrument's weight still rests on one of the musician's shoulders, which can be uncomfortable. Further, this device may require substantial time to don or remove, and if the musician is female, it may be uncomfortable to
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