Music – Instruments – Stringed
Patent
1996-11-25
1999-06-08
Witkowski, Stanley J.
Music
Instruments
Stringed
84293, 84267, 2989622, 264136, 264258, G10D 300
Patent
active
059111682
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a neck connection for a stringed instrument, comprising at least a body and a neck, both the neck and the body being made of plastic.
Such a neck connection for a stringed instrument, for example an acoustic guitar, is known from U.S. Pat. No.4,873,907. The body of the known guitar is made from an aramid mat, a layer of carbon fibres and over that a layer of silk, all of this being embedded in a gel coat. On the other hand, the neck of the known guitar is made of a foam which is covered with a woven layer, over which a decorative fabric is fixed. The neck is also embedded in a gel coat.
A disadvantage of the known neck connection is that it consists of two parts, so that two parts still have to be fixed to each other before the final neck connection is ready. This inevitably involves alignment tolerances, so that neck connections produced in this way always differ slightly from each other. Fixing together two separate parts also costs effort and money.
A stringed instrument has to meet many requirements, of which the following are the most important: instruments; body carrying the string tension; the strings exert a permanent load in the form of a bending moment (in the case of standard electric guitars between 3 and 5 Nm) and a pressure load on the neck (between 300 and 500 Nm); the instrument falls; tension; possible resonance frequency of the neck and to make the freedom of design as great as possible; undesirable resonances; predetermined positions under the strings;
It is also desirable that the production should be possible in a continuous process and in series at the lowest possible cost.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a neck connection in one piece which as far as possible meets the above standards for modern musical instruments, and which is suitable for use in, for example, an electric guitar.
For this purpose, the invention provides a neck connection for a stringed instrument which is characterized in that the body and the neck are in one piece and the neck connection comprises at least fibre structures and side fibre structures moulded into the plastic, which fibre structures and side fibre structures extend both in the neck and in the body.
Through the use of these measures it is possible to mould a stringed instrument in one piece, while the body and the neck of the stringed instrument can each still exhibit individual characteristics as regards weight and rigidity. In addition, such a neck connection no longer has any alignment tolerances as regards the position of the neck relative to the body. Moreover, this produces a very rigid connection between the neck and the body, based on an optimum three-point connection.
It is pointed out that in "Sound ideas", Engineering 231 (June 1991), No. 6, pp. 20-21, it is actually mentioned that injection moulding a complete guitar in one piece is possible in principle. However, only disadvantages are expected from this, because the short fibres would lower the quality of the sound. On the other hand, such a guitar could be cost-saving. In any case, the above-mentioned article does not mention any measures for producing such a guitar in one piece.
In a preferred embodiment the fibre structures and the side fibre structures are in the form of a band.
In the neck connection according to the invention provision is also made for a core, and the fibre structures and the side fibre structures can rest against the core and be positioned by it in the body. The fibre structures and side fibre structures can consequently be positioned firmly in a desired place, while moulding compound is placed in a mould, by means of which the stringed instrument is manufactured.
In one embodiment of the invention the plane of the band-shaped fibre structures lies substantially at right angles to the plane of the band-shaped side fibre structures.
In another embodiment the fibre structures comprise four bands placed on top of one another, and the side fibre structures comprise two band parts running largely parallel,
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M. Glaskin, "Sound Ideas", Engineering, vol. 231, No. 6, Jun. 1991, p. 20 ACE.
N. Steinberger, "Composites give guitar a unique sound", Machine Design, vol. 54, No. 4, Feb. 1982, pp. 74-75.
"Innovative guitar combines carbon fibre and polyurethane", Design Engineering, Jun. 1985, London, England, pp. 4 and 5.
Catalyst Corporate Development B.V.
Lockett Kim
Witkowski Stanley J.
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