Music – Instruments – Stringed
Patent
1986-03-27
1987-12-01
Franklin, Lawrence R.
Music
Instruments
Stringed
G10D 304
Patent
active
047096128
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to an improved nut for stringed instruments such as guitars or the like.
The majority of stringed instruments employ a nut at the upper end of the neck or fingerboard of the instrument over which the strings of the instrument pass. In many cases, the nut is formed of a strip of metal which is grooved at the appropriate place to locate the string in position, and the grooves are of different width in accordance with the string supported thereon. The presently known above type of nut suffers a number of disadvantages in that the nut does not permit unrestricted travel of the string during playing. Furthermore, the nut does not permit easy and accurate adjustment of the tensioning of the strings to enable tuning of the instrument. For example, when string tension is released, the nut grooves tend to frictionally hold the string and thus give an incorrect indication of the tune of the strings. Accordingly, the instrument tends to go out of tune in use.
The present invention aims to overcome or at least alleviate some of the above disadvantages by providing an improved nut for stringed instruments which enables unrestricted travel of the strings during playing and also permits the use of a vibrato device. The present invention also provides an arrangement which permits easy and accurate tuning of the instrument. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:
FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of a nut according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view showing one of the string locating grooves designated 2 in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of an embodiment of the invention illustrating the use of rollers of varying sizes to accommodate cambered fingerboards.
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an improved nut 10 according to the present invention which is adapted to be located at the upper end of the fingerboard of a stringed instrument in place of the normal fixed nut structure. The nut 10 comprises an elongated body 11 formed of metal, plastics or any other suitable material and provided with a longitudinally extending bore 12 therein. A plurality of transversely extending grooves 13 are formed in the top surface of the body 11 so as to intersect the bore 12 and are spaced apart the same distance as the required distance between the strings of the instrument.
As shown in this embodiment, the grooves 13a at one end are of relatively large widths to accommodate the greatest diameter strings (as 20a and 20b in FIG. 3) of the instrument, while the grooves 13c are relatively narrow at the opposite end of the body 11 to accommodate the smallest width strings (as 20e and 20f in FIG. 3). The widths of the intermediate grooves 13b are also varied to accommodate the respective strings 20c and 20d.
Disposed within the bore 12 of the body 11 are a plurality of rollers 14 which are preferably formed of steel or similar hard-wearing material. The rollers 14 may be of a form similar to a needle bearing and are located in the longitudinally extending bore 12 of the nut for free rotation, i.e. they are not mounted on an axle but are free to roll individually in the longitudinal direction of the strings 20 on the bottom surface of the bore 12 as best illustrated in FIG. 3. The rollers may be circumferentially grooved if desired. In the present embodiment, respective rollers 14 are aligned with respective string grooves 13 and thus associated with the respective strings of the instrument. Alternatively, each roller 14 may be associated with a pair of strings and corresponding grooves in, say, a double stringed instrument such as a twelve-string guitar.
As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the forward side and lower edges of each groove 13 are cut away or bevelled at 15 to allow for unrestric
REFERENCES:
patent: 2191776 (1940-02-01), Schreiber
patent: 2905042 (1959-09-01), Hoyer
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