Bodies

Up to twenty bow-operable violin-type stringed instruments, or VIODES of different tonality and twelfth coloration or shade, are combined to form a string ensemble. All of the instruments have substantially identical overall length, fingerboard length, effective string length, and fingering but graduated...     

A guitar having a body with a pair of intersecting cross braces secured to the underside of the face thereof. A pair of struts are connected to the arms of each cross brace adjacent the sound hole in the face of the guitar. Each strut has one end connected to the arm of one of the cross braces adjacent...     

A tension rod for a string instrument such as a guitar is utilized to dampen flexural vibrations transferred to the instrument body while maintaining direct compressional wave coupling from strings to the instrument body.

This invention relates to an improved neck-body joint for a guitar-like musical instrument which joint minimizes the possibility of relative movement between the neck and body and permits the neck to be pitched at a desired angle relative to the body without weakening either element. The firm joint is...     

Soundboards for stringed musical instruments comprising radially/circumferentially anisotropic sheets. The soundboards may be constructed of wooden wedges arranged so that the wood grain radiates from the focal point of the sheet. The soundboards preferably have at least a partially rounded periphery....     

This invention is directed to a ukelele that is relatively simple yet sturdy in construction, produces a superior tone, is easy to hold and play, easy to tune, remains in tune for extended periods of time, and is useful in teaching people to play stringed instruments of the type where the strings are...     

The hollow body of a guitar has two discrete zones for openings in the sound board, such openings being located on either side of the longitudinal center line defined by the neck and fret board. These openings are located adjacent the periphery of the upper or smaller bout, that is above the waist. The...     

A guitar, the neck of which is hinged to the guitar body so as to be foldable into a shaped recess in the back of the body. The strings of the guitar are individually attached at one end to the neck and at the other end to a common bridge unit. The bridge unit is attached to a first clamp on the face...     

A guitar is constructed in which the foot end of the fingerboard, which conventionally is secured to the surface of the soundboard for strength, is spaced from such surface thereby permitting the adjacent portion of the soundboard freely to vibrate during play, resulting in greater volume and tone. The...     

In a stringed musical instrument body, such as for a guitar, the top plate or soundboard of the body is attached to the sidewall by an elongated mounting member extending along the marginal edge of the soundboard and between such marginal edge and the adjacent upper edge of the sidewall. The mounting...     

An improved electric guitar construction is disclosed. The guitar includes an elongated neck formed of a plurality of elongated pieces. One of the elongated pieces is formed of a harder material than the remaining elongated pieces. A body is coupled to one end of the neck. A top board covers at least...     

A stringed musical device for teaching purposes in which a sound chamber is provided with an aperture therein; a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced-apart strings are maintained in tension over the aperture. A finger board is removably stored in the sound chamber and in use is positioned intermediate...     

A stringed instrument for training purposes resembles the usual instrument but comprises a body of sound-damping material which replaces the resonance-box to reduce exterior sound, the sound of the strings being transmitted to the ears of the user by a listening device.

A stringed musical instrument including a body which is formed from an elongated wooden board having front and rear surfaces. The rear face of the body is hollowed out to provide an elongated cavity extending longitudinally through a large portion of the body's length leaving a relatively thin top surface...     

An electric guitar has a neck of a unitary elongated construction which is coupled to and extends through the body at least up to a location where a bridge and a tail piece are provided, and at least one member of a relatively hard wooden or light metallic material interconnecting the base portion of...     

A bowl-shaped body formed in a single piece of graphite, fiberglass or impregnated fabric and having a waist separating a smaller upper bowl portion from a larger lower bowl portion. The lower bowl portion has a circular bout and is substantially deeper than the upper bowl portion. Preferably, the upper...     

A frame in which the body of a string instrument is supported, the frame having a main bar extending longitudinally in spaced relation to the back of the instrument body. The frame extends with end-pieces adapting to the ends of the said body, such end-pieces having clips applicable to the said ends...     

A stringed musical instrument having an instrument body, a neck mounted on and extending from said body, and at least one string, an end of which is secured to the extremity of the neck remote from said body and an end of which is secured to said body, this string being under tension and extending adjacent...     

A stringed musical instrument having a body which includes a top, back and a neck, with a varied number of strings. The top is a flat sound board assembly, with a sound hole, which has a bridge and, on the underside, a bracing system mounted to the board and directly connected by fasteners through the...     

A guitar has a separate body and neck each made of a metallic frame combined with a mass of structural foamed plastic. A solid joint, involving metal to metal contact of the two frames, is provided between the body and the neck and is readily unmade to allow disassembly of the neck from the body for...     

A fold-away stringed musical instrument whose neck is detachable from and stored within its sound box. The instrument is detachable into three main portions: sound box, neck and removable portion of the upper surface of the soundbox. The neck portion is joined to the sound box portion in a tennon-mortise...     

A stringed instrument is disclosed which incorporates improved design and performance features. An elongated body, hereinafter called the wedge, contains in itself all necessary components and parts making it a totally playable instrument with or without a pair of removable wing bodies. One purpose of...     

The soundbox body is a one piece plastic molding having an offset bottom concave-convex substantially parabolic sound reflector area joined by a reinforcing rib structure to the wall of the body. A top panel is mounted on a supporting and reinforcing frame attached to the upper edges of the body wall....     

A stringed musical instrument, in particular a double bass, having a resonating body of narrow elongate shape, a neck secured to this body and strings extending across the body and neck and across a bridge supported on the front plate of the body. A transverse sound-beam inside the body divides the latter...     

A new musical eight-string instrument in which the body, or resonance chamber, has an ovoidal lute-like shell and a flat sound board having an oval-shape contour, with a larger arc on the bass string side of the neck and a smaller arc followed by a concave portion on the other side of the neck. The larger...     

A stringed musical instrument is disclosed in which the strings are stretched between the ends of an elongate curved bow member. The bow member is adapted to be held by the player with a side of the upper end against the cheek of the player. The playing strings are all attached to a peg at the lower...     

A body having a rear panel and sides integrally formed of plastic, with a top panel secured across the upper sides, the body being connected to a neck, having a U-shaped cross section, and a peghead, integrally formed of plastic with the neck. A flat plastic panel is secured across the open side of the...     

Acoustic guitar having three spaced sound holes and a modified back for producing improved sound of clean, sustaining quality.

A guitar having a body formed from a wood top plate and a one piece plastic molded side and bottom section. The sides of the molded body section are formed with a plurality of distinct inwardly and downwardly directed steps that are adopted to enhance sound projection and tone in a manner heretofore...     

A guitar having a split level top of its sound box which thus is formed at two different (vertically separated) levels and connected by an angular cross bridge to which one end of the strings is anchored so as to directly vibrate the chamber. The result is an increased sound volume and resonance persistance...     

A string instrument, such as a guitar, has a resonance body and a bridge provided with a string-contacting surface. A string-supporting element is provided on the body and a string-securing device is also provided on the body but is separate from and spaced from the bridge and has a second string-contacting...     

A laminate soundboard for a piano or the like having a metal core of a modulus of elasticity and an inherent damping factor corresponding to steel of at least a grade St 34, and at least one outer cover layer of wood or plastic bonded thereto in full surface contact on each side thereof. The outer cover...     

A guitar is provided with a soft pillow-like body or cushion instead of the large sound box of a Spanish-type guitar or the substantially flat non-yielding body of an electric guitar. The soft cushion avoids uncomfortable localized contact between the body of the musician and parts of the guitar, and...     

An improved guitar provided with a removable tailblock assembly which replaces the conventional fixed interior tailblock. The tailblock assembly includes a ringlike reinforcing member which is disposed in the interior of the guitar body and extends between the top and bottom walls, and is secured to...     

A guitar construction having a complete body, neck, head, nut and tail piece formed as a single, integral, metal casting with tuning pegs, finger board, bridge and strings mounted thereon. The body portion is in the usual bell-shaped outline, formed by a continuous metal rib with a plurality of other...     

A dulcimer constructed primarily of wood, wherein the traditional heavy internal wood bracing structure, which is parallel to, and resists the compressive force of, the tuned strings and is connected to the back panel, is replaced by light metallic bracing, of tubular or other suitably engineered cross-section,...     

A violin is constructed with an acoustic box formed of composite materials, sheets of unidirectional graphite fibre in a resin matrix. The soundboard is constructed of paired sheets of the composite material overlaid and bonded with the sheets symmetrically placed. The fibres of a first pair of sheets...     

A stringed musical instrument, e.g. a bow instrument or an electric guitar, is disclosed comprising a substantially rigid body and a plurality of strings attached at one end to a tailpiece. A flexible soundboard of acoustic material bears through one edge against the instrument body and through an opposite...     

A molded plastic guitar top has a sounding board with a circular sound hole located between its upper and lower ends. A plurality of integral circular reinforcing ribs concentrically arranged relative to the sound hole, project from the inner surface of the sounding board. Integral rectilinear ribs which...     

A stringed musical instrument such as a guitar has a bridge and a nut mounted at spaced locations on a stem, serving to define a plane for strings. A dense member having greater density than the stem is secured thereto in order to increase the duration of sounds generated by the strings. The stem is...     

A guitar has a body and a neck extending from the body. The body has a central core and two panels sandwiching the core means between them. The side edges of the panels are curved toward each other and secured, so that both panels are rounded convex outwardly. At one end of the lenticular cavity thus...     

A guitar, preferably of the acoustic type, but adaptable for electrical amplification, wherein the guitar components may be readily disassembled and assembled to simplify handling and storage, the assembled components being maintained in their proper relationship by the tension of the strings. Acoustical...     

A guitar synthesizer has a guitar body (10) and a synthesizer portion (20). The body (1) of the guitar extends toward a head (3) in a direction so that an end (11) serving as a first vibratory member in the body base to which a neck (2) is connected, intersects with the neck. A second end (13) serving...     

A stringed musical instrument comprises a body in which a sound board is mounted with a clearance between it and the body, the sound board being connected to the body by vibration damping means.

The tonal body disparity between low and high frequency in a stringed instrument and the like may be balanced out by building the guitar having unsymmetrical mass loading wherein a larger mass is provided to the side of the guitar having strings of high frequency then to the other side. This may be achieved...     

An acoustic guitar has a folding, collapsible body and a folding neck for providing acoustic sounds from an easily stored instrument. The body has two hinged wings which telescope over a central body portion. The neck is hinged to the body to fold over the soundboard portion of the body.

Semi-hollow-body guitar apparatus includes a guitar body having a cutout portion with structural bracing elements supporting a top for the body and with a bridge secured to the top and which bridge extends substantially the full width of the body. A pickup is disposed in a slot in the bridge beneath...     

Electric guitars in present form are machined from solid blocks of various materials then coated with opaque paints that upon curing yield a guitar with a singular, permanent appearance. If the guitar were cast in a mold and transparent plastic resin used as a base material a multiplicity of appearances...     

A collapsible stringed musical instrument having an elongated body with a coupling portion at one end, a string bridge portion at the other end, a playing face and an opposite back face. A neck is provided with a coupling portion at one end and a string peg portion at the other end. The coupling portion...     

A musical instrument having a body comprising a case and a sound board closing one side of the case and strings stretched on the instruments so as to impart a force on the soundboard, in which the edges of the soundboard are movable relative to the adjacent edges of the case. A ridge is provided on the...     

A clear plastic hollow guitar body 20 with sides 25 which are vacuum formed together and having an attached back 24 and a colored liquid 32 which has the ability to be changed to a different color by draining from drain hole 33 and refilling through fill hole 34. It has waterproof electronic pickup boxes...     

An electric guitar has a lighter weight and a smaller body thickness profile than electric guitars in predominant use today, while maintaining superior sustain and tonal qualities. Favorable inertial environments are constructed to enhance the sustain and tonal qualities of the guitar, by firmly securing...     

An improved device for fixing the strings of an acoustical stringed instrument including a generally rectangular block, preferably composed of a metal such as aluminum or bronze, having a bottom surface, upwardly extending wall surfaces and a top surface. The block is provided with a bore extending from...     

A stringed instrument having the body (22) including a cutaway (49) adjacent the neck (24) to give access to the entire fretboard (32) while permitting the fretting hand to retain the preferred position with the thumb underlying the fretting fingers. The construction of the neck (24) is such that it...     

A soundboard for an acoustic guitar is made of a composite-materials plate having an area density matching that of wooden soundboards while having a bulk density exceeding the bulk density of wooden soundboards. The soundboard is preferably made of a lay-up of woven polymer (preferably aramid) fabric...     

A stringed musical instrument, in particular a guitar, including a body with a soundboard having an upper portion, and a neck having one end connected to the upper portion of the soundboard so that a portion of the neck extends over the soundboard to a distal second end, the soundboard and neck are connected...     

A blocking system 10 for a stringed musical instrument, such as an acoustical guitar which has a neck connected to a sound box 1 constructed from a top 2, back 4 and sides 3, uses a neck block 11 having a substantially isosceles triangular shape. Neck block 11 has equal length concave sides 12 and a...     

A luminescently outlined string instrument with an electrical power means for energizing an illumination means, said illumination means mounted about the periphery of the instrument. A means of mounting an illumination means about the periphery of a string instrument. An electrical means for energizing...     

A stringed musical instrument comprises a body portion having a front surface, a side surface and a concave back surface, a neck portion projecting from the side surface of the body portion and having a leading end, and a plurality of strings stretched over the front surface and the neck portion, so...     

A guitar is formed with a one-piece molded fiberglass body having nested oppositely facing inner and outer concavities. A sound board is bonded to one side of the body to enclose the outer concavity and a substantially smaller back is bonded to the other side of the body to enclose the smaller concavity....     

A stringed musical instrument wherein the interconnection between the main body portion and the neck is arcuate in shape whereby the two parts may be quickly and easily aligned during manufacture without requiring a restructuring.

An improved musical instrument, having a veneer comprising seashells in a fiberglass and polyester resin. A method for producing a seashell veneer, which includes preparing a selected surface with a polyester and fiberglass based resin; heating seashells to deformation and affixing the seashells to the...     

The tonal body disparity between low and high frequency in a stringed instrument and the like may be balanced out by providing asymmetrical mass loading wherein a larger mass is provided to the side of the guitar having strings of high frequency than to the other side. This may be achieved by actual...     

Bridge for improving volume, power and sustaining quality in a stringed musical instrument of the type having a hollow body over which are stretched substantially parallel strings, each string being stretched. The string height is raised over the sound board. One end of string may be anchored to a crossbrace...     

The invention relates to the manufacture of a violin (and other instruments of the violin family), in which the component parts of the acoustic box are made from sheet material. The sheet material is composed of substantially unidirectionally oriented man-made fibres, for example of carbon or boron,...     

A soundboard for an acoustic guitar is made of a composite-materials plate having an area density matching that of wooden soundboards while having a bulk density exceeding the bulk density of wooden soundboards. The soundboard is preferably made of a lay-up of woven polymer (preferably aramid) fabric...     

A combination guitar having a full acoustical hollow body with the standard neck, head and strings supported between tuners on the head to a bridge on the top panel of the guitar's acoustical body with a solid electric guitar body structurally attached to the side wall of the acoustical hollow body with...     

A guitar has a hollow plastic body including spaced front and back panels, and a foam plastic core disposed between the panels, whereby upon vibration of the panels air trapped within the individual cells of the foam core are alternately pressurized and depressurized, thus to enhance the musical output...     

An acoustical guitar is made up of a central body section having collapsible wing panels slidably interconnected to opposite sides of the body to form a common sound chamber, and a neck is releasably connected to one end of the body. The interior of the body is reinforced by a combination of truss rods...     

An improved stringed musical instrument of the type comprising a body, a neck extending from one end of the body and terminating in a headstock. The neck is divided along its length into a plurality of frets. A plurality of strings extend over the body along the neck to the headstock. There is a hand...     

A light weight guitar construction and associated method of manufacture involves the use of a light weight wood core material having deposited thereover a strengthening layer preferably of carbon fiber and a fiberglass sheet layer both impregnated with a high temperature resin. A piezoelectric crystal...     

A light weight guitar construction and associated method of manufacture involves the use of a light weight wood core material having deposited thereover a strengthening layer preferably of carbon fiber and a fiberglass sheet layer both impregnated with a high temperature resin. A piezoelectric crystal...     

An electrical stringed musical instrument the machine heads of which are mounted in the body of the instrument closely adjacent the bridge with their tuning key shafts generally parallel to the upper face of the instrument and with the treble key shafts projecting from one side of the instrument, and...     

An improved solid body guitar structure wherein the solid body is formed of a combination of balsa wood with sufficient hard wood allied therewith to provide structural rigidity to the instrument. The balsa/hard wood body block is then skinned with selected veneer material on one or more surfaces thereby...     

A multi faced electric stringed musical instrument mounted on a single axle at rear end of straight through neck. A mechanical rotary device is attached to a separate open faced multi planar body which the axle runs through. Shoulder strap is mounted to top and bottom ends of body and then worn as a...     

A driver's entertainer set includes an integral lighting system (1) for illuminating the reader's and player's materials while at the driver's seat or elsewhere at the motor vehicle remote fringes in an emergency inspection or repair. The book rest assembly (1a) can be tilted front and back and adjusted...     

An improved acoustic guitar soundboard comprising a composite sheet formed of multiple layers of epoxy impregnated graphite fibers which have been accurately preimpregnated at about 33% resin to 67% fiber, after which they are layed up in laminates of unidirectional fibers with a woven graphite fiber...     

A guitar can be collapsed into a compact condition by pivotably attaching the neck of the guitar to the guitar body, such that the neck can be overturned onto (or near) the upper face of the guitar body. The pivotable attachment includes two parallel swingable links that enable an end of the neck to...     

A guitar belly for a guitar body including a rear or reverse plate and a side plate around and standing up from the rear plate, which are integrally formed of the same plastic material. A separate cover plate is attached over the edge of the side plate to close the guitar belly. Reinforcing ribs are...     

A stringed musical instrument system having a body and a reversible neck. The neck is provided with a mounting assembly for selectively alternating the coupling of the neck to the body such that either of the broad surfaces of the body may be utilized as the front surface or back surface of the instrument....     

A stringed instrument having a neck coupled to a hollow body portion, the hollow body portion being constructed primarily utilizing synthetic resin laminate sheets.

An acoustic guitar having a bracing on the underside of the soundboard which interconnects with the headblock and neck joint such that the soundboard is stiffened in cantilever fashion in a manner which resists failure in the region of the soundhole without affecting adversely the tonal qualities of...     

A soundboard apparatus for a stringed musical instrument includes a soundboard having first and second side surfaces, a bridge coupled to the first side surface of the soundboard for securing a plurality of strings to the soundboard, and a plurality of braces coupled to the second side surface of the...     

A musical instrument having a body and a neck that is fixedly attached to the body. There is a plurality of strings with each string having a first end and a second end. The first end of each string is releasably attachable to the body in at least one of four replaceable string configurations. The second...     

A stringed musical instrument includes a solid body having a length and a width. The body has a top surface shaped so that a widthwise cross section through the body intersects the top surface along a line defining a continuous convex curve, and so that a lengthwise cross section through the body intersects...     

The invention is a guitar pick guard, for mounting on a guitar having a guitar body, a neck, and a bridge. The guitar pick guard is mounted to the guitar body between the neck and the bridge. The guitar pick guard has a top layer, a bottom layer and a middle layer. The top layer is made of fabric. The...     

An electric stringed musical instrument of the lute family, and in particular, a double bass, wherein the body, neck, and headstock are cut out of a single laminated section of a cone. The front surface of the headstock is coplanar with the neck and body, and the back surface is substantially concentric...     

A stringed musical instrument such as an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele and a violin has a body and a neck protruding away from the body. The body comprises an upper sounding board, a lower sounding board and a side wall. Strings are tensioned between the neck and the body. A concave depression...     

The present invention integrates multiple single fingerboard instrument structures together by means of a linkage into a composite multiple fingerboard musical instrument that dimensionally positions instrument fingerboards horizontally, vertically and angularly relative to each other as a means for...     

An acoustical instrument designed to promote and enhance the production of musical overtones is disclosed. The instrument is capable of reinforcing, and thereby enhancing, the resonance of naturally produced musical overtones and can be adjusted to fine tune the overtone frequency of the instrument to...     

A stringed musical instrument is disclosed as including a body with an extending portion on to which a piano-type keyboard is attached. The combination provides the user with the ready access to both the stringed instrument and the keyboard. The user may utilize the stringed instrument and keyboard separately...     

Improved dynamic-acoustic system of guitar (X) with soundbox (184), creates a better scheme of dynamic forces cooperating with soundboard (168) of guitar (X). This system makes it possible for the top to vibrate more freely, producing a full, open tone. Through the use of additional energy, resulting...     

A semi-acoustic electric guitar comprises a left body member, a center body member, and a right body member, a left megaphone port is formed in the left body member, a center acoustic chamber is formed at a first end of the center body member, a right acoustic chamber is formed in the right body member...     

Stringed instrument sound modification in which a specially braced soundboard is provided either for stand alone use or in cooperative combination with a plurality of vibrating reeds thereby to modify sounds produced by the vibrating strings of the instrument. The sound board includes an enlarged effective...     

A stringed musical instrument such as an electric or acoustic guitar and a bass guitar in combination with a piano-type keyboard. The musical instrument of the present invention includes a body with a neck extending from the body and a plurality of strings extending across the neck and the body. The...     

A back shell for guitars or similar musical instruments having sides that at the rim turn inward and then outward to produce a flange that the soundboard can be adhered to. With multi-part tooling, the back shell can be produced at a very low cost from sheet plastics using the vacuum form method of manufacture.

A clear stringed musical instrument body capable of receiving a substance such that the appearance of the instrument may be altered by changing the substance contained within the body. The body comprises a front, a back and sides defining a watertight interior. The front includes at least one opening...     

The body of an electric guitar includes a lower member defining the bottom of the guitar and having a concave on its upper surface for receiving an upper member. The concave is defined by a peripheral edge region of the lower member. The periphery of the upper member meets the inner periphery of the...     

A practice device (10) that allows a musician to practice the specific skills of picking and plucking strings without producing any significant level of sound, such that the user can practice his or her playing technique without being distracted or concerned with the sound produced. The device (10) generally...     

An acoustical musical instrument wherein traditionally required structural considerations are removed from the instruments vibrational plates. The structure of the instrument also increasing acoustic range and amplitude, and minimizing sound losses from dampening and frequency cancellations, by more...