CA2869073A1 - Polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup - Google Patents

Polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2869073A1
CA2869073A1 CA2869073A CA2869073A CA2869073A1 CA 2869073 A1 CA2869073 A1 CA 2869073A1 CA 2869073 A CA2869073 A CA 2869073A CA 2869073 A CA2869073 A CA 2869073A CA 2869073 A1 CA2869073 A1 CA 2869073A1
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humbucking
sensor
coil
guitar
polyphonic
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CA2869073C (en
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Ponici Nicolae
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    • GPHYSICS
    • G10MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10HELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H3/00Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means
    • G10H3/12Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument
    • G10H3/14Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means
    • G10H3/18Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means using a string, e.g. electric guitar
    • G10H3/181Details of pick-up assemblies
    • GPHYSICS
    • G10MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10HELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H2220/00Input/output interfacing specifically adapted for electrophonic musical tools or instruments
    • G10H2220/461Transducers, i.e. details, positioning or use of assemblies to detect and convert mechanical vibrations or mechanical strains into an electrical signal, e.g. audio, trigger or control signal
    • G10H2220/505Dual coil electrodynamic string transducer, e.g. for humbucking, to cancel out parasitic magnetic fields
    • G10H2220/515Staggered, i.e. two coils side by side
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R1/00Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • H04R1/46Special adaptations for use as contact microphones, e.g. on musical instrument, on stethoscope

Abstract

The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer comprised of multiple electromagnetic sensors, to capture the sound of each string separately of a musical instrument that uses ferromagnetic strings such as the electric guitar. The pickup works either in passive or active mode, assembled in a humbucking noise cancelling configuration and assembled as industry standard size (single-coil or double-coil guitar pickup). Each signal can be reproduced by an audio amplifier assigned for each string individually or summed in stereophonic or monophonic configuration with a high degree of separation between strings. Each electromagnetic sensor has a central core magnetically polarized inserted in an electrical coil and attached to a magnetically permeable L shape yoke which is assembled parallel with the core and coil and attached to a permanent magnet to form an efficient short length high density magnetic flux structure focused to read the vibration of each individual string area only.

Description

' Polyphonic Humbucking Guitar Pickup Background of the invention 1. Field of the invention This present invention relates to a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer for use with a stringed musical instrument of which the strings are made of ferromagnetic material that comprises multiple electromagnetic sensors to capture the sound of a stringed musical instrument such as guitar, banjos, violin, viola, and other string instruments. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer for electric guitars, assembled in a humbucking noise cancelling configuration and sized as an industry standard "single-coil" or sized as a "dual-coil" guitar pickup working in passive or active mode and also functioning in stereo or mono configuration.
2. Description of the prior art.
Electromagnetic pickup transducers have been utilized for many years in musical instruments having ferromagnetic strings such as guitars, mandolins, violins, violas, banjos and other string instruments well described in many patent arts.
Electromagnetic pickups for stringed musical instruments having a plurality of ferromagnetic strings are used to transform string vibrations into an electrical signal which is amplified by an audio amplifier to produce sound. The basic design of an electromagnetic pickup for a musical instrument such as an electric guitar with ferromagnetic strings consists of a magnetic structure made of one or more permanent magnets, and one or more coils of wire with internal pole pieces made of permanent magnets or of high permeability materials such as soft iron to form a magnetic flux structure. The pole pieces are located beneath or adjacent to each string of the instrument. Ferromagnetic strings become part of the magnetic flux path, generated through the pole pieces by the permanent magnet(s). The magnetic field lines flow through the coil(s) and a short section of the strings. By plucking the strings, vibration of the strings creates a disturbance in the magnetic flux which produces an alternating voltage proportional to the frequency of vibration in the coil(s).

The output voltage of a pickup depends on the number coil windings, thickness and magnetic permeability of the string, number of magnetic flux line density interfering with the vibration of the strings, strength of the magnetic field, and the distance between the magnetic pole and the strings. There are several types of electromagnetic pickups: single-coil, dual-coil and multiple-coil pickups where one or more coils capture the sound of each vibrating string separately known as polyphonic pickups. Electromagnetic pickups are sensitive to external magnetic fields generated by transformers, fluorescent lamps, radio waves and many other sources of EMI. (electromagnetic interference). Pickups act like sensitive antennas picking up hum and noise from these sources. The guitar industry has made a great effort to create guitar pickups less prone to external electromagnetic radiation. Hum cancelation pickups known as humbucking pickups are configured of two pickup coils electrically out of phase; the magnetic poles are set to be in opposite polarity in each winding of the two coils and are magnetically out of phase which put the output of electrical signal from each pickup back in phase with one another.
External electromagnetic interferences such as hum at 50Hz or 60Hz that radiates into both coils with equal amplitude and out of phase, canceled each other, but the signal generated by the pickup from instrument strings vibration is not canceled. The sound characteristic of a single-coil pickup tends to be brighter and crisper than the humbucking dual-coil pickup, as well as greater note definition between strings. However, a single-coil pickup is noisier than humbucking pickups. In a single coil pickup, faint harmonics are buried in hum and are not clearly heard. Dual-coil pickup systems, known by the industry as humbuckers are less noisy. Usually, they sound louder and heavier than single-coil pickups.
The dual-coil pickup sounds less bright than the single-coil pickup because the sound of a string's vibration is sensed by the magnetic poles of the coil in two places along the same string simultaneously. If the distance between the two magnetic poles of the coils is comparable with the wave length of the sound, the relevant harmonic frequencies are canceled because the waves are out of phase resulting in a dull sound.
The shape of magnetic field affects how much of the string is read. Humbucker pickups read a larger length of the string's vibration which results in higher harmonics cancelation.
- 3 -The purpose of this invention is to produce a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with sound characteristic of a single-coil guitar pickup and with the humbucking noise cancelation characteristic of a dual-coil guitar pickup, sized as an industry standard known as "single-coil pickup" or "dual-coil guitar pickup". In the present invention, the magnetic flux lines interacting with the strings are condensed and focused on the vibration of each individual string only. The individual coils of the sensors in the pickup are connected in a humbucking configuration. The vibration of each individual string is captured by the sensors at a single point reducing any sound cancelation from the string harmonics and canceling any outside hum interference at the same time.
In many of the preview arts such as single-coil, dual-coil and in some polyphonic guitar pickups, the magnetic flux lines between North and South poles of the pickup coils usually have a spherical or oval characteristic which makes a long loop between North and South poles as well seen in patent US 8344236 B2 by Adam Eugene Mayes.
The magnetic flux lines of these sensors interact with the vibration of the strings as well as with the mechanical parts of vibrato mechanism underneath the pickup, which is made of magnetically permeable material such as steel or iron; therefore, unwanted noise is introduced to the system.
Many of the magnetic flux lines are wasted inefficiently outside of the string's vibration area, which makes the pickup inefficient and more susceptible to electromagnetic interference. One example of this type of pickup configuration is illustrated in patent U.S.
7166794 by Henry E. Juszkiewicz, Nathan W. Yeakel, as shown in Fig.1 and Fig.8. The magnetic flux lines N-S are divided in two, upper magnetic flux lines which are intended to capture the sound of the vibrating strings, and the lower magnetic flux lines which are wasted because they are located outside of the string's vibration area and interfering with other sources of electromagnetic noises. In addition, the moving metallic parts of a guitar, like vibrato mechanics, introduce unwanted noise in the pickup. Similar problems we see in patent: US 4348930 by Dennis A. Chobanian, and R. Alan McNaughton. In the present invention, the magnetic flux lines of the sensors are concentrated specifiCally to each individual string and form a short length of magnetic flux between the North and South poles.
- 4 -They are focused only on the vibrating string area with an increased density of magnetic flux lines, and the interaction with the vibrating strings results in more efficient distribution of the magnetic flux lines and less electromagnetic interference. Another undesirable sound characteristic of the single-coil and dual-coil pickups presented in the preview arts is that when the sound of all the strings are captured at once, the strings' vibrations interact with each other producing inter-modulation distortion between the signal of each string, resulting in an unpleasant and unnatural sound. In the prior arts, polyphonic guitar pickups also suffer for significant cross talk between the strings. Within the pickup transducer assembly, cross talk occurs because the string vibration read by one sensor affects the adjacent magnetic field read by the second sensor. As a result, there is magnetic flux lines interference between two adjacent sensors. In this invention, the magnetic flux lines in the assembly of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup are arranged strategically to achieve minimum cross talk between adjacent strings when compared to prior arts. In the present art, the benefits of concentrating the magnetic flux lines around the vibration of each individual string along with a specific orientation of the magnetic flux lines minimizes the cross talk between adjacent strings and results in greater separation between each string's signal. This minimizes inter-modulation distortion and consequently, the pickup produces a more natural sound.
The music industry offers many types of pickups with different self-resonance frequencies producing different tone characteristics. The frequency response of nearly all available electromagnetic guitar pickups, single-coil or humbucking coils, is nonlinear which creates a sound variety. Some musicians are exploiting this sound variety by creating different sound effects, while others are looking for more accurate sound reproduction from their instruments. The resonant frequencies of most available pickups are between 2,000 and 6,000 Hz. Particularly in humbucking or double-coil guitar pickups, harmonics that are within the range of the resonant frequency are amplified. Harmonics above the resonant frequency are progressively reduced, but the fundamental vibration and the harmonics well below the resonant frequency is reproduced without alteration and makes the sound of the humbucking pickup less present.
- 5 -The high harmonics in those pickups apparently collapse much sooner than fundamental frequency, resulting in a sound without definition. Both single coil and double coil pickups usually produce unpleasant feedback at the resonance frequency in the most played/strummed area of the instrument. In the present art the resonance frequency of each individual sensor is near the upper end of the audible spectrum, or above 16 KHz which makes the sound characteristic of the pickup linear below the point of resonance.
This results in less feedback in the playing/strumming area and the sound has more definition and accuracy. In the present invention, the fundamental frequency is collapsing together with the harmonics at the end of ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release) curve.
Each string of a stringed musical instrument has a particular vibration characteristic;
therefore, each string requires its own sensor to accurately reproduce its sound.
Polyphonic pickup contains multiple sensors with each one being particularly sensitive to the vibrations of one string and relatively insensitive to the vibrations of the other strings.
These electromagnetic pickups used for stringed musical instruments are described in patent arts such as: U.S. 3983778, U.S. 4096780 U.S. 7166794, U.S. 7285714, U.S.
6392137, and U.S. 8344236.
Polyphonic guitar pickups are also used in systems where the sound of a guitar is processed by a digital signal processor. In the polyphonic guitar pickup industry, effort has been made to produce pickups with the highest output and largest separation between the strings. However, many of these pickups do not have enough signal strength to function in a passive mode without electronic support. One of the reasons for the low signal strength is due to the magnetic flux lines intersecting with the instrument's strings and is being wasted outside of the vibration area resulting in less output voltage. There are several ways to increase the output voltage of a pickup. Having stronger magnets or placing pickup sensors closer to the strings gives a higher output but also damps string vibration by pulling the strings towards the pickup causing less sustain and less separation between strings.
Another way to increase output voltage of a pickup is to increase the number of windings in the coils. This procedure is limited to polyphonic pickups through the spacing between strings.
- 6 -By increasing the number of windings in the coils, impedance and capacitance of the coils are increased. This results in loss of high frequencies of the pickup and affects the db separation ratio between strings. In the present art, the majority of the magnetic flux lines are highly concentrated directly to the vibration of each individual string, resulting in a higher number of flux lines intersecting the string vibration, and produces a higher voltage per coil output with greater separation between strings compared to the prior arts. The efficiency of the magnetic flux lines interfering with the string vibration in this invention also results in improved attack amplitude, better transient response, better dynamic range and sustained sounds. Furthermore, the polyphonic humbacking guitar pickup in this art is rich in harmonics with a high degree of signal to noise ratio, and has sufficient output voltage to work in either mono or stereo configuration in a passive mode without any electronic support.
3. Summary of the invention 1. An objective of this invention is to provide a new and improved polyphonic humbucking pickup apparatus for stringed musical instrument having a plurality of ferromagnetic strings, and in particular a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer comprised of multiple electromagnetic sensors which capture the sound vibration of each musical string separately working in passive or active mode.
2. Furthermore the object of this invention is to provide a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with humbucking noise cancelation characteristics assembled with industry standard size "single-coil" or "dual-coil" guitar pickup.
3. Another objective of this invention is to provide a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with minimum length of magnetic flux between North and South poles at each of the individual sensors and an increased number of magnetic flux line densities interacting with each of the strings. By focusing the flux only in the areas of the string's vibration, the efficiency of the magnetic flux is increased since it interacts with string's motion of the instrument resulting in a greater sensitivity to its movement. As well, the invention has a greater separation between the strings, a higher output voltage of the pickup, a better transient response, and less electromagnetic interferences than prior arts.
-7-4. Another object of this invention is to produce a new and improved polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with better dynamic range, improved signal to noise ratio, better attack, long sustain sounds, rich in harmonics assembled in a humbucking configuration.
5. Furthermore another object of this invention is to produce a new and improved polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup were the fundamental frequency and the harmonics are collapsing together in the same time at the end of the ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release) envelope of a sound.
6. Another objective of this invention is to produce an improved polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup apparatus where the sound of each individual string is captured and electronically processed separately or summed in stereo or mono configuration with a high degree of separation and accuracy between adjacent strings, producing less inter-modulation distortion.
7. Another object of this invention is to produce a new and improved polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup were the self resonance 'Q' of each separate coil in the polyphonic pickup assembly is at the high end of the audible frequency spectrum of (16Khz or higher) resulting in more linear sound characteristic below the point of resonance 'Q' and less feedback interference in the working area of the instrument.
8. Another object of this invention is to produce the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembled in humbucking noise canceling configuration where the output of high harmonics is not attenuated or canceled due to the capture of the sound vibration of one string in two places in the same time, where the frequencies of harmonics are out of phase as in previous arts of humbucking guitar pickups.
9. Another objective of this invention is to provide a polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup that the sound of each individual string can be processed separately in a flexible way intended for a wide range of professional audio applications such as ND
convertors, audio amplifiers and audio processing equipment.
10. Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, industry friendly and easy to install in most new or existing guitars without major modification of the original instrument.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is the perspective view of the polyphonic humbacking guitar pickup assembly according to the present invention, assembled according to industry standard as a "single-coil" guitar pickup mounted under the guitar strings.
Fig. 2 is the exploded perspective view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly of Fig.1 according to the present invention showing six separate electromagnetic sensors comprising of six separate coils, six separate L shaped yokes and six separate magnets transversal polarized and with polarity strategically arranged to maximize the separation between guitar strings.
Fig. 3 is the top view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly with six sensors (L1) to (L6) along with an equal number of strings, and illustrates six magnets transversal polarized in a specific magnetic orientation N-S attached to the L
shaped yokes of each sensor in the operational relationship to the guitar's strings.
Fig. 3a is the side view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup in the working relationship with the guitar's strings.
Fig. 3b illustrates the A-A section of one of six sensors of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup displaying the magnetic flux lines traveling from the North Pole (N) to the South Pole (S) and engaged in an operational interaction with the strings above 7.
Fig. 4 is the exploded view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly with one permanent magnet bar transversal polarized attached to all six sensors which are equal with the number of strings of the guitar in the operational relationship with the strings.

Fig.5 illustrates the top view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly with one permanent magnet bar transversal polarized N-S attached to all six sensors which are equal to the number of the strings in the operational relationship with the strings of the instrument.
Fig. 5a is the side view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup of the Fig. 4 in working relationship with the strings of the instrument.
Fig. 5b illustrates the A-A section of the one of six sensors of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup as shown the Fig. 4, showing the magnetic flux lines traveling from North pole (N) to the South pole (S) and interacting with the strings above 7 in the operational relationship according with the present invention.
Fig. 6 is the perspective view of the polyphonic humbucking pickup assembly, according to the present invention, and illustrates its operational relationship to the guitar assembled in the industry standard size "dual-coil" guitar pickup working in humbucking mode configuration.
Fig. 7 is the exploded perspective view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly of the Fig. 6, showing six pairs of coils and six pairs of yokes magnetically connected together with a permanent magnet transversal polarized to form six pairs of sensors with six separate magnetic flux fields for each string in working relationship with the strings of the musical instrument.
Fig. 8 is the top view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup assembly with six pairs of sensors equal with the number of strings in the operational relationship to the strings of the instrument.
Fig. 8a is the side view of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup in working relationship with the instrument's strings.

' Fig. 8b Illustrates the A-A section of one pair of sensors of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup showing the magnetic flux line traveling from North pole (N) to the South pole (S) interacting with the string 7 in operational relationship according with the this invention.
Fig. 9 represents the compact view from inside protecting cover 9 of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup working in humbucking mode configuration and sized according to the industry standard as "dual-coil" guitar pickup in relationship with the strings of the instrument.
Fig.10 represents the electrical diagram of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup as it is viewed in Fig. 4, working in active mode where each sensor is connected separately to an audio preamplifier and the output of each preamplifier connected to left or right stereo output.
Fig.11 illustrates the electrical diagram of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup as it is viewed in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, working in active mode and in humbucking configuration where each pair of sensors is connected to an audio preamplifier and furthermore connected to left or right stereo output.
Fig. 12 illustrates the electrical diagram of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup as it is viewed in the Fig. 4 working in passive mode and connected left or right to the stereo output.
Fig. 13 illustrates the electrical diagram of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup working in active mode and in humbucking configuration as it is viewed in the Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, where each pair of the designated sensors is connected separately to an audio preamplifier and furthermore connected to the left or to the right of the stereo output.
Fig.14 illustrates electrical diagram of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup working in passive mode and in humbucking configuration where the output of the pickup is assigned to the left or to the right of the stereo output.

- -DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) This invention is referring to the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup working in a noise canceling configuration, designed to work with electrical guitars in which the strings are made of ferromagnetic material. In reference to Fig.1, the drawings represent the present invention of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup placed inside of the protecting cover 8 with the shape and size of a standard "single-coil" pickup assembly which is positioned under the guitar strings 7 of a conventional electric guitar and mounted on the instrument body with a pair of screws 9.
For the purpose of description, there is no need to show additional guitar body or other instrument structure. All the sensors from (L1) to (L6) are the same size and have the same inductance, capacitance and the same resistance, as well as the same value of self resonance Q (above 16 KHz). Each sensor illustrated in Fig. 3, Fig. 3a, and Fig. 3b is comprised of bobbin 5 and coil 4, consisted of multiple windings of thin copper wire wounded over the insulated iron core 2. The terminals 10 of the coil 4 are inserted in the printed circuit board 6 for the purpose of connection with the applicable electronics circuits.
The core 2 is made of ferromagnetic material such as soft iron having high magnetic permeability or a permanent magnet. The bottom of the coil and core is attached to the L
shape yoke 3, and assembled parallel with the core 2 and coil 4. The yoke 3 is made of permeable material such as soft iron having high magnetic permeability and furthermore it is attached to the permanent magnet 1. The permanent magnet 1 is transversal polarized with respect to the magnet's axis. The polarization is from front to back, front being defined with respect of to the direction along the length of the guitar. The magnet 1 produces a high density magnetic flux structure N-S focused on the vibration of the string 7 area only as seen on Fig.3b.
The function of the L shape yoke is to provide magnetic support to the permanent magnet 1 and to conduct the magnetic flux lines from one of the pole of permanent magnet 1 to the core 2. In the magnetic loop between the pole of core 2 and the pole of the permanent magnet 1 the number of magnetic flux lines exiting the North Pole of the permanent magnet 1 equals the number of magnetic flux lines entering the South Pole of the permanent magnet 1.

The surface area of the pole of core 2 is much smaller than the surface area of the one pole of the permanent magnet 1 resulting in high concentration of magnetic flux lines in the area of the vibrating strings. The system acts as the magnetic flux concentrator for the sensor in the area of the vibrating string.
The length of the L shape yoke 3 is not strictly limited by the length of the coil 4 or the length of the core 2 and is usually equal to the length of the permanent magnet. All components are assembled together to provide the most efficient magnetic flux structure for the magnetic pickup sensor. The magnetic flux is focused on the vibration of the individual string only. By plucking the string 7, the vibration of string 7 is disturbing the lines of the magnetic flux, creating voltage in the coil which is proportional to the string's vibration. The voltage is distributed to the electronic circuit to be processed and transformed in audible sound.
The distance between sensors (L1) through (L6) has to be positioned in a way that the center of each core of the sensor is aligned with the strings above.
According to the present invention as in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, (L1) to (L6) sensors are assigned to each separate string E, A, D, G, B, and E.
The sensors (L1) to (L6) are connected in pair of (L1-L2), (L3-L4) and (L5-L6), to work in humbucking configuration. The coils of (L1) and (L2) sensors are electrically connected together as in Fig. 11. The coils of (L1) and (L2) are wound in opposite direction and connected together to produce signals out of phase. The permanent magnets 1 attached to each sensor (L1) and (L2) are also polarized N-S, and opposite of each other to bring the signal back in phase. Unwanted electromagnetic interferences inside the coils are equal and out of phase, and consequently cancel each other, while the signals from the string vibration in the coils are in phase and added together. The same working configuration is applied to the pair of sensors, (L3-L4) and (L5-L6) and are electrically connected as illustrated in Fig. 11. In the present embodiment, the coils (L2) and (L3) are not part of the humbucking pair connection. Each (L2) and (L3) sensor have a permanent magnet attached to it that are magnetically polarized in the same direction N-S to prevent any magnetic interference with each other.

The magnetic flux lines are repelling and not crossing each other, resulting in good sound separation between (L1-L2) and (L3-L4) sensor pairs.
The same arrangement of magnets is applied to (L4) and (L5), and the magnets associated with (L4) and (L5) are magnetically polarized N-S in the same direction as seen in Fig. 2.
The magnetic flux lines between (L4) and (L5) repel each other but are not intersecting which results in superior separation between the pair sensors (L3-L4) and (L5-L6).
Fig.11 illustrates a sample schematic diagram of the present invention of the polyphonic guitar pickup in the humbucking and stereo configuration. Each pair of the pickup assembly (L1-L2), (L3-L4) and (L5-L6) is connected in humbucking configuration and is connected separately to the operational amplifiers Ul, U2, U3, with the volume control R10, R11, R12 assigned to each pair of sensors (L1-L2), (L3-L4), and (L5-L6). Each pair of sensors represents the audio signal of the two strings (E-A), (D-G), and (B-E). Each signal is directed in stereo mode to the right or to left output as desired by panning the potentiometers R13, R14, and R15. The signal from all the sensors can also be assigned to one channel only if a mono configuration is selected.
Fig. 4 of the present embodiment illustrates the simplified version of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with a single magnet transversal polarized while providing magnetic flux to all electromagnetic sensors. (L1) to (L6) and can be electrically connected in any desired combination. The sensors can be connected all in series to process the signal as a monophonic sound configuration or divided into groups to the left or to right channels for a stereophonic sound configuration. Also each sensor can be connected separately by the skilled in art to AID convertors to be used in digital audio processing.
According to the present invention, Fig.10 describes an electrical diagram of the present polyphonic humbacking guitar pickup in active mode where the sensors (L1) to (L6) are connected separately to operational amplifiers U1 to U6, the output voltage of each individual sensor is controlled separately by potentiometers R5, R14, R23, R32, R41, and R50. Each sensor can be assigned separately to L left or R right audio channel and mixed in stereo L left and R right output configuration by pan potentiometers R6, R15, R24, R33, R42 and R5. According to the present invention, the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup also can be used in passive mode; the example of schematic diagram is illustrated in Fig.12 where (L1), (L2), (L3) sensors are connected in series and assigned to read the strings E, A, D, and the output signal is sent to the left stereo channel.
Furthermore (L4), (L5), (L6) are also connected in series and assigned to read the strings G, B, E and the output signal is sent to the right stereo channel.
Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig.8a, Fig. 8b, and Fig. 9.
Fig.6 illustrates the present invention of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup with the shape and size of an industry standard "double-coil" pickup assembly inside of protecting cover 9 and frame 10 to hold the pickup in place. It is positioned under the guitar strings 7 of a conventional electric guitar and mounted on an instrument body with a pair of bolts 11 and nuts 12.
Fig.7 represents the exploded view of the polyphonic humbucking pickup guitar of Fig.6 which comprises twelve separate pickup sensors, wherein each sensor is comprised of bobbin 5, coil 4 winded with thin copper wire with the ends 13 inserted to the printed circuit 6 for further connections. A magnetized pole core 2 is attached at the lower end of the coil to the L shaped yoke 3 and furthermore attached to the permanent magnet transversal polarized. All sensors from (L1) to (L12) are the same size and have the same inductance, capacitance and also the same resistance, furthermore each sensor has the same self resonance Q which is above 16 KHz. As described in the background of the invention, the humbacking guitar pickups in previous arts suffer from a lack of harmonics and a loss of high frequencies due to the simultaneous capture of the string's vibration in two places at once where the out of phase frequencies are canceled. In this present invention the sensors (L1) to (L12) are connected in pairs of the humbucking configuration to cancel the outside electromagnetic noise.
Each sensor of a humbucking pair is connected to another sensor for a different string, so the sound of the vibration is not read in two places at the same time. This results in a sound characteristic of a "single-coil" guitar pickup and in the same time a noise canceling characteristic of a "dual-coil" humbucking guitar pickup, resulting in a sound present and rich in harmonics.

In Fig.8a and Fig. 8b the magnetic flux lines at the lower end of the sensors are shorted and redirect through a magnetically permeable plate base 8 to avoid magnetic flux lines from traveling underneath the pickup assembly, which can cause magnetic interference with the moving mechanical metal parts of the guitar placed underneath like in the tremolo assembly as an example. According to the present invention, Fig.13 illustrates the electrical connections of the polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup sensors working in humbucking configuration and in active mode.
The (L1) coil is electrically connected in series and out of phase to the (L9) coil, which is winded in the opposite direction to the (L1) coil. The magnetic field of (L9) is in the opposite direction of the (L1) sensor. Electrical noise from outside is equal and out of phase in each coil of (L1) and (L9) and cancel each other, but the electrical signals generated by (L1) and (L9) from the vibration of strings E and D are in phase and added together and connected to an operational amplifier U1 through R1 and R2.
The output volume of the audio signal is controlled by the R19 potentiometer and mixed by R25 to the L or R channel of the stereo output. A similar configuration of the connection is applied to the pair of sensors (L2-L10) which are assigned to capture the sound vibration of strings A and G. Furthermore, the electrical signals are amplified by U2 and directed to the output L or R of the stereo output through R20 and R26. (L3-L11) are assigned to strings D
and B, and are also connected in the humbucking configuration.
The electrical signals are amplified by U3 and the output is directed through R21 and R27 to the L or R stereo channel. (L4-L12) are assigned to strings G and higher E, and are also connected in the humbucking configuration and electrical signals are amplified by U4 and the output is assigned through R22 and R28 to the L or R stereo channel.
(L5-L7) are assigned to the strings B and lower E and are also connected in humbucking configuration. The electrical signals are amplified by U5 and the output is directed to the L
or R stereo channel though R23 and R29. Lastly, (L6-L8) are assigned to the higher E and A strings and also connected in the humbucking configuration. The electrical signals are amplified by U6 and are directed to the L or R channel through R24 and R30.
All outputs from U1 to U6 can be assigned as desired to a monophonic output.
According to the present embodiment, the polyphonic guitar pickup in humbucking configuration can work in a passive mode as is illustrated in Fig. 14.

The sensors' arrangement and connections of the present embodiment are not to be taken in a limiting sense; rather, the illustration are intended to explain the underlying principle of the invention and to demonstrate a version of the polyphonic guitar pickup designed in a humbucking configuration with monophonic or stereophonic mode options.

Claims (19)

I claim:
1. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer assembled in the industry standard single-coil guitar pickup case format, working in humbucking configuration having a plurality of electromagnetic sensors equal with the number of the magnetic flux structures and equal with the number of strings of the instrument, wherein the individual sensor is focused on the vibration of the individual string area, to capture the sound of a guitar instrument that uses ferromagnetic strings wherein each sensor contains a permanent magnet transversal polarized where the polarization is from front to back, front being defined with respect of to the direction along the length of the guitar and attached to the L
shaped yoke of the sensor which is attached at the bottom of the core of the coil.
2. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 1 having a plurality of electromagnetic sensors said each sensor has a central magnetic post, said a core magnetically polarized inserted inside an electrical coil to form an magnetic pole, wherein the core is attached at the lower end of the coil to the magnetically permeable L
shaped yoke, placed parallel with the coil and parallel to the permanent magnet transversal polarized to form a high density magnetic flux structure focused on the vibration of the individual string of the guitar.
3. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 2 comprising of plurality of sensors where each sensor is made of a magnet transversal polarized attached to the L shape yoke furthermore attached at the bottom of the core and the coil, to form a polarized pole at the top of the coil interacting with the magnetically permeable string of the guitar wherein the surface area of the top of the magnetically polarized core is much smaller than the surface area of the opposite pole of the permanent magnet, to form a high density magnetic flux encompassing the area of the vibrating string of the guitar.
4. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 2 where at least two coils of the sensors encompassing two separate strings of the guitar are connected in humbucking configuration, wherein the two coils are winded in opposite direction and magnetically out of phase and said electrically are connected in series or parallel.
5. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 2 wherein the first and the second coil of the first and second sensor are assigned separate to the first and the second string and are connected in humbucking configuration where the two coils are winded in opposite direction and magnetically out of phase and said electrically are connected in series or parallel and furthermore the electrical output is sent through an amplifier to the left or to the right channel of the stereo output, furthermore the third and fourth coil of the third and fourth sensor are assigned separate to the third and the fourth strings and are connected in humbucking configuration where the two coils are winded in opposite direction and magnetically out of phase and said electrically are connected in series or parallel and furthermore the electrical output is sent through an amplifier to the left or right channel of the stereo output, furthermore the fifth and sixth coil assigned separate to the fifth and the sixth strings connected in humbucking configuration where the two coils are winded in opposite direction and magnetically out of phase and said electrically are connected in series or parallel and furthermore the electrical output is sent through an amplifier to the left or to the right channel of the stereo output.
6. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 2 wherein each sensor comprising an L shape yoke, and one permanent magnet transversal polarized assigned to each individual coil of the sensor and said number of magnets equals the number of coils and are equal to the number of strings to form the magnetic flux structure assigned to each individual string wherein the first and second magnet assigned to the first and second sensor are opposite in polarity with the magnetic flux lines in opposite direction to each other, the third permanent magnet assigned to the third sensor have the same magnetic polarity as the second permanent magnet is assigned to the second sensor wherein the magnetic flux lines are in the same direction, furthermore the fourth permanent magnet assigned to the fourth sensor is polarized opposite to the third permanent magnet and is assigned to the third sensor wherein the magnetic flux lines are in opposite direction, furthermore the fifth permanent magnet assigned to the fifth sensor is polarized the same as the fourth magnet and is assigned to the fourth sensor wherein the magnetic flux lines are orientated in the same direction, furthermore the sixth permanent magnet assigned to the sixth sensor is polarized opposite to the fifth permanent magnet and the magnetic flux lines are in the opposite direction.
7. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 1 comprised of one permanent magnet bar transversal polarized is attached to all coils through their magnetically permeable L shape yokes, and furthermore comprised of separate coils with separate pole pieces to form the magnetic flux structure to capture the sound of each individual vibrating string of a guitar that uses ferromagnetic strings, assembled in the industry standard "single-coil" protecting case format.
8. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer comprised of 6 pairs of coils with cores inserted and 6 pairs of L shape yokes attached at the bottom of the cores of the coils and magnetically connected together with a permanent magnet transversal polarized to form six pairs of sensors with 6 separate magnetic flux structures focused on the vibration of the each individual string separately, assembled as humbucking noise canceling configuration and placed inside of protecting case spaced as the industry standard "dual-coil" of an electrical guitar.
9. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 8 comprising of pairs of electromagnetic sensors wherein each pair is assigned to each individual string separately, wherein each pairs of sensors comprises a coil with the central magnetic post said core magnetically polarized and inserted inside the coil, furthermore attached at the bottom end of the coil to the magnetically permeable L shaped yoke and is furthermore attached to the permanent magnet transversal polarized and attached to the second identical coil through the second L shaped magnetically permeable yoke, wherein both coils are sharing the same magnetic flux field where the magnetic flux lines are flowing from one magnetize core to the opposite magnetized core of the same pair of sensors, wherein each pair of sensors are encompassing one string only, furthermore each pair of coils assigned to each string separately is identical in size and have identical electrical characteristics wherein the first electrical coil of the pair and the second electrical coil of the pair are wounded in opposite direction to work in humbucking noise canceling configuration.
10. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 8, where at least two electromagnetic coils are connected together electrically and are magnetically out of phase through a permanent magnet transversal polarized attached to both magnetically permeable L shaped yokes.
11. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer comprising of one permanent bar magnet transversal polarized attached to all L shaped yokes of the sensors and assigned to all electromagnetic coils in the pickup to form separate magnetic flux structure to each individual coil wherein each magnetic flux encompassing each string separately.
12. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 8 wherein all sensors are magnetically shorted at the bottom of the pickup with a magnetically permeable plate.
13. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 8 wherein each pair of sensors shares common magnetic field said each separate sensor of the pair is connected electrically out of phase to a separate sensor which is associated with a different string working in humbucking configuration.
14. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 13 wherein the sensor (L1) and the sensor (L9) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series to work in humbucking configuration and the signal to be furthermore process by an amplifier and mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
15. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim 13 wherein the sensor (L2) and the sensor (L10) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series and furthermore process by an amplifier to be mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
16. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim wherein the sensor (L3) and the sensor (L11) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series and furthermore process by an amplifier to be mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
17. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim wherein the sensor (L4) and the sensor (L12) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series and furthermore process by an amplifier to be mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
18. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim wherein the sensor (L5) and the sensor (L7) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series and furthermore process by an amplifier to be mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
19. The polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup transducer according to the claim wherein the sensor (L6) and the sensor (L8) are electrically and magnetically connected out of phase and electrically in series and furthermore process by an amplifier to be mixed in stereo or mono or to produce a separate output for further processing.
CA2869073A 2014-10-28 2014-10-28 Polyphonic humbucking guitar pickup Active CA2869073C (en)

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Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
USD817385S1 (en) * 2016-10-12 2018-05-08 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Humbucking pickup
USD831102S1 (en) * 2017-01-16 2018-10-16 Lawing Musical Products, Llc Stringed instrument pickup
US10115383B2 (en) 2016-10-12 2018-10-30 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Humbucking pickup and method of providing permanent magnet extending through opposing coils parallel to string orientation
WO2023115125A1 (en) * 2021-12-21 2023-06-29 Australian Native Musical Instruments Pty Ltd A method and system for delivering a pre-selected amplified output for a stringed instrument
RU221060U1 (en) * 2023-07-19 2023-10-17 Дмитрий Валентинович Удалов Electrostatic pickup

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
USD817385S1 (en) * 2016-10-12 2018-05-08 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Humbucking pickup
US10115383B2 (en) 2016-10-12 2018-10-30 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Humbucking pickup and method of providing permanent magnet extending through opposing coils parallel to string orientation
USD831102S1 (en) * 2017-01-16 2018-10-16 Lawing Musical Products, Llc Stringed instrument pickup
WO2023115125A1 (en) * 2021-12-21 2023-06-29 Australian Native Musical Instruments Pty Ltd A method and system for delivering a pre-selected amplified output for a stringed instrument
RU221060U1 (en) * 2023-07-19 2023-10-17 Дмитрий Валентинович Удалов Electrostatic pickup

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