GB1479317A - String instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

1479317 Stringed instruments J R LAMBERT 23 May 1975 [6 June 1974] 25100/74 Heading G5J A stringed instrument, e.g. a guitar, has a secondary sounding board 18 cantilevered to the upper surface of the sounding box 13, the secondary sounding board having a string stop 15 adapted to engage a string on the instrument so as to transfer acoustic energy from the string to the sounding box via the secondary sounding board. The secondary sounding board 18 is mounted in a bridge structure formed by two cantilevered arms 20, 21 joined at their free ends by a rod 23 and attached to the sounding box adjacent the string anchors 17 and having slots 19, 21 receiving the edges of the secondary sounding board. The bridge structure may be held in a stable cantilevered position by string tension along, there being two stops 15, 16, and in a modification three, the string passing over and under successive stops. The bridge may be formed of rosewood or sycamore. The strings may be generally parallel to the upper surface of the sounding box 13 or may be inclined at up to 40 degrees to the horizontal. The arrangement is said to improve the transfer of acoustic energy to the sounding box and to improve the tone of the instrument.