GB2252859A

GB2252859A - Pick-up for stringed instrument

Info

Publication number: GB2252859A
Application number: GB9026145A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Amoun Mostafa Mosharrafa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-11-30
Filing date: 1990-11-30
Publication date: 1992-08-19
Also published as: GB9026145D0

Abstract

A pick up for guitars and other stringed instruments comprises three coils and magnets 7, 8 extending therethrough. Two of the coils 2, 4 are stacked one above the other and the third 6 is mounted alongside and is adjustable in height independently of the other two. This arrangement makes possible far more sounds to be produced from the single pick up unit than is commonly obtainable from other pick ups and allows for the variation of balance of volume between different modes of operation of the pick up. <IMAGE>

Description

This invention relates to guitar pick ups.

Guitar pick ups are well known in the trade and consist of passive units, and active units which contain a pre amplifier which is powered by a battery. The passive units are divided basically into two types the single coil and the humbucker.

THE SINGLE COIL This consists of a coil of insulated copper wire wound round a bobbin vertically with one placed under each of the six strings of the guitar. This type gives a very clear sound but suffers from hum induced by mains and other sources of noise.

THE HUMBUCKER Which consists of two coils placed side by side with a bar magnet placed under them in the centre. This serves to provide a magnetic field through six screws and six iron cores which run vertically through the bobbins and are spaced at intervals to correspond to the spacing of the guitar strings. The second coil then acts to cancel any noise generated in the first coil and because of the much larger magnetic field produces a much thicker sweeter tone. However this type of pick up suffers from lack of response in the high frequencies and a rather muddy sounding bass.

PROPSOED INVENTION This invention consists of two coils 2and4 stacked one above the other with six magnets 8 placed vertically through the bobbins I and3 one under each string this can also be achieved with six magnetic cores and a bar magnet placed under them. To the side of these two coils is a third coil 6 with six pole pieces 7 of magnetic material such as iron these may or may not be threaded to provide for vertical movement. The whole coil is mounted with some means to provide for height adjustment such as screws IO and springs II or rubber mountings on a backing plate 9. This height adjustment on the third coil 6 relative to the other two coils is to provide for adjustment of volume when the unit is switched from side by side operation to stacked operation.This third coil also has no magnet under it or running through it but current is induced in it because of its proximity to the other coils 2 and 4.

Because of this arrangement this pick up can produce the clarity of the single coil without the hum, the warmth of the humbucker without the loss of high frequency response or the wooliness of the bass frequencies.

Humbucker pick ups can be wired in three different ways, either in series, in parallel or with one coil out of phase with the other. With this proposed pick up because of its construction the sounds obtainable from it are increased to nine different sounds three of them quite unique and not obtainable from any other pick up and the others only obtainable from one type of pick up or the other which would entail the removal of a pick up from the guitar with all the problems that that creates. These pick ups also fit intoexisting humbucker slots yet provide all the sounds obtainable from the other types of pick ups plus three new sounds produced when the pick up is used with the side coil and the lower of the two stcked coils.

A second embodimnet of the pick up differs only in that the two stcaked bobbins on which the coils are wound may be substituted with one which is wound with two wires at the same time thus forming the two coils to provide for hum cancelling and thus making for a more compact form.

Claims

1 A pick up or transducer for guitar, bass guitar, and other stringed instruments. The pick up consists of three coils of insulated copper wire wound round bobbins or a former made of plastic or some other suitable material.

2 A pick up as in claim 1 that has six or more magnets running through the coils or through the bobbins or former or through both.

3 A pick up as in claims 1 or 2 that is mounted on a bass which has means to adjust its height relative to the guitar body, such as a screw and spring arrangement.

4 A pick up or transducer as in claim 3 that has two of the coils stacked one above the other with the third coil adjacent to them to either a left or right hand side, that is mounted with some means of adjusting its height individually and independently from the other two coils, such as a spring and screw arrangement or a rubber spacer that can perform the same function.

5 A pick up as in any of the above claims that has adjustable screws or none adjustable screws or pole pieces running vertically through the side coil which are of iron or some other suitable material.

6 A pick up as in claim 1 or any of the subsequent claims that may have a metal case or sleeve round it to screen it from sources of electrical interference which may also be made of some other suitable material and which may be connected to either the mounting plate, the magnets, the adjustable screws, the none adjustable pole pieces or to all of them.

7 A pick up as described in any of the previous claims in which the two vertical coils may be wound on one bobbin or former that has been modified to accommodate them both.

8 A pick up for guitars and other stringed instruments substantially as described herein with reference to figures 1 to 8 of the drawings.