GB2480833A - A stringed musical instrument comprising a number of body parts and a neck - Google Patents

Abstract

A stringed musical instrument is formed by at least two interconnected body parts, and a neck, where part of the neck extends between the body parts. The body parts and neck are linked together via attachment means provided by the neck. The neck may comprise two sections, and may extend along the whole length of the body. The parts of the instrument may be secured together by use of a suitable adhesive. Each section of the body may have shaped hollow interiors that are connected to each other via holes in the neck section.

Description

-

An improved stringed musical instrument This invention relates to an improved stringed musical instrument and in particular to an improved guitar.

Known arrangements of guitars are usually formed as two separate parts, a neck and a body part respectively, which are connected together in any suitable way to form the finished instrument. The parts of the instrument can for example be joined together by way of any suitable adhesive to form the shape of the finished instrument.

The body section may be either of hollow or solid construction. Traditionally, hollow body constructions suffer from feedback problems although good acoustic tones can be produced, particularly from larger hollow body constructions.

The more popular slim-line constructions however, suffer less from feedback problems due to a solid centre section, although these constructions are acoustically compromised and lack clarity of tone.

Modern constructions have improved the problems associated with feedback issues by incorporating thicker sound box walls, however there still remains a problem associated with producing good quality acoustic tones due to the small air chambers within the construction.

There are fundamentally two types of guitar; acoustic and electric. Acoustic guitars have either a square or arch-top sound box. The square sound box construction produces top and mid-tones with excellent sound movement, whilst the arch-top sound box construction is more typical of larger instruments, yielding a large selection of mid and bass tones afforded by good sound movement within the construction.

Sound waves travel through the construction and are expelled through an air hole or air holes in the sound box, which are typically either a round sound hole located underneath the strings, in the case of a square sound box, or alternatively via f-shaped holes either side of the arched top sound box. These add aesthetic value to the construction as well as serving a functional purpose.

Electric guitars may be either of bolt-on, glue-in or through-neck construction. Traditional hollow electric constructions are based fundamentally on the acoustic guitar construction, with modifications such as a large central block running down the length of the guitar or underneath the bridge. More modern constructions of electric guitars are formed from a hollowed out piece of solid wood, with the sound board permanently attached using adhesive.

The construction of the electric guitar determines the tone produced by the instrument. A solid body construction will rely on the pick up to capture the mechanical vibrations which subsequently create tone. A semi-hollow construction creates more of an acoustic tone using the vibrations of the air around the air chambers within the construction. It is more common for electric guitars to utilise the pick up in order to produce sound.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved stringed musical instrument, which is much easier and quicker to produce and assemble.

It is a further object of the present invention to reduce problems associated with feedback and also to improve the tone produced by the instrument. Furthermore, it is also an object of the invention to reduce the weight of an instrument.

Thus and in accordance with the present invention there is provided an improved stringed musical instrument comprising a body and a neck connected together to form the instrument, said body being formed from at least two body parts and wherein at least a part of the neck extends between the body parts and provides an attachment for allowing the body parts to connect and to form said instrument structure.

It will be realised that with an arrangement of the present invention, it is possible to provide a guitar which is capable of easy assembly. Furthermore, the hollow interior of the body parts and the neck assembly reduces the weight of the instrument. Additionally, the hollow construction of the component body parts allows for good sound movement, thus producing an improved clarity of tone.

The neck may be a through-neck construction wherein the neck of the instrument extends the full length of the instrument, such that the body parts connect to either side of the through-neck.

The neck may alternatively comprise two sections that are connected either by means of adhesive or another permanent form of attachment, in order that once connected, the assembly is representative of the through-neck arrangement and the body parts connect to the lower section of the neck.

The lower portion of the neck assembly that may support the bridge may comprise solid construction with projections to facilitate connection of the body parts to the neck assembly.

The lower portion of the neck assembly that is capable of supporting the bridge preferably comprises holes within the construction to allow the movement of vibrating air through both the neck assembly and the body sections.

The neck assembly preferably accommodates a structure to support the bridge once in position on the neck assembly.

The body parts may also contain an air hole or air holes, preferably located on the front aspect of each section. The air hole may either be located centrally underneath the strings of the instrument or alternatively the air holes may be f-shaped and located on the front aspect of each body section.

The invention will now be described further and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 shows, in exploded form, a first embodiment of stringed instrument in accordance with the present invention; Fig 2 shows the assembly of a second embodiment of stringed instrument in accordance with the present invention from its component parts.

Fig 3 shows the assembly of a third embodiment of stringed instrument in accordance with the present invention from its component parts; Fig 4 shows, in side view and plan view, in schematic form fourth, fifth and sixth embodiments of through neck assembly for incorporation in a stringed instrument; Fig S shows, in side view and plan view, in schematic form seventh and eighth embodiments of stringed instrument in accordance with the present invention in which are configured for gluing together; Fig 6 shows embodiments of body parts for use in forming a stringed instrument of particular configuration; and Fig 7 shows alternative embodiments of body parts for use in forming a stringed instrument in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown in Figures 1 and 2 representations of a part assembled instrument, in the form of a guitar, in accordance with the present invention; The part assembled guitar shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a pair of body parts each having a shaped hollow interior and a through-neck assembly. When assembled together, these components gives rise to the advantages herein after described.

The body parts, in the arrangement shown, connect together via a through-neck assembly which extends from the neck of the guitar to the base of the assembled guitar.

The through-neck assembly connection is provided with at least one projecting formation on each side thereof to allow connection of the body parts thereto to form the assembled guitar. The projecting formations provided on the through-neck assembly can take many different forms and some of these are illustrated in the figures accompanying the present application.

The provision of a through-neck assembly that extends the full length of the instrument and to which is attached,when assembled, the body parts to form the assembled guitar, allows the guitar to be assembled very easily and allows the instrument to produce a good quality sound. The hollowing out of the through-neck assembly significantly reduces the weight of the instrument.

Thus, it will be seen that the assembly of the invention comprises only three parts linked together using specific wood adhesive to form a musical instrument.

Figure 2 shows a sequence of assembly of the parts of the instrument in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this method of assembly, the through-neck assembly connection is utilised to connect the body parts to form the instrument as described hereinbefore.

Figure 3 shows a view of the attachment of the parts using the assembly of Figure 2 Figure 4a-4e show a view of the attachment of alternative parts to those shown in Figure 3 using the sequence of assembly of Figure 2. In the embodiment of Figure 4a and 4b there are multiple relatively small orifices extending across the guitar, linking the air chambers in respective body parts. The embodiment of Figures 4c and 4d show an arrangement in which 3 relatively large orifices are provided linking the two air chambers; and Figure 4e shows an embodiment having 2 chambers either side of a central supporting member.

Figures 5a and 5b show an embodiment of guitar in which the central through neck assembly is suitable for connection together by gluing or use of a bolt arrangement. The embodiment of Figures 5c and 5d shows an arrangement in which the through neck assembly has a staggered configuration which results in an increase in the size of the air chamber on one side of the staggered configuration as compared to the other.

Figure 6 shows a first embodiment of an arrangement of the cooperating edges of the body part showing the means of attachment of the body parts together. In this embodiment the attachment is made between cooperating male and female parts provided on the respective body parts.

Figure 7 shows an alternative embodiment of arrangement for attachment of the body parts to the through-neck assembly. The embodiment shown comprises castellated projections provided on one edge of a respective body part which engage with complementary formations on the respective edge of another body part.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which are described by way of example only.

Claims (9)

1. Claims 1. An improved string musical instrument comprising a body and a neck connected together from in an instrument, said body being formed from at least two body parts and wherein at least part of the neck extends between the body parts and provides an attachment allowing the body part to connect and to form said instrument structure.
2. 2. An improved string musical instrument according to claim 1 wherein said neck is formed as a through neck construction and the neck of the instrument extends the full length of the instrument such that the body parts connect to either side of the through neck.
3. 3. An improved string musical instrument in accordance with claim 2 in which said neck comprises two sections that are connected either by means of adhesive or another permanent form of attachment in order that, once connected the assembly is equivalent to a roughneck arrangement and the body parts connect to a low section of the neck
4. 4. An improved string musical instrument according to any one of claims ito 3 in which a lower portion of the neck supports the bridge and comprises a solid construction with projections to facilitate connection of the body parts to the neck assembly.
5. 5. An improved string musical instrument in accordance with claim 4, wherein the lower portion of the neck assembly which is capable of supporting the bridge preferably comprises holes within the construction to allow the movement of vibration air through both the neck assembly and the body sections.
6. 6. An improved string musical instrument in accordance to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the neck assembly accommodates a structure to support a bridge once in position on the neck assembly.
7. 7. An improved string musical instrument according to any one of claims ito 6 wherein the body parts contain an air hole or air holes, said hole or holes being located on the front aspect of the each of the sections.
8. 8. An improved string musical instrument according to claim 7 wherein the air hole may either be located centrally underneath e.g. strings of the instrument or, said air holes may be F shaped and located on the front aspect of each body section.
9. 9. An improved string instrument substantially as herein before described and with reference to the accompanying drawings. (0 (\J