JPH0418316B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a guitar having a fretboard portion and a fretless portion.

(Prior art) Guitars produce sounds of different pitches by holding the strings at predetermined positions on the fingerboard, but the fingerboard usually has frets embedded in it and is constructed to allow accurate pitches to be produced. There is. This fret is made by cutting grooves on the fingerboard surface so as to cross the fingerboard, and filling these grooves with nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc).
It is embedded with metal such as, and is placed at a position along the length of the fingerboard in accordance with the equal temperament scale.

In addition to guitars, especially bass guitars, which are fretted like this, there are also guitars that are not fretted (fretless), and the fingerboard In terms of parts, bass guitars can be roughly divided into the two types mentioned above: the fretted type and the fretless type.

The fretted guitar mentioned above is characterized by its ability to maintain pitch more reliably than the fretless guitar, the pitch is clearer, and it has a bright tone with a good attack.On the other hand, the fretted guitar It is characterized by its free pitch, which is not constrained by the equal temperament scale, and its warm, natural tone. Furthermore, a fretless guitar has the characteristic that the pitch can be changed smoothly by sliding one's fingers on the same string. Fretted and fretless guitars take advantage of their respective characteristics and are used depending on the genre and melody of the music.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, fretless guitars are also widely used in guitars, especially bass guitars, but because these fretless guitars do not have frets, it is difficult to tune the pitch even if you press the strings in the wrong position. Also, since there are no frets in the bass guitar's bass range, the sound is muffled and it is extremely difficult to get the pitch right.

Therefore, although players acknowledge the appeal of fretless guitars, beginners and amateur players tend to shy away from fretless guitars due to the difficulty of maintaining accurate pitches. .

Originally, it is difficult to get the pitch of the bass part of a low-pitched instrument such as a bass guitar, but especially when playing in a band, it is difficult to achieve the pitch of the bass part of a low-pitched instrument such as a bass guitar. As a result, it is extremely difficult to accurately grasp and maintain pitch, and in addition, the sound is muffled in the bass range, and subtle pitch deviations from other instruments can cause humming, making it difficult to maintain accurate pitch. becomes even more difficult.

Recently, there has been a strong tendency to place a lot of emphasis on the bass part, and the bass part is not only played simply while maintaining the rhythm as before, but also solo play is often required. There is a strong demand for a guitar that can easily respond to expressions.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to be able to accurately maintain the pitch in the bass region, and to enable a wide range of performances such as performances using the slide characteristic of fretless. The aim is to provide a guitar that makes it easy for even beginners to do this.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, in a guitar having a fretboard, at least one fret among the frets provided on the fingerboard protrudes from the fingerboard surface by a predetermined thickness in the width direction of the fingerboard. and a fretless part in which the upper end surface of the fret is formed to be a flat surface flush with the fingerboard surface. In addition, a groove is provided in the fretless portion of the fingerboard surface at a portion corresponding to the fret position, and a piece of wood such as maple, rose, ebony, etc. is placed in the groove as a mark of the fret position on a flat surface flush with the fingerboard surface. It is characterized by being embedded and fixed so that it is a flat surface.

(Function) The guitar of the present invention can be played in exactly the same way as a normal guitar, and by using this guitar, it is possible to perform with the fretted part and with the fretless part. In addition, by embedding wood such as maple, rose, or ebony in the fretless portion, the fret position is indicated and the fingerboard is prevented from deforming.

(Embodiments) Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a guitar neck according to the present invention. The fingerboard 10 provided on the front side of this guitar stick has the same shape as a conventional fingerboard, except for the shape of the frets fixed on the fingerboard 10.

Frets 12 are embedded and fixed at predetermined positions on the fingerboard 10 according to an equal temperament scale. In this embodiment, the frets provided on the fingerboard are from the first fret on the nut 14 side to the seventh fret 12.
The frets up to a are fixed across the entire width of the fingerboard, similar to the frets provided on conventional guitars. In addition, for frets from the 8th fret 12b to the treble side, the frets are embedded only on one side of the fingerboard in the width direction (corresponding to the position where the 3rd and 4th strings are held), and the 1st and 2nd strings are As for the part to be held down, a fret display insert 16 is embedded so that it has a flat surface flush with the surface of the fingerboard 10 without providing any frets. That is, in the fingerboard of this embodiment, the 3rd and 4th strings are all fretted, and the 1st and 2nd strings are fretted from the 1st to the 7th fret. On the treble side from the 8th fret onwards, the frets are replaced with buried wood 16. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part of the neck showing the arrangement of the fret 12 and the buried timber 16. As shown in the figure, the upper edge of the fret 12 protrudes from the surface of the fingerboard 10 so that the string comes into contact with it when the string is pressed, and the lower part of the fret 12 bites into a narrow groove cut from the front side of the fingerboard 10. It is embedded and prevented from falling out.

Further, the fingerboard 10 is provided with a narrow groove carved in the fret fingerboard 10 on the treble side of the eighth fret 12b.
A fret material is embedded and fixed on one side up to the center part in the width direction. This fret material is made of the same material as the fret materials up to the seventh fret, and is usually made of metal such as nickel or silver. In fact, the frets on the treble side of the eighth fret 12b are extended about 2 mm toward the second string from the center position of the fingerboard 10, so that the strings do not come off the frets when the third string is pressed. There is. Furthermore, the fret end 12c located at the center of the fret fingerboard has rounded corners so that it is easy to play without getting caught in the fingers during playing.

Further, the embedded wood 16 is made of maple, following the fret end embedded to the center position of the fingerboard 10.
Thin sheets of wood such as rosewood or ebony are driven into narrow grooves and glued and fixed using adhesive. This embedded wood 16 serves as a mark to indicate the fret position, and a light colored embedded wood 16 material such as white is used for a dark colored fingerboard such as black. Also, this buried tree 16
At the same time, by embedding wood in the narrow grooves, the fingerboard 10 is prevented from deforming due to the elasticity of the fingerboard itself.

Note that the material used for the buried wood 16 is not limited to wood, and instead of wood, synthetic resin, metal, or the like may be used. In some cases, the fret may be formed with a step in advance so that the upper edge of the fret corresponding to the fretless portion becomes a flat surface flush with the surface of the fingerboard 10, and the fret may be embedded in a narrow groove and fixed. can.

The method of using a guitar having the above-described fingerboard structure is exactly the same as that of a regular guitar with frets. However, for strings with frets on the bass side, the pitch is determined by the frets, but
Since there are no frets on the higher pitch side than the 8th fret of the first and second strings, the correct pitch is achieved when the strings are held directly above the buried wood 16. Therefore, you have to be careful about the spread of your fingers when playing, but you can usually learn how to play it by practicing for about 10 to 30 minutes.

This guitar has all the frets up to the 7th fret, so you can play the bass pitches accurately with the frets. Therefore, it can be used without any inconvenience if the performance style is playing the chords of a normal bass part. Further, when performing sound effects or solo play, the fretless portions from the 8th fret onwards can be used to perform even more effectively. For example, if you hold down the chord with the bass and make subtle changes in pitch in the fretless section, you can create a wavering-like beat and express a strange atmosphere. In addition, the way the melody is created is slightly different between a melody that uses a fretted part and a melody that uses a fretless part, so by combining these as necessary, a wide variety of performance expressions are possible, and creative performances are possible. It is possible to greatly expand the range of performances such as

In the above-mentioned embodiment, all frets up to the 7th fret were provided with frets, but as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to make the strings half as long as possible, and make the first and second strings, which are the strings on the treble side, all fretless. It is also possible to make all frets from a certain fret to the treble side fretless.

In this way, the part to be made fretless is not particularly limited, and can be set as appropriate depending on the playing style, purpose of use, etc. Further, although the above embodiment is an example of a guitar using four strings, the same applies even if the number of strings is increased to five, six, etc. Further, depending on the product, the fret position of each string may be different, but in this case as well, the part to be made fretless can be set arbitrarily.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the embedded wood 16 was provided in the fretless part and used as a mark for the fret position in the fretless part, but a groove was cut only in the part where the fret was fixed on the fingerboard, and a predetermined groove was cut in this groove. Of course, it is also possible to simply fix the fret material and leave the rest of the fretless part in the same shape as the fingerboard without installing any wood embedding. In this case, since a guitar shaped like the one shown in FIG. 1 has all frets, it is not very difficult to identify the fret positions, and the guitar has the advantage of being beautiful in design.

Note that, as mentioned above, partially removing frets to create a shape is not limited to guitars, and can be similarly applied to various similar instruments that are normally used with frets. It is.

The present invention has been variously explained above with reference to preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is about.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the guitar of the present invention, by having the configuration as described above, the bass part has frets and can maintain an accurate pitch, and by using the fretless part together, This enables performances that take advantage of the characteristics of As a result, a wide range of performance expressions can be achieved by combining the advantages of fretting and the range of musical expression of fretless, thereby providing an attractive instrument that can be easily used even by beginners or amateur musicians. be able to. In addition, by embedding wood such as maple, rose, or ebony in the grooves of the fretless portion, it becomes a mark that clearly indicates the fret position of the fretless portion, and it also has great effects such as preventing deformation of the fingerboard and neck. play.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the fingerboard according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom view, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the fingerboard. 10...Fingerboard, 12...Frets, 12a...
7th fret, 12b...8th fret, 14...
...Natsuto, 16...Umiki, 18...Frets.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a guitar having a fretboard, at least one fret among the frets provided on the fingerboard is arranged at a predetermined thickness from the fingerboard surface in the width direction of the fingerboard. 1. A guitar comprising: a fretted portion that protrudes by the same amount; and a fretless portion where the upper end surface of the fret is formed to be a flat surface flush with the fingerboard surface. 2. In the fretless part of the fingerboard surface, a groove is provided at the part corresponding to the fret position, and in the groove, a piece of wood such as maple, rose, ebony, etc. is placed on a flat surface flush with the fingerboard surface to mark the fret position. 2. The guitar according to claim 1, wherein the guitar is embedded and fixed in such a manner that the guitar is fixed.