US1733595A - Hawailan guitar - Google Patents

Description

1929- w. A.'GREENFIELD I 95 HAWAIIAN GUITAR Filed March so, 1927 Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES A NT, OFFICE WILLIAM A. GREENFIEILD, or rennonron, ALBERTA, CANADA i nAwAIIANeUf'rAn AppIic-ation filed March 30,1927, Serial No. 179,427, and iii Canada March 23, 1927.

The Hawaiian guitar is a stringed instrupeculiar to that instrument. To many ears ment which heretofore has been constructed they are harsh and unmusical, and are conchiefly along the lines of the Spanish guitar sidered crude. They suggest or demonstrate having a hollow body with an opening in the primitive notions of musical sounds, being sounding boardand having along and slender wildand bizarre to the cultivatedear. And neck, the top surface'of the neck havinga finyet the Hawaiian guitar is capable of producger boa rd with frets thereon, the six tonal ing musical effects of so distinct a type, with strings passing over the finger-board, over a its peculiar suggestiveness of the wild and nut at the free endof'the neo'k,'and extending primitive, and with its ronounced capacity thence to tuning pegs or other devices in the for arousing emotions, t at'it has acquired a head. The Hawaiian guitar has several chardistinct status among instruments of its genact'eristic departures from the ordinary guian type and has become very popular in this tar. One isthat frets as such are omitted. In country; Its popularity is rapidly spreading place of frets, markers are employed on what through European countries.

wouldordinarily be termed a finger board There are certain objections or deficiencies 65 or fret board, these markers being usually to andin, the Hawaiian guitar of the ordiinlays an flush with the top surface of the nary type and its musical results, both with board' {The tuned strings must remain free of respect to its tonal qualities and with respect frets. The tuning'and the methods of use to its manner of use. Some ofthese have been are entirely different and distinct, and the alluded to hereinabove. The objects of the to music for this instrument is written differ present invention are to overcome or lessen ently from that written for any other instru the chief of such objections by improving the ment. i musical effectsof the instrument while ren- The method peculiar to the Hawaiian guidering'fits operation more easy, more definite tar comprises the application to the upper andin generalmore satisfactory. 7'5 surfaces of the tonal strings of a metallic Inthe'drawings Figurel is a front edge plate, ordinarily about an inchin height, an view of my improved Hawaiian guitar with eighth'of an inch in thickness, and four inches portions broken away to show the continuain length, with a rounded bottom 'edge,this tion and extent of the tents body, the fragplate usually being called the fsteel. Bemeiitaryfigure of a player of the instrument 80 cause of its operation with such steel the b ing" also shown to illustrate how the novel Hawaiian guitar is frequently referred to as guitaris firmly" seated on the operators legs; the steelguitar. i H Fig. 2 is almost a top view of the instrument The-'Hawaiian guitar isordinarily played of Fig. 1, the view being slightly in perspec-,

by a' person normally seated, as in a chain tive; and Fig. 3'is a fragmentary sectional 85 The'bodyfof the instrument is laid upon the' viewtakemthrough the body extension and rest surface provided by the top of the right key-board as on the line 33 of Fig. 1" viewed thigh, and the'stringsare plucked, eitherJoy in' the direction of the arrows, showing how the finger tipsdirect or by a pointed instruthe steel isheld with respectto' the strings.

40 mentthimbled upon one finger or more. The The main bodylO of the instrument, the 90 variations in toneof the respective stringsare tail piece 11, the strings asalwhole denomiproducedfby applying the steel crosswise mated-12, the nut 13, the head 14, the tuning of the strings at. varyingdistancesffrom the devices15, the fret board 16, the opening 17 tail-piece,- the steel thus becoming in effect inthe sounding board, and the hand rest, 18

a fetimovable at will by the operator to demay be all'in accordance with what is well 95 finethe effective length of thestring or strings known the construction of the Hawaiian atkany'time being vibrated to produce amus guitar as heretofore .known. I prefer, how ieal tone or tonles. T t "f fi ever, that thef'finger buttons 'ofthe string- *Thr'ouglfitheus'of the 'steel'the tones pro tighteniagfllneans "l5. extend "above the head duced by the Hawaiian guitar are decidedly 14;"renderingthe' adjustment ofthe strings 1 0 more easy and while the instrument is held in playing position. An important distlnction of the present device from prior practice consists in an elongation of the hollow body through the provision of an extension as 20 thereof. This hollow portion 20 extends preferably to the nut 13. It is preferably materially wider than is the finger-board and to the extent of the finger-board is normally beneath it. Fig. 3 shows that this extension 20 is rectangular in cross view. The sounding board 21 thus extends from end to end of the in strument, as does the bottom wall 22. The side walls of both the body and the extension are shownas being at right angles to the top and bottom walls, and there is an end wall 23 at the head. The construction thus provides a much elongated sound chamber formed of a relatively narrow extension portion and a relatively wide body portion in the particular embodiment shown.

The side of the extension farther from the player is'closely adjacent to one longitudinally-extending edge of the finger-board, thus providing clearance on that side for the free manipulation of the steel when it is tilted, as is necessary when'playing on the single string adjacent thereto and which is a peculiar and characteristic feature of Hawaiian guitar music.

Fig. 2 shows how the present instrument may lie fiat upon the upper legs of a person seated. Since it is thus provided from end to end with a long and flat base it is supported at both ends firmly. Very importantly, when the operator applies the steel, which he does with respect to individual strings or to several or all of them, the finger-board end of the instrument firmly seated, and the player is not met by a tendency of the instrument to tilt or move in lateral directions due to his manipulations. The required technique may now be exercised free of inhibiting or counteracting influences, and by reason of the firm seating of the instrument the player is able to develop a better technique and to do better execution than without the improvements in that respect. 7

Turning to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the left hand of the operator holdingthe steel is resting on or near the corner at the juncture of the sounding board 21 and what may be termed the inner wall 25 of the extension 20. The steel has an appreciable weight and its handling in time becomes tiresome, especially to younger folks and female performers. WVhile operating according to these improvements the hand rests from time to time and sometimes slides along the rest surface provided by the extension 20, as shown in Fig. 3. A better manipulation of the steel can also be had in some instances with the hand so resting, and certain technical effects can thereby be produced with more certainty and more easily than where the whole arm is swinging freely.

Another important feature of the improvement is in the advantage of better tonal effects in general. I have discovered that one reason for the harshness and decidedl metallic character of the tones of the or inary Hawaiian guitar is in the hitherto relatively small reverberatory air column or space defined by the body walls, considering the kind and character of this instrument. I have found that by increasing the air column with in the body in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, producing a relatively long air column, the tones are rendered deeper and richer and notably free of metallic harshness. In this respect I have thus produced a steel guitar having tones relatively rich in musical qualities, tones having excellent timbre, resulting from the harmonious blending of overtones, and tones which, while fully characteristic of this instrument, are pleasing to the ear.

Note the nose-like projection 28 midway between the ends of the instrument wherethe extension side 27 meets the side of the body. This projection is a distance indicator for use of the player as his hand moves over the strings. It is at the twelfth tone marker on the finger-board, which indicates the octave. It is highly important for the operator to play this octave with certainty and exactness and in a rapid movement. The projection mentioned serves to show him this place by the sense of touch.

The manufacture of be in accordance with stood in the art.

I contemplate as being included in these improvements all such variations, changes, departures and modifications from what is thus specifically illustrated and described as are included in the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A Hawaiian guitar comprising side, top, bottom and end walls forming a wide hollow body and a narrow hollow extension thereof, a finger-board having the transverse- 1y arranged tone-indicating markings of a Hawaiian guitar secured on the top of said extension and directed longitudinally therewith, there being means for holding and tightening six tonal strings extending sub stantially parallel. to each other above the finger-board, said means including a nut and a tail-piece adapted to hold said strings at a materially great distance from said fingerboard whereby the strings will be maintained free of the finger-board under pressure by a playing steel upon the strings applied in the direction of the finger-board, one edge of said finger-board extending longitudinally closely adjacent to one side of said extension.

my new guitar may practices well under- 2. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which the other side of said extension, and which is the one closer to the players body when the instrument is normally in use, is at a substantial distance from that part of the finger-board immediately under the tonal strings.

3. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which the top and bottom walls of the body and extension are substantially parallel with each other and provide a substantially flat surface on the bottom of the instrument from end to end thereof.

4. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which there is a distance-indicating exten-c sion of the body at approximately the twelfth tone marker on the finger-board and at the side of the instrument body normally farther from the players body.

WILLIAM A. GREENFIELD.

Images