US2487192A - Attachment for stringed musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 8, 1949 SMITH 2 4-81192 ATTACHMENT FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed May 24, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l 36 z 35 Fl v INVENTOR. WALTER E. SMITH Nov 8, 1949 w. E. SMETH ATTACHMENT FOR STRINGEb MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24, 1946 INVENIOR. WALTER E. SMITH Patented Nov. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS My invention relates to improvements in devices adapted for attachment to stringed musical instruments, and particularly to guitars, and consists in the constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

It is an object of my invention to provide an attachment of the above character which when attached to a guitar or the like, will enable the player to change the tones of certain of the strings while the instrument is being played, by means other than and additional to those normally employed for playing the instrument, whereby a greater number of chords may be obtained when the strings are picked or played in combination than would otherwise be the case.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved attachment for guitars and the like, which includes means operable by the player for modifying the tension of a string while the instrument is being played, for causing the open string to produce a different tone than it would normally produce, thereby to enable the player to obtain a greater number of chords than would be otherwise obtainable.

A further object of my invention is to provide an attachment of the above character, which may be secured to the instrument without structural modification thereof, and which may be readily installed and removed, as desired, by the player of the instrument,

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a device of the above character which shall be simple and economical of construction, and which may be readily controlled and actuated.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specifications and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same numerals of reference are applied to similar points throughout the various views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a guitar and embodying an improved attachment in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a contracted side elevational view, enlarged, of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view in side elevationof an attaching device utilized with my invention;

Figure 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of my invention;

Figure 5 is a plan view of still another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 represents a plan view of variation of the device illustrated in Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken through a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, 1 represents the head portion and 8 the neck portion of a guitar, having a series of strings I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which pass to a series of tightening keys H, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6. The nut 9 over which the strings normally pass is supplemented by a device I0 which overlies the nut 9 and provides a compartment I! for various springs and levers to be described. The construction above referred to provides for retentionof the device l0 against the nut 9 and the neck 8 by the pressure of the guitar strings and without the necessity for retaining screws, which would mar the instrument. The device ID, as will be seen in Figures 1, 2, 4, and '7, consists of a housing substantially rectangular in outline and formed with a raised front part 6i positioned over. the nut 9 and a lower rear part 62. The guitar strings pass under tension across raised part 6| for holding the housing I9 in place. Raised portion 6| also serves to elevate the strings whereby various tone-modifying means may be positioned both on and in the housing ID, as seen in Figures 2 and 7 especially. The housing also comprises end walls 63 and a rear wall 64 the lower edges of which rest against the top surface of neck 8, and a top section all of which cooperate in supporting the tonemodifying means to be described.

A U-shaped strap I8 fits over the neck 8 of the instrument and the arms I9 of the strap I8 are provided with hooks 29. A spring 2|, having ends 22 secured Within the hooks 20 extends about and frictionally engages the under side of the neck 8, and serves to retain the strap I8 in place. Extending laterally from the strap I8 is a flange I9 for supporting a horizontally extending bar 23, which slides Within a suitably proportioned slot in the flange l9 and which comprises an actuating lever 23a, readily accessible for movement by the knee of a player.

The bar 23, at its forward end, is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 24, receiving retaining pins 25 and 26 which are linked by means of lost motion slots 21 and 28 to levers 29 and 30.

The lever 29 serves to cause pivotal motion of a link 3| about a pin 32 to raise or lower the string 3 at a point intermediate the nut 9 and the key I3, whereby to increase the tension on the string 3 to a slight degree, and raise its tone.

The lever 30, on the other hand, is provided with a shelf 33, pivoted on a pin 34, which extends parallel to the pin 32 through the compartment I1, and is normally spring pressed upwardly against the string 2 by means of a coil spring 35, which surrounds the pin 34 and an end 35 of which extends under the shelf 33. The compartment I1 is provided with a set screw 31' which acts to adjust the tension of the spring 35. Actuation of the lever 30 serves to lower the shelf 33 against the tension of the spring 35, whereby the tension in string 2 is reduced and its tone lowered.

In the embodiments of Figures 4, 5 and 6 the construction for varying the tone normally producible by the string 2 involves a rod 49 which actuates a crank 41 pivotally mounted on the transverse rod 42, the said crank 41 having a transversely extending arm 49, which extends under the string 2. The arm 43 is normally pressed upwardly to tension the string 2 by means of an end extension 44 of a coil spring 45, which surrounds the transverse rod 42. Extension 44 extends through a slot 49 in the compartment I! and over the arm 43. The tension of the coil spring 45 is adjustable by means of a set screw 41. In the embodiment of Figure 4 a separate rod 48 and lever 49 are provided for increasing the tension of the string 2.

In the embodiment of Figure 5 the spring 45 is dispensed with and a pair of strings 59 and 5| are substituted which are secured, as indicated at 52, in the nut 9, and which may be tightened by the key 13 which normally also acts to tighten the string 3. Upon tensioning the string 3 the strings 50 and 5! are also tensioned and provide an upward force for the arm 43. Actuation of rod 49 and crank 4| serves to depress the arm 43 against the strings 59 and 5!, whereby the tension in string 2 is reduced.

Figure 6 is similar to Figure 5 except that a single string 53 is utilized in place of the strings 5B and 5|.

Figure 7 of the drawings discloses a further embodiment of the invention wherein tension on the string 2 is normally provided by a helical, frusto-conical spring 55, having at its upper end a block 56 extending through an aperture 51 in the compartment H. Threadedly engaged in the block 55 is a screw 58 having in its head a slot 59 which bears upwardly against the string 2, and is disengageable from the string 2 by means of the lever 60, actuable by the player of the instrument.

While I have described and illustrated various embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that modifications of the combinations, arrangements of parts and various structural details may be resorted to without doing violence to the spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a stringed musical instrument comprising a neck and a nut thereon and lever means associated therewith for modifying string tension, of a housing positioned on the neck under the strings and formed to provide a raised front portion positioned over the nut across which the strings rest under tension for holding the housing in place, said housing having a rear portion lower than said front portion enclosing and supporting said lever means.

2. The combination with a stringed musical instrument comprising a neck having lever means associated with the upper end thereof for modifying string tension, of a housing positioned on said upper end of the neck under the strings and formed to provide a raised front portion positioned over the nut across which the strings rest under tension for holding the housing in place, said housing having a rear portion lower than said front portion enclosing and supporting said lever means.

WALTER E. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,374,388 Reed Apr. 12, 1921 1,834,695 Geart-ner Dec. 1, 1931 2,040,633 Schulz May 12, 1936 2,132,281 Adamson Oct. 4, 1938 2,196,531 Larisch Apr. 9, 1940 2,201,536 Harvey May 21, 1949 2,257,995 Abrams et al Oct. '7, 1941 2,323,969 Biederman July 13, 1943

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