US3456063A - Electric guitar - Google Patents

Description

July 15, 1969 TSUNEKAZU TERANISHI ET AL 3, 5

ELECTRIC GUITAR Filed Oct. 4, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J9 J8 J7 J6 35 TSUNEKAZU TERANISHI ET AL 3,456,063

July 15, 1969 ELECTRIC GUITAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4'. 1966 y 1969 TSUNEKAZU TERANISHI ET AL 3,456,063

ELECTRIC GUITAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 4, 1966 United States Patent Office US. Cl. 841.16 12 Claims The present invention relates to an electric guitar which is basically an ordinary solid guitar and is combined with various elements for making it possible to obtain various musical instrumental tones such as of acoustic guitars, gut guitars, shamisens, banjos and the like.

According to the present invention, a solid guitar comprising a main body having at its upper surface a number of steel strings, a bridge supporting said strings, a guitar mike positioned near said bridge and facing said strings and an external output terminal connected to the output side of said mike is provided with a damper facing said strings, a first switching mechanism for switching said damper to a position where the same is in contact wtih said strings and a position where the same is separated therefrom, a number of electric filters connected to the output side of said mike, and a second switching mechanism for selectively switching any one of said filters into an operative condition.

According to a second feature of the invention, the first and second switching mechanisms are arranged to move together. According to a third feature of the invention, at least one additional mike facing said strings and a number of electric filters connected to the output side of said additional mike are provided, and any one of said filters is selected to be operative by said second switching mechanism.

According to a fourth feature of the invention, an upper surface plate of the guitar main body is formed, at least at a portion thereof being disposed below the bridge in a vibrating plate. According to a fifth feature of the invention, there is provided another mike for taking out, as an electric signal, the vibration of said vibrating plate or that of a vibrating film connected through a frame to said vibrating plate, and this mike is switched from said first and second mikes by the second switching mechanism so as to be operative.

According to a sixth feature of the invention, a preamplifier circuit connected to the output side of the filter circuit is provided within the guitar main body. In this case, a battery can be used as an electric source for said amplifier circuit, and additionally in this case, the output terminal may be formed as a jack so that the battery circuit may be closed and opened by a plug which is inserted into or pulled out of said jack.

Thus the guitar of the present invention can be used as is as a solid guitar and can also be used to obtain various musical instrument tones such as those of an acoustic guitar, a gut guitar, a shamisen, a banjo and the like.

One embodiment of the present invention will next be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a guitar according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of the same with its right and left upper covers being removed therefrom;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-4H in FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

Patented July 15, 1969 FIGURE 5 is a schematic perspective view of a switching mchanis-m portion of the guitar; and

FIGURE 6 is an electric circuit diagram of the same.

Numeral 1 denotes a guitar main body having a neck portion 2 extending integrally therefrom. The main body 1 is provided at its upper surface with a number of steel strings 3, a bridge 4 supporting the same from below near the bottom end thereof. A guitar mike 5 is positioned near the bridge 4 facing the strings and an external output terminal 6 of jack type is connected to the output side of the mike 5, so that a guitar amplifier 7 separately arranged at the exterior may be connected thereto by a plug 9 at one end of a lead wire 8, which plug is inserted into said terminal 6. The above is not different in construction from known conventional solid guitars.

According to the present invention, the guitar is combined with various elements so that the same may be used not only as a solid guitar, but also to obtain tones of acoustic guitars, gut guitars, sha-misens or banjos. The manner of this composition will next be explained in detail.

An upper surface plate 10 of the main body 1 is formed at ts two side portions in the form of detachable covers 11 and 12, and there are formed herewith the same hollowed chambers 13 and 14 respectively. Within side chamber 14, there are contained a first switching mechanism 15, a second switching mechanism 16 and a common shaft 17 to move them together, so that by a turning of the shaft 17 by means of a knob 18 attached to the top end thereof, the switching mechanisms 15 and 16 may be swtiched to a first position No. 1 for a shamisen, a second position No. 2 for a gut guitar, a third position No. 3 for an acoustic guitar, a fourth position No. 4 for a solid guitar or a fifth position No. 5 for a banjo.

The first switching mechanism 15 comprises, as shown in FIG. 5, a rotatable cam which serves to controllably switch a vibration absorption damper 19 facing the strings 3 between a position where the same is in contact with the strings or in a position where the damper is separated therefrom. The damper 19 is made of vibration absorption material such as a foamed polyurethane resin or the like and has, as shown in FIG. 4, a base plate 20 fixed to the bottom surface thereof. Plate 20 is adjustably supported for upwards and downwards displacement on a supporting frame 23 by means of a pair of adjusting screws 21 and springs 22. The supporting frame 23 is extended at one end portion 24 into the chamber 13, where it is supported by a pin 25 and a spring 26. Frame 23 is extended at its other end 27 into the other chamber 14 for being engaged by the lower cam surface 28 of the cam 15.

The cam surface 28 comprises an upper step 28a corresponding to the first and second positions No. 1 and No. 2 mentioned above and a lower step 28b corresponding to the above-mentioned third to fifth positions, No. 3 to No. 5, so that when the cam 15 is turned to the first and second positions, No. 1 and No. 2, the supporting frame 23, and thus the damper 19, is not pushed thereby and is moved upwards by the spring 26 to be in an operative position where the damper is in contact, under pressure, with the strings 3. At the third to fifth positions, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, however, the supporting frame 23 and thus the damper 19 is pushed downwards to be in an inoperative position separated from the strings 3.

The damper 19, when brought into contact under pressure with the strings 3, serves to absorb the vibrations of the strings 3 and shorten the damping time of the free vibrations thereof so that the same is especially effective for obtaining tones of shamisens or gut guitars. The contact position and the contact length of the same with the strings influences the operation thereof, and a good result is obtained when, as one example, the damper is provided at a position 2 to 3 cms. from the bridge 4 to extend over about 1 to 1.5 cms. in length of the strings. The strength of the contact pressure thereof against the strings 3 also has an influence, and this can be adjusted by the screw 21.

The second switching mechanism 16 is a multiple stage electric switch (FIG. comprising one movable contact 29 and five stationary contacts 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. The movable contact 29 is connected to the external output terminal 6. A first filter 35 for a shamisen, a second filter 36 for a gut guitar, a third filter 37 for an acoustic guitar, a fourth filter 38 for a solid guitar and a fifth filter 39 for a banjo are connected, respectively, to the stationary contacts 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. The input sides of the first and fourth filters 35 and 38 are connected to the output side of the above-mentioned guitar mike 5.

In this arrangement, if the shaft 17 of the switching mechanism and 16 is switched to the fourth position No. 4, the damper 9 is separated from the strings 3 to be inoperative and the fourth filter 38 is selected to be operative so that the instrument can be used as a solid guitar. If, then, the shaft 17 is changed to the first position No. 1, the damper 19 is brought into contact with the strings 3 for dampening the vibration thereof and the first filter becomes operative so that a tone similar to that of a shamisen can be obtained.

A second guitar mike 40 facing the strings 3 is provided at a position where it is separated from the bridge 4. The second and the third filters 36 and 37 mentioned above are connected in parallel one with the other to the output side of the same. If, with this arrangement, the switching mechanisms 15 and 16 are switched to the second position No. 2, the damper 19 is inoperative and the second filter 36 is at work so that the tone of a gut guitar can be obtained. If the switch selects the third position No. 3, the damper 19 becomes operative and the third filter 37 is operative, so that the tone of an acoustic guitar may be obtained.

It is known that, when the vibrations of the strings 3 is picked up by a guitar mike, a hard tone rich in high frequency components is obtained if the mike is near the bridge 4 but a soft tone rich in low frequency components is obtained if the mike is moved to a position near the middle of the strings. The guitar mike 40 is positioned at said middle so that the same is especially effective for obtaining a tone of an acousitc guitar or a gut guitar.

The upper surface 10 of the guitar main body 1 is formed at the lower surface portion of the bridge 4 as a thin vibrating plate 41. 42 denotes a hollow chamber formed below the same. If so formed, the transmission phenomenon and frequency characteristic of the vibrations can be utilized to obtain an acoustic guitar tone or a shamisen tone. This Vibrating plate 41 has only a slight influence on the tone when the instrument is used as a solid guitar, but no harm is caused thereby. A vibrating film described below, which is more effective as to transition phenomenon and is especially effective for obtaining banjo tone. The plate 41 is not required to have a sound emission effect so that the same may be made comparatively small in area and, for example, a good result is obtained with a size of 3 mm. in thickness, 90 mm. in width and 160 mm. in length.

Vibrating film 44 is provided below the vibrating plate 41 throguh a cylindrical frame 43 as shown in FIG. 3, and there is provided a condenser type guitar mike 45, for picking up the vibration thereof as an electric signal. This mike is connected to the output side of said fifth filter 39. By moving the shaft 17 to the fifth position No. 5, the output of the mike 45 is taken out through the filter 39 as a tone similar to that of a banjo. It is also possible, in this case, to omit vibrating film 44 in which case the vibration of plate 41 itself is picked up by the mike 45. However, film 44 is generally more readily vibratable than plate 41.

The guitar mike 45 comprises a movable electrode 45a (FIG. 3) fixed to the film 44 and a stationary electrode 45b facing the same and any change in capacity between the two electrodes 45a and 45b is converted into an electric signal by the use of a frequency modulation circuit 46 (FIG. 6) at the output side thereof.

FIG. 6 shows an electric circuit diagram of the above instrument. Between a filter circuit A containing the first to fifth filters 35 to 39 and the external output terminal 6 is interposed a pre-amplifier circuit B serves not only to amplify the output of each filter 35 to 39 but also to prevent the filters from being changed in frequency characteristic due to connection with the load circuit.

Numeral 47 denotes a switch for switching the preamplifier circuit B into operative and inoperative conditions, numeral 48 (FIG. 1) is a knob therefor, 49 is a variable resistance for volume control, 50 (FIG. 1) is a knob therefor, 51 is a variable resistance for tone control, 52 (FIG. 1) is a knob therefor, 53 is a switch for switching to rhythm and solo, and 54 (FIG. 1) is a knob for the same.

There is provided within the chamber a battery 55 as an electrical power source for the pre-amplifier circuit B. This battery is interposed between a pair of terminals 6a and 6b of the jack or external output terminal 6. The terminals 6a and 6b are short-circuited for closing the battery circuit when the plug 9 is inserted, but the circuit is automatically opened when the plug is pulled out. This prevents any consumption of battery power due to forgetting of the operation of switching-01f, Numeral 56 denotes a switch in series with the battery and this switch is moved with the above-mentioned switch 47.

The instrument is used by rotating the shaft 17 of the switching mechanism 15 and 16, whereby may be obtained the following five conditions.

The vibrating plate 41 is always in operative condition, and this is essential in the case of shamisen, acoustic guitar and banjo. It may, however, be inoperative in the other cases.

Thus, the present invention provides a guitar, by the combination of various elements, which is not only operative as a solid guitar but also to obtain various tones such as those of a shamisen, gut guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo or the like.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric guitar comprising a main body having an upper surface, a plurality of steel strings on said body adjacent said surface, a bridge on said body supporting the strings, a guitar mike on the body near the bridge and facing the strings, an output terminal connected to said mike, a damper facing the strings, a first switching mechanism for selectively switching the damper to a position where the same is in contact with the strings and a position where the same is separated from the strings, a plurality of filters for filtering signals generated by said mike, and a second switching mechanism for selectively rendering the filters operative.

2. An electric guitar according to claim 1 comprising means for adjusting said first and second switching mechanisms together.

3. An electric guitar according to claim 1 comprising at least one additional mike facing the strings, and a plurality of further filters connected to said additional mike, said further filters being selectively rendered effective by the second switching mechanism.

4. An electric guitar according to claim 1 comprising, at the upper surface of the main body at a position below the said bridge, a vibrating plate.

5. An electric guitar according to claim 4 comprising a third mike for picking up the vibration of said vibrating plate, said third mike being rendered operative by said second switching mechanism.

6. An electric guitar according to claim 4 comprising a vibrating film which is more readily vibratable than the vibrating plate, a frame connecting said film to the vibrating plate, and a further mike for picking up the vibration of the film as an electrical signal, the latter said mike being selectively rendered operative by said second switching mechanism.

7. An electric guitar according to claim 1 comprising a pre-amplifier circuit connected to said filters and encased in the interior of said main body. 7

8. An electric guitar according to claim 7 comprising a battery Which is connected to and constitutes an electrical power source for the pre-amplifier circuit, said battery also being encased in the interior of the main body.

9. An electric guitar according to claim 7, wherein the output terminal is in the form of an external jack connected to the battery, said guitar further comprising a plug and an external amplifier connected to the plug,

the battery being rendered elfective by insertion of the plug into the jack.

10. An electric guitar as claimed in claim 2, wherein said switching mechanisms and said means are collectively constituted by a gang switch and a cam and a rod common to the gang switch and cam for simultaneously adjusting the same.

11. An electric guitar as claimed in claim 10 comprising a support for said damper, resilient means displaceably mounting said support, and means on the damper for engagement with and displacement by said cam.

12. An electric guitar as claimed in claim 11, wherein the cam and latter said means are encased in said main body, the latter said means being connected to said support which is located on the exterior of said main body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,325,579 6/1967 Cookerly et al. 84-1.16 HERMAN KARL SAALBACH, Primary Examiner M. NUSSBAUM, Assistant Examiner

Claims (1)

1. AN ELECTRIC GUITAR COMPRISING A MAIN BODY HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE, A PLURALITY OF STEEL STRINGS ON SAID BODY ADJACENT SAID SURFACE, A BRIDGE ON SAID BODY SUPPORTING THE STRINGS, A GUITAR MIKE ON THE BODY NEAR THE BRIDGE AND FACING THE STRINGS, AN OUTPUT TERMINAL CONNECTED TO SAID MIKE, A DAMPER FACING THE STRINGS, A FIRST SWITCHING MECHANISM FOR SELECTIVELY SWITCHING THE DAMPER TO A POSITION

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