US3690210A - Guitar - Google Patents

Guitar Download PDF

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Publication number
US3690210A
US3690210A US93948A US3690210DA US3690210A US 3690210 A US3690210 A US 3690210A US 93948 A US93948 A US 93948A US 3690210D A US3690210D A US 3690210DA US 3690210 A US3690210 A US 3690210A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
guitar
top board
bridge
sound
sound bar
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US93948A
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English (en)
Inventor
Masaru Imai
Tokio Ohkawa
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Individual
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Individual
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Publication date
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G10D1/00—General design of stringed musical instruments
    • G10D1/04—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres
    • G10D1/05—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres with fret boards or fingerboards
    • G10D1/08—Guitars

Definitions

  • GUITAR 1,116,754 11/1914 Storle ..84/276 UX [72] Inventors: Mm lmai 224, awhome, 1,890,861 12/1932 Overton ..84/267 nlgashmakanm T FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 10, 4-chome, l-ligashmakano, both f Nakanok Tokyo, Japan 573,322 10/1334 France]; 24/276 17, 1112 Gt'tain ..424 22 Filed: Dec. 1, 1970 tea I 9 21 APPL 93,943 Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson 1 Assistant Examiner-John F.
  • Thisinvention has been achieved as a result of a great number of experiments and repeated trials and errors, with help of intuition, chance and luck.
  • the principalconstituent of this invention is a sound bar comprising an elongated member made of Al, Cu or Ag. This sound bar is passed between the lining strip at the side of the guitar and a part fixed to the top board directly beneath the high-pitched tuned end of the bridge with the intermediate portion of said bar suitably spaced below the top board. It has been experimentally confirmed that this arrangement is helpful to increase the volume of sound, particularly of high-pitch tuned strings, resulting in good sound balance between strings and also improved tone.
  • FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away plan view of a guitar constructed according to the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a rear view of the guitar, with the back board being removed;
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line lII-lll of FIG. 2;
  • FIG. 4 is a rear view of another embodiment of the present invention shown with the back board removed;
  • FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line V-V of FIG. 4;
  • FIG. 6a to 6d are perspective views showing different forms of the sound bar.
  • FIGS. 1 to 3 there is shown an embodiment of the present invention, wherein reference numeral 11 designates a neck, 12 a finger board, 13 a top board, 14 a sound hole, 15 a bridge, 16 a side board, 17 a lining strip attached at the juncture between the top board 13 and the side board 16, 18, pencil ribs or reinforcements, and playing strings 19 of which the three on the left side in FIG. 1 are those tuned to low pitch and the remaining three on the right side tuned to high pitch. All of the above-said elements may be found in conventional guitars.
  • Denoted by reference numeral 20 is a sound bar which constitutes the main feature of the present invention.
  • This sound bar is an elongated round rod made of metal such as Al, Cu or Ag.
  • one end of said bar is fixedly inserted into a small block 21 glued to that part on the underside of the top board 13 which is just beneath the end 151 on the high-pitch tuned side of the bridge 15, while the other end 202 of said bar is fixedly inserted into a small block 22 glued to the inner face of the lining strip 17.
  • the portion of the sound bar 20 intermediate its ends 201 and 202 is suitably spaced from the underside of the top board 13.
  • the end 202 may be directly inserted into the lining strip 17.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 is shown another embodiment where a bridge reinforcing rib, designated by reference numeral 23, is provided. Said rib 23 is fastened, by gluing or other means, to that part on the underside of the top board 13 which is directly beneath the bridge 15.
  • one end 201 of the sound bar 20 may be directly inserted into the end 231 on the high-pitch side of the bridge reinforcing rib 23, as shown in FIG. 5.
  • the end 201 of the sound bar 20 is preferably slightly bent up and also suitably pointed at its tip.
  • an additional sound bar 20a may be provichad on the low-pitch side as indicated by a phantom line in FIG. 2 in the same manner described above in connection with sound bar 20.
  • a somewhat high-priced medium-grade guitar has comparatively a good balance of sounds between strings.
  • provision of two sound bars, on both high-pitch and low-pitch sides, is effective for increasing the sound volume and improving the tone.
  • the configuration of the sound bar 20 is not restricted to being round or rod-shaped as in the above described embodiments; it may be of a spiralled tubular configuration as shown in FIG. 6a, or a cylindrical tubular configuration as shown in FIG. 6b, or one which is triangular in section as shown in FIG. 60, or channelshaped as shown in FIG. 6d. Test results however have shown that the spiralled tubular configuration is most preferred.
  • the material best suited for making the sound bar 20 is A, Cu and Ag. Au may be too expensive to meet certain objectives of the present invention.
  • the location of the sound bar 20 should preferably be within the range defined by line L, (see FIG. 1) which passes the upper edge (as viewed in FIG. 1) of the bridge 15 and a line L, which passes the lower edge of the high-pitch-side end 151 of the bridge 15 and which is inclined at an angle of 30 relative to the line L1.
  • attachment of the sound bar or bars of the present invention at a prescribed location increases the volume of sound, particularly of the highpitch strings in a medium or lesser grade guitar which are usually lacking in such sound volume, and also improves the balancing of sounds as a whole as well as tone quality.
  • initiation of the sound as produced by flipping of the strings is improved, and also the sound is made clearer and is attenuated in a most natural manner.
  • the resulting sound is full, well-balanced and well-toned, comparable to that of a high-grade guitar.
  • a 30 inclination test method which is commonly employed among guitar manufactures as a most expedient means.
  • a guitar to be tested is supported in an inclined position such that the top board will be inclined at an angle of 30 with respect to the horizontal plane.
  • small, lightweight grains, such as sawdust are uniformly scattered over the surface of the top board, and the movement of these small grains caused by flipping of the strings is observed.
  • Such movement was observed as brisk in a guitar in which the sound bar of the present invention was incorporated. This is due to large amplitude of vibrations produced in the top board and the consequent large volume of sound.
  • tone quality Although there is available, a method in which the wave forms of sounds are examined by use of an oscilloscope, it is extremely difficult to measure such tone quality quantitatively and objectively. Human ears are, after all, the most reliable measure. Applicants asked many professional guitar players and manufacturers to listen to the sound produced by the guitar constructed in accordance with the present invention. They all admitted spectacularness of tone quality of our guitar.
  • a guitar having a top board (13) a bridge (15) fixed to the top board intermediate the ends of the top board and extending transversely of the top board, a side board (16) extending along and defining the side of the guitar, and a lining strip (17) fixed at the juncture between the top board and the side board; the improvement comprising an elongated sound bar fixed in the guitar spaced below the top board with one end of the sound bar positioned directly beneath one end of said bridge and the other end fixed to said lining strip.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Stringed Musical Instruments (AREA)
US93948A 1969-12-10 1970-12-01 Guitar Expired - Lifetime US3690210A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP9928769A JPS54647B1 (zh) 1969-12-10 1969-12-10

Publications (1)

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US3690210A true US3690210A (en) 1972-09-12

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US93948A Expired - Lifetime US3690210A (en) 1969-12-10 1970-12-01 Guitar

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US (1) US3690210A (zh)
JP (1) JPS54647B1 (zh)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4989491A (en) * 1989-01-12 1991-02-05 Baggs Lloyd R Stringed instrument with resonator rod assembly
US6040510A (en) * 1997-05-13 2000-03-21 Yaun; James S. Acoustic stringed instrument enhancement device
US20080190263A1 (en) * 2007-02-13 2008-08-14 Darren Drew Sound board support system
WO2009015449A1 (en) * 2007-08-01 2009-02-05 Reinaldo Almeida Chaves Disposal introduced in guitars and similars
DE102007043796A1 (de) * 2007-09-13 2009-03-19 Hoshino Gakki Co. Ltd. Gitarre
US20130098222A1 (en) * 2011-01-11 2013-04-25 Frank Sanns, Jr. Acoustic string tension compensating method and apparatus

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ES1057592Y (es) * 2004-04-20 2004-12-16 Fernandez Juan Menduina Tapa armonica para guitarras acusticas.

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US547150A (en) * 1895-10-01 monson
US594436A (en) * 1897-11-30 simpson
US651146A (en) * 1899-08-31 1900-06-05 Thomas C Ryan Sound-bar for musical instruments.
US1116754A (en) * 1912-08-05 1914-11-10 Ole O Storle Violin.
GB178064A (en) * 1921-04-08 1922-11-16 Jakob Seelbach Improvements in and relating to violins and like stringed musical instruments
FR579440A (fr) * 1924-02-27 1924-10-16 Perfectionnement rationnel des instruments à archet
US1890861A (en) * 1932-01-21 1932-12-13 Valdy C Overton Musical instrument

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US547150A (en) * 1895-10-01 monson
US594436A (en) * 1897-11-30 simpson
US651146A (en) * 1899-08-31 1900-06-05 Thomas C Ryan Sound-bar for musical instruments.
US1116754A (en) * 1912-08-05 1914-11-10 Ole O Storle Violin.
GB178064A (en) * 1921-04-08 1922-11-16 Jakob Seelbach Improvements in and relating to violins and like stringed musical instruments
FR579440A (fr) * 1924-02-27 1924-10-16 Perfectionnement rationnel des instruments à archet
US1890861A (en) * 1932-01-21 1932-12-13 Valdy C Overton Musical instrument

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4989491A (en) * 1989-01-12 1991-02-05 Baggs Lloyd R Stringed instrument with resonator rod assembly
US6040510A (en) * 1997-05-13 2000-03-21 Yaun; James S. Acoustic stringed instrument enhancement device
US20080190263A1 (en) * 2007-02-13 2008-08-14 Darren Drew Sound board support system
WO2009015449A1 (en) * 2007-08-01 2009-02-05 Reinaldo Almeida Chaves Disposal introduced in guitars and similars
DE102007043796A1 (de) * 2007-09-13 2009-03-19 Hoshino Gakki Co. Ltd. Gitarre
US20130098222A1 (en) * 2011-01-11 2013-04-25 Frank Sanns, Jr. Acoustic string tension compensating method and apparatus
US8969692B2 (en) * 2011-01-11 2015-03-03 Frank Sanns, Jr. Acoustic string tension compensating method and apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS54647B1 (zh) 1979-01-13

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