EP0056537A1 - Rigid body stringed musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

With a rigid body 1 having a wide opening 2, this instrument is equipped with a flexible soundboard 3 made of sound material extending freely between a bearing edge 8 on said body and an edge opposite to the previous one which is adapted to constitute a support for a tailpiece 4 articulated on said body. Applications to electric guitars and bowed instruments.

Description

The present invention relates to stringed musical instruments, in particular amplified sound instruments such as so-called electric guitars.

We know that there are two types of electric guitars: so-called half-body guitars and those known as full-body.

- Half-body guitars are provided with a harmonization system consisting of a soundboard forming part of a resonance box. This harmonization system aims, as in all classical string instruments, to create interactions between the vibrations of the different strings, thus causing substantial modifications to the timbre of the sounds emitted by each of them.

However the use of the electric guitar having evolved a lot, it turned out that the sound box tends to enter itself in resonance (LARSEN effect) with the sound sources of the various amplification systems which emit sounds of '' a power currently much higher than that used when these guitars appeared. The manufacturers were consequently led to build soundboard - sounder more massive sets limiting the LARSEN effect but also very considerably the role of the soundboard.

- Full-body electric guitars have a mechanical-acoustic assembly made up of a solid neck and a solid wooden body; they are devoid of any harmonization system.

In this type of guitar, as in traditional classical guitars, the strings are vibrated above a series of magnetic pads (one per string) thus varying the polarity of a winding which surrounds the pads and which is common. It is quite obvious that in the event of simultaneous variation of the magnetic field of the various studs and in the absence of soundboard and resonance box, the overall sound collected is only an addition of the sound of each string without further form of interaction of the vibrations of the strings, where an absence of relief of the sound directly resulting from this type of instruments.

The invention aims to remedy the drawbacks of these two types of traditional electric guitars. It consists in integrating into a neck and full body of an electric guitar, a thin and flexible soundboard made of sound material, which is buckled under the effect of the tension of the strings of the instrument.

The soundboard allows you to recreate a harmonic mixture of strings while the absence of a sound box associated with the table avoids the LARSEN effect allowing the use of sound amplifiers of very high powers.

In addition, the instrument is designed to allow harmony tables of the same size but with different characteristics to be interchanged, thus giving the same instrument diversified harmonic characters by simply changing the table.

The soundboard is curved in shape and is in fixed support at one of its ends on the body of the instrument, while the strings are pushed at the other end by means of a tailpiece on which the strings hang. The latter is substantially perpendicular to the strings and to the table and comes to bear, in its upper part on a fixed pivot and in its lower part on the free end of the table.

The tailpiece subjected to the tension of the strings therefore exerts an axial pressure on the soundboard, which causes it to buckle while ensuring its maintenance on the fixed support, the whole finding a balance when the strings are in tension .

The strings are attached to the tailpiece between the fixed pivot and its support on the table. According to one of the characteristics of the invention, the point of attachment of the strings can be moved along the tailpiece thus making it possible to adjust the effect of the rope on the table as desired. This result is obtained by attaching the rope to a member adapted to slide along the tailpiece between the two support lines thereof.

• la figure 1 représente une vue en plan de l'instrument selon l'invention, l'équipement électrique classique n'étant pas représenté ;
• la figure 2 représente une vue en coupe longitudinale selon la ligne I-I de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 représente une vue selon la flèche IIIde l'autre côté de l'instrument par rapport au manche ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'un instrument à archet selon l'invention ;
• la figure 5 est une vue correspondante en plan ;
• la figure 6 est une vue en coupe transversale selon le plan VI-VI de la figure 5 ;
• la figure 7 est une vue partielle en coupe longitudinale semblable à celle de la figure 2, montrant une variante ;
• la figure 8 est une vue semblable à la précédente montrant une autre variante
• la figure 9 est une vue partielle en plan correspondant à la figure 8.

Embodiments of the invention are shown by way of nonlimiting examples in the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 shows a plan view of the instrument according to the invention, the conventional electrical equipment not being shown;
• 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view along line II of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 shows a view along arrow III on the other side of the instrument relative to the handle;
• Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a bow instrument according to the invention;
• Figure 5 is a corresponding plan view;
• Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along the plane VI-VI of Figure 5;
• Figure 7 is a partial view in longitudinal section similar to that of Figure 2, showing a variant;
• Figure 8 is a view similar to the previous showing another variant
• FIG. 9 is a partial plan view corresponding to FIG. 8.

According to the embodiment chosen and shown in Figures 1 to 3, the body 1 of the instrument is made of solid material, preferably solid wood. It has in its middle a wide opening, for example a circular opening 2 on the edge of which a soundboard 3 rests under the strings 12 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which are conventionally mounted to the head, not shown, of the handle 9 of the instrument. This thin and flexible soundboard is made of sound material and has a slightly curved shape, the convex face facing the strings. On the side of its support 8 on the body 1, the soundboard has over its entire width a substantially thicker flat rim matching the shape of the circular opening 2.

A bridge constituted by two metal rulers 7, fixed on the body of the instrument and crossing the opening 2 above the soundboard, supports an easel 6 on which the strings 12 rest.

The space delimited by the rulers, the handle and the easel, receives the electrical part i.e. sensors or classical type microphones, not shown in the drawings, sound recording for amplification being done under the strings, as in traditional electric guitars.

A tailpiece 4 which can be seen in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 comprises a series of slots 11, through which pass the strings which are locked by washers 10 on its rear face.

This tailpiece is freely supported by its upper part on the body 1 of the instrument by means of a metal bar 5 parallel to the bridge and fixed to the body. The edge of this bar constitutes a fixed axis around which the tailpiece can freely pivot. The tailpiece which extends in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of the soundboard 3 is supported, by its lower part, on the free end 13 thereof.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the tension strings which rest on the horse 6, descend between the rulers 7 to attach to the back of the tailpiece 4 between the two supports 6 and 13, pulling said tailpiece against the bar 5 and the table 3.

The shape of the tailpiece is such that the support plane of the washers 10 is substantially perpendicular to the strings, which prevents any accidental movement on their part on this part. On the other hand, by varying the position of the retaining washers 10 along the slots 11, it is possible to move the fulcrum of each of the strings on the tailpiece, between two limit positions located respectively in the vicinity of the bar. support 5, on the one hand, and the end 13 of the table, on the other hand,

The table, being pinched between the tailpiece and the body of the instrument, is removable. To put it in place, it suffices to present its free end 13 on the tailpiece, the strings being relaxed, and to engage it on the support 8. To change the table, it suffices to loosen all the strings and when the pressure of the tailpiece becomes weak, a simple push of the finger on the table releases it from its supports.

The work of the table in the instrument according to the invention can be analyzed as follows. The tension of the rope exerts traction on the tailpiece which, in turn, pushes on the free end of the curved and flexible table causing it to buckle; it therefore accumulates in the latter a certain amount of energy which counterbalances the tension of the rope and which depends on the adjustment of the rope on the tailpiece.

The variation in the traction exerted on the beating table results in a variation in the bending, and therefore in the radius of curvature thereof. The variat, ions of the curvature of the table causing corresponding displacements of the position of the support edge 13, therefore oscillations of the tailpiece which are reflected simultaneously on the tension of all the strings; this interaction taking place in a relationship which is a function, for each rope, of the position chosen for its anchor point on the tailpiece.

The action of the table therefore results in a modulation of the tension of the strings which explains its effectiveness, being generally admitted in violin making that it is the preferable mode of action on a tight rope.

Table 3 therefore constitutes for the electric guitar according to the invention, a harmonization system which, owing to the fact that it is not associated with a resonance box, is not subject to the LARSEN effect - due to the powers high amplifiers. sound cators.

The soundboard can be made of any sound and elastic material. The curvature of the table (figure 2) is determined according to the elasticity of the material so that, when the tension of the strings is applied to the tailpiece, it is likely to store an energy which does not absorbs only a fraction of its elasticity potential, preferably just over half.

According to the embodiment of Figures 4 to 6, the invention applies to a bow instrument (violin, viola, cello).

A handle 20 carrying the classic button 21 is connected to a solid body 22, the outer line 23 of which follows the usual outline of the instrument, while the inner line 24 has a wide opening. The height H (figure 4) of this body can remain significantly lower than that of the fishplate of a normal instrument. In the present case, a bottom 25 is glued over the entire underside of the body 22. This body has an increase in thickness 26 at the connection of the handle and a part 27 projecting inwards to receive the accessories which will constitute a button 28 d 'attaches the tailpiece and possibly a spike (not shown) if it is a cello. In this same projecting part 27 is adapted to fit together, on the other hand, a bar 29 for stiffening the assembly formed by the body 22 and the bottom 25. This bar is fitted, on the other hand, in 30 in a notch made for this purpose in the heel 31 of the handle 20.

A series of several holes 32 is provided in the reinforcement 27 of the body to receive, as desired, the button 28 for attaching the tailpiece.

Here we find a tailpiece 33 similar to that of the previous embodiment, except that its support means is constituted in this case by a flexible loop 34 of attachment passing over the button 28 and in a groove 35 formed in this effect near the top edge of the tailpiece.

At its lower edge, beyond the area of attachment of the strings 36, there is, in support, the free end 37 of a soundboard 38. On the side of its opposite support 39 on the body we find here at the end of the heel 31 of the sleeve a series of grooves 40 which extend on either side on the internal face of the body as it is clearly visible in particular in FIG. 6. The possibility of engaging the bearing edge 39 optionally in any of these grooves provides ease of adjustment of the height position of the table,

The bridge 41 which supports the strings 36 rests here by one of its feet, or 42, on the table 38 itself, while its other foot 43 rests on a pillar 44 placed on the bottom 25 and made accessible by a window 45 provided for this purpose in table 38.

Special adjustment facilities are necessary in this case, due to the fact that the bridge is supported on the soundboard by one of its feet; the area of this table which must receive the foot of the easel must therefore imperatively place yourself at a height imposed by the pillar 44. This is the reason why there is provided an adjustment means on each side of the soundboard. We have seen that on the side of the handle a possibility of adjustment was offered by the choice of a groove 40. On the side of the tailpiece there is first of all the possibility of inserting the fastening button 28 in one or the another of the holes 32. Secondly, each of these holes having a cylindrical shape complementary to the shape of the rod of the button 28 and the orientation being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the strings, it is possible to adjust the height with precision. of the soundboard by adjusting the degree of depression of the attachment button 28 in the chosen hole.

This will have achieved a coupling of the strings with the soundboard 38 via the bridge, which allows to find a quality of sound comparable to that of the corresponding traditional instruments.

The bow instrument thus produced can in particular be used for work with considerably reduced sound levels. The bow instruments thus designed can also lend themselves to their equipment with electronic amplification means while being sheltered from the drawbacks of the LARSEN effect.

In the embodiments above considered the tension of the strings was applied to the lever constituted by the tailpiece according to the invention at a point located between the fixed support of this lever and the point of exercise of the action of this lever on the soundboard.

However, this arrangement is not limiting and this is illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9.

In the embodiment illustrated schematically in Figure 7 the tailpiece 4A finds its fixed fulcrum 5A at its lower part, its exercise point 13A at the end of the table 3A is located above the previous one, while the tension of the strings 12A applies to the upper level 10A adjustable along the slots 11A.

It is a reverse arrangement of the previous one that finally illustrates Figures 8 and 9; while there is for the tailpiece 4B a fixed top support point 5B, and an intermediate exercise point 13B, the area of application of the tension of the strings 12B is located in LOB at the bottom of the tailpiece; the strings 12B in this case pass below the corresponding end portion of the table 3B through slots 50 provided for this purpose therein.

Experience shows that these slots practically do not alter the acoustic performance of the soundboard according to the invention.

These examples show that the invention is capable of being the subject of various variants in its methods of application to the most diverse stringed instruments.

Claims (14)

1) Stringed musical instrument with rigid body, characterized by a flexible soundboard (3, 38) of sound material extending freely between a bearing edge (8,40) on the rigid body (1, 22 ) and an edge opposite to the previous one which is adapted to constitute a support for a tailpiece (4, 33) articulated on said body. 2) Musical instrument according to claim 1 characterized in that the table is of curved shape, the convex face being turned towards the strings. 3) Musical instrument according to any one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the soundboard (3, 38) is subjected at its free end (13) to the push of a tailpiece (4) taking support on a fixed pivot (5) secured to the body of the instrument. 4) Musical instrument according to claim 3 characterized in that the axis of the pivot is constituted by the edge of a bar (5) fixed on the body (1) of the instrument. 5) Musical instrument according to any one of claims 3 or 4 characterized in that the tailpiece extends in a plane substantially perpendicular to the strings (12) and to the soundboard (3) and in that the point rope attachment can be moved along the tailpiece in transverse lines relative to the fixed pivot, on the one hand, and the bearing edge of the tailpiece on the table, on the other hand. 6) Musical instrument according to claim 5 characterized in that the tailpiece comprises a series of slots (11) for the passage of the strings which are retained on its rear face by means of washers (10). 7) Musical instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 6 characterized in that the solid body of the instrument comprises a large opening (2) on one edge of which bears the harmonic table (3), a bridge consisting of two rulers (7) extending through the opening above the soundboard and supporting an easel (6). 8) Musical instrument according to claim 7, characterized in that sound pickups known per se are arranged under the strings in the space delimited by the rulers (7), the handle (9) and the bridge (6). 9) Musical instrument according to any one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the soundboard (3) and the tailpiece (4) are freely supported respectively on the body (1) of the instrument and the fixed pivot, the tension of the strings ensuring the balance of the table and the tailpiece. 10) Musical instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the soundboard is interchangeable, being pinched between its point of support (8) on the body and an exercise point (13 ) from the tailpiece thrust (4). 11) String instrument du'type with bow, according to claim 1, characterized in that a bottom (25) being formed against the dorsal face of the body, an easel (41) rests by a foot (42) on the soundboard (38) and by another leg (43) on a pillar (44) made accessible by a window (45) formed in said table. 12) Instrument according to claim 11, characterized in that the soundboard is supported by a first edge (39) in one of a series of grooves (40) of the body of the instrument while a second opposite edge (37) of said table is supported on the tailpiece (33). 13) Instrument according to claim 10 or 11 charac terized in that the tailpiece comprises a support and articulation means constituted by a flexible loop (34) passing over a fastening button (28). 14) Instrument according to claim 13, characterized by the arrangement of a plurality of holes (32) adapted to receive the choice of the attachment button (28) by plugging in at an adjustable depth.

Images