Fulcrum tremolo claw lock resonator

• US 10,643,587 B1
• Filed: 06/24/2019
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lance Mccormick
• Original Assignee: Lance Mccormick
• Inventors: McCormick, Lance
• Primary Examiner(s): Horn, Robert W
• Application Number:
  US16/450,750
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G10D 1/085 Mechanical design of electric guitars
• CPC Class Codes: G10D 3/04 Bridges
• CPC Class Codes: G10D 3/06 Necks; Fingerboards, e.g. fret boards
• CPC Class Codes: G10D 3/10 Strings
• CPC Class Codes: G10D 3/153 Tremolo devices

Abstract

Sonic improvement for all stringed instruments that employ a fulcrum tremolo bridge system with back of instrument counter tensioning springs. The improvement is provided by securing the spring retaining claw assembly of said system to a flat plate of material which in turn is secured to the instrument body. The presence of the plate will enhance the sound quality of said instrument in a perceivable way to the human ear.

Claims

1. A stringed musical instrument consisting of

a solid resonating body having an elongated longitudinal inset cavity within at least the upper, rear boundary of said body;

a neck; and

a plurality of strings under tension that are counter tensioned by springs in a fulcrum tremolo string bridge system, the tremolo system comprising

a resonator block, where the inset cavity in the body receives the resonator block in a resonator block cavity portion of the inset cavity that extends through the body of the instrument from the front and the resonator block is pivotally movable in the cavity portion;

a spring retaining claw assembly comprising claws;

tremolo tension springs mounted between the claws and the resonator block; and

fasteners securing the spring retaining claw assembly of said system to a flat plate of a material which in turn is secured to instrument body.

2. The stringed musical instrumental instrument of claim 1, wherein the flat plate is a metal or a non-metal, selected according to the desired sound modification characteristic.

3. The stringed musical instrument of claim 1, wherein the spring retaining claw assembly has an L-shape and the upright of the L-shape has screw holes and the horizontal part has slotted screw holes, where a screw through the upright of the L-shape mounts the spring retaining claw assembly to the solid body of the instrument and the horizontal part of the L-shape has screws through the slots into the flat plate of metal.

4. The stringed musical instrument of claim 2, wherein the springs, spring claw assembly and the flat plate are placed in the spring portion of the inset cavity, where the depth of the inset cavity is oriented into the solid body of the instrument from the rear of the body, and there is a reduced thickness part of the body bounding the cavity which houses the instrument pick-ups on the front side and the elongated direction of the spring portion of the inset cavity is in the direction which the musical strings extend from fulcrum tremolo bridge.

5. The stringed musical instrument of claim 3, wherein the spring mount cavity portion of the inset cavity is bounded by inset walls on the sides and at the spring claw assembly mount wall which is opposite to the resonator block cavity portion, wherein screws extend from the upright of the L-shape of the spring mount claw assembly into the spring claw assembly mount wall.

6. The stringed musical instrument of claim 4, wherein the flat sheet of metal is elongate in the spring length direction of the spring mount cavity portion of the inset cavity and extends to a position near the resonator block portion of the inset cavity, and the width of the flat sheet of metal is one more of the width of the resonator block cavity portion, and the thickness of the flat sheet of metal is twice or more the thickness the spring mount claw assembly and where variations in length, width, thickness and material of the plate can tailor the sound of the stringed instrument.

7. The stringed musical instrument of claim 5, where the material of the plate is a magnetic material, the instrument is electrified by magnetic pickups and the plate when mounted is on the opposite side of the body.

8. The stringed musical instrument of claim 2, wherein the plate is tapped for threads or slotted for tee nuts, where the machine screws attach alternately to the tapped threads or to tee nuts in the slots for tee nuts.

9. The stringed musical instrument of claim 5, wherein anchoring is achieved via screws or adhesive agent to the innermost surface of spring counter tension cavity, the surface that is at the back of the body in parallel to the instrument face.

11. The fulcrum tremolo claw lock resonator kit of claim 9, where the metal plate when mounted is opposite the electromagnetic pickups of the instrument and the material of the plate is magnetic metal material.

12. The stringed musical instrumental instrument of claim 9, wherein the flat plate is a metal or a non-metal, selected according to the desired sound modification characteristic.

10. A fulcrum tremolo claw lock resonator kit for retrofitting the fulcrum tremolo spring mount, comprising

an alternate spring claw assembly having spring claws that mounts to the spring claw assembly mount wall of the spring mount cavity by the original spring claw screws, the spring claw assembly comprising pair of screw slots;

a pair of machine screws;

a plate having a length just short the length of spring cavity, a width half or more the width of the spring mount cavity, a thickness that is twice or more the thickness of the fulcrum tremolo spring mount, the plate comprising screw holes around the perimeter and two rows of threaded holes arranged for attachment by machine screw and aligned with slots of the alternate spring claw assembly;

a set of mount screws for the holes around the perimeter of the medal plate that thread into the body of musical instrument;

wherein the alternate spring claw assembly mounts by machine screw to the metal plate and the metal mounts to the body of the string instrument in the body;

where variations in length, width, thickness and material of the metal plate can tailor the sound of the stringed instrument.