Tone modifier for electrically amplified electro-mechanically produced musical tones

Claim 1

IN COMBINATION WITH A STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT HAVING AN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PICK-UP AND AN ELECTRONIC AMPLIFYING AND REPRODUCING SYSTEM, A TONE MODIFYING CIRCUIT CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID PICKUP AND SAID AMPLIFIER COMPRISING A BATTERY AND IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMING CIRCUIT INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR CAPACITIVELY COUPLED TO SAID PICK-UP AND HAVING A COLLECTOR EMITER CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO SAID BATTERY AND CONTROLLED BY SAID PICK-UP, A FIST CLIPPER CIRCUIT INCLUDING A SECOND TRANSISTOR HAVING A COLLECTOR-EMITTER CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO SAID BATTERY IN PARALLEL WITH SAID IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMING CIRCUIT WITH A VOLTAGE DROPPING RESISTOR IN THE COLLECTOR CIRCUIT, SAID SECOND TRANSISTOR HAVING ITS BASE CAPACITIVELY COUPLED TO THE EMITTER OF SAID FIRST TRANSISTOR WITH A VARIABLE RESISTOR CONNECTED BETWEEN ITS BASE AND GROUND TO CONTROL THE SECOND TRANSISTOR WITH A MINIMUM OF 25% HARMONICS OF THE INPUT SIGNAL IN ITS OUTPUT, A SECOND CLIPPER CIRCUIT INCLUDING A THIRD TRANSISTOR WITH A RESISTOR, COLLECTOR AND EMITTER IN SERIES CONNECTED FROM SAID BATTERY TO GROUND AND HAVING ITS CONTROL BASE CAPACITIVELY COUPLED TO THE COLLECTOR OF SAID SECOND TRANSISTOR, A REGISTOR CONNECTING THE BASE OF SAID THIRD TRANSISTOR TO GROUND TO CONTROL THE THIRD TANSISTOR WITH A MINIMUM OF 25% HARMONICS OF THE INPUT SIGNAL IN ITS OUTPUT, A DIFFERENTIATING CIRCUIT INCLUDING A RESISTOR CAPACITIVELY COUPLING THE COLLECTOR OF SAID THIRD TRANSISTOR AND AN OUTPUT CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO SAID LAST RESISTOR AND INCLUDING A VARIABLE RESISTOR HAVING A VARIABLE TAP SELECTIVELY CONNECTABLE TO THE INPUT OF SAID AMPLIFIER, A BY-PASS CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO SAID PICK-UP, AND A FOOT OPERATED SWITCH ARRANGED TO ALTERNATIVELY CONNECT SAID VARIABLE TAP OR SAID BY-PASS CIRCUIT TO SAID AMPLIFIER.