Tuning mechanism for a stringed musical instrument

Claim 2

A stringed musical instrument comprising a first string anchor, a second string anchor, a plurality of strings, pivoted elements connected to at least one of said anchors, each pivoted element mechanically connecting together one of the ends of a pair of string whereby whereby the force of one string of the pair is transmitted through its said pivoted element to the other string of the pair, the other ends of one of said pairs of strings being connected to a stationary portion of said instrument, means for adjusting the distance between said one anchor and said stationary portion whereby the tension in said strings may be controlled with a single adjustment, and means for effecting unequal tension in the string of at least one of said pairs thereby providing a desired relative tone for said strings.

Claim 3

The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pivoted elements are on both anchors, one end of one string being connected to the pivoted element for said first anchor and the other end of that same string being connected to the pivoted element for said second anchor.

Claim 4

The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein said pivoted elements are on both anchors, the connections between the pivoted elements and their anchors being friction-free bearings, one end of one string being connected to the pivoted element for said first anchor and the other end of that same string being connected to the pivoted element for said second anchor.

Claim 5

A stringed musical instrument comprising a case, a neck portion secured to said case, an endpiece carried by said neck portion, a tailpiece carried by said case, a plurality of strings extending along said case, pivoted elements on said tailpiece, each pivoted element mechanically cOnnecting together the ends of a pair of said string whereby the force of one string is transmitted through said pivoted element to the other, the other ends of said strings being connected to said endpiece, and means for adjusting the distance between said pivoted elements and said endpiece whereby the tension in said strings may be controlled with a single adjustment, the pivoted elements on said tailpiece comprising pulleys, each pair of said string being joined together to form a unitary string assembly, said string assembly being trained over the pulleys on said tailpiece whereby a single adjustment in the tension by said adjustment means affects the string tension in each of said strings, at least one of said pivoted elements having its pivot point located closer to one of its associated strings than the other whereby the tension in said one string is greater than the tension in its other string.

Claim 6

A stringed musical instrument comprising a case, a neck portion secured to said case, an endpiece carried by said neck portion, a tailpiece carried by said case, a plurality of strings extending along said case, pivoted elements on said tailpiece, each pivoted element mechanically cOnnecting together the ends of a pair of said string whereby the force of one string is transmitted through said pivoted element to the other, the other ends of said strings being connected to said endpiece, and means for adjusting the distance between said pivoted elements and said endpiece whereby the tension in said strings may be controlled with a single adjustment, the pivoted elements on said tailpiece comprising pulleys, each pair of said string being joined together to form a unitary string assembly, said string assembly being trained over the pulleys on said tailpiece whereby a single adjustment in the tension by said adjustment means affects the string tension in each of said strings, at least one of said pivoted elements having its pivot point located closer to one of its associated strings than the other whereby the tension in said one string is greater than the tension in its other string.

Claim 7

The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein said adjusting means comprises a threaded connection between said case and said tailpiece whereby said tailpiece may be adjusted toward and away from said endpiece and relative to said case to effect a rough tuning adjustment for each of said strings.

Claim 8

The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein said endpiece comprises second pivoted elements, the other ends of said strings being connected to said second pivoted elements whereby said second pivoted elements establish a mechanical connection between each of a pair of strings, said adjusting means controlling the tension in each of said strings as the distance between the tailpiece and the endpiece is varied.

Claim 9

The combination set forth in claim 6 wherein said adjusting means comprises a threaded connection between said case and said tailpiece whereby said tailpiece may be adjusted toward and away from said endpiece and relative to said case to effect a rough tuning adjustment for each of said strings.

Claim 10

The combination as set forth in claim 6 wherein the pivoted elements on said endpiece comprise pulleys, said strings being joined together to form a unitary string assembly, said string assembly being trained over the pulleys on said endpiece whereby a single adjustment in the tension by said adjusting means affects the tension of each string.

Claim 11

The combination as set forth in claim 6 whereby the pivoted elements on said endpiece comprise levers each having a pivot point intermediate its ends, the ends of said levers being connected to the other ends of said strings.

Claim 12

A stringed musical instrument comprising a case, a neck portion secured to said case, and endpiece carried by said neck portion, a tailpipe carried by said case, a plurality of strings extending along said case, pivoted elements on said tailpiece, each pivoted element mechanically connecting together the ends of a pair of said strings whereby the force of one string is transmitted through said pivoted element to the other, the other ends of said strings being said endpiece, and means for adjusting the distance between said pivoted elements and said endpiece whereby the tension in said strings may be controlled with a single adjustment, said pivoted elements comprising levers, said levers being pivoted at a location intermediate their ends, on end of each lever being connected to one end of one string and the other end of each lever being connected to one end of another string whereby the force on one string is transmitted to the other, at least one of said pivoted elements having its pivot point located closer to one of its associated strings than the other whereby the tension in said one string is greater than the tension in said other string.

Claim 13

A stringed musical instrument comprising a case, a neck portion secured to said case, and endpiece carried by said neck portion, a tailpipe carried by said case, a plurality of strings extending along said case, pivoted elements on said tailpiece, each pivoted element mechanically connecting together the ends of a pair of said strings whereby the force of one string is transmitted through said pivoted element to the other, the other ends of said strings being said endpiece, and means for adjusting the distance between said pivoted elements and said endpiece whereby the tension in said strings may be controlled with a single adjustment, said pivoted elements comprising levers, said levers being pivoted at a location intermediate their ends, on end of each lever being connected to one end of one string and the other end of each lever being connected to one end of another string whereby the force on one string is transmitted to the other, at least one of said pivoted elements having its pivot point located closer to one of its associated strings than the other whereby the tension in said one string is greater than the tension in said other string.

Claim 14

The combination set forth in claim 10 wherein said adjusting means comprises a threaded connection between said case and said tailpiece whereby said tailpiece may be adjusted toward and away from said end piece and relative to said case to effect a rough tuning adjustment for each of said strings.