C. F. Martin & Company, Inc.

Dreadnought, Inc

C.f. Martin Guitar Company

Timothy A Teel

Frederick E Greene

Rameen J Shayegan

Frank Finocchio

Damian B Walck

Daniel G Hingston

Nathan J Hoffman

Joshua H Parker

An integral brace body providing support for a musical instrument soundboard. The body includes a back that faces the soundboard. A sidewall is integral with, connected directly to, and extends away from the back to form a top edge that engages the soundboard. A first brace extends horizontally across a width of the body from a first portion of the sidewall top edge to a second portion of the sidewall top edge, the first brace being integral with and connected directly to the sidewall, although not with the back, of the body. A second brace extends horizontally across the width of the body from a third sidewall portion to a fourth sidewall portion, the second brace being integral with and connected directly to both the sidewall and the back of the body. Also disclosed is a process for manufacturing a stringed musical instrument having an integral soundboard support.

Integral soundboard support for a musical instrument

A soundboard for a musical instrument having a body, a rear plate, and a lateral plate, with the soundboard, the rear plate, and the lateral plate defining a sound chamber for the musical instrument. The soundboard extends along a longitudinal axis and has a thickness. The soundboard also has a partial taper recurve asymmetrically disposed around the longitudinal axis. The recurve includes a first recurve section that forms a downward ramp which starts flush with the thickness of the soundboard, a second recurve section that defines the full depth of the partial taper recurve, and a third recurve section that forms an upward ramp which ends flush with the thickness of the soundboard. Also disclosed is a musical instrument comprising the soundboard. The musical instrument may be a guitar.

Acoustic stringed instrument body with partial taper soundboard recurve

A linear dovetail neck joint for a musical instrument having a neck, a body, and a fretboard. The linear dovetail neck joint relies on an internal dovetail with screw-adjustable tension while avoiding screws that go directly into the neck. The linear dovetail neck joint allows for extreme fret accessibility in the upper register of the fretboard (due to lack of heel on the neck), easier neck height adjustments, intonation correction, and unique front block configurations with hand relief&#x2014;all without the need for adhesives. The linear dovetail neck joint permits a practical and aesthetically pleasing neck-to-body joint without the need for a heel on the neck. The result is a neck-to-body joint that is easily adjustable and serviceable.

Linear dovetail neck joint for musical instrument

An acoustic guitar having a hollow body constructed with a pre-finished graphite soundboard and a pre-finished high pressure laminate backboard and sidewall. The graphite soundboard provides the acoustic guitar with a unique appearance and enhances durability without adversely affecting the tonal qualities of the guitar. A bracing pattern particularly for use with the graphite soundboard is also provided.

Acoustic guitar having a composite soundboard

An acoustic guitar having a soundboard and a head-plate made of a sheet of metal, such as a sheet of aluminum. The outward facing surfaces of the soundboard and head-plate are provided with a decorative appearance such as by etching or sanding a pattern thereon. The metal soundboard and head-plate provide the acoustic guitar with a unique appearance and enhance durability without adversely affecting the tonal qualities of the guitar.

Acoustic guitar assembly

A neck for an acoustic guitar made from a plywood material which is glued with and at least partially impregnated with a phenolic resin. The plywood neck is stronger and more durable than conventional neck structures and requires no further finishing steps during manufacture other than sanding and buffing. Preferably, a fingerboard made of a high pressure laminate material is adhesively secured to the neck. In addition, a bridge made of the same type of high pressure laminate as the fingerboard is preferably attached to the soundboard of the guitar body.

Guitar neck assembly and method of manufacturing same

A method of manufacturing an acoustic guitar having a pre-finished resin laminate soundboard, sidewall and backboard. The contoured sidewall of the guitar is provided by a relatively flexible strip of the laminate material which is formed into a loop-shaped preform before being positioned within a multi-part fixture. The fixture is closed on the preform to conform the shape of the preform into a contoured shape. Subsequently, ribbon linings, a soundboard and a backboard are adhesively secured to the preform to complete the assembly of the hollow body portion of the acoustic guitar. Since he laminate material is pre-finished, numerous time consuming finishing steps typically preformed in known methods are eliminated.

Method of manufacturing a stringed instrument

An acoustic guitar having a resin laminate soundboard with a bracing pattern specifically configured to provide the non-wooden soundboard with qualitites resembling traditional wooden soundboards. The soundboard is made from a relatively inexpensive resin laminate material in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the acoustic guitar. The bracing pattern located on the underside of the soundboard stiffens the non-wooden soundboard at particular locations in order to permit a required degree of vibration for acoustic purposes while preventing damaging flexure caused by the forces of the tensioned guitar strings.

Growing community of inventors

Lehighton, PA, United States of America

Timothy A Teel