US798869A - Stringed musical instrument. - Google Patents

Description

No. 798,869. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905.

J. BRANDT. STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20,1905.

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J. BRANDT. STRINGBD MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20,1905- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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H i 1 I .7 III I III/ I v mania JOWJQBMULAZ ooea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BRANDT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO LYON & HEALY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Sept. 5, 1905.

Application filed February 20, 1905- Serial No. 246,511.

To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN BRANDT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stringed Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stringed musical instruments, more especially of the class to which violins and mandolins belong.

My invention is here shown to be embodied in an instrument which has the body of a violin and a neck provided with frets, such as those employed in a mandolin, and the instrument is adapted to be strung double, after the manner of mandolin stringing.

The object of the invention is to provide an instrument top which is arched or bellied without the necessity of carving the wood to such an extent as is commonly required.

I attain my object in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure 1 is a perspective view of the instrument, showing the finger-rest in position. Fig. 2 is a view of the inner face of the top of the instrument. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the top of the instrument, taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end view of the instrument, showing the tailpiece. Fig. 5 is a sectional View of the end portion of the instrument, taken on line 5 5, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the end portion of the instrument, taken on line 6 6, Fig. 4.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The body of the instrument here illustrated is shaped practically like a violin, having the top piece a, back 6, and walls 0, which have bouts or indentations c and are otherwise curved so as to form the sides and ends of the instrument in the usual manner. The only variation from the standard violin configuration is at point a on the right side of the instrument, near the point where the neck (Z joins the body. At this point it is desirable to form an indentation for the purpose of permitting the left hand of the performer to reach the higher frets.

The top of the instrument is not bellied or arched by being carved from a thick sheet of wood, but by employing a plurality of pieces of Wood whose edges are oppositely curved, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2. In the preferred form which is here shown two pieces only are employed, and these are glued together edge to edge along the center line a (6 The pieces thus forming the top of the instrument may be of uniform thickness at all portions. The cleats a which are located on opposite sides of the sound-hole a", are glued to the under side of top a to serve as a bond between the two parts thereof to hold them together with a force additional to the force of the glue on the edges of the said parts. By this construction a very strong and durable top is produced which will not yield underthe pressure of the bridge nor tend to come apart when the glue is old. These cleats a are not braces in the sense usually employed in connection with musical instruments of this class, for they do not rest upon the instrument sides nor even approach thereto. They are short-for example, about two inches in length in an instrument the size of an ordinary violinand consequently do not deaden the vibration of the instrumentfront, as heavier and longer pieces would do. They do, however, render the instrument more stanch, as they prevent the parts of the instrument-front from bending or working at the central joint, which would tend to weaken the glue at that point.

The neck of the instrument is preferably provided with frets cZ, arranged as in a mandolin, and the strings a may be doublethat is to say, arranged in pairs, two strings to each pitch. The strings are attachedto the head of the instrument by any suitable meansfor example, the means shown in the patent issued to me November 11, 1902, No. 713,390.

At the tail of the instrument the strings are attached, preferably by means of loops, to the pins f, which penetrate the ends of the instrument and enter the pin-block g, preferably at apoint near the back 5 of the instrument. A wooden tailpiece it is permanently secured to the wall of the instrument at the tail thereof and has a chamber it extending from top to bottom for receiving and covering those portions of the strings e which lie between pins f and the top of the instrument.

In forming loops in wire strings for attachment to the string-pins in this class of musical instruments the ends of the string usually project more or less and have a tendency to catch in the coat-sleeve of the performer unless guarded in some manner, and with my construction, wherein the pins are located in the end of the instrument near the back thereof, the coat-sleeve is thoroughly protected both from the pins themselves and from the loose ends of the wires. This construction also improves the appearance of the instrument and the ends of the wires are practically hidden from view.

In order to support the hand of the player, a finger-rest i may be provided, adapted to be attached to the instrument-body by any suitable means.

Although I have shown and described an instrument having a body resembling that of a Violin, the configuration of the body is immaterial, and it is obvious my invention may with equal advantage be employed in connection with ordinary deep-bodied mandolins.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A hollow-bodied stringed musical instrument having a wooden top, arched by the joining of a plurality of pieces edge to edge, the edges of the pieces being normally curved in opposite directions before jointure. I

2. A hollow-bodied stringed musical instrument having a top formed of two comparatively thin pieces of wood joined along a center line running lengthwise of the instrument, the joined edges of said pieces curving in opposite directions before jointure.

3. A hollow-bodied stringed musical instrument having a top formed of two comparatively thin pieces of wood joined along a center line running lengthwise of the instrument, the joined edges of said pieces curving in opposite directions before jointure; in combination with cleats crossing said center line and fastened to the rear side of said instru- -ment-top for the purpose described.

nesses.

' JOHN BRANDT. Witnesses:

HOWARD M. Cox, CAROLYN RAFTERY.

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