Abstract:
A guitar cable for connecting a guitar to an amplifier may include the guitar having a guitar output connector to connect to the guitar cable and an audio source having and audio output connector to connect to the guitar cable, and the guitar cable having an input guitar connector to connect to the guitar output connector, the guitar cable having an audio input connector to connect to the audio output connector, and the input guitar connector being connected to the audio input connector and connected to the output guitar connector and the output guitar connector being connected to the amplifier input connector of the amplifier.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 based upon provisional applications having serial numbers 62070922 and 62070925 both of which were filed on Sep. 9, 2014. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to an electric guitar cable, a portable electronic device, such as, a smart phone, an MP3 player, a tablet etc which may be the source of audio signals to be amplified. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Conventional (electric) guitar cable takes the signal from the electric guitar pickup circuits and transmits the signal to an amplifier. Both ends of the cable may terminate in the standard ¼ inch (6.35 mm) plugs with two wired screened/shielded cable in between. This arrangement is limited to amplifying signals from the guitar. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    However, with the popular use of portable audio devices, such as smart phones, MP3 players, and other type of portable electronic devices, and especially when digital music tracks, loops, and music training, teaching videos, are readily available on these devices, it&#39;s desirable that both the guitar playing signals from the guitar and audio signals from these portable devices in the player&#39;s hands or pockets, can be combined and fed into the amplifier, so that the player can either learn how to play from a training video and compare the sound effect on the same amplifier, or the player can play a piece of music with the guitar and have accompaniment tracks, music loops from the audio devices. 
         [0005]    The present invention provides the player the convenience of connecting and controlling the electric guitar and the portable audio device signals, in a way the user may desire, right where he is at any moment at his fingertips. 
         [0006]    This invention relates to an electric guitar cable, the electric guitar cable transmits the electric guitar signal generated from the electro-magnetic coil pickup circuits through a first male plug which may be a ¼ inch (6.35 mm) plug, and another audio signal generated from an electronic device, such as, a smart phone, an MP3 player, a tablet etc. transmitted through a second male plug which may be a 3.5 mm male plug and combines both signals, into a single combined signal and transmits the combined signal into an electric guitar amplifier via a receiving male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) male plug on the other end. 
         [0007]    More particularly, a volume control, or a variable resistor, may be connected in series to the second male plug, so the strength of the second audio signal can be varied/adjusted before it is mixed with the electric guitar signal from the electric guitar, and fed into the electric guitar amplifier. 
         [0008]    This cable can also be used with electric acoustic guitars. 
         [0009]    A guitar cable for connecting a guitar to an amplifier may include the guitar having a guitar output connector to connect to the guitar cable and an audio source having an audio output connector to connect to the guitar cable, and the guitar cable having an input guitar connector to connect to the guitar output connector, the guitar cable having an audio input connector to connect to the audio output connector, and the input guitar connector being connected to the audio input connector and connected to the output guitar connector and the output guitar connector being connected to the amplifier input connector of the amplifier. 
         [0010]    The audio source may be a smart phone. 
         [0011]    The audio source may be an MP3 player. 
         [0012]    The audio source may be a tablet 
         [0013]    The input guitar connector may be a ¼ inch (6.35 mm) plug. 
         [0014]    The input audio connector may be a 3.5 mm plug. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a circuit diagram of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates a circuit diagram of two pick circuits used on electric guitars; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of the electric guitar including the face plate of an electric guitar with the integrated female audio input jack socket of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  illustrates a circuit diagram of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the cable of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of the cable of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    The method and the system of the present invention centers around the concept of creating two interfaces, or plugs, on one end of the cable to take electric signals from the pickup circuits of the electric guitar and the electric signals from the audio devices, and to combine them into one signal being transmitted to the amplifier via one output interface, another plug, on the opposing end of the cable. 
         [0023]    The interface which takes the electric guitar signals uses the male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm), and the audio interface which uses the audio male plug which may be 3.5 mm and includes volume control which may use a potential meter with an variable resistor of 500 k Ohm, and the two-wire screened/shielded cables from both the guitar signal interface and the audio interface being parallel connected. 
         [0024]    The volume control in the section of the audio interface controls the level of the output of the audio signal before it is mixed with the electric guitar signal with respect to its positions between the maximum and minimum. 
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of the system of the present invention showing a diagram of the circuitry of the volume controlled audio jack socket  11  integrated with the guitar pickup circuit at the guitar output jack socket. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a female audio jack socket  11  which may be 3.5 mm is connected to the guitar output jack socket  14  which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) in parallel with wire  16  which may be on the ground side, and wire  19 , volume control  12 , wire  15  which may be connected in series on the hot side. 
         [0027]    Electro-magnetic pickup circuit and control circuit  13  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) are connected to the electric guitar output jack socket  14  through the wire  17  on the hot side, and wire  18  on the ground side. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  illustrates two pick circuits used on electric guitars. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a pair of mirrored pickup circuits  21  may be used in the present invention. The pickup circuits  21  may be connected to a pair of volume controls  23  (each connected to one of the pickup circuits  21 ) to allow the user to vary the volume output by the guitar and a pair of tone controls  25  (each connected to one of the pickup circuits  21 ) to allow the user to vary the tone output by the guitar via screened/shielded cables  22 . A pair of capacitors  24  may be connected to the tone controls  25  and volume controls  23  to provide power for the tone controls  25  and the volume controls  23 . A three way toggle switch  26  may be connected to the two pickup circuits via the two volume controls so that the three positions of the three-way toggle switch  26  may selectively determine whether one pickup circuit is selected, the other pickup circuit is selected for both pickup circuits are selected simultaneously. Hot wire  27  may be connected to the hot side A of the guitar port  14  which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm). Jack socket contact B of guitar port  14  is ground. 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of the face plate of an electric guitar with the integrated female audio input jack socket of the present invention.  FIG. 3  depicts a perspective view of the electric guitar. The two pickup circuits  31  and  32  are positioned under the steel strings of the guitar. The three way toggle switch  33  controls which pickup circuit to use. Volume controls  34  and  35  are for tuning the signal strength of each of the pickup circuits  31  and  32 . Tone controls  36  and  37  are for controlling the tones of either pickup circuit  31  and  32 . Volume control  38  is for tuning the audio signals from the audio devices coming in through the female audio jack socket  310  which may be 3.5 millimeter before mixing with the electric guitar signal. The mixed signal (mixing the audio signal with the guitar signal) may be transmitted to the amplifier via the output jack socket  39  which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) through a guitar cable (not shown). 
         [0031]    With the present invention, terminals, plugs, sockets are considered connectors or electrical connectors. 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates a circuit diagram of the system of this invention showing the circuitry of the two screened/shielded cable wires. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  depicts a perspective view of the cable. 
         [0034]      FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the cable of the present invention. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , terminal  41  may be connected to conductor  410  which may be connected to terminal  42 , and terminal  43  may be connected to conductor  411  which may be connected to terminal  44  which may represent the two wires within the screened/shielded cable of the guitar cable. Terminal  42  and terminal  44  may represent the two contact points on the guitar cable male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm). Terminal  47  and terminal  48  may connect the two wires shown as connectors  416 ,  414  within the screened/shielded cable of the audio cable. A volume control or a variable resistor (R)  415  which may be approximately (500K Ohm) may be connected in series between conductor  413  and conductors  416 . 
         [0036]    Terminal  47  and terminal  48  may represent the two contact points on the audio male plug which may be in 3.5 mm. Terminal  45  and terminal  46  may represent the solder point where the two screened/shielded cables are physically connected via soldering. Terminal  43 , terminal  46  and terminal  48 /Contact points B, B′ and D may be connected to ground or referred to as a grounded contact points. 
         [0037]    In the same way, terminal  41  and terminal  43  may be the two contact points on the guitar cable male plug which may be the ¼ inch (6.35 mm). 
         [0038]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the cables, guitar plug, and an audio plug and illustrates the first cable  501  may be connected between the first guitar plug  505  and the second guitar plug  507 . The second cable  502  may be connected between the first guitar plug  505  and the volume control  415  (or the variable resistor), and the audio plug  506  may be connected to the third cable  503  which may be connected to the volume control  415 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 5  additionally illustrates that the guitar plug  505  may be connected to the guitar output socket  508  for connection to the guitar  511 . Likewise, the audio plug  506  may be connected to the audio input output socket  509  on the audio device, and the guitar plug  507  may be connected to the amplifier socket  510 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of the cables, guitar plug, and an audio plug and illustrates the first cable  501  may be connected between the first guitar plug  505  and the second guitar plug  507 . The second cable  502  may be connected between the first guitar plug  505  and the volume control  415  (or the variable resistor), and the audio plug  506  may be connected to the third cable  503  which may be connected to the volume control  415 . 
       OPERATION 
       [0041]    In operation, the user inserts the male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) on one end of the guitar cable into the electric guitar port and inserts the opposing male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) on the other end of the cable into an amplifier. The user may insert the audio male plug which may be 3.5 mm on one end of the audio cable into the audio port on the guitar and inserts the opposing male plug which may be 3.5 mm into an audio device, such as a smart phone, an mp3 player, or a tablet or other appropriate device. The signal strength from the audio device is adjusted by the volume control for the audio jack port, and the guitar pickup circuits signal strength is adjusted by the volume controls for the guitar output jack port, as well as tone controls for each pickup circuit. The user can get a satisfying sound effect from the amplifier . . . . 
         [0042]    And, using the guitar cable of the present invention, the user inserts the male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) on one end of the guitar cable into the electric guitar port and inserts the opposing male plug which may be ¼ inch (6.35 mm) on the other end of the cable into an amplifier. The user may insert the audio male plug which may be 3.5 mm on the end of the audio cable into an audio device, such as a smart phone, an mp3 player, or a tablet or other appropriate device. The signal strength from the audio device is adjusted by the volume control on the audio cable and the guitar pickup circuits signal strength is adjusted by the volume controls for the guitar output jack port, as well as tone controls for each pickup circuit. The user can get a satisfying sound effect from the amplifier . . . . 
         [0043]    Thus, the mixed signals electric guitar pickup system (and the guitar cable) is described. It allows the guitar player to mix the electric guitar signal, an audio signal from an audio device, such as a smart phone, a Metroid Prime 3 (MP3) player, a tablet etc. and then amplify the mixed signals at the electric guitar amplifier through one conventional guitar cable (and one audio cable), or through the specially designed guitar cable of the present invention to achieve the desired results. Therefore, a maximum of two audio signals could potentially be mixed with the electric guitar signal if the two operation schemes are used at the same time. 
         [0044]    The audio signal strength is controlled by the volume control on the guitar if a conventional audio cable is used, or the audio signal strength is controlled by the volume control on the audio cable section if the present invention is used, before it is mixed with the guitar signal as one signal going into the amplifier. 
         [0045]    Another use of the present invention is that if the user switches to the opposing side of the cable and inserts the side of the cable with the single male plug into the port of the electric guitar, now the opposing side of the cable may have two outputs of the same guitar signal, and one signal may connect to the amplifier and another signal may connect to a recording system (not shown), such as a laptop computer, through the audio plug which may be 3.5 mm. Many other possibilities are available with this cable. 
         [0046]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.