Stringed musical instrument

A stringed musical instrument such as an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele and a violin has a body and a neck protruding away from the body. The body comprises an upper sounding board, a lower sounding board and a side wall. Strings are tensioned between the neck and the body. A concave depression is formed in the body so as to extend from the upper sounding board towards at least one of the opposite sides of the side wall with the neck therebetween to facilitate pressing or stoping the strings positioned on the body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a stringed musical instrument and more 
particularly to a stringed musical instrument such as an acoustic guitar, 
a mandolin, a ukulele and a violin having an improved configuration of a 
body or sound box to facilitate playing thereof. 
A conventional stringed musical instrument such as an acoustic guitar which 
has a body including an upper sounding board, a lower sounding board and a 
side wall, a neck projecting from the body, and strings tensioned between 
the neck and the body. 
To play the guitar of this arrangement, the strings tensioned between the 
neck and the body are forcibly vibrated and the vibrations are transmitted 
to the body. The body is then resonated and the sound is amplified within 
the body to generate sounds of proper volume. 
When a performer plays the guitar of the above arrangement, it is 
frequently necessary for the performer to use his or her fingers to press 
or stop the strings at particular regions positioned on the body. However, 
the side wall of the body in proximity to a base portion of the neck acts 
as an obstruction to prevent the player from smoothly pressing or stopping 
such strings. That is, it is necessary to excessively distort or twist his 
or her wrist and fingers to press or stop the strings, which may be 
painful. 
To solve the above drawback, a curvature 21 which is generally defined in a 
conventional electric guitar, as illustrated in FIG. 5, where the 
curvature 21 is defined in a body 23 adjacent to the neck 22, having 
strings 29 may be employed in the acoustic guitar of this type. However, 
it is likely to lower a sound effect, since a resonant hollow, which is 
defined by the body of the acoustic guitar, is undesirably influenced by 
the changing of the configuration of the body. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stringed musical 
instrument, such as an acoustic guitar, which facilitates pressing or 
stopping strings tensioned on the body without decreasing a sound effect. 
Accordingly, there is provided a stringed musical instrument which 
comprises a body, the body including an upper sounding board, a lower 
sounding board and a side wall which defines a resonant cavity, a neck 
protruding away from the body, the body extending at substantially right 
angles from both sides of the neck, strings tensioned between the body and 
the neck, and a concave depression formed in the body so as to extend from 
the upper sounding board towards at least one of the opposite sides of the 
side wall with a base portion of the neck therebetween. 
With the above arrangement, when a performer presses his or her fingers 
against the strings at particular regions which are positioned on the 
body, the side wall does not act as an obstacle the pressing of the 
strings. That is, the performer can extend his or her hand over the body 
in the shortest distance towards the strings on the body so as to readily 
reach these strings. Thus, it is not necessary that the performer 
exessively distort or twist his or her wrist and fingers. The performer 
can press or stop such tone parts of the strings without twisting his or 
her fingers into a painful position. In addition, since the concave 
depression is preferably located in a marginal region of the body, the 
body can substantially maintain its conventional configuration suitable 
for the sound effect.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a guitar 1 as an example of a stringed musical 
instrument, includes a body 3 and a neck 2 protruding away from the body 
3. The body 3 comprises an upper sounding board 5, a lower sounding board 
7 and a side wall 6, in which a resonant cavity is established. A heel 16 
is disposed between the side wall 6 and a base portion of the neck 2 so as 
to rigidly support the neck 2. On opposite sides of the body are formed 
waists 4. A head portion 12 is disposed on an outer end of the neck 2, on 
which turning members 14 are arranged. A finger board 15 is secured on the 
neck 2 and extends inwardly over the upper sounding board 5. A bridge base 
8 is secured to the upper sounding board 5. The strings 9 are tensioned 
between the turning members 14 and the bridge base 8. A sound hole 10 is 
located in the upper sounding board 5 so as to function as an outlet port 
for a sound amplified within the body 3. A concave depression 11 extends 
from an inner region of the upper sounding board 5 towards the right hand 
side of the side wall 6 adjacent to the neck 2. The concave depression 11 
has a U-shape in plan and side views. That is, the concave depression 11 
which starts at the inner region of the upper sounding board 5 gradually 
increases in depth and width as it advances towards the side wall 6, 
consequently defining a U-shaped cut-away in the side wall 6. 
Referring to FIGS. 2B and 2C, an upper side edge 13a of a concave wall 13 
abuts against a side edge 15a of the upper sounding board 5, and a lower 
side edge 13b of the concave wall 13 abuts against an inner surface 6a of 
the side wall 6. Whereby, it is unlikely that the structural strength of 
the guitar 1 is undesirably weakened by the compression pressure which is 
exerted by the tensioned strings 9 and is applied onto the guitar 1 in the 
axial direction thereof. In addition, the concave depression 11 has an 
arctuated cross section as best shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, the structural 
strength of the guitar 1 against the compression pressure which is applied 
on the concave portion 11 in the longitudinal direction thereof is further 
increased. 
To further facilitate the playing of the resonant or high-pitched tone part 
of each of the strings 9, the concave depression 11 is formed so as to 
extend along the inwardly extending portion 15a of the finger board 15 as 
close as possible, and has a concave base region 17 which also extends 
along the neck 2 as close as possible, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The depth 
of the concave depression 11 is determined in consideration of the 
structural strength of the body 3 and the preferable contour which enables 
the performer to place his or her hand thereon in good condition. 
Consequently, it has been found that when the concave depression 11 in the 
side wall 6 has a depth which is more than half and less than two thirds 
of the overall depth of the side wall 6, the most preferable result can be 
obtained. 
When the guitar of the above arrangement is to be played, the waist 4 of 
the body 3 is positioned on the performer's lap, and the body 3 is held 
with the right arm, and the tensioned forces of the strings 9 are adjusted 
by the actuation of the turning member 14 on the head body 12 for the 
tuning of the strings 9. Then, the performer plays the guitar 1 by 
pressing or stopping the strings 9 at their predetermined positions with 
the fingers of the left hand and by plucking or twanging the strings 9 
with fingers of the right hand or with a plectrum held by the right hand. 
When the performer needs to press or stop the treble or high pitched tone 
part of each of the strings 9, which is positioned on the inwardly 
extended portion 15a of the finger board 15, the performer positions the 
back of the his or her left hand on the concave depression 11. In this 
state, the side wall 6 does not obstruct motions of the left hand. Thus, 
the performer can readily stop the treble or high pitched tone part of 
each of the strings 9. In addition, since the concave depression 11 is not 
formed in the lower sounding board 7, the guitar can substantially 
maintain its configuration suitable for generating a proper sound effect. 
The concave depression 11 may be varied in shape provided that it can 
facilitate the playing of the strings 9 which are positioned on the body 
3, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in which the concave depression 11 has a 
rectangular shape. 
In the above embodiments, the concave depression 11 extends from the inner 
region of the upper sounding board 5 towards the right hand side of the 
side wall 6. However, it is a matter of course that the concaved 
depression 11 may extends towards the left hand side of the side wall 6, 
and it may extends towards both sides of the side wall 6 depending on a 
playing position of the performer. It is essential that the concave 
depression is formed on the body of the guitar so as to facilitate the 
pressing or stopping of the strings which are positioned on the body. 
In the above embodiments, the concave portion is employed in the acoustic 
guitar. However, the concave depression may be used in the other stringed 
musical instruments such as mandolins, ukuleles and violins. 
This specification is by no means intended to restrict the present 
invention to the preferred embodiments set forth therein. Various 
modifications to the inventive stringed musical instrument, as described 
herein, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the 
spirit and scope of the present invention.