Abstract:
A stringed musical instrument includes a string which, when vibrated, produces sound. Both ends of the vibrating portion of the string touch glass.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to stringed musical instruments and in particular stringed musical instruments which include components made from glass materials. Specifically, a stringed musical instrument is disclosed where both ends of the strings touch glass.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     A variety of stringed instruments are well known for producing musical notes. In these musical instruments, a string is held between two points. The string is caused to vibrate. Vibration of the string causes the production of a musical sound.  
         [0003]     A common stringed musical instrument is the guitar. Other stringed instruments are orchestral instruments and include the viola, violin, cello, and base. Many stringed instruments include a finger board, which is typically a long strip of wood against which strings are pressed during play of the instrument. On guitars, the finger board is fitted with small frets against which the strings are pressed so as to produce different musical notes when the strings are plucked on strummed. In violins and cellos, however, the finger board does not include frets. Thus, the musician presses the string against the finger board at exactly the right location so that, when the string is caused to vibrate, the string will produce a note at the desired frequency.  
         [0004]     In the guitar and in the orchestral instruments, the strings produce notes by being plucked or strummed. Furthermore, in the orchestral instruments, those instruments produce sound by rubbing a bow against the strings. This causes those strings to vibrate.  
         [0005]     A further well known stringed instrument is the piano. In the piano, strings are held taunt between two locations. To produce musical notes, keys are depressed which actuate hammers, which, in turn, strike the strings. By striking the strings with the hammers, the strings produce musical notes.  
         [0006]     An interesting guitar is known thanks to the work of musician Ned Evett. In the Evett guitar, the finger board is made of glass. Furthermore, the finger board does not include frets. Thus, for the guitar to produce the correct notes, the guitar strings are pressed by fingers against the glass finger board at exactly the right locations.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A stringed musical instrument includes a string which, when vibrated, produces sound. Both ends of the vibrating portion of the string touch glass. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a top view of a peg head and a portion of a stringed instrument neck in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a side view of a tuning peg in accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of cross-section  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a musical instrument neck.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of section  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a top view of a portion of a body of a musical instrument in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7A  is a partial side view of the musical instrument body shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 7B  illustrates a string in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a top view of a musical instrument body in accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention. This further exemplary embodiment includes pickup coils.  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of section  9 - 9  of  FIG. 8 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 10  is a top view of an orchestral stringed instrument in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 11  is an interior view of a portion of a hammer actuated musical instrument. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]     Detailed views of several exemplary embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by  FIGS. 1-11 .  
         [0021]     In order to simplify this explanation, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to a guitar. Subsequently, a brief explanation will be made which relates to the present invention when used with orchestral stringed instruments.  
         [0022]     The methodology for making stringed musical instruments, such as guitars, is well known in the art, and the specifics of how such stringed musical instruments is made will not be described here. For a general description of the manufacture of guitars, the publication Koch, Martin, Building Electric Guitars, 2001 (ISBN 3-901314-07-5) is incorporated by reference for its teachings regarding the manufacturer of a guitar. The aforementioned publication provides information on how a guitar is built. The following description refers to modifications to the prior art process of manufacturing musical instruments.  
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a top view which illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , a portion of guitar  10  is shown. Guitar  10  includes peg head  15 . A plurality of tuning pegs  56  are coupled to peg head  15 . Each peg  56  is also coupled to respective knob  54 . By turning knob  54 , tuning peg  56  also rotates.  
         [0024]     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, peg  56  includes peg shaft  50  and shaft cover  52  secured thereon. Shaft cover  52  may include glass materials. The use of shaft cover  52  is optional. This is shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0025]     Coupled to each tuning peg  56  is respective string  20 . String  20  may engage page  56  through a hole formed thereon. Thus, by rotating knob  54 , the tension on respective string  20  can be increased and decreased.  
         [0026]     Some portions of the interface between knob  54  and tuning peg  50  are not shown in  FIG. 1 . This interface, however, is understood to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0027]     Moving from tuning peg  56 , each string  20  is in contact with bridge  22 . In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, bridge  22  is a glass component.  
         [0028]     Suitable glass components that can be used to manufacture bridge  22  are known in the art. An exemplary glass component is made of Pyrex and is manufactured by Corning Glass Company of Corning, N.Y. As another example, bridge  22  can be formed from a glass resin composite. Such a composite, for example, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,657,113 which is incorporated by reference for its teachings on molded frets. It is understood that other methodology for molding components that include glass are known to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0029]     After stretching across bridge  22 , each string  20  proceeds along a board unit which is represented in  FIG. 1  as neck  30 . As string  20  proceeds along neck  30 , string  20  stretches across frets  34 . When playing the musical instrument, fingers, for example, are used to press strings  20  against neck  30  so that one or more strings  20  touch one or more frets  34 .  
         [0030]     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, fret  34  also includes glass materials.  
         [0031]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of neck  30  taken along section line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 3 , cross-sections of strings  20  are shown suspended over neck  30 . Because strings  20  are suspended over neck  30 , top air gap  32  may be defined. Below top gap  32 , glass tile  36  may be found to form a finger board. Glass tile  36  includes extension members  42 . Extension members  42  may engage tile holder  33  using, for example, a compression or a friction fitting. Tile holder  33  may be made of a variety of materials including, but not limited to, hardened rubber. Tile holder  33  may be coupled to neck base  31 . Neck base  31  can also be made of a variety of materials including, but not limited to, wood. Bottom air gap  44  is defined by the space between tile  36  and tile holder  33 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 3  illustrates neck  30  according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, neck  30  is made of another material such as, for example, wood. Thus, the exemplary embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3  is not intended as a limitation on the possible materials or configuration which may be used in manufacturing neck  30 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a side view of neck  30 . As shown, neck  30  includes frets  34 . Thus, in one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a specifically shaped orifice can be formed in the neck and each fret can be slid into the orifice. Alternatively, the frets can be situated in the neck using other methods that are known to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0034]      FIG. 5  illustrates a cross-sectional side view of neck  30  according to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The cross-sectional view shown in  FIG. 5  is taken along section line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0035]     In  FIG. 5 , neck base  31  is again shown. Above neck base  31  may be optionally situated tile holder  33 . Glass tiles  36  and frets  34  are included. Extending from glass tiles  36  and frets  34  are extension members  42 . Again, extension members  42  may engage tile holders  33  using a force fitting or a friction fitting. Again, the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is merely exemplary.  
         [0036]      FIG. 6  illustrates body  26  of guitar  10  in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Strings  20  may stretch across optional opening  85  until they touch saddle fret  25 . Thus, saddle fret  25  touches strings  20 . Saddle fret  25  may include glass materials as has been previously described. After extending across saddle fret  25 , strings  20  may terminate at saddle  24 . Typically, as shown in  FIG. 7A , there are openings formed in saddle  24  and a bulging section of each string  20  holds each string  20  in place relative to saddle  24 . Saddle  24  may also include glass materials.  
         [0037]     An exemplary string is illustrated in  FIG. 7B . The bulging section referred to above is formed by wrapping string  20  around circular member  27  ( 1  or multiple times) and then winding the trailing end of string  20  about itself. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, circular member  27  includes glass materials.  
         [0038]     A further exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown with reference to  FIG. 8 . In the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 , pickup coils  60  are included. Pickup coils are also shown in  FIG. 9 , which is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 8  taken along section line  9 - 9 . Coils  60  are situated above magnets  68 . Each magnet  68  is situated above pickup coil base  60 . The use of pickup coils is known to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0039]     As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , optional raised glass sections  62  are included. Optional raised glass sections  62  may be situated on opposite sides of pickup coil  60  and extend orthogonally from body  26 . In addition to optional raised glass sections  62 , further raised glass sections  64  may also be included. Further raised glass sections may also be situated on opposite sides of pickup coil  60 . Strings  20  thus may extend directly over further raised glass section  64 . Furthermore, in accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, raised glass sections  62  may extend from body  26  higher (and optionally above the height of strings  20 ) then do further raised glass sections  64 .  
         [0040]     As shown in  FIG. 9 , glass including material may be used for other portions of body  26 . Thus, as shown in  FIG. 9 , pickup coil  60  may be covered by encasement  67  (which may also include glass materials). Pick guard  65  may also include glass materials and may be situated between pickup coil  60  and an edge of body  26 . Other glass including materials may be used so that some or all of body  26  is covered with glass.  
         [0041]     The above description as related to a guitar. The present invention, however, is equally applicable to other types of stringed instruments.  FIG. 10  illustrates an orchestral stringed instrument (e.g. viola, violin, cello, base) in accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Orchestral instrument  80  differs from many guitars in that orchestral instrument  80  does not include frets. Also, orchestral instrument  80  includes bridge  82 . In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, bridge  82  includes glass materials. Bridges for orchestral instruments are known to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0042]      FIG. 11  illustrates a further stringed instrument such as a piano. Thus, piano interior  70  is shown. Piano interior  70  includes hammer  72  which is actuated by operation of a key (not shown). Hammer  72  strikes string  20 . String  20 , at each end, is wrapped around tuning peg  56 . In accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, tuning peg  56  includes a glass cover so that string  20  is in contact with glass material as it is wrapped around tuning pegs  56 . String  20  is held taunt by tension member  74 . In a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, tension member  74  includes glass materials.  
         [0043]     Strings in musical instruments are well known in the art and are typically made of nylon or metal (e.g. steel). Alternatively, in a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the strings may include glass materials, i.e. glass fibers.  
         [0044]     While various musical instruments have been described, it is understood that many details of those instruments have not been explained, as those materials are known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, it is understood that glass materials can be used in a variety of locations for the musical instruments that have been described.  
         [0045]     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalence of the claims and without departing from the invention.