Abstract:
A detachable and portable top pickup for a musical stringed instrument, comprising a clamp having an open end for attaching a top pickup on a pickup holder to a section of a guitar and a connector coupling the top pickup to an elongated bar, the connector allowing the top pickup to slide along the length of the elongated bar. A second clamp can be used to attach to another section of the guitar to get a stronger and more balanced hold for the top pickup. The clamps allow the top pickup to be removed, transferred or reinstalled without causing any damage on the surface of the guitar.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   This invention relates to a detachable, removable and portable top pickup that can be incorporated into existing musical stringed instruments such as acoustic and electric guitars, violins, basses, and the like, herein collectively referred to simply as guitar. Musical stringed instrument and guitar, herein are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. The usage of pickups for musical instruments are known. A majority of these pickups convert acoustic energy from the vibrations of the strings into electric energy which is electromagnetically amplified. Present top pickups are permanently installed into the musical instruments or instead have holders or mountings that are permanently installed. These can not be easily removed at will from the guitar. Further, removal of the top pickup or its holder from the guitar leaves at least a hole or an opening bored on the main body of the guitar when the pickup holder or the tracks where a top pickup slides from is removed. Boring an opening or doing other physical structural modifications on the guitar to install a top pickup into an existing musical instrument is not attractive to most guitar owners especially owners of expensive guitars. They are not willing to structurally modify the guitar in order to install a pickup. Consequently, they buy several guitars with pickups, if needed. Pickups that can be detached are usually a part of an entire neck section of the guitar and it is the neck section that is detachable and not the pickup as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,362. The pickup here also is for a bottom and not for a top pickup. The pickup just goes along with the entire neck. Also, being a part of a neck section, this pickup is specially catered to a particular guitar and can not be attached to another guitar constructed or designed differently. U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,362 issued to the same inventor and applicant discloses a musical stringed instrument with different types of top and/or bottom pickups: a top pickup that can swing in and out of a zone of the string vibration; a top pickup in combination with a slidable bottom pickup; a permanent or slidable top pickup in combination with a permanent or slidable bottom pickup; and, a slidable top pickup. Although the description of the top pickup was described as removable in the above patent, it only means that the top pickup can be removed from the zone of the string vibration. When the pickup is removed, as mentioned above, they do not leave an intact guitar, but rather, a guitar with some structural changes due to the mounting of the pickups especially the top pickup because this is located on top of the strings at the front panel of the guitar with the transducers of the top pickup facing the strings. 
   It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a top pickup that can be repeatedly removed and reinstalled in any guitar without causing any structural modification or damage on the guitar. 
   It is also an object of this invention to provide a detachable and portable top pickup that can be installed in any guitar or guitars of varying designs. 
   It is a further object of this invention to provide a detachable and portable sliding top pickup on top of a string or a plurality of strings of a musical instruments. 
   It is also a further object of this invention to provide a detachable and portable top pickup that can swing into and out of a zone of the string vibration or tone detection. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a detachable and portable top pickup for a musical stringed instrument, comprising: a clamp having an open end for attaching a top pickup on a pickup holder to a section of a guitar; a connector coupling the top pickup to an elongated bar, the connector allowing the top pickup to slide along the length of the elongated bar; and, means for attaching the clamp and the connector to the elongated bar. The detachable top pickup is recommended to have a second clamp having an open end for attaching the top pickup to a different section of the guitar. The second clamp comprises a pair of exterior plates joined by a bar at one common lateral bottom end of the plates to form a C shape; a pair of inside plates separated by two spring enveloped bars connected to the exterior plates at an interior section of the clamp, the pair of inside plates lined on the surface facing the interior of the clamp with a scratch preventing material; and, two pairs of adjusting screws for pushing the pair of inside plates towards a surface of the guitar. The first clamp is simpler, it comprises a pair of outside borders connected to a bottom closed end forming a shape of a C; a pair of inside strips separated by a spring enveloped bar at an interior section of the clamp, the pair of inside strips lined on the surface facing the interior of the clamp with a scratch preventing material; and, a pair of adjusting screws for pushing the pair of inside strips towards a surface of the guitar. Te open end of both clamps is wider than the thickness of an ordinary guitar to cater to variations in width of the different guitars as well as provide some flexibility in the positioning of the guitar. This also allows varying the distance between the top pickup and the strings. The screws used here are designed to be tightened and loosened by hand to avoid the, need of instruments like a screw driver and the like. The adjusting screw has a head with a roughened surface at one end and another end opposite the head abutting a surface of the inside strip facing the outside border. The elongated bar can be solid or hollow. The connector has a locking mechanism for restraining and releasing the top pickup. It is recommended for the locking mechanism to have a trigger that the player can easily touch while playing to allow the player to easily release the top pickup and move this to another desired direction or to remove the top pickup out of the zone of the string vibration as needed. There are times or there could be guitars due to their design, where swinging the top pickup away from the zone of string vibration is not enough to totally remove any sound or tone coming from the top pickup. It is therefore recommended to have a connector that will also withdraw the top pick up as far as possible from the strings. One option is to have a connector that has a flip holder allowing the top pickup to be raised in a vertical position away from a zone of string vibration. To get the top pickup out of the way after being raised, a pivot pin can be used to attach the top pickup to the connector because the pivot pin can then let the top pickup swing on the side in a position aligned along the length of the guitar. The pivot pin also allows the top pickup to swing into, partially into or out of a zone of string vibration. The desired span of swing is usually over approximately a hundred eighty degree on a vertical or horizontal position. As used here, the top pickup is in a horizontal position when it is situated on top of and/or parallel to the strings and it is in a vertical position when it is upright away from the strings and on the same plane, side by side with the guitar . A distance is kept between the top pickup and the pickup holder by a spring enveloped screw having the spring enveloping only that portion of the screw between the top pickup and the pickup holder. The spring enveloped screw narrows or widens the distance between the top pickup and the pickup holder which consequently affect the distance of the top pickup from the strings. The number of spring enveloped screws is dependent upon the desire of the manufacturer. The detachable and portable top pickup can be made of metal or plastic. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front view of a guitar having a detachable top pickup assembly. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the top clamp at the top pickup assembly viewed from the top of a guitar. 
       FIG. 3A  is a front view of a detachable top pickup assembly without a guitar. 
       FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of a top pick up after being lifted up from the zone of the string vibration. 
       FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of a top pickup after being lifted up from the zone of the string vibration and then placed on either side of the bar holding the pickup to maximize the distance away from the string&#39;s vibration. 
       FIG. 3D  is  FIG. 3A  showing the direction of the detachable top pickup when it swings into, partially into or out of the zone of the string vibration. 
       FIG. 4  is an example of a screw for attaching a pickup to a pickup holder. 
       FIG. 4A  shows the attachment of the pickup holder with the pickup using the screw shown in  FIG.4   
       FIG. 5  is a top view of the bottom clamp attached at the rear of the control box for the guitar. 
       FIG. 5A  is a left side view of a detachable top pickup assembly showing a side view of the bottom clamp for holding a mid bottom section of the guitar and the top clamp for holding a top side section of the guitar. 
       FIG. 5B  is a right side view of the bottom clamp. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The detailed description represented herein is not intended to represent the only way or the only embodiment in which the claimed invention may be practiced. The description herein is provided merely as an example or examples or illustrations of the claimed invention and should not be construed as the only way or as the preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or means of practicing the invention. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed invention and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the claimed invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagrams or drawn with broken lines in order to avoid obscuring the main concepts of the invention.  FIG. 1 and 3A  show a detachable and portable top pickup assembly  100 .  FIG. 1  shows the top pickup assembly  100  with a guitar  1  while  FIG. 3A  shows the top pickup assembly  100  without a guitar  1 . The core of this claimed invention is to utilize a clamp or a plurality of clamps for attaching a top pickup to a guitar. With the use of a clamp, a top pickup can simply be detached from a guitar without causing any structural changes on the guitar and this type of connection also allows one top pickup to be used with different guitars, thereby reducing the cost of buying several types of guitars with their own top pickups. 
   A typical guitar  1  includes a solid or hollow body  10  and a neck  11  secured to one end of the body  10 . The neck supports a string or a series of strings  12  which extends from a first anchoring element  13  at the neck  11  or headstock  14  of the guitar to a second anchoring element  15  of a bridge  16  of the guitar. The bridge is located near the bottom of the front panel  17  of the body  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The assembly for facilitating fixation and tightening of the strings with respect to the body and/or neck of the guitar are variably design and is not part of the claimed invention. The strings correspond to the musical notes. The first  13  and second  15  anchoring elements are critical contact surfaces because it determines the length of the string/s  12  and the latter affects the frequency of the tone produced by the guitar, that is, the distance between the two contact surfaces define the harmonic length of the string. An example of a top pickup assembly  100  shown here comprises a top clamp  18  for holding a top side section  19  of a guitar; a side bar or shaft  20  for holding a top pickup  21 ; a bottom clamp  22  for holding a mid bottom section  23  of the guitar; and, the electrical circuits and accessories for supporting the operation of the top pickup and the guitar proper. The top clamp  18  shown in  FIG. 2  as an example is typically a C-clamp. Other clamps of similar function can be used. As shown, the open end  24  of the C-clamp where the top side section of the guitar is inserted into faces away from the neck  11  or strings  12  of the guitar. The closed end  25  of the C-clamp may be straight or curved to cater to the outside contour of the guitar. The C-clamp  18  has a pair of outside borders  26  connected at the bottom to form the closed end  25 . The outside borders  26  and the closed end  25  can come as a single piece. Within the outside border at the interior section of the C-clamp is a pair of inside strips  27  separated by a spring enveloped bar  28  connected to the outside borders located near the closed end  25  of the C-clamp  18 . The pair of inside strips  27  are lined on the surface facing the interior of the C-clamp with a rubber or other scratch preventing materials  29 , hereinafter lining  29 , to avoid scratching the surface of the top side section of the guitar when the detachable top pickup assembly  100  is attached to the guitar. The inside strips  27  of the top C-clamp  18  abuts on the surface of the top side section of the guitar by a pair of adjusting screws  30  introduced into a bored through opening (not shown) on the outside border  26  of the C-clamp  18  proximal to the open end  24  pushing the inside strips towards the surface of the guitar. The adjusting screw  30  has a head  31  with a roughened surface  32  at one end to provide a gripping surface for the fingers as they turn the screw. The other end  34  opposite the head  31  abuts on the surface of the inside strip  27  facing the outside border. As the screw is turned towards the inside strip, the end  34  causes the lining  29  on the pair of inside strips to abut a top side section  19  of the guitar. A spring enveloped bar  28  connected to the outside border  26  proximal to the closed end  25  prevents the pair of inside strips from collapsing towards each other when not in use; prevents inadvertent over tightening of the pair of inside strips after a top side section of the guitar is inserted into the open end  24  of the C-clamp  18 ; and, causes the inside strips  27  to assume a straight position after abutting on the surface of the guitar because the spring located between the inside surfaces of the inside strips compresses or loosens up according to the distance between the inside strips to keep both strips pressing on the surface of the guitar. The open end  24  of the C-clamp  18  is recommended to be wider than the thickness of an ordinary guitar. A width that is about 1.25 times the thickness will allow the flexibility of controlling the location and position of the guitar by positioning the inside strips to abut at the surface of the guitars at the desired location or position. The location and position of the guitar, consequently affects the distance between the top pickup and the strings. Positioning of the inside strips within the outside borders narrows the width of the open end  24 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the top pickup  21  is coupled to an elongated shaft or bar  20 , hereinafter also simply referred to as bar, with a connector  35  that would allow the top pickup  21  to slide along the length of the string by sliding along the length of the shaft or bar  20 . The bar can be solid or hollow. It can be any elongated object so long as it will support the top pickup and allow this to slide on top of the strings along a given workable distance. Since the electrical wiring (not shown) connecting the top pickup with the electrical circuitry of the guitar also slides along with the top pickup, it is recommended to have a wiring which self adjusts its length according to the distance between the top pickup and the input  36  (best seen at  FIGS. 5 and 5A ) at the electrical control box  37  of the guitar. This is usually achieved by winding the electrical wiring on a reel that automatically lengthens or shortens the wiring according to the tension (push or pull) applied on the electrical wiring. These reels are commercially available. The connector  35  is recommended to have a locking mechanism  38  to restrain or keep the top pickup from inadvertently sliding out of a desired position along the length of the strings when in use. However, this locking mechanism should also easily release the top pickup. The top pickup is changed in position along the bar  20  by pressing the trigger  39  of the locking mechanism to release the top pickup and simultaneously slide the top pickup to another desired location. The connector  35  has a flip holder  40  where the top pickup rests as shown in  FIGS. 3A-C . The flip holder  40  allows the top pickup  21  to be raised in a vertical position away from the zone of the string vibration through a hinge as shown in  FIG. 3B  and then placed on either side of the bar  20  through a pivot pin  41  as shown in  FIG. 3C , according to the discretion of the player. This will further remove the top pickup from the zone of string vibration and also keep the top pickup  21  from obstructing the player when not in use. It is actually a pickup holder  42  that attaches to the flip holder  40  by the pivot pin  41  in this example. The pickup holder holds the pick up. The pivot pin  41  also allows the top pickup to swing into, partially into or out of the zone of string vibration at a horizontal position above the front panel and consequently the string of a guitar as shown in  FIG. 3D . Alternatives to a pivot pin can be used so long as it allows the top pickup to pivot to a desired location or position. Reference to the pickup herein also includes the pickup holder, if used but not specifically mentioned. 
   There is a distance kept between the pickup holder  42  and the pickup  21  by the use of a special screw  43  introduced into the pickup holder through an opening  44  drilled through the top surface of the pick up holder. A description of this type of screw and the connection between the pickup holder and the pickup is described in column  5  and  FIGS. 4 and 4A  of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,145,063B issued to the applicant. This type of screw has portions with and without a spring as shown in  FIG. 4 . The portion of the screw without a spring  45  rests on the opening  44  of the pickup holder  42  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 4A . This screw protrudes beyond the height or thickness of the pickup holder. At the protruding end, the spring  45  is introduced and will occupy the space or distance between the pickup and the pickup holder. The spring envelopes this portion of the screw  43  between the pickup and the pickup holder. This screw  43  is also referred to herein as spring enveloped screw  43 . The bottom end  46  of the spring enveloped screw  43  is in turn inserted into a matching opening  47  at the surface of the top pickup directly opposite the opening  44  of the pickup holder. The opening  47  does not go all the way through the thickness of the top pickup but only at a depth enough to accommodate and secure the spring enveloped screw  43 . The opening  47  is preferably threaded to be able to control the. distance or length of the bottom end  46  of screw  43  going inside the opening which is also preferably correspondingly threaded. The bottom end  46  of the screw  43  going inside opening  47  does not have a spring. The turn diameter of the spring  45  is larger than both openings  44  and  47  and therefore stays between the pickup and the pickup holder. The length of the spring  45  covers the distance between the pickup and the pickup holder. This type of attachment allows fine adjustments on the distance between the pickup holder and the pickup which consequently adjusts the distance between the strings  12  and the top pickup  21 . The distance between the strings and the top pickup affects the tone produced by the guitar. The spring enveloped screw  43  used herein has a head  48  with a roughened surface similar to the adjusting screw  30  to allow the fingers to turn the screw instead of a hex screw used in the previous invention which would require a screw driver. The turning of the screw  43  narrows or widens the distance between the pickup and the pickup holder. 
   It is recommended to connect an elongated strip at the bottom end of the bar  20  to hold the second C-clamp  22  also referred to as the bottom clamp. In the example shown in  FIG. 3A , here, the control box  37  is used as a substitute to the elongated strip. In  FIG. 5  the second C-clamp  22  is attached to the rear of the control box  37 . The use of a control box instead of a plain elongated strip offers the advantage of hiding the connectors used in connecting the C-clamp  22  inside the control box. This is the same with the connectors used to connect the control box to the bar  20 . Connectors are known in the art such as screws, nuts and bolts, strong adhesives and the like.  FIG. 5  shows the top view of the C-clamp  22  while  FIG. 5A  shows the left side view of the C-clamp  22 . C-clamp  22  is modified in its construction compared to the C-clamp  18 . Like the C-clamp  18 , however, other clamps that can function similarly as the C-clamp can be used. The outside borders for the C-clamp  22  illustrated here as example are a pair of exterior plates  50 , joined by a bar  51  at one common lateral bottom end of the plates to form the C shape as shown by  FIGS. 5A  and SB. As in C-clamp  18 , within the exterior or outside plates  50 , there are also a pair of inside plates  52  both having a lining  53  made of scratch preventing material at the surface facing the interior of the C-clamp  22  to prevent scratching the surface of a mid bottom section of a guitar that would be held by the clamp. The pair of inside plates  52  is also separated by a spring enveloped bar  54  connected to the exterior plates  50 . Here, there are at least two bars  54  because the exterior and inside plates are wider than the outside border and inside strips of C-clamp  18 . Likewise, as shown in  FIG. 5 , there are also two pairs of adjusting screws  55  instead of one. The mid bottom section of the body of the guitar is introduced into the open end  56  of the C-clamp  22 . The edges of the bottom section should not touch the spring enveloped bars aligned with the bar  51  at the bottom end of the C-clamp to prevent scratching the bottom surface. Like the C-clamp  18 , the width of the open end  56  and consequently the distance between the pair of outside plates  50  is also a little wider than the thickness of an ordinary guitar. It is the inside plates that abut the surfaces of the bottom body of the guitar through the pairs of adjusting screws  55 . The inside plates  52 , like the inside strips  27 , also positions the guitar and consequently the distance between the top pickup and the strings. The positioning of the inside strips  27  and the inside plates  52 , must be synchronized and coordinated to avoid any strain or stress on the guitar as well as achieve the desired distance between the top pickup and the strings especially when the strings are in an inclined position instead of flat. The function of the spring enveloped bars for C-clamp  22  is the same as its function for C-clamp  18  and will not be reiterated. 
     FIG. 3A  shows the relative position of the two C-clamps to each other. The bottom C-clamp is farther from the bar  20  because of the distance of the mid bottom section of the body of the guitar relative to the top side section of the body of the guitar. These positions on the body of the guitar were chosen because it will provide a stable hold on the top pick up assembly as well as position the top pickup  21  on top of the strings  12 . The open end  24  and  56  of the two clamps as well as the length of the respective lateral sides of the outside borders  26  and bar  51  allows flexibility in positioning the guitar in case the distance between the top side section to be clamped and the mid bottom section of the guitar varies for different types of guitars. It is also possible for the open end  24  of the top C-clamp to face the neck of the guitar instead of away from the neck as illustrated here. Where the C-clamp faces may affect the applicability of the top pickup assembly depending upon the differences in the distances between the top side section and the mid bottom section of the guitar. The connector of the top C-clamp  18  should be one that will allow the C-clamp to face either way. Also in the illustration presented, the top pickup assembly  100  is clamped on the left side to avoid getting into the way of the control knobs and connectors at the right side front panel of the guitar. Obviously, these can exchange places, if desired. Adjustments can also be made for left handed players. What is important here is to have at least a clamp that would stably attach the top pickup assembly and allow the top pickup to travel on top of and along a workable length of the string/s. The guitar can have or not have a bottom pickup. The top pickup assembly can be made of metal or plastic. Use of plastic materials provide the advantage of lightening the weight of the top pickup assembly. Use of strong adhesives are also more suited on plastic materials instead of metals. 
   The use of the term “connect”, “attach”, “mount”, “install” include direct or indirect connections with or without intervening or intermediary devices or other means that can couple or attach or fix the parts together or the parts with other components or sections of the guitar. 
   While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that various changes, adaptations, and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.