Patent Abstract:
In general, the present invention provides a tailpiece for a musical instrument. Among other things, the tailpiece includes: a treble side; a bass side opposite the treble side, wherein the treble side is longer than the bass side at a tip of the tailpiece such that the treble side extends further towards a bridge of the musical instrument along an axis oriented from a tail end of the tailpiece towards the tip of the tailpiece; and a plurality of string holes for holding a plurality of strings of the musical instrument.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of co-pending application entitled “INTERCHANGEABLE TUNERS FOR A TAILPIECE OF A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT,” having Attorney Docket No. FRIR-0002, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/104,147, filed on May 10, 2011, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to a tailpiece of a musical instrument. Specifically, the present invention relates to a tailpiece for a musical instrument. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Stringed instruments are well known throughout the musical world. As is generally know, a stringed instrument will typically include, among other parts, a body, neck, bridge, and a set of strings. In instruments such as violins, violas, cellos, etc., a tailpiece can also be included. The tailpiece is attached to the body and receives the strings, thus, holding the strings in a linear and tightened position. The traditional mechanism available to a player for adjusting the pitch of the strings involves turning the pegs of the instrument. Typically, a first end of each of four strings of the instrument is attached to (i.e., wound around) one of the four pegs in a pegbox. Each of the second ends of the four strings is inserted through and retained in a corresponding opening in the tailpiece. The pitch of a string, which is determined primarily by its tension and length, can be changed by turning the peg to which it is attached. 
         [0004]    Players can also adjust the pitch of a string using a fine tuner attached to the second end of the string at its corresponding hole in the tailpiece. Typically, the end of the string to be fine-tuned is looped around a hook on the fine tuner, such that the turn of a thumbscrew on the fine tuner changes the length of the string and, therefore, its pitch. Most modern players use fine tuners because it makes tuning their instruments much easier and requires less time. Some players like them only on the higher pitch strings because those strings tend to go out of tune more often. However, current approaches fail to provide easy interchangeability/customization desired by many players. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In general, the present invention provides a tailpiece for a musical instrument. Among other things, the tailpiece includes: a treble side; a bass side opposite the treble side, wherein the treble side is longer than the bass side at a tip of the tailpiece such that the treble side extends further towards a bridge of the musical instrument along an axis oriented from a tail end of the tailpiece towards the tip of the tailpiece; and a plurality of string holes for holding a plurality of strings on the treble side and the bass side. In one embodiment, the tip of tailpiece has an S-shaped topography that causes the tailpiece to twist when the bass side is brought under tension. The tip of the tailpiece curves down towards the musical instrument to position the bass side closer to the musical instrument than the treble side. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1A  depicts a top surface of a tailpiece according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1B  depicts a top surface of a tailpiece according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  depicts the tailpiece of the present invention on a musical instrument. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  depicts a perspective view of a tailpiece of the present invention with a plurality of openings according an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4A  depicts a perspective view of a detachable tuner according to an embodiment of present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4B  depicts a perspective view of a detachable keyhole string insert according to an embodiment of invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5A  depicts a perspective view of an apparatus including a set of detachable tuners and a set of detachable keyhole string inserts positioned within openings of the tailpiece according to an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5B  depicts a bottom view of the apparatus of  FIG. 5A  according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments. 
         [0017]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of this disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms “a”, “an”, etc., do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
         [0018]    As indicated above, the present invention provides a tailpiece for a musical instrument. Among other things, the tailpiece includes a plurality of openings for receiving a plurality of strings and a detachable tuner positioned within one or more of the plurality of openings. Among other features, the tailpiece includes a set of detachable keyhole inserts positioned within one or more of the openings of the tailpiece unoccupied by a detachable tuner. Each detachable tuner is interchangeable with one of the detachable keyhole string inserts, thus allowing players to use tuners with any string desired for complete customization based on each player&#39;s preference. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 1A , a top surface of a tailpiece  10  according to the present invention is shown. As depicted, tailpiece  10  includes a tail end  12 , a head  14 , a bass side  16 , a treble side  18 , and a plurality of string holes  20 A-N for receiving a plurality of strings (shown in  FIG. 3 ).  FIG. 1B  shows a top surface of another tailpiece according to the present invention. Similarly, tailpiece  20  includes a tail end  22 , a head  24 , a bass side  26 , a treble side  28 , and a plurality of string holes  30 A-N for receiving a plurality of strings. Tailpiece  20  also includes tuning screw  32  and tuner  34 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 2  depicts tailpiece  10  attached to a musical instrument  58 . As shown, string holes  20 A-N ( FIG. 1A ) receive strings  60 A-N. In this embodiment, tailpiece  10  is designed so that the open string length below a bridge  40  is progressively longer for each lower pitch string (e.g.,  60 N). This feature provides more string area for the longer wavelength bass tones to resonate from the bass strings. In this configuration tailpiece  10  balances the instrument by adding clarity and strength to the bass tones to match the typically stronger projection and clarity produced from the treble strings (e.g.,  60 A). The lengthening of the bass strings greatly reduced wolf tones (i.e., a dissonant sound that is often accompanied by an audible pulse) by changing the harmonics of the instrument. The sympathetic vibrations are still present, and very much needed to get the most projection and tonal richness from the instrument, but the unpleasant harmonics are reduced. Furthermore, tailpiece  10  has a built in twist due to its ‘S’ shaped head  14  in the tip area where the strings  60 A- 60 N attach. This configuration positions the bass strings (e.g.,  60 N and  60 C) lower than the treble strings, which redistributes the down force on bridge  40 . This significantly increases the efficiency of bridge  40  and enhances the overall volume and projection of instrument  58 . 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a tailpiece  61  according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in greater detail. As shown, tailpiece  61  comprises a treble side  62 , a bass side  64  opposite treble side  62 , and a plurality of openings  66 A-N for receiving a set of detachable tuners and/or a set of detachable keyhole string attachments, as will be further discuss below. Openings  66 A-N receive a plurality of strings (not shown) during operation. Tailpiece  61  includes a tail end  68  and a head  70 . 
         [0022]    Tailpiece  61  is configured to operate with a detachable tuner  80  and a detachable keyhole string attachment  95  depicted in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , respectively. As shown, detachable tuner  80  (i.e., a fine tuner) comprises an opening  82  for receiving an instrument string (not shown), and a tuner arm  84  having a channel  86  at a first end for containing the instrument string. Tuner arm  84  operates with a tuning screw  88  at a second end for controlling the fine-tuning of the instrument strings by the player. During operation, detachable tuner  80  is attachable/detachable with tailpiece  61  and is situated within one or more openings  66 A-N shown in  FIG. 3 . That is, an outside perimeter surface  90  of detachable tuner  80  is in abutment with an inner surface  65  of tailpiece  61  formed by at least one of the plurality of openings  66 A-N in tailpiece  61  ( FIG. 3 ). In one embodiment, outside perimeter  90  of detachable tuner  80  further comprises a set of fasteners  92 A,  92 B for coupling detachable tuner  80  to tailpiece  61 . However, it will be appreciated that fasteners  92 A,  92 B are shown for exemplary purposes only, and that many alternative configurations for securing the detachable tuners to the tailpiece are possible within the scope of the invention. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4B  depicts detachable keyhole string insert  95  according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown, detachable keyhole string insert  95  comprises an opening  96  for receiving the instrument string, and a lip  98 , which prevents the instrument string from resting flat against the front face of detachable keyhole string insert  95 . During operation, detachable keyhole string insert  95  is attachable/detachable with tailpiece  61  and is situated within one or more openings  66 A-N shown in  FIG. 3 . That is, similar to tuner  80 , an outside perimeter surface  100  of detachable keyhole string insert  95  is in abutment with inner surface  65  of tailpiece  61  formed by at least one of the plurality of openings  66 A-N in tailpiece  61  ( FIG. 3 ). In an embodiment, outside perimeter  100  of each detachable keyhole string insert  95  includes a set of fasteners  102 A,  102 B for coupling detachable keyhole string insert  95  to tailpiece  61 . 
         [0024]    The basic structure/geometry of detachable tuner  80  and detachable keyhole string insert  95  allows each component to be easily interchanged for one another, as shown in  FIGS. 5A-5B . Apparatus  110  comprises tailpiece  61  having a set of detachable tuners  80  and a set of detachable keyhole string inserts  95  positioned within openings  66 A-N ( FIG. 3 ). As designed, each of the detachable tuners  80  is interchangeable with each of the detachable keyhole string inserts  95 . This allows increased customization by a player. For example, based on preference, players may wish to use detachable tuners  80  on some or all of the strings. If a player wishes to position tuners on less than all of the strings, detachable keyhole inserts  95  are used within any the openings unoccupied by detachable tuners  80 . The detachable tuners may be swapped with detachable keyhole string inserts, thus allowing players to use tuners with any string desired for complete customization based on each player&#39;s preference. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, as discussed above, tailpiece  61  has a built in twist due to its ‘S’ shaped head  14  in the area where the strings  60 A- 60 N attach. That is, a tip portion  104  near treble side  64  of head  14  curves down towards musical instrument  58  ( FIG. 2 ) to position the bass strings (e.g.,  60 N and  60 C) lower than the treble strings (e.g.,  60 A-B). This redistributes the down force on bridge  40 , which significantly increases the efficiency of bridge  40  and enhances the overall volume and projection of instrument  58 . 
         [0026]    The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6