IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES AND OTHER STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1880

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LETTERS PATENT to Frederik Wolff, of Copenhagen, Denmark, Patent Agent,
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES AND OTHER STRINGED
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS." A communication from abroad by Albert Hellig, of
Little Ferry, County of Bergen and State of New Jersey, in the United
States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Frederik Wolff at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th September 1880.
"IMPROVEMENTS
FREDERIK WOLFF, of Copenhagen, Denmark, Patent Agent.
IN PIANOFORTES AND OTHER STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS." A communi-
cation from abroad by Albert Hellig, of Little Ferry, County of Bergen and State
of New Jersey, in the United States of America.
While this Invention is chiefly applicable to pianofortes, it is by no means
limited thereto, but may be applied with equal advantage to zithers, harps,
violins, violoncellos, and all stringed musical instruments generally, inasmuch as
it consists broadly in a new and improved method of stringing, tuning, and
adjusting the pitch of stringed instruments. In the following Specification,
however, I have described this Invention as especially applied to a piano.
The present method of stringing and tuning pianos and other stringed musical
instruments consists, as is well known, in winding the strings upon or around pins
(called in a piano "tuning pins") by turning the said pins like screws within the
smooth bores or sockets in the rest board or tuning stock, into which they are
inserted, the pins having been driven forcibly into said board or stock in order
to provide the necessary friction to cause them to remain firmly in any given
position and resist the tension of the strings. This method is objectionable,
experience having demonstrated that the friction in this manner imparted to the
tuning pins, and upon which they rely for their resistance in respect of the
unwinding tendency of the strings, is in itself unequal, and therefore more or less
uncontrollable and unadjustable; besides, it is often inadequate to resist this
tendency of the tension of the strings to unscrew or loosen the tuning pins,
especially after the piano has been tuned repeatedly, and the pins thus turned more

page_text: or less in their respective bores or sockets and loosened therein from the increased
smoothness of said bores, which of course puts the instrument out of tune. Again,
the pins thus depending upon their frictional contact with the rest-board.or
tuning-stock into which they are inserted for the rigidity of their adjusted
position, it is difficult to effect this adjustment with that micrometrical degree of
nicety and exactness which is requisite to the proper tuning of the instrument.
Hence the object of this Invention is to provide pianofortes and other stringed
musical instruments with a system of stringing and tuning which does not depend
upon the frictional resistance of tuning pins within the rest-board or tuning-stock
in the manner aforesaid, and which is susceptible of the highest degree of accuracy
in the tuning and adjustment of the pitch. To this end this Invention consists in
the construction of a stringing and tuning mechanism or device to take the place of
the tuning pins, which is inserted removably into the rest-board or tuning-stock,
the longitudinal axis of the said mechanism or device being in the same plane as
the axis of the connecting end of the string, whereby central direction of the
The said
tension of the string to the stringing and tuning device is secured.
device is stationary in the rest-board or tuning stock, the strings depending upon a
central and rectilineal and not a tangential (peripherical) and rotary motion for
their adjustment, which said rectilineal motion of the adjusting device is within a
plano coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the connecting end of the string
operated upon, a principle which as carried out in this Invention, admits of the
utmost nicety and micrometrical precision in the adjustment, as well as of ease and
facility in effecting the adjustment, or, in other words, in tuning or adjusting the
pitch of the instrument.
In the two Sheets of Drawings Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views from
opposite standpoints of a device embodying this Invention.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section.
Figures 4 and 5 are similar sections showing the adjusting mechanism in two
different stages of operation or positions.
Figure 6 is a perspective rear view of the tubular standard detached from the
rest-board or tuning-stock and adjusting mechanism.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 represent longitudinal sections illustrative of a modified
construction of this mechanism or device.
Figure 10 is a cross section through line x, x, Figure 7.
Figure 11 is a cross section through line y, y, Figure 8.
Figure 12 is a similar section through line 2, 2, Figure 9; and
Figure 13 is a perspective view of the adjusting mechanism used in combination
with the tubular standard represented in Figure 6, detached from said standard.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
A is the rest-board, which is provided near one end with a solid pin a, to which
the string bis fastened, and also with two small blocks c, c, supporting the strings,
This
and finally near its other end with the stringing and tuning device d.
consists of a standard which is inserted loosely into a hole or socket bored in the
rest board for its reception, so that it can be easily taken out and again replaced.
Means are, however (as hereinafter shown), provided for preventing said standard
from turning in its bore or socket. The standard d is provided with an adjusting
mechanism, which is composed of a female screw or nut and an appertaining male
screw bolt in operative connection or combination with each other and with the
standard.
I prefer to construct this stationary, but removable, stringing and tuning
mechanism as follows:-I use a straight tubular standard e having a longitudinal
slot frunning from end to end, and also, diametrically opposite to said alot, a small
eye or aperture g so placed that when the standard is inserted into its bore or
socket in the rest board or turning stock, this eye shall be just above or flush with
the surface of the board or iron plate or frame of the pianoforte. In the upper end
of the tubular standard e is inserted a small pin or bridge piece h facing a screw
bolt k, one side of which, facing the said pin or bridge piece and the aperture g, is

page_text: filed off flat and smooth, to prevent it (the bolt) from turning within the tube e into
which it is inserted.
i is a female screw or nut which is supported by and rests upon the upper rim
of the tubular standard e, and into which the male screw bolt is inserted. It
follows that by turning or rotating said nut i, bolt is worked up or down within
its tube. Near the lower end of bolt is a diametrical eye or aperture m in the
same plane as the eye g and slot f in the standard, through which the end of the
string, having first been inserted through eye g, is inserted, and prevented from
slipping back by a sharp hook or twist o, which is so formed that it will also serve
as an additional guide for the screw bolt k, by projecting into the slot of the
tubular standard or out through the said slot. If desired the projecting twist book
or knot o may therefore serve as a substitute for the pin or bridge piece h, by
preventing the screw bolt from turning within its tubular standard.
When this form of standard is used I prevent it from turning in its bore or
socket in the rest board or tuning stock by inserting a pin n obliquely into the
socket, which will register with slot f, so that it forms no obstacle for the insertion
into or removal from the rest board or tuning stock of the standard. But differently
constructed standards may be made without deviating from the spirit of this
Invention; for example, standards that are rectangular or square in cross section,
or provided with a rectangular or square tenon at their lower end, fitting into a
correspondingly shaped socket in the rest board or tuning stock to prevent them
from turning. Nor need the standard to be tubular and straight (although this is
for its convenience and cheapness the form which I prefer), for it will readily be
seen that it may be made solid at its lower end, with a projecting tubular head
supporting upon its upper rim the nut i, and serving as a bearing for the screw bolt k,
as shown in Figure 7. Again, instead of attaching the end or ends of the string to the
lower end of the male screw k, and operating said screw by turning the female screw
or nut i, this arrangement may be reversed, as represented in Figs. 8 and 9, without
deviating from the spirit of this Invention. In the modification represented in
the two last named Figures, and in their corresponding transverse sections Figures 11
and 12, the end or ends of the string b is secured in the nut i', which is slotted to
receive the standard e, through whose projecting tubular head e¹ the screw bolt is
inserted, its lower end being fitted into the threaded aperture in nut 2³, while its
upper end is provided with a square head k' which corresponds to the nut i represented
in the remaining Figure of the Drawing. By turning this head with a key, wrench,
or any other suitable implement, the nut may be worked up or down upon its
standard, drawing the end of the string with it, until the proper degree of tension
has been obtained. Instead of slotting nut in the manner described to fit
upon its standard c, it may be made with a dovetailed projection fitting into a
correspondingly shaped longitudinal groove or channel in the standard. The position
of the nut in respect of its standard may be reversed, as shown in Figures 9 and 12;
and again, when a nut at the upper end of the male screw and its standard is
employed, as in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, the screw instead of flattening upon one
side may be grooved longitudinally, and prevented from turning by inserting a
pin h¹ through the standard, as shown more clearly in Figure 10, the inner point of
which projects into the groove in the screw bolt, operating in precisely the same
manner as the pin or bridge piece which is used in combination with a flattened
screw. Other modifications of this Invention involving the same general principle
will readily suggest themselves, and hence, it is believed, do not require further
illustrations.
The mode of stringing, tuning, and adjusting the pitch of pianofortes, and other
stringed musical instruments, with this device is as follows:-
To string the instrument the standard with its adjusting mechanism is taken out
of its bore or socket in the rest board or tuning stock, after which its bolt k is so
adjusted by turning nut i (or vice versa), that its eye shall be opposite to and
register with, or be in the closest possible proximity to, the eye or aperture in the
standard. Then the string, after its length has been adjusted as closely as possible

page_text: or practicable, is fastened at one end to the pin a in the usual manner, and its free
end or ends (the string being either single or double) is or are inserted through the
previously adjusted eyes or apertures g, m, and bent or hooked in the manner
herein before stated, so as to fasten it securely to the bolt or nut i, as the case
may be.
The standard with its adjusting mechanism, having the string attached,
is then reinserted into its proper bore or socket in the rest-board or tuning-stock,
which will bring the string into the position shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9
of the Drawings, after which the tension of the string is adjusted to effect its
proper tuning, by turning either the nut i or bolt head k, as the case may be, with a
wrench or key, which draws the end of the string up, as represented in Figure 5,
until its tension and tune are properly adjusted. Whenever the instrument should
require tuning, or rather adjustment of pitch, this is effected in this manner by
simply turning the tuning head upon the stationary standard, which requires little
power and can be accomplished with micrometrical nicety and exactness.
Where this Invention is applied to gut-stringed instruments, it is advisable, in
order to prevent the gut-string from being injured or cut while being driven
through the eye g in the standard, to attach to the stringing and tuning device
a short piece of wire string in the manner as aforesaid, and then fasten the end of
the gut-string to the free end of the wire string which projects out through the
eye g, or the stringing and tuning device may be so placed or arranged in its
relation to the tuning-stock into which it is inserted, that its longitudinal axis
shall be in a line with the longitudinal axis of the connecting end of the string, so
that the string will be fastened directly to the adjusting mechanism without
having first to go through the_eyo in the standard.
Having thus described this Invention, I claim, as communicated to me,-
First. The method of stringing, tuning, and adjusting the pitch of pianofortes
and other stringed musical instruments, which consists in first attaching and next
drawing or pulling the attached end or ends of the string until the proper tension
of the same has been obtained central to and within a plane coinciding with that
of the longitudinal axis of a stationary standard (to take the place of the ordinary
tuning-pin), which said attachment and drawing or pulling of the string is effected
by means of a nut and appertaining male screw in operative connection or com-
bination with each other and with the said standard, substantially as set forth.
Second. The described method of stringing, tuning, and adjusting the pitch of
pianofortes and other stringed musical instruments, which consists in fastening the
free end or ends of the string in and central to the lower end of a bolt or pin,
which is inserted into or carried by a stationary standard placed removably into a
bore or socket in the rest-board or tuning-stock, the said bolt or pin being
provided with means or mechanism for its micrometrical adjustment longitudinally
within a plane coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the connecting end or ends
of the string, substantially as set forth.
Third. As an improvement in pianofortes and other stringed musical instruments
attaching the free end or ends of the string in and central to a longitudinally
adjustable pin, bolt, or nut, which is carried by or in a socketed standard fastened
detachably in the rest-board or tuning-stock, the said pin, bolt, or nut being
provided with means or mechanism for its micrometrical rectilineal adjustment
(that is, without rotation) within a plane coinciding with the longitudinal axis of
the connecting end or ends of the string, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. A device for stringing, tuning, and adjusting the pitch of pianofortes
and other stringed musical instruments composed of a socketed standard of any
suitable construction, which is inserted removably into the rest-board or tuning-
stock, and provided with an eye or aperture at a point just above the board, stuck,
plate, or frame, into which it is inserted; a screw-bolt inserted into or through
the socket of said standard, and having an eye or aperture at its lower end; a
female screw or nut impinging upon the upper rim of said socketed standard, and
into which the upper end of the screw-bolt is inserted and works; and means for
preventing said removable standard from turning or rotating within its bore or

page_text: socket in the rest-board or tuning-stock during the tuning operation; and also
means for preventing said bolt from turning or rotating within its socket in the
standard during its adjustment, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The device for stringing, tuning, and adjusting the pitch of pianofortes
and other stringed musical instruments composed of the tubular slotted standard e
provided with an eye g and pin or bridge-piece h, screw-bolt k flattened on the side
facing the said pin or bridge-piece, and having an eye or aperture m at its lower
end, and female screw or nut i, all constructed and combined to operate substantially
in the manner and for the purpose shown and set forth.
Sixth. In a stringed musical instrument the combination with the rest-board or
tuning-stock A and string b of the stringing and tuning device d composed of the
detachable tubular slotted standard e provided with an eye g and pin or bridge-
piece h, screw-bolt k flattened on the side facing the said pin or bridge-piece, and
having an eye or aperture m at its lower end, and female screw or nut i, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein shown and specified.
Seventh. In combination the socketed rest-board or tuning-stock A, pin m pro-
jecting obliquely into the socket of said rest-board or tuning-stock, and detachable
tubular slotted stringing and tuning standard e, substantially as and for the
purpose herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederik Wolff, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
FREDERIK WOLFF. (L.S.)