A New or Improved Stringed Musical Instrument.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1892-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Stringed Musical Instrument.
We, ERNST BÖCKER, Musical Instrument Maker, of 1, Kreuzgasse, and
FRANZ XAVER SERVATIUS, Merchant, of 1 Brandenburger-Strasse, both in
Cologne, Germany, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying
drawings, of which
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an instrument embodying our invention,
Fig. 2 is a top view of the same without keyboard,
Fig. 3 a section along line A-B, with keyboard,
Fig. 4 a plan of the keyboard,
Fig. 5 a bottom view of the keyboard,
Fig. 6 a section along line C-D of Fig. 5,
Fig. 7 an end view,
Fig. 8 a diagram representing the mode of playing.
The instrument chiefly comprises a sound chest c resting on three legs a and
provided with two unequal sound openings b, and a finger board & mounted on the
said sound chest. In order to promote the development of sound, the sound box c,
as shown by Fig. 3, is quite open on one side. The finger board or string board d
is chromatically divided by small bars of metal e, and has mounted on it four
strings of metal or catgut arranged in pairs, the strings of which are placed
close together and tuned alike. The instrument is thus stringed to produce double
notes, as every string is in duplicate and two strings are always simultaneously
sounded by the player.
In the present instrument the two front strings are tuned in C, and the two
rear strings in G. The strings are held to a bridge g by pegs h, as shown in
Fig. 7, and fastened with the front end to the tuning pins i. Over the strings is
placed a keyboard. This consists of a flat wooden piece k having two rows of holes
drilled perpendicularly towards the ledges of the finger board placed underneath.
In the holes are loosely fitted cylindrical keys having flattened extremities and
each of which is held by a separate spring m. One end of the spring is inserted
into a hole drilled into the lower part of the key, while the other end is fastened to
the underside of the keyboard by means of a screw. The keyboard is provided
at each end with a pair of adjusting screws n, which support the whole keyboard.
The keyboards may therefore be raised or lowered by these adjusting screws, so
that the keys may be exactly brought to the proper distance from the strings
situated underneath the same. The keyboard is fixed by the two nuts and screws o
which are screwed with their lower ends into the cover of the instrument.
keys should, when being pressed downwards, rest with their bottom ends on the
strings, a short distance from the brass bars of the finger board; on this depends
the exact position of the keyboard or the keys. For playing on the instrument, it
is placed on a table in the manner shown by Fig. 8. By a slight pressure with the
fingers of the left hand, the keys are pressed down on the strings, and when the
fingers are taken off, the keys rise immediately under the influence of the springs.
The strings are sounded by means of a bow held in the right hand. At the
corresponding keys the notes of the C major scale are indicated by letters, and by
depressing the keys the respective string is caused to produce the notes marked
near the said keys. In order to make it easier to find one's way, the notes of the
C major scale are represented by white keys and the intermediate notes by black
keys.
The

page_text: The instrument is specially intended as a teaching instrument to be used for
practising songs by the solmization method.
The keyboard mounted on the instrument has for its object, to enable anybody,
even without possessing a musical ear, after a short time of self instruction to play
the instrument without difficulty and with clearness.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
A string instrument having a sound box completely open on one side (as
illustrated by Fig. 3), four strings of metal or catgut stretched in pairs over a
chromatically divided finger or string board, and a removeable and adjustable key-
board mounted above the strings and adapted to depress the same, the whole being
adapted to operate substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 1st of November 1892.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicants.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicants.