Appliance for Facilitating Tuning of Guitars and such like Stringed Instruments.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 30th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 8th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Appliance for Facilitating Tuning of Guitars and such like Stringed
Instruments.
I, ISAAC LEVY XIMENES, of No. 172 Hampstead Road, in the County of Middlesex,
usually known as Giovanni Luigi, Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows
In tuning a guitar, banjo or such like stringed instrument it is necessary to press on
a string over one or other of the frets, and also to strike the string, both hands being
thus occupied so that it is impossible at the same time to turn the tuning peg.
This invention relates to an appliance for facilitating the tuning by leaving the
hand, that would otherwise be used to press the string on a fret, free to work the
tuning peg while the other hand is employed in striking the string. For this purpose,
I provide a bridge shaped screw clamp which can be fixed over any part of the finger
board, so as to arch over a fret or other part of the board. The bridge of the clamp
is slotted to receive a setting screw which can be moved along the slot so as to come
immediately over any one of the strings. On screwing down this setting screw its
end presses the string down on the fret or other part of the finger board, just as the
finger would press it, and thus the hand is left at liberty to work the tuning peg.
Dated this 7th day of March 1889.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Appliance for Facilitating Tuning of Guitars and such like Stringed
Instruments.
I, ISAAC LEVY XIMENES, of No. 172 Hampstead Road, in the County of Middlesex,
usually known as Giovanni Luigi, Professor of Music, 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 tuning a guitar, banjo or such like stringed instrument, it is necessary to press
on a string over one or other of the frets, and also to strike the string, both hands
being thus occupied, so that it is impossible at the same time to turn the tuning peg.
This invention relates to an appliance for facilitating the tuning by leaving the
hand, that would otherwise be used to press the string on a fret, free to work the tuning
peg, while the other hand is employed in striking the string. For this purpose
provide an implement such as I shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section and Fig. 2 is a part plan of the fret board of an
instrument with the tuning implement according to my invention applied thereto.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the implement. This implement is of bridge form
having two upright limbs E F carrying the upper bar D. Two cheeks e and f clamp
between them the fret board G at any part of its length, the clamping being effected
by turning a milled nut situated in a fork of the limb F, this nut working on
the screwed stem of the cheek f. The upper bar D has a slot through which passes:
the screwed stem d² of a presser d. This stem also passes through a sliding piece.d
in a slot of which is a milled nut d³ working on the stem d². The stem d' is grooved
along its length into which groove projects a stud d fixed in the sliding piece d¹ so
as to prevent the stem d² from turning when the nut is turned.
The clamp being fixed at any part of the length of the fret board G, the sliding
piece d' is slid along the upper bar D until the presser d is immediately over the
string which has to be tuned; then by turning the nut d³ the presser d is forced
down on the string pressing it as a finger. This string can then be struck and its
tuning peg at the same time turned to bring it to the desired pitch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
For facilitating the tuning of a banjo, guitar, or similar stringed instrument, a
bridge clamp which can be fixed by means of a nut and screw at any part of the
fret board, and which has a presser transversely adjustable so that it can by means
of a nut on its screwed. stem be made to press on any one of the strings, substantially
as described.