CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PIANOFORTES
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY ANTHONY GUNTHER, of Camden Town, in the County of Middlesex,
Pianoforte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of July, in the ninth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Henry Anthony Gunther, His special licence, that I, the said John
Henry Anthony Gunther, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and every
of them, by himself and themselves, or by his or their deputy or deputies,
servants or agents, or such others as I, the said John Henry Anthony Gunther,
should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time and at all
times during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PIANOFORTES;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said
John Henry Anthony Gunther, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Henry Anthony Gunther, do hereby declare that the nature and par-
ticulars of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are herein-after particularly set forth and described, reference being
had to the explanatory Drawing hereunto annexed, for the purpose of more
clearly shewing the forms, situations, and uses of the several parts:-
My said Invention consists in the application and use of what may be
termed an upper sounding-board to a pianoforte, together with a different
construction of certain other parts of such instrument, as follows:-The said
upper sounding-board is made of wood or metal, and used in addition to the
ordinary belly or sounding board, or to such part of the ordinary belly or
sounding board as may be retained in the construction of the improved piano-
forte, in the manner herein-after more particularly stated. The said upper
and additional sounding-board is much thicker than the sounding-board
now in use, and when of wood, it may be formed of one plank or piece
of wood or of several pieces joined together, the thickness of the said upper
sounding-board depending upon the strength and hardness of the wood or
metal that is employed; when hard wood is used, five-eighths of an inch will
be a sufficient thickness in the treble and middle parts of the instrument,
but it should be made rather thinner in the bass part, as is usual in the
sounding-boards of other pianofortes as generally constructed. The form
of my said thick or upper sounding-board will be seen in the Drawing
hereunto annexed, for which purpose it is coloured red, its left-hand edge
or that nearest to the keys being cut to the form of that particular curve
usually adopted in the formation of the belly-bridge of square pianofortes,
while its back at H and end at I coincide with the usual form of the case.
At K this upper sounding-board comes nearly to a point in the Drawing, but
this is not essential, since it would not affect my Invention if it should be
made much wider at this part. D is the angular space behind the right-hand
block, which may be covered with fretwork or not, as usual in other pianofortes.
This upper sounding-board, formed and constructed as aforesaid, must be
firmly screwed down or otherwise fixed upon the top of the block or blocks
usually employed at the right-hand end of square pianofortes for the purpose
of receiving either the hitch pins or the wrest pins, and this must be carefully
attended to, because my said upper sounding-board has to sustain the pull of
the strings, all of which are fastened to it or rather hitched upon it, as will be
Lerein-after described; and with a view to its further security its back edge

page_text: butts close against the back of the instrument as at H, and it is there fastened
down to what is called the lining, near the long block; and its right-hand
edge likewise butts against the end of the instrument as at I.
Around the left-hand curved edge of the upper sounding-board and upon
its upper surface is glued or otherwise fastened a strip of hard wood of about
one-eighth of an inch thick, and of sufficient width to receive two rows of
bearing pins; this elevated strip, marked L, L; in the Drawing, and coloured
a deeper red, serves the purpose in my improved instrument of the bridge
which is usually fixed upon the belly or sounding-board of other pianofortes;
and to the right-hand of this elevated part, and at a convenient distance from
the bearing pins, so as to allow sufficient space for the twist of the string in
forming the eye, are fixed pins, to which the strings are hitched or attached.
The upper sounding-board is not only fixed as herein-before described, but
is likewise supported by and rests upon a prop, pillar, or block of metal, wood,
or other material rising from the bottom of the instrument in or near the
situation marked by the dotted circle M, and also shown by the same letter in
the two profiles or vertical sections of this part of an instrument drawn at the
left-hand side of the Drawing, and in which the same colours and letters of
reference are used to indicate the same parts as in the plan or bird's-eye view
of the instrument.
The common or ordinary thin sounding-board as used in other pianofortes
is likewise retained with my improvements, and may either be of the full and
ordinary size and shape, and run under my new upper sounding board, or a
considerable part of it may be cut away; but in either case it will not be
necessary to glue the usual slips or bars upon its lower side to increase its
strength, as these impede its vibration, and in my improved construction they
will be quite unnecessary. If the lower or ordinary thin sounding-board is
used of the full size as usually constructed, it must run under my thick or
upper sounding-board, the two boards being about a quarter of an inch
asunder, and in this case they must be united together by a strip or border of
wood glued or otherwise fastened all round the under side of the edge of the
upper sounding-board, and likewise glued on to the upper surface of the under
or common sounding-board, in order that the two may be, united and vibrate
together. As, however, the upper sounding-board must be fixed upon the top
of the right-hand block, the under belly must stop short of it, and the uniting
strip must be kept at a short distance from the said block, but parallel to it;
a hole must likewise be cut through the under belly to permit the prop or
pillar M to take its bearing against the under side of the upper sounding-board,
as shewn in the profile No. 2, which shews the construction when the belly or

page_text: under sounding-board runs quite through; I prefer, however, cutting out all
that part of the under belly which is covered by the upper sounding board,
except so much as is necessary for overlapping to make a joint between the
two, and in this case no intervening strip will be necessary, but the upper side
of the thin belly may be glued or otherwise fastened to the under side of the
upper sounding board, as shewn at N in the profile No. 3. The upper
sounding-board should have its grain or fibres placed as nearly as possible in
the direction of the tension of the strings in order to give it greater strength.
So far I have only spoken of the application of my Invention and improve-
ments as applicable to square pianofortes, but it will be evident that they are
equally applicable to horizontal and upright grand pianofortes, as well as to
those distinguished by the names of cabinet and cottage instruments, because
in the upright grand, the cabinet, and cottage pianoforte, the end marked I in
the annexed plan may be considered as the base or bottom of the instrument,
and the mode of fixing the upper sounding-board will vary but little from
what has been already described; but in all these as well as the horizontal
grand pianoforte the upper sounding-board will be narrower, and must follow
the curve of the bent side of the instrument to which it is fixed upon the
lining of the case as well as to the blocks, but it still carries the bridge and
hitch pins instead of their being fixed as usual to the thin belly or ordinary
sounding-board, the supporting pillar or prop M taking its bearing against
the back of all upright instruments instead of against the bottom, as in those
which are horizontal.
And these are the improvements which I claim to be secured to me, my
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, by my herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, namely, the introduction and use of a thick and strong upper
sounding-board, fixed and applied as herein-before described; and, secondly,
the removal of the back or belly bridge from the ordinary belly or sounding
board on which it has always been hitherto placed, and fixed to such upper
sounding-board as has been also described, by which a new and more melodious
tone and a longer continuation of sound is produced than could be obtained
from pianofortes as heretofore constructed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Anthony Gunther, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
J. H. A. (L.S.) GUNTHER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Ninth day of September,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Henry Anthony Gunther
came before our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Ninth day of September, in the year above written.