AN IMPROVEMENT UPON THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMMONLY CALLED THE GUITTAR
Year: 1783

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTIAN
CLAUSS, of Frith Street, in the Parish of Saint Ann, Soho, in the. County of
Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George. the Third did, by
His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Second day of October, in the twenty-third year of
His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Christian Clauss, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Christian
Clauss, during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within. England, Wales, and, the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT UPON THE MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT COMMONLY CALLED THE GUITTAR;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Christian Clauss, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within four calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference
being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Christian Clauss, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained as follows, that is to say :-
My new Invention consists of the several parts of the machinery herein-after
drawn, described, and referred to, which are marked, distinguished, or referred
to by the several letters C, D, I, K, L, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, and in
the manner of constructing and fixing the said parts in and to the musical
instrument commonly called the guittar, and by which the said instrument
so commonly called the guittar, is rendered the more capable of being
played on in the manner of a pianoforte, and admits of a harp stop and
trumpet stop, or either at pleasure, in addition to the usual tones, with several
other perfections; and which several parts of the said machinery so marked,
distinguished, or referred to, as aforesaid, are to be constructed, put together,
and fixed in the manner described in the Plan or Drawing thereof hereunder
drawn, and the explanation subjoined thereto; and which several parts of the
said machinery so marked, distinguished, or referred to, as aforesaid, are made
of wood, brass, leather, and the other materials mentioned in the said Plan or
Drawing, and such explanation subjoined thereto. In which Plan or Drawing
the several parts marked, distinguished, or referred to by the several letters
A, B, E, F, G, H, and M, although my own proper Invention, yet having
been before my applying for the said Patent made public, are not the objects
thereof, but are only introduced into this Specification and the said Plan or
Drawing for the clearer explanation and understanding of the other parts
which are the objects of the said Patent, and which are so marked, distin-
guished, or referred to by the said letters C, D, I, K, L, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T,
V, W, as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christian Clauss, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBRED, that on the Twenty-third day of January,
in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third,
the said Christian Clauss came before the said Lord the King in His Chancery,
and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the several Statutes made
in the sixth year of the reign of the late King and Queen William and Mary
of England, and in the seventeenth and twenty-third years of the reign of His
Majesty King George the Third, and so forth.
Inrolled the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-four.

page_text: or the back
insertion of the hotter ዘ . The shaft or holler that passed through the Hammers at S. where it is "firmly fixed having at each end a conke that is received by the Triangular/
Frame - I the pallats of the Hammers which being depressed by the square pins under the Keys raise the Hammers through the Belly of the Guittar until of strikes the Shings I
K.K. A huangular Frame receiving the centres of the Rollers I. I. L. A frame fixed to the sides of the Guittor supporting the whole Machinery in the middle of the Body of the Guittar
independant of the Belly
Ma rest or Bridge usually made of Cotton Threads fixed on the Frame L.L.I. to prevent the Hammers from falling on the back of the Guittar
N. The Trumpet Stop is composed of similar parts with the foregoing Machine and is put in motion by the flin D as the other is by the pin C. and may be played or
not as pleasure by letting down a Spring placed near the Kups. O. The Bridge supporting the Strings has a Groove for the Harp Stop P. to slide in
Harp Stop having two long holes & placed obliquely repwards to raise it ansevering to the two round ones R in the Bridge through which are the pins that keep the
two parts together - S . The Frame of the Piano stop through the ends of which the Wires T. that fasten it on the belly of the Guittar underneath the Strings pass on.
which Wires it slides to be used at pleasure. V. Valves that receive the Strokes of the hammere usually made of Woollen Cloth and faced to the lower side of the Frame S.
and sometimes (as fancy directs) to a simple moveable Bar placed under the things – W. Springs fixed to the Rollers ...