Patent ID: 7425671

Claim:
A musical instrument comprising: at least one sound chamber having a face and boundaries, said sound chamber so disposed as to lie in a plane or planes, at least one side, and a length, said sound chamber being essentially hollow, at least one neck, having boundaries and comprising a head and a base, a bridge and nut, wherein the head and the base are located at distal ends of the instrument each from the other, and also comprising at least one neck-face over which one or more strings are mounted, said neck-face and strings or strings disposed and tensioned parallel to each other in planes substantially parallel or conforming to a plane or planes of the face of the sound chamber, said neck configured to lie substantially along one said side and parallel to said length of the sound chamber, but not in front of the face of the sound chamber, nor behind the sound chamber or body, and further configured such that the boundaries of the neck and the boundaries of the sound chamber are adjacent, but do not intersect, the sound chamber being limited to an area or areas alongside the neck, but not under the strings, such that said strings are substantially tensioned only over the neck alone, thereby allowing none of the strings to be tensioned before the face of the sound chamber, nor behind the sound chamber, and further, such that essentially no string tension is absorbed by or supported by the sound chamber or body.