Patent ID: 7763784

Claim:
A stringed musical instrument comprising: a unitary shell having a head, a neck and a body, wherein the neck has an external cross-sectional profile configured to be substantially handheld; a soundboard configured to be attached to the unitary shell, wherein the soundboard includes a body portion having a sound hole; a substantially hollow cavity in the unitary shell, wherein the hollow cavity is acoustically coupled to the sound hole of the soundboard, wherein the hollow cavity extends through the head, the neck and the body, and wherein the hollow cavity extends substantially under a fingerboard; and a supplemental sound hole adjacent the head and wherein the supplemental sound hole is acoustically coupled to the hollow cavity of the unitary shell, thereby causing the hollow cavity to form an elongated resonance chamber that communicates with both the sound hole of the soundboard and the supplemental sound hole; and wherein the unitary shell includes an asymmetrical waist having a substantially flat side and a substantially concave side, and wherein the sound hole is located substantially adjacent the substantially flat side of the waist of the unitary shell.