Patent ID: 7230174

Claim:
A guitar and violin hybrid instrument comprising: a) a body comprising: (1) an upper surface, a lower surface, an upper end, a lower end, a left half and a right half, (2) an electronics cavity and cover located on the lower surface, (3) a piezoelectric pick-up bore, (4) a plurality of string attachment bores that extend through said body into the electronics cavity, and b) a bridge having: (1) a laterally-bowed upper surface, a flat lower surface, having means for being attached to the upper surface of said body, a left side, a right side, a first end, a second end, a plurality of string bores in alignment with the plurality of string attachment bores on said body, and a piezoelectric lead bore in alignment with the piezoelectric pick-up bore on said body, (2) a plurality of saddles adjustably attached to the upper surface of said bridge, wherein each said saddle comprises a string groove and a piezoelectric pick-up cavity that is located adjacent each of the string slots, (3) a piezoelectric pick-up inserted into each said piezoelectric pick-up cavity wherein each said piezoelectric pick-up has an output lead that is inserted sequentially through the respective piezoelectric lead bore, the piezoelectric pick-up bore and into the electronics cavity, c) a neck comprising: (1) an outer end, an inner end, an upper surface and a lower surface wherein the inner end having means for being attached to the upper surface adjacent to the upper end of said body, (2) a headstock having an upper edge and a lower edge, wherein the lower edge is integrally formed with the outer end of said neck, said headstock further having: (a) a plurality of tuning pegs, (b) a fretboard having an inner end, an outer end and that is dimensioned to cover the upper surface of said neck, (c) a multiplicity of frets distributed between the inner end and the outer end of said fretboard, (d) a nut having a plurality of string grooves and that is located between the outer end of said neck and the lower edge of said headstock, d) a set of strings strung from said plurality of string attachment bores, across said body and said fretboard, through the plurality of string grooves on said nut and onto said plurality of tuning pegs that function to adjust the tension of said strings, e) an electronics circuit located within the electronics cavity, said circuit having means for controlling and operating said guitar and violin hybrid instrument, and f) a bow used to strum said set of strings when said instrument functions as a violin.