Patent ID: 7241948

Claim:
A stringed musical instrument device that also functions as a peripheral for a computer or comparing device, comprising: a body having a soundboard; a neck extending from the body; at least one string extending over a portion of the body and the neck; a piezo bridge mounted on the body for providing a lower contact point with the string; at least one electronic transducer coupled to the body and configured for converting at least one of vibrations of the at least one string and the body into analog electrical signals; at least one analog-to-digital converter communicating with the at least one electronic transducer and configured for converting the analog electrical signals into digital signals; a digital signal processing system communicating with the at least one analog-to-digital converter and configured for converting the digital signals into line level signals having a USB signal format for coupling, via a USB connector, to USB input ports of a computer or computing device, the digital signal processing system including an engine configured for converting audio signals into class compliant USB signal format including streaming audio and MIDI data; and wherein said at least one analog-to-digital converter and digital signal processing system are configured to be powered by said computer or computing device via said USB connector.