Patent ID: 7514626

Claim:
An integrated self-contained electrostatic pickup system to capture sound of stringed musical instruments comprising: (a) a capacitive pickup plate as a stationary electrode positioned between a stationary ground plate and electrically grounded instrument string(s) as a non-stationary electrode wherein the pickup plate is shielded on both front and rear sides from stray electrostatic fields, reducing hum and noise; (b) high-dielectric material between the pickup plate and ground plate to minimize damping effects of the ground plate upon the signal generated by vibrating string(s); (c) sufficient width of the pickup plate along the axial length of the string(s) to capture a range of string harmonics of the musical instrument; (d) a low-voltage electrical supply; (e) a means of boosting low voltage to low-current filtered high voltage for pickup plate bias; (f) a means to apply high voltage to the pickup plate and isolate alternating-current signals generated by vibrating string(s) for connection to an amplifier or other electronic equipment.