Patent ID: 7446247

Claim:
An acoustic musical instrument, comprising: a back and a sound board separated by a continuous side; said side comprising a side port located on a sound board side of said instrument facing a player to allow sound from inside of said instrument to be directed to said player instead of outward towards an audience; wherein said sound board is provided without any opening; and means suspended from two or more points of contact at respective edges of said sound board for supporting a portion of said sound board proximate to an instrument bridge in lieu of conventional sound board bracing, said means further comprising a multi-point suspended bracing system comprising: at least two rigid rods fixed to respective edges of said guitar sound board by two or more respective members and extending therebetween, each of said members defining an aperture for receiving a respective end of a rod; a bridge support member, wherein said rods project through apertures formed through said bridge support member.