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US 2006/0185494 A1Published application
Pitch changing arrangements for pedal steel guitar
OwnerD. Zumsteginventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention as described herein consists of a pitch-changing arrangement as may be used in a pedal steel guitar to improve the quality of the sounds emanating therefrom. The invention incorporates a tone ring for transferring the string energy from the neutral position raising lever directly into the guitar cabinet. The invention also allows for the pitch-changing device to be stopped in the raised position by the guitar cabinet slot thus imparting the string energy directly into the guitar cabinet.
Claims6
A pitch changing mechanism for a pedal steel guitar which comprises:
- a tension control lever pivotally connected to a control bridge pin with a string attachment means.
- a lowering pitch-changing lever with a plurality of rod attachment means.
- a pivot means for pivotally attaching the lowering lever to a raising lever.
- a raising pitch-changing lever with a plurality of rod attachment means, pivotally attached to the lowering lever and pivotally connected to the control bridge pin;
- the raising lever being selectively attachable to a pull rod to actuate the raising lever from a neutral position to an actuated position, and includes a portion that stops in contact with a cabinet slot portion of the steel guitar cabinet soundboard when the raising lever is in the raised position.
- respective pull rods attached to said raising lever and said lowering lever, so that on pulling of each respective pull rod, said corresponding raising and lowering levers create clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of tension control lever about the bridge pin, thus raising or lowering the tension of the string trained across said tension control lever to raise or lower the pitch.
- a biasing spring attached to the lowering lever.
4 more elements
A tone ring which is mounted in direct contact with said guitar cabinet soundboard and encircles said pitch-changing mechanism and which incorporates a neutral position stop bar.
An all-pull pedal steel guitar comprising:
- a guitar cabinet, having an upper surface and an opposite lower surface, and having a cabinet slot at one end between the upper surface and the lower surface;
- a pair of support brackets containing a bridge pin mounted to the upper surface of the guitar cabinet, and located about the cabinet slot;
- a plurality of tension control levers pivotally connected to the bridge pin, the control levers having a string attachment means;
- a fretboard attached to the upper surface of the guitar cabinet;
- a plurality of strings mounted across the fretboard, each of the strings secured at one end to a keyhead with adjustable tension means, each of the strings secured at its opposite end to a tension control lever;
- a plurality of raising levers extending through the cabinet slot opening, each of the raising levers pivotally connected to the bridge pin, each of the raising levers being adjacent to a tension control lever, each raising lever constructed so as to stop in immediate contact with the cabinet slot opening of the steel guitar cabinet soundboard when the raising lever is in the actuated position;
- a raise attachment means for selectable attachment of a pull rod for actuation of each of the raising levers from the neutral position to an actuated position;
- each said pull rod containing an adjustable fixed nut and balance spring to insure firm contact of raising lever with guitar cabinet soundboard.
- a plurality of lowering levers, each of the lowering levers pivotally attached to a raising lever, each lowering lever positioned against a stop plate in the neutral position;
- a lower attachment means for selectable attachment of a pull rod for actuation of each of the lowering levers from the neutral position to the actuated positions;
- the stop plate in generally vertical alignment with the tone ring neutral stop bar and being rigidly attached to the steel guitar, the stop plate oriented generally perpendicular to the lowering lever in the neutral position, the stop plate contacting the lower end of the lowering lever to define the neutral position;
- a plurality of pull rods, each pull rod selectively attachable to either the raising lever or the lowering lever for actuating the selected lever;
- a plurality of return spring means for biasing each of the lowering levers against the stop plate when an adjacent raising lever is actuated, the return spring means biasing each of the lowering levers against the stop plate when the raising lever and an adjacent lowering lever are in the neutral position, the return spring means urging each of the lowering levers to the neutral position against the stop plate when released from the actuated position;
- a cam, integral to the lowering lever, the cam engaging the control lever for selective rotational positioning of the control lever, the cam generating tensional reducing rotation of the control lever when the lowering lever is actuated, the cam generating tensional increasing rotation of the control lever when the raising lever is actuated, and;
- a plurality of pull rod actuating means, each pull rod actuating means attachable for selective movement of the pull rods.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.