Molded plastic guitars

A musical instrument of the guitar type, having a soundbox body to which is attached a neck having a tuning machine head, a top panel on said body carrying a bridge and saddle, strings attached to said bridge and extending across said saddle and connected to tuning gear of the machine head, said top panel having a sound hole under said strings, the improvement comprising:

• a reinforcing and supporting frame mounted on the upper edge of a wall defining the perimeter of the body;
• said upper edge of said wall and said supporting frame having interlocking tongue and groove means;
• said frame having a recessed ledge on which the edge of said top panel is engaged;
• and a depending stabilizing flange on said frame engaging the inside of said wall below said ledge.

A musical instrument of the guitar type, having a soundbox body to which is attached a neck having a tuning machine head, a top soundboard panel on said body carrying a bridge and saddle, strings attached to said bridge and extending across said saddle and connected to tuning gear of the machine head, said top panel having a sound hole under said strings, the improvement comprising:

• said bridge comprising a base member having means for anchoring the strings thereto;
• a pad member complementary to and engaged on top of said base member;
• posts projecting up from said base member and extending through complementary holes in said pad member and assuring positive bracing attachment cooperation between the base member and the pad member;
• connecting means on the pad member securing the base member and the pad member in assembly to said top panel;
• and said saddle carried by said pad member and the strings extending from their anchored ends through clearance means in said pad member and engaging in tensioned relation across said saddle.

A musical instrument of the guitar type, having a soundbox body to the upper bout of which is attached a heel end of a neck having a tuning machine head at its opposite end, a top soundboard panel on said body carrying a bridge and saddle on a resonance area of the panel, strings attached to said bridge and extending across said saddle and connected to tuning gear of the maching head, said top panel having in the upper portion thereof between said bridge and said heel end of said neck a sound hole under said strings, the improvement comprising:

• a one piece molded plastic frame conforming to the outline defined by an upstanding continuous wall of said body and mounted on the upper edge of said wall, said frame supporting said soundboard panel;
• and bracing means comprising brace bars, a bridge-mounting pad and tuning system ribs, all molded integrally in one piece with said frame, so that the entire frame and bracing means can be assembled as a unit with said body wall, and wherein:
• said brace bars comprising a transverse bar extending between and integral with opposite sides of said frame and underlying said panel adjacent to the upper side of said opening, a transverse brace bar extending between and integral with opposite sides of the frame adjacent to the lower side of the sound opening, and connecting spaced longitudinally extending brace bars located adjacent to the left and right sides of said opening and integral at their opposite ends with said upper and lower transverse brace bars;
• truss rib means integral with and connecting said pad in spaced relation with the lower of said bars permitting resonant up and down vibration while at the same time strongly resisting forces tending to displace the pad in a longitudinal direction, said pad and and said bridge having means connecting them together;
• said tuning system ribs comprising divergently extending ribs integral with said pad and extending in the opposite direction from said pad relative to said truss ribs, and a plurality of tuning ribs integral with and projecting from said divergently extending ribs, said ribs having ends which are spaced from but project towards said frame and having in the originally molded state slender sprue connections with the frame serving as stabilizing connections to facilitate handling of the frame and bracing means at least until the frame and bracing means are assembled as a unit with said body wall and said panel assembled with the frame and bracing means, said sprue connections being adapted to be broken away after assembly with the frame and panel so as not to interfere with tuning resonance afforded by the tuning system comprising said panel and said tuning ribs.