String-clamping means

In a guitar-like musical instrument, a head end portion and a body end portion, several elongated, generally parallel, transversely spaced strings, means for anchoring the opposite end portions of said strings at said head and body end portions, respectively, a neck portion having an upper surface forming a fingerboard, a nut portion between said head and neck portions for maintaining said strings a desired distance above the fingerboard, means for clamping said strings closely adjacent to said nut portion and including several upright, separate, string-clamping block portions forming a row extending transversely of said strings, each of a plurality of individual strings being fitted between adjacent block portions, and means guiding said block portions for movement toward each other so as to clamp firmly the strings fitted therebetween and away from each other so as to release said strings in the area of said nut portion while said strings remain anchored at said head and body portions, said clamping means including block-moving means engageable against said block portions at opposite ends of said row, respectively, for effecting such relative movement of said block portions toward each other and releasable for permitting relative movement of said block portions away from each other, said block-moving means being disposed entirely below said strings in the area of said nut portion so that, with said block-moving means released, said strings can be moved upward from between said block portions without interference from said block-moving means.