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US 4,711,149 AGranted
Electric guitar pickup switching system
OwnerHarvey W. Starrinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerHarvey W. Starrinventor
Estimating the term…
The preferred embodiment relates to a musician operated electric guitar having a plurality of metal strings and at least two pickups for transforming mechanical vibrations of the metal strings into electrical signals proportional to such mechanical vibrations, where the electrical signals from the at least two pickups are added together into a single guitar output circuit. The preferred embodiment is an apparatus for facilitating the electrically quiet, one touch electrical switching in and out of the guitar output circuit selected combinations of the at least two pickups electrically switched in and electrically switched out of the guitar output circuit, comprising (1) a plurality of discrete switches; (2) an encoding means interconnected to each of the discrete switches for sensing which of the plurality of switches has been depressed and creating a plurality of distinct control signals, one distinct control signal for each discrete switch depressed; and, (3) a plurality of automatic switch means, each automatic switch means being interconnected to the encoding means and interconnected between one of the at least two pickups and the guitar output circuit for switching its pickup into and out of the guitar output circuit responsive to at least one of the distinct control signals received from the encoding means. The depression of each of the discrete switches thus causes a single combination of the at least two electrical signal sources electrically switched in and electrically switched out of the guitar output circuit to become so switched in and out.
In a musician operated electric guitar having a plurality of metal strings and at least two pickups for transforming mechanical vibrations of the metal strings into electrical signals proportional to such mechanical vibrations, where each of the electrical signals from the at least two pickups are electrically added together into a single guitar output circuit, an apparatus for facilitating the electrically quiet, one touch electrical switching in and out of the guitar output circuit of selected combinations of the at least two pickups electrically switched in and electrically switched out of the guitar output circuit, comprising:
In a musician operated electric guitar having a plurality of metal strings and at least one pickup for transforming mechanical vibrations of the metal strings into electrical signals proportional to such mechanical vibrations, where the electric signals from the at least one pickup are transmitted into a guitar output circuit, an apparatus for facilitating the electrically quiet, one touch electrical switching in and out of the guitar output circuit selected combinations of at least two electrical signal sources, one of which is said at least one pickup, electrically switched in and electrically switched out of the guitar output circuit, comprising:
A switching assembly for an electric guitar having at least two pickups and an output circuit for substituting different electrical pickups of the electric guitar into the output circuit of the electrical guitar comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.