Sustainer for a musical instrument

A sustainer for a musical instrument having a body and a neck means extending away from said body for supporting a first end of at least one vibratory element, said body having a bridge means for supporting a second end of said vibratory element, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a neck pickup means disposed adjacent to said neck means for providing a neck pickup signal responsive to vibration of said vibratory element;
• (b) a bridge pickup means disposed adjacent to said bridge means for providing a bridge pickup signal responsive to vibration of said vibratory element;
• (c) an amplifier means for providing a drive signal responsive to at least one of said neck pickup signal and said bridge pickup signal;
• (d) a driver means disposed between said body and said vibratory element between said neck pickup means and said bridge pickup means for emitting a magnetic field to apply drive forces to said vibratory element;
• (e) said neck means includes a nut means for supporting said first end of said vibratory element;
• (f) said bridge means includes at least one saddle means for supporting said second end of said vibratory element;
• (g) an arrangement of said neck pickup means, said bridge pickup means, and said driver means for providing space between said neck pickup means and said driver means, and space between said bridge pickup means and said driver means, said arrangement comprising:
• (1) a scale length dimension (S) being a linear distance measurable between said nut means and said saddle means, a dimension (N) being a linear distance measurable between said nut means and the center of said neck pickup means, a dimension (M) being a linear distance measurable between said nut means and the center of said driver means and, a dimension (B) being a linear distance measurable between said nut means and the center of said bridge pickup means;
• (2) said dimension (N) being within a range of 76 percent of the dimension (S) plus or minus 10 percent of the dimension (S);
• (3) said dimension (M) being within a range of 85 percent of the dimension (S) plus or minus 10 percent of the dimension (S), and;
• (4) said dimension (B) being within a range of 94 percent of the dimension (S) plus or minus 10 percent of the dimension (S).

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element supported by a structure, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) an amplifier means for providing a drive signal;
• (b) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for applying drive forces to said vibratory element;
• (c) a battery means disposed inside a cavity in said structure for providing power to said amplifier means;
• (d) a cover means disposed across the opening to said cavity for restraining said battery means inside said cavity, and;
• (e) a jack means in said cover means for conveying a signal between the inside and the outside of said cavity.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element supported by a structure and a means for providing a drive signal, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for applying drive forces to said vibratory element;
• (b) a means cooperable with said driver means for providing a driver output signal responsive to vibrations of said vibratory element;
• (c) a means for conveying said driver output signal to an external amplification means disposed externally to said structure;
• (d) a pickup means for providing a substitution signal responsive to vibrations of said vibratory element;
• (e) a sound modifier means operable on said substitution signal for changing harmonic content of said substitution signal to provide a modified substitution signal, and;
• (f) a means for substituting said modified substitution signal for said driver output signal.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having a plurality of strings disposed in a side-by-side arrangement to define a laterally extending array, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a pickup means;
• (b) a means for providing a drive signal;
• (c) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for emitting a driver magnetic field to apply drive forces to said strings;
• (d) a means for providing a lateral magnetic field, and;
• (e) a lateral unbalancing means cooperable with said lateral magnetic field for providing a magnetic imbalance between said driver means and said pickup means to decrease a direct magnetic feedback between said driver means and said pickup means.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element and a pickup means for providing a feedback signal responsive to said vibratory element, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) an amplifier means for providing a drive signal;
• (b) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for emitting a driver magnetic field to apply drive forces to said vibratory element;
• (c) an adjustable unbalancing means changeable from a first condition to a second condition for changing a magnetic imbalance between said pickup means and said driver means to change the phase and the amplitude of a noise signal induced in said feedback signal by a direct magnetic feedback between said driver means and said pickup means, and;
• (d) a misalignments means for misaligning said adjustable unbalancing means to recycle said noise signal through said pickup means, said amplifier means, and said driver means to emphasize harmonic vibration of said vibratory element.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having a structure for supporting at least one vibratory element, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a rigid sheet of material positionable between said structure and said vibratory element, the sheet having means for supporting:
• (1) a first pickup means for providing a first feedback signal;
• (2) an amplifier means responsive to said first feedback signal for providing a drive signal, and;
• (3) a driver means for applying drive forces to said vibratory element in response to said drive signal;
• (b) a means for conveying said first feedback signal to said amplifier means, and;
• (c) a means for conveying said drive signal between said amplifier means and said driver means.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element and a means for providing a drive signal, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for providing a drive force to said vibratory element;
• (b) a means for providing a first control signal transition at a predetermined time;
• (c) a means for providing a second control signal transition after said first control signal transition, and;
• (d) a means responsive to said first control signal transition for removing said drive signal from said driver means.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element and a means for providing a drive signal, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a driver means responsive to said drive signal for providing a drive force to said vibratory element;
• (b) a means cooperable with said driver means for providing a driver output signal responsive to vibration of said vibratory element, and;
• (c) a preamplifier means cooperable with said driver means for amplifying said driver output signal, said preamplifier means having an amplifying valve means including:
• (1) an output terminal means for providing an modified driver output signal;
• (2) a first input terminal means for providing a first electrical connection to said amplifying valve means, and;
• (3) a second input terminal means for providing a second electrical connection to said amplifying valve means.

A sustainer for a musical instrument comprising a structure for supporting at least one vibratory element, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a first pickup means disposed between said structure and said vibratory element for emitting a first magnetic field to provide a feedback signal responsive to an intersection between said vibratory element and said first magnetic field;
• (b) a means for providing a drive signal;
• (c) a driver means disposed between said structure and said vibratory element for emitting a driver magnetic field to (i) provide a drive force to said vibratory element in response to said drive signal, and (ii) provide a shifting force to said first pickup magnetic field to shift the position of said intersection between said vibratory element and said first magnetic field, and;
• (d) a shifting force minimizing means for decreasing said shifting force.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having at least one vibratory element and a means for providing a feedback signal, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) a means responsive to said feedback signal for providing a drive current;
• (b) a driver means responsive to said drive current for applying drive forces to said vibratory element;
• (c) a current sensing means responsive to said drive current for providing a current-sense signal, and;
• (d) a drive-current limiter means responsive to said current-sense signal for changing the amplitude of said feedback signal in response to a change in said drive current.

A sustainer for a musical instrument having a plurality of strings disposed in a side-by-side arrangement to define a laterally extending array, said sustainer comprising:

• (a) an amplifier means for providing a drive signal;
• (b) a driver means for applying drive forces to said strings in response to said drive signal, said driver means having:
• (1) a first elongated coil means, and;
• (2) a second elongated coil means disposed in an end-to-end relation across said strings with said first coil means.