In a method for improving the acoustic properties of spruce resonance wood for musical instruments at least one resonance wood blank is subjected to a treatment with Physisporinus vitreus under controlled, sterile conditions. The previously sterilized resonance wood blank is immersed into a liquid medium enriched with fungus myecelium and kept therein in the dark for an exposure time and finally sterilized, wherein during the exposure time a temperature of 18 to 26 C. and a relative humidity of approximately 60 to approximately 80% are maintained. Due to the fact that the liquid medium contains nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in an amount of 200 to 300 g per liter, a reproducible, uniform improvement of the acoustic properties of the resonance wood free from local defects is ensured.

A string tensioner module for a stringed musical instrument is configured to apply a constant or near-constant tension to the musical strings of the instrument. The module is divided into a plurality of string tensioners, one string tensioner for each musical string. Each string tensioner employs a primary spring that apply the primary force coaxial with the string. Each string tensioner also employs a secondary spring that applies a secondary force in a direction crossing the axis of the string, and thus applying an axial force component that changes as the angle of the secondary spring changes. The primary and secondary springs are selected so that the change in the axial force component of the secondary spring as the string changes in length approximates the change in force applied by the primary spring so that the axial force applied to the string remains generally constant even as the string changes in length.

The present invention concerns soundboard apparatus for a musical instrument, the apparatus comprising a soundboard substrate formed of composite fibrous resin bonded material having a thickness of between 0.75 mm and 3 mm; and an outer layer formed of ultra-violet light blocking material having a thickness of between 0.5 and 0.9 mm. Further, the present invention relates to a method of forming a soundboard apparatus, the method comprising the steps of: bonding multiple layers of woven or straight stranded fibrous material in a resinous matrix to form a soundboard substrate, wherein the soundboard substrate is formed such that it is oversized with respect to final soundboard substrate dimensions; and finishing the soundboard substrate to form the final substrate, the finishing process being constrained to ensure that the final substrate dimensions are not compromised.

An acoustic material is provided which includes a plurality of wood veneers laminated via an adhesive, in which the veneer is impregnated with the adhesive, and the adjacent veneers are substantially in contact with one another. The adjacent veneers are impregnated with the adhesive in an amount of preferably no less than 1 g/m.sup.2 and no greater than 50 g/m.sup.2 per unit area in and around a boundary region of the adjacent veneers. The adhesive may be a water-soluble adhesive or a water-based emulsion adhesive. The veneer may be a rotary veneer, a sawn veneer or a sliced veneer. A musical instrument is further provided which includes a sound board, in which the acoustic material is used as the sound board.

A saddle assembly for a stringed musical instrument comprising a saddle footing having a body of any desired geometry and a surface curvature compatible with and conforming to the surface curvature of the soundboard of the stringed musical instrument upon which the body of the saddle footing is mounted with or without the use of a bridge plate, with the saddle footing adapted to accommodate either a conventional bridge or conventional saddle for elevating the strings in the stringed musical instrument relative to the soundboard or upon which a modified bridge or modified saddle is mounted having a geometry which conforms in geometry and curvature to the geometry and curvature of the elongated slot in the saddle footing.

A stringed musical instrument comprises a bridge that receives a plurality of strings. The bridge comprises at least one internal pocket. In some embodiments, the bridge comprises a plurality of internal pockets.

A musical instrument having a hollow or semi-hollow body and a sound board, representing either the anatomical front surface or the anatomical rear surface of the hollow body, or with the front surface and the rear surface both functioning as a sound board for the musical instrument and having at least one tuned sound port located in either the front and/or rear sound board of the musical instrument through which sound can exist with the tuned sound port comprising a hollow member adapted to be inserted through a hole formed in one or both of the sound boards and having a central opening of predetermined geometry and a length extending a fixed distance from the sound board into the interior of the musical instrument of between 5% and 95% of the distance between the front rear sound surfaces of the musical instrument. The musical instrument is preferably a stringed musical instrument which may include a plurality of panels extending between the front and rear sound boards for enhancing the structural support of the musical instrument and for funneling sound through the tuned sound ports or alternatively the musical instrument may include a plurality of panels extending between the front and rear surfaces without a tuned sound port.

An improved adjustable bridge is described for a stringed musical instrument. The adjustable bridge has a pair of feet attached to the bridge body. A pair of legs is attached for the bridge body using adjustable rod pegs. These rod pegs are adjustable so that the bridge may be moved upwards and downwards to achieve the desired bridge height.

Waking-up a violin or other instrument by determining naturally resonating features of a particular instrument by applying tones and analyzing the instrument's responses, and then applying vibrations (e.g., continuously and/or in patterns, such as alternating on/off, staccato, etc.) corresponding to the most responsive (resonant) portions of the instrument's responses (e.g., peaks of the analyzed instrument's response) fully breaking in the various parts of the instrument. The applied vibrations are continued until the instrument's amplitude response plateaus.

A learning device assembly for a stringed instrument includes one or more light strip members, at least one light element in the one or more light strips, a connecting member electrically connected to the one or more light strip members, a controller electrically connected to the connecting member and configured to electrically drive the at least one light element in the one or more light strip members and a computing device communicatively coupled to the controller, the computing device configured to be programmed with or more music arrangements and enable the controller to illuminate one or more of the at least one light element in the one or more light strip members to enable a playing of one or more music arrangements on the stringed instrument.