This invention discloses and claims means and methods for producing a continuous range of humbucking vibration signals from matched sensors, from bright to warm tones, using variable gains, with either manual control or automatic control by a digital micro-computing device and system. It shows how electronic circuits can control the linear combination of tones from humbucking pairs of sensors, based upon simulating humbucking basis vectors.

This invention develops the math and topology necessary to determine the potential number of tonally distinct connections of sensors, musical vibration sensors in particular. It claims the methods and sensor topological circuit combinations, including phase reversals from inverting sensor connections, up to any arbitrary number of sensors, excepting those already patented or in use. It distinguishes which of those sensor topological circuit combinations are humbucking for electromagnetic pickups. It presents a micro-controller system driving a crosspoint switch, with a simplified human interface, which allows a shift from bright to warm tones and back, particularly for humbucking outputs, without the user needing to know which pickups are used in what combinations. It suggests the limits of mechanical switches and develops a pickup switching system for dual-coil humbucking pickups.

An improved hum-cancelling pickup (humbucker) comprises a single integrated coil. The device includes a bobbin having a top plate and a bottom plate interconnected by a plurality of magnetic pole pieces and a fine enameled wire wound around the magnetic pole pieces a plurality of turns so as to form a coil; the coil having dual inner and outer wrappings each wound around the magnetic pole pieces in a direction reverse of the other wrapping. The inner and outer wrappings of the coil are coupled to a single magnetic field that can be positioned at a single location along the strings of a musical instrument, allowing for improved fidelity of string signals while cancelling signals induced in the coil by ambient magnetic fields.

An improved hum-cancelling pickup (humbucker) comprises a single integrated coil. The device includes a bobbin having a top plate and a bottom plate interconnected by a plurality of magnetic pole pieces and a fine enameled wire wound around the magnetic pole pieces a plurality of turns so as to form a coil; the coil having dual inner and outer wrappings each wound around the magnetic pole pieces in a direction reverse of the other wrapping. The inner and outer wrappings of the coil are coupled to a single magnetic field that can be positioned at a single location along the strings of a musical instrument, allowing for improved fidelity of string signals while cancelling signals induced in the coil by ambient magnetic fields.

A pickup device for an electric instrument may include at least one permanent magnet to detect vibrations from the electric instrument's strings. The pickup device may further include at least one coil within a magnetic field of the permanent magnet. The coil may be coupled to one or more of a plurality of selectable filters. The pickup device may be an integrated assembly and fittable within a standard-sized pickup cavity on the electric instrument.

A vibrato tailpiece system for a stringed instrument includes a tailpiece, a vibrato bar operable with the tailpiece and having an end portion rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a magnet attached to the end portion of the vibrato bar. A sensor chip is spaced from the magnet by a gap sufficiently small to enable the sensor chip to detect a change in the magnetic field due to a rotation of the vibrato bar. The sensor chip outputs a control signal based on the change in the magnetic field. A sensor circuit uses the control signal from the sensor chip to adjust or modify the pickup output signal based on the position of the vibrato bar and deliver an adjusted output signal to an output connector of the stringed instrument.

A passive noise reduction device may be used with an instrument having at least one electromagnetic pickup. The device may include a device coil wound so as to form at least one free-shaped ring, a first terminal for connection to the pickup coil, and a second terminal for connection to ground. The device coil is responsive to the one or more stimuli so as to produce a noise electrical signal component in the device coil. The pickup coil and the device coil are in substantially the same plane. The noise reduction device coil is wound such that the pickup noise electrical signal component is substantially 180 out of phase with respect to the device noise electrical signal component, and such that the device noise electrical signal component destructively interferes with the pickup noise electrical signal component so as to reduce noise in a resultant electrical signal into the output circuit.

A sound pickup for a stringed instrument, the sound pickup including a housing arranged at a body of the stringed instrument below strings, wherein the housing includes at least one magnet enveloped by a coil so that a magnetic field is generatable by the at least one magnet, wherein the coil is electrically connected with at least one amplifier and with at least one speaker so that a movement of the strings in the magnetic field generates an electrical current in the coil, wherein the sound pickup includes an arrangement configured to adjust the magnetic field of the magnet which causes an adjustment of sound characteristics of the instrument.

A sensor assembly for a musical instrument with one or more strings comprising a magnet which generates a magnetic field adjacent to a string, a magnetic conductor which acts on said magnetic field, and a step-up transformer comprising a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein said secondary winding comprises a metal core in a toroidal shape and conductive wire wrapped radially around said core, such that the magnetic field changes when a user moves a string, inducing a first current in the primary winding and creating an electromagnetic flux through the core to create a second current in the secondary winding; and wherein said second current is passed out of the musical instrument.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is an electric violin comprising a master volume control located on the upper left bout of the electric violin. The master volume control knob is located perpendicular to the neck of the electric violin and the rotational axis of the knob points towards the top plate and a back plate of the electric violin.