An onboard electronic system and associated method enables a player of an acoustic stringed instrument to control an electronic signal for modifying and amplifying sound while playing an instrument. The onboard electronic system is embedded in the tailpiece and/or the chinrest portions and/or shoulder-rest portion of the stringed instrument, and includes at least one pickup, a battery-powered amplification unit and at least one controller. The method includes steps for controlling sound amplification and tonal modification onboard an acoustic stringed instrument. The steps include sensing vibration from strings with a pickup, generating an electrical signal and transmitting the electrical signal to an amplification unit via an input cable, and modifying the electrical signal in response to one or more controllers located onboard the instrument.

A saddle for a stringed musical instrument comprising a body having at least one member with a first and second section. The first section, in cross section has opposite ends, and a geometry conforming to the geometry of a slot in a bridge plate and a width approximately equal in dimension to the width of the slot so the opposite ends of the first section tightly fit into the slot when the first section is inserted therein. The second section having a width substantially wider than the width of the first section and having two lateral sides, in cross section, extending from the opposite ends of the first section to form, in combination with the first section, a right-side up T fitting such that the saddle possesses a substantially higher resistance to bending forces from tension in the strings in the musical instrument as compared conventional saddle structures.

A system and a kit can be used for onboard, real-time blending for electronic pickups to produce various tonal combinations. In one example, at least one of the electronic pickups has dual coils. The dual coil pickup can be electrically connected to a switching circuit positioned on a stringed instrument. The switching circuit can be adjustable in real-time to select between at least two conditions for a signal of the dual coil pickup. In one instance, the conditions can select north coil only, series wiring of the dual coils, or south coil only. Alternatively, the conditions can select series wiring or parallel wiring of the dual coils. Each of the electronic pickups is electrically connected to a taper circuit positioned on the instrument. Each taper circuit is adjustable in real-time to vary an amplitude of the signal from the respective electronic pickup for output of the instrument.

A portable guitar may include a neck provided with a string on its top surface, a head machine provided on one side of the neck and provided with a piezo device for amplifying a sound, a first and a second covers hinged on both sides of the neck by hinges and configured to open or close the neck by rotating about the hinges, a speaker installed in the inner space of the first cover, a detecting sensor installed on the first cover and configured to detect the closing or opening of the first cover and output a signal, and a controller for controlling for supplying a power to the piezo device and selectively switching a mode of the speaker into an amplifier mode or a speaker mode based upon the detected signal.

A portable guitar may include a neck provided with a string on its top surface, a head machine provided on one side of the neck and provided with a piezo device for amplifying a sound, a first and a second covers hinged on both sides of the neck by hinges and configured to open or close the neck by rotating about the hinges, a speaker installed in the inner space of the first cover, a detecting sensor installed on the first cover and configured to detect the closing or opening of the first cover and output a signal, and a controller for controlling for supplying a power to the piezo device and selectively switching a mode of the speaker into an amplifier mode or a speaker mode based upon the detected signal.

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 switching device receives an output cable from a guitar. The output cable has a plurality of conductors corresponding to each of the pickups on the guitar, typically 2 or 3. A passthrough signal based on manually switched pickup selection corresponds to a main guitar output. A pickup buffer circuit on the guitar isolates the signal conductors from the selected passthrough signal, and also switches the pickup buffer circuit on and off to allow for backwards compatibility. A multi-conductor cable and jack simultaneously transmits the plurality of signals to the switching device. The switching device receives the multi-conductor cable. A combination circuit in the switching device combines the signals from the pickups and also delivers the individual pickup signals to a respective output jack. Each output jack simultaneously delivers the respective pickup or combined signal to a mixer, amplifier or other signal processing device for recording and/or further processing.

An electronic sensor device for detecting the vibration related to an amplification system within stringed musical instruments. The described structure is detachably mounted below the saddle. It comprises several central piezoelectric elements, several metal capped poles, and each metal capped pole consists of an integrally formed pole and cap, from top to bottom.

The top end of the pole extends through a matching positioning hole into the saddle slot and touches the bottom of the saddle. The bottom end of the cap accurately captures the top of the central piezoelectric element, and the top ring of the cap is closely pressed up to the bridge plate.

The invention provides an electronic sensor device for detecting the vibration related to an amplification system within stringed musical instruments, which is easy to install and is easily uninstalled. By applying mass on the non-sensing side of piezoelectric element assembly, the electro-acoustic amplification performance of the instruments is greatly enhanced, as it is firmly coupled to the stringed instruments, therefore improving the sensing efficiency, in providing better output and tone that is closer to the original acoustic

Apparatus and associated methods relate to acoustic-electric sensor system including a main acoustic sensor operably coupled to detect string vibrations of an acoustic-electric instrument and a feedback suppression acoustic sensor configured to primarily detect sound board vibrations of the acoustic-electric stringed instrument at a location with a substantially attenuated string vibration signal relative to its sound board vibration signal. In an illustrative example, a mixing circuit may at least partially cancel out sound board vibration signatures output by the main and feedback suppression acoustic sensors with one another to produce a mixed output signal. The feedback suppression acoustic sensor may be spaced outside of an ellipse substantially centered around a sound board string coupling point. The main acoustic sensor may be arranged in close proximity to receive the string vibration signal. The mixed output signal may substantially reject audio feedback disturbances while retaining the unique characteristic sound of the instrument.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is an electric violin comprising a sound bar having a first tang and a second tang. The central portion of the sound bar rests on a top plate of the violin, separated by a separator pad, and the first and second tangs protrude to an inner cavity of the violin through a first and a second plate hole of the top plate. A pickup assembly includes a first and a second pickup, where each of the pickups comprise a bobbin made of two plates separated by a plurality of magnetic polepieces and surrounded by a coil wire. Each of the pickups includes a compression mechanism including a height adjustment screw that holds the compression mechanism at a firm tension while the distance between the plurality of the magnetic polepieces of the pickup and the corresponding tang satisfies a tolerance gap.