Transducer for a stringed musical instrument

Abstract

A string-vibration transducer for an electric, stringed instrument that provides effective noise or hum cancellation while retaining single-coil tone. The transducer includes a permanent magnet, at least two ferromagnetic metal poles, a coil that is configured to loop around the at least one ferromagnetic metal pole, and a bottom flatwork comprising at least two apertures to receive the at least two ferromagnetic metal poles, wherein the permanent magnet comprises a north magnetic pole and a south magnetic pole, wherein the at least two ferromagnetic metal poles are configured to be displaced on top of the permanent magnet and through the at least one aperture on the bottom flatwork, wherein the coil is configured to loop around the at least two ferromagnetic metal poles to comprise two loops in a shape of figure eight, and wherein the bottom flatwork is configured to be on top of the permanent magnet.

Claims

1. A string vibration transducer for an electric instrument having strings comprising: at least two magnetic poles, a series of turns of wire forming a coil, and the coil twisted into an infinity shape to loop around the at least two magnetic poles with the crossover of the twisted coil in between the at least two magnetic poles, and a bottom flatwork comprising at least two apertures to receive the at least two magnetic poles, wherein the at least two magnetic poles comprise a north magnetic pole and a south magnetic pole, wherein the at least two magnetic poles are further configured to be displaced on top of the bottom flatwork and through the at least two apertures on the bottom flatwork, and wherein the bottom flatwork is configured to be below the at least two magnetic poles and the coil.

2. The transducer of claim 1, further comprising a coil terminal that is configured to allow, via soldering, an electrical connection to be made between coil ends and more robust, insulated wires which carry the signal to the rest of the circuit.

3. The transducer of claim 1, further comprising a top flatwork that fits over the coil and the at least two magnetic poles.

4. The transducer of claim 1, wherein the at least two magnetic poles are comprised of a ferromagnetic material.

5. The transducer of claim 4, wherein the ferromagnetic material comprises steel.

6. The transducer of claim 4, wherein the ferromagnetic material comprises iron, nickel, cobalt, alnico, or combinations thereof.

7. The transducer of claim 1, wherein a first loop of the coil is around the north magnetic pole and has same magnetic polarity as the north magnetic pole.

8. The transducer of claim 7, wherein a second loop of the coil is around the south magnetic pole and has same magnetic polarity as the south magnetic pole.

9. The transducer of claim 1, further comprising a magnet, wherein the magnet is in a position that is above, under or in between the crossover of the twisted coil, and the magnetic field of the magnet is parallel to the strings.

10. The transducer of claim 9, wherein the magnet is above the crossover point of the twisted coil.

11. The transducer of claim 9, wherein the magnet is below the crossover point of the twisted coil.

12. The transducer of claim 9, wherein the magnet is in between the crossover point of the twisted coil, wherein half of the coil is above the magnet and half of the coil is below the magnet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a guitar with an example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(5) FIG. 4A illustrates another example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(6) FIG. 4B illustrates a top view of transducer as disclosed in FIG. 4A.

(7) FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of transducer as disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4A-4B.

(8) FIG. 6 illustrates a result of effective noise or hum cancellation using an example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(9) FIG. 7 illustrates a result of effective noise or hum cancellation using an example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

(10) FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein a magnet is at the crossover point of the twist, in a perpendicular plane with respect to the other magnets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

(11) The disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting implementations and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one implementation may be employed with other implementations as any person skilled in the art would recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the implementations of the disclosure. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the disclosure may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the implementations of the disclosure. Accordingly, the examples and implementations herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure.

(12) Unless stated otherwise, or implicit from context, the following terms and phrases include the meanings provided below. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, or apparent from context, the terms and phrases below do not exclude the meaning that the term or phrase has acquired in the art to which it pertains. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents, etc., described herein and as such can vary. The definitions and terminology used herein are provided to aid in describing particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the claimed invention, because the scope of the invention is limited only by the claims.

(13) As used herein the term comprising or comprises is used in reference to compositions, methods, and respective component(s) thereof, that are useful to an embodiment, yet open to the inclusion of unspecified elements, whether useful or not. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein are generally intended as open terms (e.g., the term including should be interpreted as including but not limited to, the term having should be interpreted as having at least, the term includes should be interpreted as includes but is not limited to, etc.). Although the open-ended term comprising, as a synonym of terms such as including, containing, or having, is used herein to describe and claim the invention, the present invention, or embodiments thereof, may alternatively be described using alternative terms such as consisting of or consisting essentially of.

(14) Unless stated otherwise, the terms a and an and the and similar references used in the context of describing a particular embodiment of the application (especially in the context of claims) can be construed to cover both the singular and the plural. The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (for example, such as) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the application and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the application otherwise claimed. The abbreviation, e.g. is derived from the Latin exempli gratia, and is used herein to indicate a non-limiting example. Thus, the abbreviation e.g. is synonymous with the term for example. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the application.

Overview

(15) As disclosed herein, the present invention provides an improved transducer or pickup for stringed musical instruments, which provides for effective noise or hum cancellation while retaining single-coil design and sound.

(16) FIG. 1 illustrates a guitar with an example of a transducer that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. The guitar 100 includes at least one transducer 110, a negative tone control 130, a positive tone control 140, a volume control 150, and toggle switch 160, all of which may be wired to each other to form a circuit. For instance, the at least one transducer 110, the negative tone control 130, the positive tone control 140, the volume control 150, and the toggle switch 160 may be connected to each other via one or more wires 170. The at least one transducer 110 includes a magnet that is surrounded by a coil. The magnet creates a magnetic field, which is disturbed by the mechanical vibrations produced by strings (not shown), changing magnetic flux and inducing an electric current thorough the coil, whereby such electric current is amplified to produce musical sounds. The transducer essentially captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments and converts them into an electrical signal that is then amplified by an amplifier then converted into musical sounds by, e.g., loudspeaker.

(17) FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a transducer 200 that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. The transducer 200 includes a permanent magnet 230 that includes a south magnetic pole 230B and north magnetic pole 230A. The transducer 200 also includes a coil 220 that wraps around the permanent magnet in a loop. The loop may include a form of the number 8 or an infinity symbol as shown in the FIG. 1. The transducer 200 may also include a flatwork 240 that supports the permanent magnet and the coil 220. The permanent magnet may include alnico, ferrite, iron, nickel, cobalt, some alloys of rare-earth metals, some naturally occurring minerals such as lodestone, and any other material that may be magnetized. The flatwork 240 may include, e.g., metal, plastic, carbon-fiber, and the like.

(18) FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a transducer 300 that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. The transducer 300 includes a permanent magnet 330, at least one ferromagnetic metal pole 310, a coil 320 that loops around the at least one ferromagnetic metal pole 310 in a form of the number 8 (or an infinity symbol), and a bottom flatwork 240, wherein the bottom flatwork 340 is configured to be displaced on top of the permanent magnet 330, wherein the at least one ferromagnetic metal pole 310 is configured to be displaced on top of the permanent magnet 330 and through a hole (not shown) on the bottom flatwork 340, and wherein the coil is configured to connect to an amplifier (not shown). The permanent magnet may further include a north magnetic pole 330A and a south magnetic pole 330B. The permanent magnet generates a magnetic field around the permanent magnet that extends invisibly upward through the metal guitar strings (not shown) above the transducer 300. The guitar strings (not shown) when vibrated cut the lines of flux of the magnetic field of the transducer's permanent magnets. This alteration of the magnetic field generates an electric current in the coil 320 at the same frequencies of the strings' vibrations. The amplifier boosts the electric current, which is turned into a sound via, e.g., loudspeaker. The at least one ferromagnetic metal pole 310 shapes the magnetic field around the permanent magnet.

(19) FIG. 4A illustrates a side perspective of yet another example of a transducer 400 that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. The permanent magnet generates a magnetic field around the permanent magnet that extends invisibly upward through the metal guitar strings above the transducer 400. The transducer 400 includes a bottom flatwork 440, at least two magnetic poles, and a coil 420 that is wrapped around the at least two magnetic poles, wherein the at least two magnetic poles include a south magnetic pole 410A and a north magnetic pole 410B. Instead of having a magnet below or on top of the permanent magnet as shown in, e.g., FIGS. 1-2, the transducer 400 includes at least two magnetic poles that both provides and shapes a magnetic field around the transducer 400. FIG. 4B shows a top view of the transducer 400. FIG. 4B illustrates a top view of transducer as disclosed in FIG. 4A. The FIG. 4B shows the coil 420 that ends at coil terminal 450.

(20) FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of transducer as disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4A-4B. As shown in FIG. 5 and referring to FIGS. 3 and 4A-4B concurrently, the transducer may include a top flatwork 560 that fits over the coil and poles (e.g., at least one ferromagnetic metal pole 310, at least two magnetic poles, and the like).

(21) The embodiments of transducer as shown in, e.g., FIGS. 2, 3, 4A, 4B, and 5, result in effective noise or hum cancellation while retaining single-coil design and sound. Such results are shown in, e.g., FIG. 7 which illustrates a visual comparison of waveforms of a single note (E) played on an electric guitar, picked up by (a) transducer that is constructed in accordance with the present disclosure, in bridge position; and (b) a USA-made Fender Stratocaster pickup, in bridge position. Both guitars are played through the same amplifier (Fender Champ) at the same volume setting (4) with the same microphone (Shure SM57) and signal path. System noise (mic'ing the amplifier with nothing plugged in) is also shown for comparison. FIG. 7 shows a zoomed in results of FIG. 7 to show the noise levels more clearly. Decibel levels are marked on a right section in both FIGS. 6 and 7.

(22) Further embodiments of the invention are shown in FIG. 8. A magnet 801 is placed at the crossover point of the twist 802 in the coil 804, in a perpendicular plane with respect to the other magnets 805, 806. That is, the magnetic field of the magnet 801 is parallel to the strings 803. In various embodiments, the magnet 801 is above the crossover point of the twist 802 in the coil 804. In other embodiments, the magnet 801 is below the crossover point of the twist 802 in the coil 804. In other embodiments, the magnet 801 is in between the crossover point. That is, half the coil is above the magnet and half of the coil is below the magnet. In some embodiments, the north polarity of the magnet 801 points up towards the headstock. In other embodiments the north polarity of the magnet 801 points down away from the headstock. The addition of magnet 801 assists in eliminating a dead spot that can be created by the meeting of the two opposing magnetic fields in the center.

(23) The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention known to the applicant at this time of filing the application has been presented and is intended for the purposes of illustration and description. The present description is not intended to be exhaustive nor limit the invention to the precise form disclosed and many modifications and variations are possible in the light of the above teachings. The embodiments described serve to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed for carrying out the invention.

(24) While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention.