Abstract: A soundhole accessible musical instrument control platform mounted inside the body of a musical instrument requires no physical alterations to the instrument, allowing the user convenient and ergonomic access to the control platform through the soundhole while using the musical instrument. The control platform includes a circuit platform, mounted inside the instrument with adhesives, separably attached to a mounting bracket. Control detents and markings are easy to feel and to read and thus provide feedback for control position and the relative degree of effect. The controls are surrounded by a cosmetic bezel that hides the actual mounting mechanism and circuitry. Any combination of controls, circuitry, and sensors may be used. Power is either provided onboard or offboard. An output connector may be integrated into the circuit platform or via an endpin jack.

Abstract: A musical instrument, such as an electric or bass guitar, is formed of a lamination of wood layers having differing grain orientations in adjacent layers, the grain orientations defining a crossing angle less than 90°. An instrument formed from such a lamination is strong and resistant to splitting and checking and produces a good musical sound. The wood layers can be molded under pressure to form curves, such as an S-curve in a neck, or deformations, such as rounded edges in a guitar body. The S-curve in the neck allows the neck to be attached to the guitar body without breaking the continuity of the wood fibers, thereby strengthening the neck. In a three-dimensional molding embodiment, a net shape or near net shape part results, which requires little or no further machining after molding.

Abstract: A soundhole accessible musical instrument control platform mounted inside the body of a musical instrument requires no physical alterations to the instrument, allowing the user convenient and ergonomic access to the control platform through the soundhole while using the musical instrument. The control platform includes a circuit platform, mounted inside the instrument with adhesives, separably attached to a mounting bracket. Control detents and markings are easy to feel and to read and thus provide feedback for control position and the relative degree of effect. The controls are surrounded by a cosmetic bezel that hides the actual mounting mechanism and circuitry. Any combination of controls, circuitry, and sensors may be used. Power is either provided onboard or offboard. An output connector may be integrated into the circuit platform or via an endpin jack.

Abstract: A plurality of force sensing transducer elements are enclosed in a stringed musical instrument bridge height adjuster, designed to be installed as one of a pair of height adjusters in the legs of the bridge. The transducers are disposed to allow rotation of the adjuster to control how the modes of vibration in the bridge affect the transducers, thus allowing the player to adjust the tonal response of the transducers to the instrument and to their own sound preference. An inline jack-plug pair allows the output cable of the transducer to be quickly disconnected and reconnected to avoid straining or tangling the cable while adjusting the tone and the bridge height.

Abstract: A system and a method of measuring, decomposing, processing and uniquely recombining forces and vibrations acting on stringed musical instruments (SMI). The system utilizes a digital signal processor and reproduces the musical sound characteristics of an acoustic instrument into high fidelity electrical signals for amplification, processing and/or filtering and reproduction of musical sounds by uniquely exploiting, through measurements and subsequent signal processing, the vector nature of string excitation forces (SEF) and body vibrations of stringed musical instruments. A signal processing system of the current invention also utilizes a plurality of sensors, each responsive to at least one of force, displacement, velocity or acceleration indicative of the vibrational energy of the strings, to produce a sensor signal vector, which is then processed and transformed by a plurality of re-creation filters into a transformed signal vector, and then resynthesized into an output signal.

Abstract: A musical instrument transducer module encloses a piezoelectric transducer, preferably comprising a polyvinylidene fluoride co-polymer sheet, and has an elongated electrically conductive member and a conductive shield. The shield forms a U-shaped channel and the elongated member extends from the shield. The conductive member can be moved by rotation into the shield. The conductive member covers one side of the piezoelectric transducer, and another conductor covers at least part of the other side of the transducer. An electrical lead has contacts to both conductors on either side of the transducer. The transducer can include one or more sheets.

Abstract: A transducer for a stringed musical instrument incorporating an electrically conductive ground plane, along with a piezoelectric transducer and a conductive strip. The piezoelectric transducer is comprised of a polyvinylidene flouride co-polymer. The ground plane, piezoelectric transducers and conductive strip are secured in a elongated unitary structure with the ground plane and conductive strip disposed on opposite sides of the transducers. A conductive shield is disposed about the unitary structure and electrical leads connect to the ground plane and conductive strip, respectively.

Abstract: A percussion instrument transducer for converting a striking impact into a representative electrical impulse triggering signal. The transducer is formed of a piezoelectric member of disc shape secured to an electrically conductive disc. The piezoelectric member and disc are supported in a housing on a support platform of smaller diameter than the diameter of the disc so that the periphery of the disc is cantilevered beyond the support platform to provide enhanced piezoelectric impulse action.