Patents by Inventor Fred Beckmeier

Fred Beckmeier has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7285708
    Abstract: A stringed musical instrument having an elongate neck and a body which may have a resonant cavity at one end and a head at the other end thereof. Strings extend across the neck and, when vibrated, generate musical sounds. The invention relies upon fingerboards which are removable so that one type of fingerboard may be substitutable for another type of fingerboard in order to generate sounds of different timber or of different qualities. Thus, fretted fingerboards are substitutable for non-fretted fingerboards. Moreover, and in a preferred embodiment, the fingerboards are inserted onto the neck of the instrument and can be slid into and out of interlocking elements from one longitudinal side of the neck of the instrument. In one embodiment of the invention, dovetail projections are formed on the neck of the musical instrument and corresponding notches or grooves are formed on the underside of the fingerboard to permit an interlocking arrangement of the fingerboard on the neck of the musical instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Inventor: Fred Beckmeier
  • Patent number: 6376756
    Abstract: A stringed musical instrument having an elongate neck and a body which may have a resonant cavity at one end and a head at the other end thereof. Strings extend across the neck and, when vibrated, generate musical sounds. The fingerboards are removable so that one fingerboard may be substitutable for another type of fingerboard in order to generate sounds of different timber or of different qualities. In particular, fretted fingerboards are substitutable for non-fretted fingerboards. Moreover, and in a preferred embodiment, the fingerboards are inserted onto the neck of the instrument by shifting the fingerboard laterally with respect to and overlying the neck of the musical instrument and then by sliding the fingerboard longitudinally with respect to the neck of the instrument and into and out of engagement with an interlocking element on the neck of the instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Inventor: Fred Beckmeier
  • Patent number: 6156961
    Abstract: A stringed musical instrument having an elongate neck and a body which may have a resonant cavity at one end and a head at the other end thereof. Strings extend across the neck and, when vibrated, generate musical sounds. The invention relies upon fingerboards which are removable so that one type of fingerboard may be substitutable for another type of fingerboard in order to generate sounds of different timber or of different qualities. Thus, fretted fingerboards are substitutable for non-fretted fingerboards. Moreover, and in a preferred embodiment, the fingerboards are inserted onto the neck of the instrument and can be slid into and out of interlocking elements from one longitudinal side of the neck of the instrument. In one embodiment of the invention, dovetail projections are formed on the neck of the musical instrument and corresponding notches or grooves are formed on the underside of the fingerboard to permit an interlocking arrangement of the fingerboard on the neck of the musical instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Inventor: Fred Beckmeier