Abstract: An end pin has a composite shoulder with a fixed lower half and a rotatable upper half. The halves are alignable in a first, installation mode of minimal footprint relative to the hole and slit in the end piece to permit the pin to be easily inserted through the hole in the end piece. The upper half is rotated into a second, locking mode that increases the footprint of the pin over the hole and slit, thereby preventing inadvertent disengagement of the strap from the pin.

Abstract: A connector plug for attaching to a coaxial cable, by which the user strips the cable sheath through the jacket, braid, and dielectric, exposing a length of the signal conductor, and inserts the cable with exposed conductor into a hollow connector plug until the cut face of the cable abuts an insulator that is integral to the plug, and the signal conductor passes through a bore in the insulator. The insulator acts in place of the cable dielectric on a conventionally trimmed cable. An open faced “F” type nut is electrically connected to the body of the plug, forward of the insulator, and the exposed signal conductor extends through the nut. A screw on the plug body is then tightened, cutting through the jacket and making contact with the cable braid, thereby completing the ground connection between jacket and nut.

Abstract: A finger and hand exerciser includes a housing defining four chambers arranged side-by-side in parallel with one another. Each chamber receives a tension adjustment member, a plunger that is reciprocatingly slidable in the chamber, and a helically wound compression spring extending between the plunger and the tension adjustment member. Each tension adjustment member includes a knurled wheel which the user of the finger and hand exerciser may turn to decrease or increase the force the spring exerts on the plunger.

Abstract: An electric plug having a central signal shaft terminating in a tip, wherein the tip has a substantially frustoconical nose, a convex annular shoulder centered at an axial distance of less than 0.120 inch from the front end of the tip, (defining a bulbous portion) and a concave waist having a radius of curvature greater than about 0.75 inch, defining the detent adjacent to the bulbous portion.

Abstract: A combination of a capo with attached tuner having a sensor that picks up vibrations through the capo. The capo and tuner are connected together as a unitary accessory that is attachable along the neck of the guitar, in the manner of a conventional capo, but with the significant advantage of automatic and continuous visibility of the tuner display while tuning at a particular capo position and while pausing between songs.

Abstract: The combination of an electronic connector plug and an attached locking clip, wherein the connector comprises a cable, a plug housing surrounding one end of the cable, and a plug supported in the housing, such that the plug extends from the front of the housing and is electrically connected through the housing to the cable. The clip surrounds the housing and can be locked onto an electrical component by a lock screw such that the advancing screw also urges a clamp against the housing thereby securing the plug into the jack of the component. The electrical component is preferably an audio-visual (AV) device having an HDMI socket.

Abstract: The combination of an electronic connector plug and an attached locking clip, wherein the connector comprises a cable, a plug housing surrounding one end of the cable, and a plug supported in the housing, such that the plug extends from the front of the housing and is electrically connected through the housing to the cable. The clip surrounds the housing and can be locked onto an electrical component by a lock screw such that the advancing screw also urges a clamp against the housing thereby securing the plug into the jack of the component. The electrical component is preferably an audio-visual (AV) device having an HDMI socket.

Abstract: A combination of a capo with attached tuner having a sensor that picks up vibrations through the capo. The capo and tuner are connected together as a unitary accessory that is attachable along the neck of the guitar, in the manner of a conventional capo, but with the significant advantage of automatic and continuous visibility of the tuner display while tuning at a particular capo position and while pausing between songs.

Abstract: A finger and hand exerciser includes a housing defining four chambers arranged side-by-side in parallel with one another. Each chamber receives a tension adjustment member, a plunger that is reciprocatingly slidable in the chamber, and a helically wound compression spring extending between the plunger and the tension adjustment member. Each tension adjustment member includes a knurled wheel which the user of the finger and hand exerciser may turn to decrease or increase the force the spring exerts on the plunger.

Abstract: A locking fastener for a guitar strap which receives the end pin of a guitar includes a base plate and a locking plate which is reciprocatingly slidable on the base plate. The base plate has a pin receiving keyhole formed through its thickness which is defined by a widened opening and a narrowed opening. The base plate also has a central slot formed through its thickness and openings or detents which are spaced apart from one another. The locking plate has a front edge which is recessed to define an open pocket, at least one protrusion which is selectively received in the openings or detents to secure the locking plate in a desired position with respect to the base plate, and a knob post or handle which extends through the central slot of the base plate and which is graspable by a user.

Abstract: A plug connector for use with coaxial cable having a central signal wire in which a base member has a bore defined by a side wall adapted to receive the end of a coaxial cable. A member having a pointed end extends into the bore and is adapted to extend into the coaxial cable in contact with the central signal wire. A threaded bore extends through the side wall of the base member and a threaded screw member is mounted in the threaded bore. The screw member is adapted to be driven into the side of the coaxial cable. The screw member has a head portion at one end and a knife edge at the other end, the end having the knife edge having a pocket therein to receive the material of the coaxial cable cut by the knife edge.

Abstract: A plug connector for use with coaxial cable having a central signal wire in which a base member has a bore defined by a side wall adapted to receive the end of a coaxial cable. A member having a pointed end extends into the bore and is adapted to extend into the coaxial cable in contact with the central signal wire. A threaded bore extends through the side wall of the base member and a threaded screw member is mounted in the threaded bore. The screw member is adapted to be driven into the side of the coaxial cable. The screw member has a head portion at one end and a knife edge at the other end, the end having the knife edge having a pocket therein to receive the material of the coaxial cable cut by the knife edge.

Abstract: A peg winder for use with a stringed instrument in which each string is held in tension by a peg that can be turned by a person holding the instrument to change the tension and thereby tune the string to a target frequency or facilitate peg-winding as is required to install new guitar strings and bring each string up to proper tension. The peg winder is integrated with an electronic tuner such that the tension in the string can be adjusted while the person observes indicia on the tuner indicative of the vibrational frequency of the string. Preferably, the tool also has a string cutter mounted at the back end of the body.

Abstract: A display interface for an electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument includes a plurality of spaced apart, separately illuminatable, light emitting diodes (LEDs) situated in a continuous circular array. A cylindrically-shaped light pipe is situated in proximity to the circular array of LEDs. The light pipe has radially extending slits formed therein to define individually illuminatable segments. Each segment of the light pipe is illuminatable by a respective light emitting device. A disc-shaped note dial is situated in proximity to the light pipe and has illuminatable indicia on a surface thereof corresponding to musical notes. The indicia is illuminatable by the light pipe for viewing by a user of the electronic tuner.

Abstract: A musical instrument string having a tarnish resistant exterior surface, comprising a metal wire at least a portion of which has an ultra-violet (U-V) or electron beam (EB) radiation cured polymeric coating defining the exterior surface and having a coating thickness preferably less than 0.0004 inch (0.4 mil). A method of coating a musical instrument string, and a guitar having such coated strings, are also disclosed.

Abstract: A locking fastener for a guitar strap which receives the end pin of a guitar includes a base plate and a locking plate which is reciprocatingly slidable on the base plate. The base plate has a pin receiving keyhole formed through its thickness which is defined by a widened opening and a narrowed opening. The base plate also has a central slot formed through its thickness and openings or detents which are spaced apart from one another. The locking plate has a front edge which is recessed to define an open pocket, at least one protrusion which is selectively received in the openings or detents to secure the locking plate in a desired position with respect to the base plate, and a knob post or handle which extends through the central slot of the base plate and which is graspable by a user.

Abstract: An RCA plug connector includes an annular outer ground sleeve, an insulating ring within the sleeve, and an elongated signal probe member having an exterior spring, including a plurality of circumferentially spaced bowed portions extending from within the insulating ring along the central axis. The connector has an elongated base having front and back ends, a throughbore, and a counterbore at the front end. The probe is a rigid, elongated core having a back end within the base and a front end extending from the base along the axis. The spring surrounds the core, with a front end adjacent the front end of the core and a back end adjacent the back end of the core. The ground sleeve has a back end situated in the counterbore at the front end of the base, rigidly engaging the base, and a front end that projects forward from the front end of the base. The insulating ring is situated within and rigidly engages the sleeve.