Guitar with controlled neck flex
US6051765A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 6, 1996 |
| Grant date | Apr 18, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 6, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10D3/06
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A guitar neck is formed with a protruding trapezoidal heel which extends into a pocket formed at the neck end of the body. The tendency of the strings to bend the neck is counteracted by a truss rod assembly which is positioned in a contoured channel formed in the neck beneath the fingerboard. The assembly has a threaded stainless steel rod which extends through an aluminum U-channel, with one end extending beyond the U-channel beneath and adjacent the first fret of the fingerboard, where it is fixed to the U-channel, and the other end extending out of the U-channel adjacent the neck-body joint, where an adjustable hex nut is threaded on the rod which bears on a washer. Two cylindrical spacers are fixed to the rod within the U-channel at positions upward of the neck joint which serve to hold the rod in the center of the U-channel between the U-channel legs, and also spaced outwardly from the base of the U-channel to thereby cause the rod to bow away from the base into the contoured channel in the neck. Tightening the hex nut causes the rod to straighten out, thus forcing the U-channel to flex into a curve which counteracts the bending of the neck applied by the string tension.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.