Thumb-Side Widened Stringed-Instrument Neck for Bending Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 'non-drone string, handheld stringed musical instruments with a single neck' such as guitars and violins have neck widths that do not provide sufficient ergonomic mechanical leverage for musicians with larger hands, making string bending, vibrato, fretting, and barring techniques strenuous and less expressive.
Innovation Solution
A thumb-side, supernumerarily-widened neck design that increases the neck width by at least ⅜ of an inch, providing enhanced ergonomic mechanical leverage for musicians with suitably large hands, allowing easier and more comfortable string bending and vibrato, while maintaining the same string set configurations and placements as traditional instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the neck width is increased to provide better ergonomic mechanical leverage, then the ease of operation for string bending and vibrato is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by widening the neck only on the thumb side while maintaining the original finger-side width and string placement. This asymmetric modification provides enhanced mechanical leverage for thumb-based operations (string bending and vibrato) without altering the fundamental symmetric structure of the instrument's string configuration and fretboard layout, thus improving ease of operation while limiting complexity increases to only the necessary asymmetric portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying the width modification specifically to the thumb-side region of the neck where ergonomic leverage is needed, rather than uniformly widening the entire neck. This localized modification allows the thumb-side to have different dimensional properties (wider width) optimized for bending and vibrato operations, while the finger-side maintains its traditional dimensions for fretting operations.
2Force
If the neck width is increased by at least ⅜ of an inch, then the mechanical leverage for string manipulation is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the neck width dimension from the traditional symmetric width to an asymmetric width with a minimum increase of ⅜ of an inch on the thumb side. This explicit dimensional parameter change provides clear manufacturing specifications that balance the need for enhanced mechanical leverage with achievable precision requirements, allowing luthiers to use standard measurement and fabrication techniques while achieving the desired ergonomic improvement.
3Ease of operation
If the neck design is modified to provide ergonomic leverage, then the ease of operation is improved, but the adaptability to different playing styles may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the asymmetric neck modification to serve multiple functions: it provides enhanced mechanical leverage for string bending and vibrato operations while simultaneously maintaining compatibility with traditional fretting techniques. The modification preserves the original string spacing and fretboard layout, allowing the instrument to accommodate various playing styles and techniques despite the asymmetric width change.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies inversion by reversing the traditional approach of symmetric neck design. Instead of making the entire neck wider or changing the string configuration, the invention inverts the problem by keeping the string-side dimensions traditional and only modifying the thumb-side dimensions. This inverted approach maintains compatibility with established playing techniques while providing ergonomic benefits for thumb-based operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Neck construction for a ‘non-drone string, handheld stringed musical instrument with a single neck’, such as a classical guitar or a violin, that provides for a thumb-side, supernumerarily-widened neck as defined by at least ⅜ of an inch of neck width blended into the neck profile with such blending and requisite shape altering occurring between the thumb-side longitudinal edge of the neck and a perpendicular projection of the last string in the string set and with such blending and requisite shape altering being coordinated and occurring in tandem, if necessary, across all other regions of the entire neck. Such a thumb-side, supernumerarily-widened neck design provides the musician, given a suitably large hand, with more ergonomic mechanical leverage and therefore more string control when conventionally bending the strings or performing a lateral vibrato and, perhaps to a lesser extent, more ergonomic mechanical leverage when conventionally fretting, stopping or barring the strings because in both cases the hand and particularly the thumb will be more ergonomically open.