US962393A - Attachment for the sounding-boards of stringed instruments. - Google Patents

Description

J. SHELDON.

ATTACHMENT FOR THE SOUNDING BOARDS 0F STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIOATIONIILED JULY 30, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

ESSES II.!.A/ 4 I axw INVENTOR ATTORNEY JESSE SHELDON, 0F VINELAND, NEW JERSEY.

ATTACHMENT FOR THE SOUNDING-BOAIRDS OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn SHELDON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Vineland, in the county of Cumberland and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for the Soundlng-Boards of Stringed Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for improving the tone of stringed instruments, and it consists of a weight or weights of metal, preferably mushroomshaped, Which are secured to the sounding board back of the strings.

The invention is particularly applicable to pianos, the tone of which it very much improves, but it may be used with almost or quite as goods results upon the sounding boards of violins, guitars, or other stringed instruments.

I have found that I obtain the best results with a mushroom-shaped weight, that is with a Weight having a comparatively slender stem which carries at its outer end a heavy head, the inner end of the stem being furnished with a base which carries centrally and integrally a screw by means of which the device may be attached to the sounding board. In pianos I get the best results by using two instruments, a lighter one secured to the sounding board back of the treble strings and a heavier one back of the base strings, the particular points for securing the instruments to the sounding board being determined by experiment.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1, is a perspective view of my attachment for sounding boards, and Fig. 2, a plan of the back of a piano sounding board showing two of my devices secured thereto.

The attachment consists, preferably, of a Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 30, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910. Serial No. 510,411.

casting, iron usually, which has a base a, a stem 6, and a head 0. The base a carries a screw d by means of Which the instrument is secured to the sounding board.

For the proper action of the device all of its parts should be perfectly rigid, any loose parts defeat its purposes by setting up vibrations which produce rattling sounds and for this reason the screw which is employed to secure the device to the sounding board should be so carried by the device that there will be no possibility of its working loose therein, hence I prefer to cast the metal of the base a around the screw or to secure the latter to the former by brazing or soldering.

In Fig. 2 the instruments are shown attached to the back of a piano sounding board, the larger instrument 1 being placed back of the base strings, the smaller instrument 2 being secured back of the treble strings. The best points for attaching the instruments are determined, usually, by experiment.

The instrument is particularly useful in improving the tone of cheap pianos or those having a harsh and metallic sound.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination with the sounding-board of a musical instrument, of an attachment consisting of a base, a stem projecting from said base, a heavy symmetrical head carried by said stem, and a screw carried by said base, said base, stem, and head being cast in one piece and said screw being immovably secured to said base.

JESSE SHELDON.

Witnesses:

L. E. KALER, MAX RUBIN.

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