Digital Violin

The Violin is Dead .. Long Live the Violin

PATENTS

There are some sources of information regarding the gradual development of the violin, meticulous records exist of claims of improvements made to the violin. Many are in the form of patents and a significant number ridiculous enough to laugh at out loud. Any claim of ridiculousness should however be investigated when picking up the story pieces of the development of the modern violin.
As should be discovered, there is a message staring at the contemporary violinist if they will only stop and take in the significance. Glossing through the hundreds of kilograms of paper that make the many volumes of British and American patent books covering over a 100 year period is the job of a bookworm and desperately tenacious fanatic... Now, although not completely reliable, top Internet Search Engines give free access to vast lists of easily searchable material and even images of the actual documents themselves. The mere grams that make up the pages of relevance so easily missed to the violinist in the modern world though are treasures in their relatively few words.

Comparing registered patents relating to the violin, trends can be seen. The well documented musical needs and demands of days are echoed in the types of Patents taken out and approved. There has been a steadily growing business around the violin since it first appeared. During the last fifty years of the 19th Century there were many patents granted for accessories designed to help with holding the violin whilst practising or performing - chin-rests, shoulder-rests, straps, stands, clips, buttons and many other devices, some of which defy description. The general aim of them all a more secure hold of the instrument and therefore a freer approach to music making. This is good theory and selling point.
A more stable playing surface means that the instrument can be trusted to stay where it is during a performance. Late Romantic music was asking for virtuosity like never before and nothing look set to change the demand for great feats of dexterity, control and principally, power from violinists. According to some patent claims for supporting devices, the instrument can be held in a manner more suited to the player. Improved facilities around the body of the violin and a greater dexterity with the bow were demonstrated by some of the greatest virtuosos of the day in the nineteenth century using these improved supports.
One of these virtuoso violinists and unusually also inventor was Louis Spohr. He took out a patent for a chin-rest violin support and unlike most would-be pioneers of violin invention set a standard. Conversely and at the same period of history, the legendary Niccolo Paganini was noted for not using any attached support. Many violinists today play without the use of a majority of the patents actually granted but chin-rests and shoulder-rests are very common. Agreement on what makes a good method of holding the instrument is impossible as every player is different in physical build and has needs peculiar to that physique. The patents are evidence of at least the good intention towards solving problems. Most failed, others were missed.

Violinists living in the later part of the nineteenth century were certainly faced with the new problems imposed by the recording/broadcast devices. The audiences, the various sizes of orchestras, the growing trend to diverse designs of large concert halls, the new ideas expressed by composers and finally the players themselves accepted the challenge to develop and experiment with change. The tiny proportion of people who had access to the concert hall no longer limited the artists. Pre-recorded performances repeated over and over again were allowing a wider audience the opportunity to judge more fairly what had been presented. An experimental piece was no longer confined to the rubbish bin after one hearing, the listener had the chance to catch up with the innovator or expose the charlatan. A performer who relied more on theatrics than technical skill would find it impossible to perform within the very strict conditions imposed by recording or broadcasting devices. Singers in the earliest days had to have a microphone strapped to their faces like an oxygen mask. Violinists fared no better.
Despite increased technical demands of the music the devices used required the violinist to play in a very confined space directly in front of a cone shaped sound pick-up and to record the same piece many times in succession to make multiple copies of music. There was no other way of making more than one copy of a recording, other than by performing it again and again and having more than one recording machine in the room with enough people to operate them all. Totally not ideal but what happened all the same. If the player moved around too much whilst performing the music would not reach the new ‘invisible’ audience as parts of the recording would be rendered inaudible. A solution to this problem might to be found from a photograph of the violinist Kubelik recording in the early 20th Century. It is difficult to make out but the instrument appears to be resting on a support just to one side of the recording device which although relieving much of the weight of the instrument severely restricts his movement. Inventions specifically aimed at holding the violin exist and these bizarre conditions tolerated.

The various methods employed to bring more stability to a violin whilst being played have not really changed much during the 20th Century. Brand names have become associated exclusively with this aim in mind and new alternatives still marketed. By far the most common trend in patents relating to the violin however is the method of amplification. This has been of major importance in the history of the violin and is more properly a constant rather than a trend in the fashionable sense. From earliest beginnings the point of focus for the player is to vibrate the strings and for the audience to sense the vibration. Some of the earliest violins simply did not survive, the experiment failed, the failure was acknowledged and the inquisitive innovator returned to the drawing board. The instruments were faulty or too weak to cope with the pieces normally heard in the performance situations of their day. But there remains always the fear that perhaps there were innovations that failed to be recorded which might have been worthwhile but which were not recognised at the time.

Some patent claims contain references to inventions relating to Electric Telegraphs and sometimes Phonographs. The technology used in communications and in the new recording industry naturally found use in the performance of music. Their application to music opened up unexplored territories in sound. Looking at some of the ideas suggested in the patent books there is a strong argument that the unaltered, traditionally wooden violin, as perfected in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is everything you need to produce a vast range of beautiful, musical sounds.
I have come to the conclusion that its form and manufacture... are not susceptible of any improvement, especially as regards the body of the instrument...
(J.A.) Ernst, 1804

There have been occasional experiments to alter the shape of the violin but all have failed from the tonal point of view. Further changes will doubtless be attempted in the future, but modifications in the basic shape of the violin are only likely to be dictated by musical necessity...
K. Jalovec, Beautiful Italian Violins, 19??

Only a tiny proportion of the patents relating to violin challenge much, most are best summed up as tinkering. But there was something that rubbished the unalterable perfection attributed to the violin and came about because the violin was almost suddenly found to be imperfect. The impossibility of change turned out to be wrong. With this opinion upheld it is impossible for anything else and as such a wall is built but not a door. Unfortunately those people can only be broken out of their own prison by the very people who suffered because they dared to call for change.

It is clear that the attempts to increase volume, sonority and beauty of tone by the various and diverse ways suggested in the patent books nearly all failed because there was too much emphasis placed on the final instrument looking normal. Many inventors allowed their idea to be swayed too heavily by those who frowned because it just was not Violin. The trouble is that people do tend to judge things by the cover unless it comes supported by authority. True innovation often quickly tarred. The most important recent patents relating to the violin are found between the years 1889 and 1929, during which zeitgeist dictated to such a degree that it was necessary and more importantly possible to remove the bulkiest part of all stringed instruments, the body and still be left with the means to make audible music. The transition period certainly must have been a fantastic voyage for those alive and working at that time as professional and virtuoso violinists.

The effect of certain inventions cannot be appreciated solely from the levelling format all patent specifications are presented in. How much time actually goes by between the inventor’s inspiration and the invention having an effect is immeasurable. As some ideas pop up around the globe at seemingly the same time other ideas remain in obscurity forever. Equally too some flash by or crawl.

I doubt the names and dates of Newton and Hell, 1854; Pitt-Bull and Knight, 1879; Steadman and Bendall, 1885; Lake and Barnard, 1889; and Kesett and Love, 1891 appear collectively any where else? Together, as an example they afford the opportunity to over-view the climate surrounding the violinist in the mid to late Nineteenth Century. In a few words what can be witnessed is various elements of the violin gradually combining together to form something fresh, new and exciting. By 1891, Kesett was working on preventing the violin from moving during performance and Love was using vulcanite to build violins.

Significantly electric violins at this point in history are still a relatively long-way off. A whole acoustic recording industry and market is yet to be born, develop and die. The seeds had been sown for the electric violin and there was little the generation of violinists born circa 1875 probably knew about it until way into their careers. In amongst the contemporary plethera of new inventions, original devices, and innovative designs it is difficult to see how anyone has taken any care or attention in nurturing the growth of the electric violin. Maybe some would have it wither and die or have it classed as a weed? For the turn of the century violinist finding employment in recording studios the inventors had created something completely unexpected, a violin that was perfectly acoustic but not really a violin of the Tradition.

*
The following is an appendix of Violin Patents set out following:
Year Title - Inventor. Company and or Location detail (Patent Number)
*

ELECTRIC VIOLINS

1932:  Musical Instrument - Victor A. Pfeil.  Buffalo. New York USA (1861717)
1933:  Musical Instrument of the Violin type - George Eisenberg.  (1900489)
1935:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Lloyd A. Loar.  (2020842)
1936:  Musical Instrument - Victor A. Pfeil.  Orange. N.J. USA (2048515)
1938:  Stringed Musical Instrument - George D. Beauchamp.  (2130174)
1939:  Musical Instrument - F.H. Kislingbury.  (2171430)
1940:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Hugo Benioff.  La Canada, . California USA (2222057)
1941:  Electrical Musical Instrument - Hugo Benioff.  La Canada, . California USA (2239985)
1943:  Stringed Musical Instrument - George D. Beauchamp.  (2310199)
1948:  Pick Up Unit for Instruments - C. Leo Fender.  (2455575)
1951:  Electric Musical Instrument - L.N.G. de Lazaro.  (2539297)
1960:  Electric Violin Body - C. Leo Fender.  (189107)
1961:  Electric Violin, and Electromagnetic Pickup Therefor - C. Leo Fender.  (3003382)
1971:  Electric Stringed Instrument - Robert C. Turner.  (221477)
1972:  Musical Instrument - Spencer Lee Larrison.  Xinde Corp, .  (3691285)
1983:  Electric Violin - Richard B. Saidat.  Fischer Industries, Inc., .  (270255)
1983:  Electric violin - Richard B. Saidat.  Fischer Industries, Inc., .  (271023)
1984:  Electric Violin - Richard B. Saidat.  Fischer Industries, Inc., .  (272074)
1986:  Magnetic pickup for stringed musical instrument - John A. Alm.  (4765219)
1987:  Electric Violin - Tucker Barrett.  (288937)
1990:  Electric violin - Anthony D. Stumpf.  (309744)
1990:  Electric violin body - Robert A. Ross.  (312473)
1990:  Stringed Electrical Musical Instrument With Independently suspended set-up Module - Robert M. Kunstadt.  (4915009)
1990:  Electric Violin - Alexander Markhov.  (4919033)
1991:  Fiddle Stick - Clifford E. Kennedy.  (5027691)
1992:  Electric Guitar/Violin - Robert Schlink.  (5085115)
1993:  Combined Violin, Shoulder pad and chin rest - Richard N. Steinberger.  (338222)
1993:  Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument - John C. Jordan.  (5191159)
1993:  Electric Violin with Multiple Registration Points - Robert D. Henderson.  (5247132)
1996:  Musical instrument having a stabilization apparatus - Mark W. Wood.  (5528971)
1996:  Stingray Violin - Anderson.  (?)
1998:  Electric Violin - William Welling.  (393868)
1998:  Electric Violin - Takashi Honda.  Yamaha.  (403013)
1998:  Silent Violin - Toshiya Yamada.  Yamaha.  (10133654)
1999:  Silent stringed instrument for producing electric sound from virtual sound source same as that of acoustic stringed instrument - Toshiya Yamada.  Yamada.  (5905222)
1999:  A Silent Violin - Toshiya Yamada.  Yamaha.  (5945622)
1999:  Electrical musical instrument - Kenneth G. Johnson.  Skyinbow Ltd.  (5990410)
2000:  Acoustic musical instrument of the violin family with piezo-electric pickup - Richard N. Steinberger.  (6018120)
2004:  Stringed Musical Instrument Equipped with Pickup Embedded in Bridge and Bridge Used Therein - An electric acoustic violin. - Yojiro Takabayashi.  Yamaha, .  (255762)
2004:  Bowed Stringed Musical Instrument for Generating Electric Tones Close to Acoustic Tones - Hiroshi Nakaya.  Yamaha, .  (6791023)
2004:  Stringed musical instruments - Richard N. Steinberger.  (6831218)



PICKUPS

1913:  Microphones - John J. Comer.  England (8049)
1913:  Improvements in or relating to Sound Transmitting Apparatus - W.H. Derriman.  England (15783)
1913:  Improvements in or relating to Music Transmitting Apparatus - John J. Comer.  England (26077)
1921:  Violins, etc. - A.W. Harris.  page 28.  England (183207)
1922:  Improvements in and relating to Musical Instruments - John Haywood Compton.  The Organ Works.  England (202756)
1923:  Sound-magnifying attachments for stringed instruments - Telefunken Ges. for Drahtlose Telegraphie.  page 63.  England (218300)
1925:  Sound magnifying attachments. - P.S. O'Donnell.  UK (261154)
1926:  Improvements in and relating to electrical devices for the detection of sound or small movements - John William Rickets.  USA (258946)
1929:  Improvements in and relating to Musical Instruments - J.H. Compton.  page 75.  England (334376)
1930:  A reverberator for attaching to bridge. - O. Allford.  UK (343353)
1930:  Improvements in and relating to Stringed Musical Instruments - Stephen Franko.  page253.  England (354301)
1930:  Violon Electromagnetique transmettant les sons aux haut-parleurs - Gabriel Dimitriu.  (686683)
1932:  Improvements in or relating to Electrical Musical Instruments - Oskar Vierling.  (405278)
1933:  Method and Apparatus for the Production of Music - Benjamin F. Miessner.  (1915858)
1934:  Electrical Pick-Up Apparatus - C.D. Kentner.  (1978583)
1943:  Transducer for Stringed Musical Instruments - Hugo Benioff.  (2334744)
1944:  Electrical sound magnifying attachments. - H.J. Dowkes.  UK (607681)
1945:  An electric pick-up device. - Amplifiers Ltd.  UK (588178)
1945:  An electrical arrangement - Standard Telephones & Cables Ltd.  UK (593106)
1952:  Individual Magnet Adjustable Pickup - De Armond.  (2612072)
1956:  Electrical Pickup for Musical Instrument - J.W. McBride.  (2764052)
1959:  Electrical Pickups for Musical Instruments - De Armond et al.  (2909092)
1961:  Magnetic Pick Ups - Dopera.  (2978945)
1966:  Piezoelectric musical pickup arrangement - F.C. Carman et al.  (3291887)
1967:  Musical Instrument Utilizing Piezoelectric Transducer - Lester M. Barcus.  (3325580)
1973:  Bridge type piezoelectric pickup for stringed instruments - J.H. Rickard.  (3712951)
1976:  Magnetic induction stringed instrument pickup - James H. Rickard.  Ovation Instruments, Inc.  (3962946)
1976:  Pickup mounting for stringed instrument - James H. Rickard.  Ovation Instruments, Inc.  (3992972)
1981:  Piezoelectric transducer for electrical string instruments and pickup means comprising the same - Shigeo Saito et al.  NGK Spark Plug Co, Ltd.  (4278000)
1981:  Strain-gauge sound pickup for string instrument - Carl-Ernst Nourney.  (4292875)
1982:  Transducer for sensing string vibrational movement in two mutually perpendicular planes - Chobanian et al.  (4348930)
1982:  Musical Instrument Transducer - Lawrence R Fishman.  (4356754)
1983:  Pickup apparatus for an electric string type instrument - Kenkichi Kaneko et al.  Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Seisakusho.  (4378721)
1985:  String instrument pickup system - Lester M. Barcus.  (4491051)
1985:  Pickup device for stringed musical instrument - Masahiro Ikuma.  Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha.  (4501186)
1986:  Compliant bridge transducer for rigid body string musical instruments - Martin R. Clevinger.  (4567805)
1988:  Musical Instrument Transducer - Lawrence R Fishman.  (4785704)
1989:  Biomorphic Piezoelectric Pick Up Device for Stringed Musical Instruments - Max V. Mathews.  The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Jr. University.  (4860625)
1993:  Elastic pickup saddle for stringed instruments - Richard E.D. McClish.  (5218159)
1995:  Piezo electric  pickup with adjustable string output - Henry E. Juszkiewicz et al.  Gibson Guitar Corp.  (5455381)
1998:  Musical Instrument Transducer - Lawrence R Fishman.  (5817966)
2002:  Measurement and Processing of Stringed Acoustic Instrument Signals - Ekhaus et al.  (6448488)
2003:  Pickup unit incorporated in stringed instrument for converting vibrations of string to electric signal in good fidelity - Yojiro Takabayashi.  Yamaha.  (6515214)



HORN VIOLINS

1854:  Horn Violin - W.E. Newton.  UK (186)
1854:  Violin - Sewall Short.  New London.  Connecticut USA (10867)
1900:  Improvements in Violins and other Stringed Instruments - John Matthais Augustus Stroh.  UK (9418)
1904:  Improvements in and relating to Musical Instruments. - Charles Algernon Parsons.  Heaton Works.   UK (10469)
1904:  Attachment for Violins - Stella E Griswold.  Philadelphia.  Pennsylvania USA (759879)
1906:  Sound Producing Instrument - Charles Algernon Parsons.  Heaton Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Northumberland England (816180)
1907:  Improvements in Violins or other Stringed Instruments - P.R.J. Willis.  UK (11544)
1907:  Violin - Irvin A Northrop.  Medina.  Ohio USA (850393)
1908:  Horn Violin? - L. Lumiere.  UK (11015)
1908:  Violin - Peter A Amundsen.  Toland, Dodge. Wisconsin USA (896790)
1908:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Charles Benton Gillespie.  Buford, Williams. North Dakota USA (906407)
1908:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Samuel W Buercklin.  Prague, Lincoln. Oklahoma USA (907679)
1913:  Improvements relating to Violins and like Stringed Instruments - J&G McMillan.  29 Hille Street, Springburn.  Glasgow UK  (12898)
1918:  Violin - Walter F Young.  Merrill, Lincoln. Wisconsin USA (1289590)
1922:  Musical Instrument - John Kalaf Jr.  Meta, Missouri.  USA (1417174)
1922:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Frank J Kummeth.  Heron Lake, Minnesota.  USA (1429954)
1922:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Loren C Bond. Washington USA (1431773)
1923:  Diaphragm Violin - John Kalaf Jr.  Meta, Missouri.  USA (1455916)
1926:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Earl Pagett.  Peru, Kansas.  USA (1600061)
1927:  Musical Instruments - Benjamin Askelson.  Mazenod, Saskatchewan.  USA (1643044)
1928:  Horn-Resonator Violin - Glenn D Bothwell.  Springport, Michigan.  USA (1665402)
1928:  Musical Instrument - Johan Emil Hillenbrandt.  West Brighton.  New York USA (1693924)
1931:  Horn Attachment for String Musical Instruments - Jose Ma Pena.  Tampico.   Mexico (1814767)
1931:  Violin - Toy Thrasher.  Golden.  Mississippi USA (1819928)
1949:  Musical Instrument - Harry Lewis.  Gainesville.  Texas USA (2485498)



VIOLINS/DEVICES

1822:  Violin holder - Louis Spohr.  Germany  (?)
1832:  Violin holder - Dr J Steward.Messer's Wither, 31 Coventry Street, London UK  (?)
1853:  Violin - Cornelius Cooper.  New York USA (10203)
1857:  Amplified Violin - N.G.I. De Laphaleque.  UK (2373)
1862:  Violin - G. Henry Hulskamp.  Troy, Rensselaer. New York USA (36713)
1867:  Violin - G. Henry Hulskamp.  New York USA (66347)
1869:  Chin-Rest for Violins - A W White & Watson.  Massachusetts USA  (96174)
1869:  Device for Violin-Practice - Stephen Upson.  New York USA  (88423)
1869:  Violin - Jacob Lenhard.  New York USA (91029)
1870:  Violin holder - I H Avery.  USA  (104405)
1871:  Amplified Violin - A.V. Newton.  UK (1002)
1877:  Echolin. - M.H. Collins.  UK (2118)
1877:  Improvements in Violins for Practice - Charles F. Albert., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA  (189677)
1878:  Facilitates silent practice - R.J. Rae.  UK (4042)
1879:  Chin rests - S. (Ole) Pitts (Bull).  UK (1604)
1879:  Consists in bending the covers - H.J. Haddan.  UK (140)
1879:  Practice Violin - C. Knight.  UK (3545)
1880:  Tuning peg. - W.R. Lake.  UK (2104)
1881:  To avoid strain� - W.R. Lake.  UK (2852)
1882:  Violin - Nicholas B Dennys., Singapore, Straits Settlements  (252744)
1883:  With a view to improving the tone - C. Powers.  UK (16213)
1884:  Amplified Violin - F. Hudson.  UK (7415)
1884:  Chin holder - F. Upton.  UK (375)
1884:  Chin holder. - F. Upton.  UK (13369)
1884:  Chin-rests. - L. Lowenthal.  UK (9183)
1884:  Support device - R.H. Gould.  UK (6516)
1885:  To allow greater grip by the chin - J.V. Bendall.  UK (4256)
1885:  Violin stand - R. Steadman.  UK (3612)
1887:  Diminished-Tone Violin - Charles F. Chew., Bridgeport, Connecticut USA  (358542)
1888:  Chin rest - A.W. Mills.  UK (18654)
1888:  Soundposts - D. Kelly.  UK (13277)
1888:  Support device - W.W. Smeeton.  UK (1190)
1889:  An arch which spans the top of the chest. - H.H. Lake.  UK (2046)
1889:  To leave room for the performer's arm. - L.V Barnard.  UK (14983)
1891:  Made of... layers of twill etc. - W. & J.H. Brown.  UK (11137)
1891:  Support device - J. Kesett.  UK (5939)
1891:  The bodies... made of vulcanite or ebonite. - F. Love.  UK (11088)
1893:  Adjustable Bridge for Stringed Musical Instrument - G. Wooster.  USA (490528)
1893:  Chin & chest rest - J. Paterson.  UK (19590)
1893:  Chin & chest rest. - J. Ives.  UK (20358)
1893:  Rests or holders. - G. Narberti.  UK (2726)
1895:  Chin rest. - J.F. Strong.  UK (12062)
1895:  Support device - Hill & Sons.  UK (10635)
1895:  Support device - G. McMichael.  UK (15984)
1896:  Chin & chest rest - R. Standring.  UK (18939)
1896:  Parts made from celluloid for amplification. - E. Edwards.  UK (3562)
1897:  Violin - Samuel .B. Sexton.  USA (215023)
1904:  Violin - Benjamin Battram.  USA (759850)
1907:  Tail piece made of gut - D. McMillan.  UK (27340)
1907:  Violin - Mathew A. Ehlenz.  USA (858587)
1909:  Shoulder pads. - G. Beisheim.  UK (6383)
1910:  Stringed instruments, bows for... - E.J. Richelman.  USA (1588)
1913:  Stringed instruments made of metal. - H. Wachwitz.  USA (1122)
1917:  Chin rests. - A.G. Pinfold.  UK (108283)
1918:  Violinist's Practice Device - Karl A Becker., Los Angeles, California USA  (1275202)
1923:  Design for a violin - Henry A.S. Stahl.  USA (63379)
1923:  Violin - Kozelek.  USA (62107)
1924:  Practice cello (�bungscello) - Adele Clement.  Paris France  (399869)
1926:  Improvements to violins and other similar musical instruments - Edmond Galliot., 30 rue de la Clef, Paris France  (338175)
1927:  Violins etc. chin-rests and supports for. - J. Bohmann.  UK (295753)
1928:  Violins etc. mutes for. - M. Sarrablo Y Clavero.  UK (303897)
1929:  Violins etc. with hinged necks etc. - G.M. Butt.  UK (335042)
1932:  Practice Violin - Bergh.  Gamble Hinged Music Company, .  (1841398)
1932:  Violin - P. Kmetko.  (87721)
1936:  Violin or Similar Article - A.F. Randall et al.  (102065)
1944:  Violin or Similar Article - Miller.  (139861)
1946:  Violin - L.G. Klages.  (146148)
1949:  Violin - Evers.  (155881)
1949:  Violin or Similar Article - C.A. Hountasis.  (155610)
1952:  Tuning pegs? - Kluson.  (2585661)
1957:  To facilitate silent practice - L. Wareham.  UK (803277)
1974:  Violin in the form of a baseball bat - Harold Freeman.  (3853032)
1984:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Richard Armin.  (272543)
1986:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Richard Armin.  (4607559)



OTHER/RELATED PATENTS

1832:  Revolving Horse Rake - Hiram Hunt.  Bridgewater. New York USA (104)
1837:  Washing Machine - William Hovey.  Worcester. Massachussets USA (117)
1884:  Cithern - F.F. Wichard.  USA (294832)
1892:  Musical Instrument - Lyon.  USA (466501)
1898:  mandolin design - Orville H. Gibson.  (?)
1901:  Electric telegraphs - Daniel Higham.  UK (13739)
1902:  Improvements in Wireless Signaling - Reginald Aubrey Fessenden.  Manteo. North Carolina USA (17705)
1903:  Sound-magnifying appliances - Charles Algernon Parsons.  UK (10468)
1905:  Sound-magnifying appliances - G.C. Marks.  Highamophone Co..  UK (905)
1905:  Sound magnifying appliances - Charles Algenon Parsons.  UK (8407)
1906:  Sound magnifying device - C.A. & H.L. Parsons.  UK (21574)
1907:  Sound magnifying appliances.  Used in submarine sound signalling - L.L. Blake.  UK (3360)
1908:  Improvements in Signalling by Electro-magnetic Waves - Reginald Aubrey Fessenden.  1787 Riggs Place. Washington DC USA (4709)
1910:  Sound magnifying appliances - L. Lumiere.  UK (2985)
1910:  Sound magnifying appliances - L. Lumiere.  UK (3482)
1910:  Improvements in Telephone Transmitters and Relays - Reginald Aubrey Fessenden.  Brant Bock. Massachusetts USA (11602)
1912:  Amplification - H.O. Buffet.  USA (3015)
1913:  Phonographs - ?.  (2160)
1915:  Improvements in Automatic Organs - John Haywood Compton.  (21068)
1920:  Improvements in or relating to� - Knud/Frederik Alfred Rahbek/Johnsen. Copenhagen Denmark (144761)
1928:  Electrically vibrated instruments - M.L.E. Martenot.  UK (308988)
1929:  tri-cone resonator - John Dopyera?.  USA (1741453)
1930:  Pick For Stringed Musical Instruments - George D. Beauchamp.  (1787136)
1931:  Stringed Musical Instrument - George D. Beauchamp.  (1808756)
1932:  Electrical Musical Instruments - Oskar Vierling.  (408998)
1932:  Electrical Musical Instruments - Oskar Vierling.  (414352)
1933:  Electricity Controlled Musical Instrument - Oskar Vierling.  (1933299)
1934:  Electrical Musical Instrument - Oskar Vierling.  (409684)
1935:  Instruments with electrical amplification - A.J. Faure.  UK (462371)
1935:  Apparatus for the Production of Music - Benjamin F. Miessner.  USA (2001391)
1936:  Electricity Controlled Musical Instrument - Oskar Vierling.  (2027073)
1937:  Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument - George D. Beauchamp.  (2089171)
1939:  Stringed Musical Instrument - George D. Beauchamp.  (2152783)
1942:  Electric Guitar - Kislingbury.  (2288463)
1944:  Stringed Musical Instrument - J.W. McBride.  UK (603153)
1962:  Electro-Piano - Hugo Benioff.  (3049958)
1963:  Conversion of Mechanical Vibrations into Electrical Oscillations - C.R. Evans.  (3073203)
1964:  Measuring telephone line attenuation - Oskar Vierling.  (1088170)
1965:  Tone Generating Means for Electrical Musical Instruments - Benjamin F. Miessner.  (3183296)
1965:  Musical Device - Richard E. Williams et al.  Scope Inc.  (3185755)
1966:  Measuring fluid-flow electrically - Oskar Vierling.  (1097939)
1969:  Piezo Guitar Bridge Pickup - R.C. Scherer.  (3453920)
1978:  Electric Guitar - Yojiro Takabayashi.  Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha.  (4103583)
1980:  Simulated violoncello - Robert S. Hoexeter.  (4235143)
1981:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Henk van Zalinge.  (4242938)
1981:  Selector switch - Hartley D. Peavey.  (4305320)
1981:  Electronic musical instrument - Frank Eventoff et al.  (4306480)
1982:  Plastic musical instrument body having structural insert - White H. Morrison et al.  (4334452)
1984:  Demountable stringed musical instrument - Ernest Nussbaum.  (272747)
1984:  Stringed instrument for attachment to an electronic transducer - Robert S Grawi.  (4481856)
1987:  Electromagnetic Pickup for Stringed Musical Instruments - C. Leo Fender.  (4686881)
1988:  Electronic musical instrument with elastomeric strings and shielded bimorphic transducers - Alun D. Ashworth-Jones.  Le Nevek, Greenwich Hill, Perranwell Station. Truro, Cornwall England (4750397)
1991:  Method and apparatus for teaching the production of tone in the bowing of a stringed instrument - Tracy Ho.  (5038662)
1992:  Suspension bridge pickup for guitar - Laurence C. Schmued.  (5078041)
1996:  Electronic musical re-performance and editing system - Thomas G Zimmerman.  (5488196)
1996:  Stringed Musical Instrument - Richard N. Steinberger.  (5537906)
2000:  Electric cello - Sunao Okamura.  Yamaha.  (419587)
2001:  Electric Musical Instrument - Kazuo Murakami.  Yamaha.  (6288320)
2002:  Polyphonic guitar pickup for sensing string vibrations in two mutually perpendicular planes - Osman K. Isvan.  Gibson Guitar Corp.  (6392137)
2003:  Electric stringed musical instrument having detachable frame - Shinya Tamura.  Yamaha.  (6664461)

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