Guitar. Page: 4 of 5
[3], 5 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this patent.
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UNITED
STAT ES
PATENT OFFICE.
GEORGE COOPER WARD, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.
GUITAR.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,540, dated November 1, 1898.
Application filed November 9, 1897. Serial No. 657,962. (No model.)To all whom zt ica7y concern.
Beit known that I, GEORGE COOPER WARD,
a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort
Worth, in the county of Tarrant and State of
5 Texas, have invented certain new and useful
Improvements in Harpo-Guitarets; and I do
declare the following to be a full, clear, and
exact description of the invention, such as
will enable others skilled in the art to which
1o it appertains to make and use the same, ref-
erence being had to the accompanying draw-
ings, and to the figures of reference marked
thereon, which form a part of this specifica-
tion.
15 My invention relates to improvements in
stringed musical instruments, such as harp-
guitars, and has for its object to simplify fin-
gering with the left hand and also to increase
the volume and mellowness ot the tone of the
;o instrument.
It is well known among the users of this
class of instruments that the production of
certain chords is accomplished only with great
difficulty, especially in the case of short-fin-
25 gered players, and is attended with straining
of the members of the hand though they be
quite supple. For these reasons many play-
ers are unable to successfully produce some
chords or play in certain keys without return-
3o ing. My improvement enables the performer
to do away with much of the difficult fretting
and the returning, making him easier and
smoother in his playing.
I have shown my invention preferably ap-
35 plied to an instrument of the harp kind and
which I designate as a "harpo-guitaret," al-
though it is intended that the invention in
its application shall include all instruments
to which it is applicable.
40 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is
a face view of a guitar constructed according
to my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view there-
of. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, the body por-
tion being shown in dotted lines and the novel
45 form of neck and finger-board in full lines,
the strings being omitted.
The numeral 1 designates the body; 2, the
rosette; 3, the neck; 4, the head, and 5 the
tuning-pegs. The apron or tailpiece 0, to
5o which the strings 7 are fastened, is made semi-circular, or approximately so, as I have found
that the tone produced when a tailpiece of
this shape is used is mellower and stronger
than when the ordinary straight tailpiece is
employed. The tailpiece is shown accommo- 55
dating eight bass strings and eight treble
strings, sixteen strings in all, though the num-
ber is optional. The tailpiece may be se-
cured in position in any suitable manner,
either by fastening on top of sound-board or 6o
otherwise.
Auxiliary S -shaped sound-holes 8 and 0 are
cut in the sounding-board to permit the tone
to be more open and also to equalize the vol-
ume of sound from the different strings. 65
The neck at its portion next to the body
of the instrument is provided with side wings
or portions 11 and 12, which, together with the
narrow portion of the neck, constitute a new
form of neck, admitting of the application of 7o
the strings and securing the new effects, as
herein set forth. The neck is provided with
the finger-board 10, which is fretted, and the
side wings or portions are provided with head
portions 13" 13b, tuning-pegs 14' 14b, and frets 75
15a 15b, the winged portions ordinarily be-
ginning about the fifth fret of the middle
series. It is preferred to form the side wings
11 12 and the head portions 13" 13b integral
with the narrow portion of the neck, and the 8o
same joined in any suitable manner to the
body of the instrument, but if otherwise
formed would be embraced within the scope
of my invention. The finger-board is of the
shape of the neck exclusive of the heads, and 85
where it overlaps the sounding-board is cut
out in a circular manner, as illustrated, so as
not to encroach on the vibrating surface more
than necessity requires.
The tuning-pegs on the heads of the winged 90
portions of the neck may be either of the style
used in pianos, necessitating a key for tuning
like violin-pegs, or any style suitable.
The strings are run from the tailpiece 6,
numbers 1 to 5 passing over nut 16 to pegs 95
14,, 6 to 11 over nut 18 to head 4, and 12 to
16 over nut 17 to pegs 14b. I have tuned the
strings in the following order, commencing
with the near or bass strings: "f e c B A D G
d g b" and "d gab c d" for the keys of G ioo
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Ward, George Cooper. Guitar., patent, November 1, 1898; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth512597/m1/4/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.