Importance

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Abstract

An improved electric stringed instrument which can produce 'banjo' sounds. The instrument has a banjo head including a taut flexible membrane mounted on a ring which is mounted on a solid material (preferably wood) body. The ring and body are connected in a conventional manner to a fretted neck extending away from the head. A plurality of strings extend from adjustable securing means at the end of the neck over the flexible membrane to a tailpiece secured to the body. A bridge is positioned between the strings and membrane. One or more recesses in the body below the membrane contain electric pickups. The spaces between the sides and bottoms of the pickups and the adjacent surfaces of the recesses are at least partially filled with resilient foam. The foam beneath the pickups is compressed slightly to keep the upper pickup surface in resilient contact with the membrane. Closing in the chamber under the head where the pickups are located restricts the airflow in the chamber and reduces the vibration of the head sufficiently to allow high volume without the feedback problems normally associated with prior amplified banjos. Amplifying the signal generated by the pickup under the bridge will give one sound, while amplifying the forward pickup signal will produce another different sound, providing a variety of banjo sounds.

First Claim