Importance

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Abstract

A compact active pickup module, directed particularly to bodiless stringed musical instruments, has a main enclosure machined from dense solid material to provide a complex of internal compartments and is configured with a six-sided, diagonally-elongated shape consistent with the appearance of The Chapman Stick (R). Mounted in an elongated channel running diagonally across the instrument through-neck structure in a thick portion thereof near the lower (bridge) end, the module can be easily installed and removed sideways without removing the strings or disturbing their tuning. The module is held in place with two machine screws that are accessible between strings, and is mounted resiliently for isolation against unwanted vibrations from the bodiless through-neck structure. The enclosure is machined at various depths from the rear to provide numerous separate cavities forming compartments for accommodating components of the pickup module, including typically two pickups, associated buffer electronics, two sets of volume and tone controls, a function switch, e.g. stereo/mono, and a battery. An embodiment for a ten-string instrument utilizes dual pickups in an effectively end-to-end arrangement for bass and melody string groups, switch-selectable to operate in stereo or mono. A smaller module for a six string guitar or four string bass guitar has two pickups located at different spacing from the bridge for timbral variation. In all embodiments the module can be removed and reinstalled in an inverted orientation for a different bridge-to-pickup spacing that alters the tone of the instrument.

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First Claim