quote:


What's is it about?

About improving the sound accuracy (intonation) of plucked instruments, here explained using the example of the classical guitar. In the text is spoken of guitars or instruments. The statements made however apply in principle to all fretted instruments such as steel string guitars, electric guitars, lutes, mandolins, tremors, Ouds etc., in each case individual proportions to be used for setting increments.

Why was the invention necessary?

Because guitars with common scale proportions will generate only certain notes with accurate frequency. ... There are many good intoning guitars, yet the invention has its place, as it is accessible to everyone and also possible with instruments factory production. With methods of tuning guitarists have always been trying to compensate for common shortcomings. Most players employ the 5th or 4th fret, because this is the most common form in the novice class. When all 6 strings are tuned that way there will be tweaking to compensate for imbalance (most audible with the g-string), by using a chord retuning with harmonics. Either way, tuning methods have the aim to spread the errors ...and to nowhere mismatch dramatically. And while playing several problematic combinations (eg the fretted note at higher elevations plus open string) may be avoided or "masked" with vibrato. Whereas for playing in the very upper register the instriment may be specially tuned.
Background: The arrangement of the frets is calculated in ways that will only be sounding accurately, if strings may not be pushed down to the fret / increasing strings tension, hence measurements set in accordance for when strings oscillate freely not taking into consideration strings altered mass and internal friction. Such and resulting errors were discussed repeatedly in numerous publications in the past.
Howsoever, the frets are placed until today in almost all guitars as if there were´t influences through playing. These influences however become more obvious, the shorter the remaining vibrating length of the string. Because of tension of a string being increased when fretted and the sound produced sounding higher than it should be, because of the occurance of further stress for the remaining oscillation length. Instrument makers will usually compensate with the position of the saddle for the 12th fret and spot of oktave, for the octave to sound correct at the 12th fret.
Through this compensation of the instrument maker, the basic problem is corrected only partially and there will occure sections of good tonal purity and others of poor tonal purity. Poor sounding sections are usually around 5th-9th frets. Albeit not too obvious because of the relatively great length of the fretted string which leaves the impurity not too drastically audible, whereas the inaccuracy at 14th fret and higher will be more obvious.



What is the invention?

The idea was to take the saddle compensation and spread it across the frets. Thus the correction of the bridge saddle is obsolete and it can be just positioned accurately at a distance of scale length. With the new method of calculation all frets will be shifted to where tzhey belong for accurate pitch. ... For the oktave compensation the channel insert is offset by 0.5 mm for the treble and up to 3 mm in bass, therefore preserving the scale generally; thus the saddle compensation becoming obsolete. ... (More tech talk here.)


What is the result of this invention?

* A guitar constructed according to my inventions fingerboard should be tuned only via the open strings by tuner. There will be no more adjustments needed. ...

* No matter what position you play, the notes sound exactly equal temperament accordingly. Hence, a piano or any other instrument maybe acompanied without any audible pitch errors.

* For people with trained ear, the guitar sounds uniquely coherent and better in any register, open strings and harmonics will correspond to the fretted notes etc. In concequence fingerings will be possible that were previously sonically unacceptable.

* For people with untrained ear sounds coming from the adequately calculated fretboard will be clearly more touching and - without knowing exactly why - beautiful.


What is it that the invention can´t do?

* The invention may not equally produce most accurate sound for all types of string material. Karbon strings need less compensation and nylons more of it. However, the variations in different materials are so small that they are barely audible and there will in any case a better tuned instrument. It is in addition also possible to for instance adjust for the minimal deviation with carbon strings by inserting a dedicated saddle.

* The invention can not prevent unintentional change of pitch through player´s pulling or pushing at the fret.

* The improvement of non-compensated instruments is possible through a re-scaling of the fingerboard. There are specialists in the market, who correct intonation errors with other methods. The aim of the invention was, however, to avoid this from the outset.



If you want to know more about this patent, please contact me! I will be gladly provide more information.

quote:

The invention can not prevent unintentional change of pitch through player´s pulling or pushing at the fret.

quote:

Oh jesus, what a mess.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sr. Martins

... the patent thing and all...

quote:

Unless it is just about making a stink

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo

Oh jesus, what a mess.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sr. Martins


The man is basically saying that the "invention" is not his invention and his already patented in other places by other people. Once again, Buzz Feiten comes to mind both for the wavy frets and nut compensations.

quote:

individual fretting deviation won´t anull intonation properties of a guitar

quote:

In most cases, however, one correction on amended bridge and bone saddle. For this I use the method that has Konrad Schwingenstein invented and patented and under www.pepiderzweite.de described. In America, this patent has someone on its own and sells it with great success under the name "buzzfeiten tuning". This are very good results in a very gentle for the guitar "intervention" possible.

quote:

In Amerika hat sich dieses Patent jemand zu eigen gemacht und vertreibt es mit großem Erfolg unter dem Namen “buzzfeiten tuning”. Damit sind sehr gute Ergebnisse bei einem für die Gitarre sehr schonenden “Eingriff” möglich.

quote:

The idea was to take the saddle compensation and spread it across the frets. Thus the correction of the bridge saddle is obsolete and it can be just positioned accurately at a distance of scale length.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SEden

As it's patented why is there nothing that shows what Ruhe is doing. I had a look and found the same blurb that Ruphus has posted but can't see an example of it being different.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sr. Martins

With parallel frets, what he seems to be claiming is just... physically impossible.

I can come up with a true temperament gizmo and patent it... as long as you don't touch the guitar, the perfect equal temperament will be there for all 6 strings.

Anyone interested?

quote:

This hasty bubbling along without grasp is really tiring.

quote:

If you only compensate at the nut, you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. If you feel the need to do any compensation to the nut it's very likely that you also want to do it at the saddle unless you're doing a fretless guitar... but if that's the case you also don't need to compensate the nut.