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N0KFQ > TODAY 10.08.15 15:16l 55 Lines 2620 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 63702_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Aug 10
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150810/1415Z 63702@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1937
First-ever electric guitar patent awarded to the Electro String
Corporation
Versatile, inexpensive and relatively easy to play, the acoustic
guitar was a staple of American rural music in the early 20th
century, particularly black rural music such as the blues. But a
significant physical limitation made it a poor fit in ensembles
made up of brass, woodwind and orchestral string instruments: The
acoustic guitar was simply too quiet. What transformed the guitar
and its place in popular music, and eventually transformed
popular music itself, was the development of a method for
transforming the sound of a vibrating guitar string into an
electrical signal that could be amplified and re-converted into
audible sound at a much greater volume. The electric guitar_the
instrument that revolutionized jazz, blues and country music and
made the later rise of rock and roll possible_was recognized by
the United States Patent Office on this day in 1937 with the
award of Patent #2,089.171 to G.D. Beauchamp for an instrument
known as the Rickenbacker Frying Pan.
Inventor G.D. Beauchamp, partner with Adolph Rickenbacher in the
Electro String Instrument Corporation of Los Angeles, California,
spent more than five years pursuing his patent on the Frying Pan.
It was a process delayed by several areas of concern, including
the electric guitar's reliance on an engineering innovation that
dated to the 19th century. When a vibrating string is placed
within a magnetic field, it is possible to "pick up" the sound
waves created by that string's vibrations and convert those waves
into electric current. Replace the word "string" with the word
"membrane" in that sentence, however, and you also have a
description of how a telephone works. For this reason,
Beauchamp's patent application had to be revised multiple times
to clarify which of his individual claims were truly novel and
which were merely new applications of existing patents.
On August 10, 1937, the Patent Office approved the majority of
Beachamp's claims_primarily those relating to the unique design
of the Frying Pan's "pickup," a heavy electromagnet that
surrounded the base of the steel strings like a bracelet rather
than sitting below them as on a modern electric guitar.
Unfortunately for the Electro String Corporation, Beauchamp's
specific invention had long since been obsolesced by the
innovations of various competitors, rendering the patent awarded
on this day in 1937 an item of greater historical importance than
economic value.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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