Musical instrument transducer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION To accomplish the foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, there is provided a transducer for a stringed musical instrument that is adapted to be positioned adjacent the instrument strings to receive acoustic vibratory signals therefrom.
The transducer comprises an electrically conductive ground plane, a plurality of piezoelectric transducers, each preferably of substantially disc-like shape and adapted to be aligned with an instrument string, and a conductive strip.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention the piezoelectric transducers may be of square or rectangular shape.
The ground plane is a thin elongated metal sheet preferably of berylium copper and having a right angle end tab.
The ground plane may also be of other conductive material such as brass.
Each piezoelectric transducer preferably comprises a piezoelectric crystal having a circular shape.
In accordance with one version of the present invention, the crystal diameter is on the order of 1/16th inch and the crystal thickness is on the order of 0.
020 inch.
The conductive strip is preferably comprised of a circuit board including a dielectric baseboard carrying a conductive cladding that defines the conductive strip.
There is also preferably provided a resilient electrically-conductive layer disposed between the transducer and conductive strip.
This conductive layer is preferred to be of carbon fiber.
Means are provided for securing the ground plane, piezoelectric transducers, and conductive strip in an elongated unitary structure with the transducers disposed between the ground plane and conductive strip and spacedly disposed so as to be in alignment with respective strings.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the piezoelectric crystals are bonded to a carbon fiber strip in order to properly align the crystals.
The bonding of the crystals on only one face also provides some crystal defamation so as to increase the voltage level of the output signal.
A conductive shield is disposed about the unitary structure