1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to musical instruments, and more particularly to a rigid structural member for a stringed musical instrument.
2. Background
The present invention generally relates to acoustic stringed instruments, namely steel string and nylon stringed guitars, acoustic bass guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, and other instruments which utilize kerfing liner for support of the top and back of the instrument. The instruments for which the kerfing is utilized comprise a fretboard (or fingerboard) upon which the strings are fingered with the fingers of a musician's first hand to produce a desired musical tone when the strings are plucked, picked, bowed or otherwise actuated by the musician's second hand. The instrument comprises a sound chamber, or body, in which sound waves generated by the plucked stringsare amplified by the vibrations of the materials forming the sound chamber and emitted from the sound chamber.
The sound chamber has a front (also referred to as the soundboard), back, and sides. In general, the strings of these instruments are attached on one end of the string to a headstock of the instrument, which is positioned at the end of the neck extending from the sound chamber, with the opposite end of the string typically attached to a member called the bridge, which is attached to the soundboard. A member called a saddle is typically mounted on the bridge, where the saddle elevates the strings above the soundboard. The sides of the instrument's sound chamber generally comprise an upper bout, a waist, and a lower bout, where the