USOO8853517B1

(12) United States Patent

(10) Patent N0.:

Dixon
(54)

(45) Date of Patent:

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PICKUP

2,933,967 A

INCORPORATING ENGINEERED

2
,

FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
_

3,249,677 A

3,541,219 A

(71) Appllcami George J- DIXOII, Socorro, NM (Us)

3,571,483 A

(72)

3,916,751 A

3,588,311 A

Inventor:

George J. Dixon, Socorro, NM (US)

( ) Notice.

(22)

Flled'

4/1960 Ruscol

91139
en

er

5/1966 Bums
11/1970

Abair

3/1971 Davidson
6/1971 Bartolini

11/1975 StiCh

3,983,777 A

10/1976 Bartolini

3,983,778

10/1976

Bartolini

4,010,334 A

patent is extended or adjusted under 35

4 184 398 A *

M980 Siegelman H 84/725

USC 15402) by 0 days-

4,220,069 A

9/1980 Fender
8/1981 Armstrong

4,320,681 A

3/1982 Altilio

4,499,809 A

Mar 14 2013
Related US. Application Data

3/1977 Demeter

4,283,982 A
4,364,295 A
_

Oct. 7, 2014

Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofth1s

(21) App1,N0,: 13/827,644

-

US 8,853,517 B1

12/1982 Stich
2/1985

Clevinger

4,501,185 A

2/1985 Blucher

4,524,667 A
4,580,481 A

6/1985 Duncan
4/1986 Schaller et a1.

(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 12/940,478,

(continued)

?led 011 NOV. 5, 2010, HOW Pat. NO. 8,415,551.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

(51)

Int. Cl.

Hunter, Duncan et al., The Guitar Pickup Handbook, The Start of

G10H 3/18

(2006.01)

Your S0und(Backbeat/Hall Leonard, NeWYork, 2008) (total of 260

(52) US. Cl.

pages).

USPC ............................................. .. 84/726; 84/725

(58)

(Continued)

Field of Classi?cation Search

USPC

.... ... .......................................... .. ~84/7254728

See application ?le for complete search history.

(56)

Primary ExamineriDaVid 8 Warren

(74) Attorney] Agent] or Firm i Leydig Voit & Mayer, Ltd~

References Cited

ABSTRACT

(57)

Magnetic pickups With unique tonal properties that incorpo

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

rate components that are formed from an engineered ferro

2,225,299
2,235,983
2,573,254
2,612,072
2,612,541
2,683,388
2,817,261
2,892,371
2,896,491
2,909,092
2,911,871

A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A

12/1940
3/1941
10/1951
9/1952
9/1952
7/1954
12/1957
6/1959
7/1959
10/1959
11/1959

Demuth
Demuth
Fender
DeArmond
DeArmond
Keller
Fender
Butts
Lover
De Armond
Schultz

magnetic material. Monolithic and composite pickup compo

nents With ferromagnetic loss properties that are novel Within
the context of magnetic pickup design are fabricated from

materials that comprise granules of ferromagnetic hysteresis

materials or soft ferromagnetic materials and an insulating
binder. The tone of a pickup is modi?ed by retro?tting the
pickup to include a bound granular material.

36 Claims, 20 Drawing Sheets

200

. 229,

II
II
230

(A)

230

US 8,853,517 B1
Page 2

(56)

References Cited

2011/0100200 A1*
2012/0210847 A1*

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,581,974
4,581,975
4,624,172
4,686,881
4,941,388
5,123,324
5,168,117
5,221,805
5,233,123
5,290,968
5,292,998
5,292,999
5,336,845
5,354,949
5,378,850
5,389,731
5,391,831
5,399,802
5,408,043
5,418,327
5,422,432
5,430,246
5,530,199
5,610,357
5,668,520
5,792,973
5,811,710
5,834,999
5,894,101
5,932,827
5,949,014
6,103,966
6,111,185
6,291,758
6,291,759
6,392,137
6,846,981
6,998,529
7,022,909
7,166,793
7,189,916
7,227,076
7,285,714
7,288,713
7,399,918
7,427,710
7,595,444
7,718,886
7,989,690
7,994,413
8,178,774
8,471,137
2001/0027716
2002/0020281
2002/0069749
2002/0083819
2002/0092413
2003/0051596
2003/0196538
2004/0003709
2004/0139837
2005/0092159
2006/0112816
2006/0150806
2006/0156911
2006/0174753
2006/0254405
2006/0275631
2007/0017355
2007/0056435
2008/0245218
2009/0320670
2010/0005954
2010/0101399
2010/0122623

4/1986
4/1986
11/1986
8/1987
7/1990
6/1992
12/1992
6/1993
8/1993
3/1994
3/1994
3/1994
8/1994
10/1994
1/1995
2/1995
2/1995
3/1995
4/1995
5/1995
6/1995
7/1995
6/1996
3/1997
9/1997
8/1998
9/1998
11/1998
4/1999
8/1999
9/1999
8/2000
8/2000
9/2001
9/2001
5/2002
1/2005
2/2006
4/2006
1/2007
3/2007
6/2007
10/2007
10/2007
7/2008
9/2008
9/2009
5/2010
8/2011
8/2011
5/2012
6/2013
10/2001
2/2002
6/2002
7/2002
7/2002
3/2003
10/2003
1/2004
7/2004
5/2005
6/2006
7/2006
7/2006
8/2006
11/2006
12/2006
1/2007
3/2007
10/2008
12/2009
1/2010
4/2010
5/2010

2012/0210848 A1

8/2012 Yamanaka
9/2013

Fender
Hoover et al.

................ .. 84/726

Rose et al.
Anderson

Rose et al.

84/726

.................... .. 84/726

Mirigliano et al.
Knapp

84/726

.......................... .. 84/726

Tumura
Lace, Sr. ....................... .. 84/726

Zwaan
Tumura ......................... ..

84/727

Lace
............................. ..

84/726

Blucher
............................. ..

84/726

Lace et al.
............................. ..

84/726

Lace et al.

84/726

Blucher

84/728

.... ..

Frank-Braun ................. ..

84/726

Kinman
Riboloff ........................ ..

84/726

Blucher et al.
Kinman
Damm

.......................... ..

Rashak et a1.

French, Richard M., Engineering the Guitar, Theory and Practice,

(Springer, New York, 2009) (total of 274 pages).
Bozorth, Ricth M., Ferromagnetism, (IEEE Press/Wiley,
Hoboken, 2003) (Part 1i244 pages).
Bozorth, Ricth M., Ferromagnetism, (IEEE Press/Wiley,
Hoboken, 2003) (Part 2i248 pages).
Bozorth, Ricth M., Ferromagnetism, (IEEE Press/Wiley,
Hoboken, 2003) (Part 3i246 pages).
Bozorth, Ricth M., Ferromagnetism, (IEEE Press/Wiley,
Hoboken, 2003) (Part 4i244 pages).
Campbell, Peter, Permanent Magnetic Materials and their Applica
tion (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994) (total 218

pages).
Goldman, Alex. Modern Ferrite Technology, 2' Edition, (Springer,
NewYork, 2006), Part 1 (total pp. 218).
Goldman, Alex. Modern Ferrite Technology, 2nd Edition, (Springer,
New York, 2006), (Second Part of Doc. No. DB) (total pp. 218).
Errede, Professor Steven, Presentation entitled Electronic Trans

84/728

Osborne et al.
Kinman

Milan, Mario, Pickups, Windings and Magnets and the Guitar

Became Electric, (Centerstream, Anaheim Hills, 2007) (total of216

pages).
..................... ..

Lace

Lace

Mills et al. .................... .. 84/726

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

McDougall

Lace

Mayes .......................... .. 84/726

Adair et al. ................... .. 84/726

2013/0239788 A1*

Fender
Fender

Lace

5/2011
8/2012

................ .. 84/725

........................ ..

84/728

ducers for Musical Instruments, Department of Physics, The Uni

versity of Illinois at Urban-Campaign, AES Talk, UIUC, Nov. 29,

2005 (43 pages).

Lemme, Helmuth E.W., The Secrets of Electric Guitar Pickups,

updated Feb. 25, 2009, retrieved from http://buildyourguitar.com/

Lace
Turner
Turner

.......................... ..

84/726

.......................... ..

84/728

Isvan
Devers

resources/leme/ on May 10, 2009 (9 pages).

Sulzer, Mike, Music Electronics Forum, retrieved from http://mu
sic-electronic-forum.corn/t13930/ on Sep. 23, 2009 (9 pages total).
Article entitled Common Magnetic Terminology as Used in Speci?

Wnorowski
Kinman

84/726

Beller

84/723

Wikipedia at http://en.eikipedia.org/wiki.

Kinman

84/726

Article entitled Seymour Duncan ZepherM The Next Great Sound

Stich ................ ..

84/726

of Guitar, retrieved from http://www.seymourduncan.com/

. 84/726

newproducts/Zephyr-silver-pickups.php on Oct. 29, 2011 (15 pages

.... ..

Juszkiewicz et a1. .

Krozack et al.
Juszkiewicz et a1. ......... .. 84/742

Hara
Stewart

......................... ..

Lace

84/728

. 84/727

Lawing ......................... .. 84/726

Salo
Salehi

cation and Claims of US. Appl. No. 1 2/94 0,4 78 retrieved from

total).
Ressler, Phil, Zephyr Silver Background, retrieved from http://
www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t:207793

on

May 16, 2012 (15 pages).

Constantinides, Steve, Semi-Hard Magnets, presented at the Mag
netics 2011 Conference in San Antonio TX on Mar. 1-2, 2011 (27

pages).

Adair et al. ................... .. 84/726

Turner
Devers

84/726
.......................... ..

84/728

Hoover et al.

Kinman
Turner

.......................... ..

84/726

pages).

Gustafsson
Katchanov et al. ........ .. 84/297 S
Kinman

....... ..

84/728

Oskorep ..
Oskorep ..

84/322
84/322

Kinman

84/728

Hara

84/726

............................. ..

Stich
Aisenbrey ..................... .. 84/600

Bergman

84/297 R

Rosenberg ...................... .. 429/8

Lace
Juszkiewicz et a1.
Stewart

Lawrence, Bill, How Would an Aluminum Bridge Plate Compare with

other TeleBridge Plates?, retrieved from http://www.billarence.com/
Page/ForteleLovershtm on Dec. 2, 2011 (2 pages).
Lawrence, Bill, Bridge Pickup Base Plates, retrieved from http://
www.tdpri.com/resourceBASEPLATEhtm on Dec. 6, 2011 (2

......................... ..

84/727

Flum et al. .................... .. 84/723

Lemme, Helmuth, Electric Guitar Sound Secrets and Technology,

Elektor International Media BV2012, ISBN 978-907920-13-4, (Part
1i70 pages).
Lemme, Helmuth, Electric Guitar Sound Secrets and Technology,
Elektor International Media BV2012, ISBN 978-907920-13-4, (Part
2469 pages).
Lemme, Helmuth, Electric Guitar Sound Secrets and Technology,
Elektor International Media BV2012, ISBN 978-907920-13-4, (Part
3466 pages).
Lemme, Helmuth, Electric Guitar Sound Secrets and Technology,
Elektor International Media BV 2012, ISBN 978-907920-13-4,

entire book, (279 pages).

Article entitled Bee?ng Up Single Coils, This month we will try

Higashidate et al.

some new tone tailoring tricks, PremierGuitar, from httpzwww.

Calvet

premierguitar.com/MagZine/Issue/2007.Aug.Be?ngiUpiSinglei

Salo

.............................. ..

84/726

Coil.asp X on Nov. 23, 2012 (3 pages).

US 8,853,517 B1
Page 3
References Cited

Cullity, B.D., et al., Introduction to Magnetic Materials, IEEE

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Cullity, B.D., et al., Introduction to Magnetic Materials, IEEE

Article retrieved from http://WWW.syrnourduncan.com.products/

Cullity, B.D., et al., Introduction to Magnetic Materials, IEEE

(56)

Press/Wiley, Hoboken (2008).(Part lil45 pages).

Press/Wiley, Hoboken (2008).(Part 2il40 pages).
bass/pbas/passive/11044 lipickup on Dec. 17, 2012, Antiguity for

Press/Wiley, Hoboken (2008).(Part 3il32 pages).

P-Bass: (twin cil) l1044-ll-SeyrnourDuncanPassive (2 pages).

Cullity, B.D., et al., Introduction to Magnetic Materials, IEEE

DiMarZio, Ultra JazzTM Pair DP149, retrieved from http://WWW.

Press/Wiley, Hoboken (2008).(Part 4A4 pages).

dimarZio.com/pickups/bass/standard-bass/ultra-jaZZ-pair on Nov.

Lemarquand, G., et al., Calculation Method of Permanent-Magnet

29, 2012 (2 pages).

Pickups for Electric Guitars, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol.

Constantinides, Steve, Presentation entitled Undercover Magnets,

Iowa State UniversityiMRS, Apr. 7, 2011 (44 pages).

43., No. 9, (Sep. 2007, pp. 3573-3578).

Strnat, Karl J ., Modern Permanent Magnets for Application in

Electro-Technology, Proc. IEE, vol. 78, pp. 923 (I990) (35 pages).
Constantinides, Steve, Presentation entitled Designing With Thin
Gauge, SMMA Fall Technical Conference, Oct. 2008, (55 pages).

Horton, Nicholas G., et al., Modeling the Magnetic Pickup of an

Electric Guitar, American Journal ofPhysics, vol. 77., No. 2, (Feb.
2009, pp. 144-150).

* cited by examiner

US. Patent

0a. 7, 2014

Sheet 1 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

5FEGURE

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

US 8,853,517 B1

Sheet 2 0f 20

1:92
a

/
/

,ws

z
i
I!

m\___ l/

ff

l,

2!

/ \T\\ m
[I

.1
//
:23\ 1/,

ff

m i?

1/ //

f?/

/!
/ I

//7f\112
/
l //

/
./ W25
//

FEGLERE 2

r./

w?
H

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

US 8,853,517 B1

Sheet30f20

l /l:
/

HGURES

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

US 8,853,517 B1

Sheet 4 0f 20

wmw

Mam 2%ka _
I

@5de

wma.dm

mo ma

@sm@ u; magmnpug Eugmngag

swam

ow

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

Sheet 7 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

wMKQ E
Am

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

Sheet80f20

US 8,853,517 B1

mm nmv u
mm

US. Patent

0a. 7, 2014

Sheet 10 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

US. Patent

0a. 7, 2014

Sheet 13 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

455

44%

44%

(g)

i3FiGURE

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

3%

oww

Sheet 14 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

US. Patent

Oct. 7, 2014

US 8,853,517 B1

Sheet 15 0f 20

Amw

US. Patent

0a. 7, 2014

Sheet 16 0f 20

535 535 5a? 538 slag 53%

FEGURE i5

US 8,853,517 B1

US. Patent

mam

Oct. 7, 2014

Sheet 17 0f 20

US 8,853,517 B1

t.M EQ