The Fender Pickup Unit

The pickup unit for electric stringed instruments (US 2,455,575A ) was patented in 1948 by Clarence Fender and Clayton Kauffman. Clarence Fender is the founder of the famous guitar company Fender Guitars, which is know for their high quality guitars that produce great sounds. I was particularly intrigued to look at this patent because I own a Fender Squier Stratocaster guitar that makes an amazing sound.

The patent makes three distinct claims:

1-    To provide an electrical pickup unit for stringed instruments that produces a more natural tone than has previously been attained by electrical pick-up devices of this character.

2-    To provide an electrical pick up unit for stringed instruments-where in the string itself is the only moving element in the magnetic circuit; thus producing with great-fidelity corresponding fluctuations or vibration: in the associated electrical circuit.

3-    To provide an electrical pick-up where in all soundboard sounding-boxes may be eliminated.

The figure below shows the key parts of the pickup, which are instrumental in proving that Fender’s new pickup produced a new, much clearer sound than other devices out at the time. It specifies that the pickup is for stringed instruments of all sorts, including ones that are held in the hand and others that rest on the floor. The patent seeks to establish that one of the strings must establish a common node point with one of the pole tips, thus picking up all oscillations of the musical string.

                                   

I believe that this patent is valid because it explains the three distinct and unique claims it has in a way that expands on and does not merely replicate prior art. The patent goes into detail about the importance of the specific metals and how they are connected to each other to get the crisp sound they are looking for from the strings.