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Proximity Sensitive Control Circuit for Electrical Musical Instrument (TS Preamp)
Year: 1998
This patent describes a control circuit for a guitar or other musical instrument that uses proximity-sensitive capacitive pads embedded in the instrument's body to detect when a performer's hand or finger comes near discrete areas on the outer surface. The system converts these proximity signals into control inputs that vary a parameter of the derivative sound—such as volume or intensity—without requiring traditional knobs or switches. The pads are mounted on a flexible printed circuit board adhered to the inner surface of the hollow guitar body, and an oscillator-based detection circuit responds to capacitance changes caused by the proximity of a human body part to adjust the audio output accordingly.
