Fred Frith displaying some of his homemade 3rd bridge guitars, circa 1982.

A third bridge guitar is a guitar with three bridges, instead of the usual two. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x1199, 135 KB)[edit] Summary Fred Frith sporting some of his homemade guitars (early 1980s). ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x1199, 135 KB)[edit] Summary Fred Frith sporting some of his homemade guitars (early 1980s). ... Fred Frith performing at the Moers Jazz Festival, 1 June 1998. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A Violin Bridge blank and finished bridge A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air balls. ...

Standard guitars have two bridges, the first near the tuning pegs (called the "nut"), the second at the other end of the strings, near where they are normally plucked or strummed. But by adding a third bridge, one can create a number of unusual sounds vaguely remisincent of chimes, bells or harps. Tuning Peg is a small peg that is used to hold a string for a stringed instrument. ... A small strip of hard material used to stop string vibrations on some stringed instruments. ... For the musical instrument, see tubular bell. ... A bell is a simple sound-making device. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ...

Both electric guitars and acoustic guitars can have this feature, though electric amplification makes the usually quiet third bridge sounds more easily audible. A third bridge can be a "prepared guitar" modified with an object—for instance, a screwdriver—placed under the strings to act as a makeshift bridge, or it can be a custom made instrument. An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses electronic pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current. ... Acoustic guitar can refer to the following musical instruments: Nylon and gut stringed guitars: Renaissance guitar Baroque guitar Romantic guitar Classical guitar, the modern version of the original guitar, with nylon strings Flamenco guitar Steel stringed guitars: Steel-string acoustic guitar, also known as western, folk or country guitar Twelve... A prepared guitar is a guitar which has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instruments strings, including other extended techniques. ... A custom made instrument is a musical instrument that is considered to be of ones own design or a modification or extension of a defined guideline of a certain instrument. ...

History

Guitars with tailed bridges

Leo Fender designed two guitars, the Fender Jaguar and the Fender Jazzmaster, which unintentionally had a primitive third bridge mechanism in their floating bridge with limited timbre when used in an extended technique. When the strings are played behind the bridge, a chiming tone is created. Image:Leo Fender tinkering. ... The Fender Jaguar guitar was introduced in 1962. ... It has been suggested that Fender Amplifier History be merged into this article or section. ... 1962 Fender Jazzmaster Sunburst The Fender Jazzmaster electric guitar was introduced in 1958 and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which itself was introduced in 1954 as a higher-priced product than the companys Telecaster series. ... In music, timbre, also timber (from Fr. ... Extended technique is a term used in music to describe unconventional, unorthodox or improper techniques of singing, or of playing musical instruments. ...

Several guitar manufacturers from the 1960s, such as Teisco (Japan), Egmond (Holland) and Eko (Italy), made inexpensive guitars with long bridges suitable for this playing technique. Teisco (テイスコ) was a Japanese manufacturer of affordable musical instruments in the 1950s and 1960s. ... Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer formerly based in Britain, and now owned by Japanese electronics giants Korg, which is most famous for making the AC30 guitar amplifier and the Vox organ. ...

Screwdriver technique

Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth

Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth are well known for using the screwdriver technique on their guitars. Confusion Is Sex contains a lot of music with third-bridge sounds. Other musical examples of this technique are the intros of the song "Bull in the Heather", again from Sonic Youth, and "Good Morning, Captain" from Slint's album Spiderland. Lee Ranaldo at Ilosaarirock 2003 Lee Ranaldo (b. ... Sonic Youth is a seminal American alternative rock group formed in New York City in 1981. ... Lee Ranaldo at Ilosaarirock 2003 Lee Ranaldo (b. ... Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958 in Coral Gables, Florida) is an American musician best known as a singer and guitarist for Sonic Youth. ... Sonic Youth is a seminal American alternative rock group formed in New York City in 1981. ... Confusion Is Sex is Sonic Youths second album, first released in 1983. ... Slint was a rock/math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland) and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). ... Spiderland is an album by the group Slint, released on March 27, 1991, on Touch & Go Records. ...

Custom made instruments

In 2006 luthier Yuri Landman built the Moodswinger, a 12-string overtone guitar for Aaron Hemphill of the noise band Liars

Dissatisfied with the limitations of the preparation of a normal guitar, several people began building instruments to improve the technical possibillities. A homemade musical instrument invented by Bradford Reed ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (525x851, 86 KB) This picture is taken by me (Yuri Landman). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (525x851, 86 KB) This picture is taken by me (Yuri Landman). ... An engravers impression of Antonio Stradivari examining an instrument. ... Yuri Landman (born 1-2-1973) is a dutch multi disciplined artist most well known for his work as an experimental luthier, but also active as a comic artist, illustrator, musician, singer, graphic designer and furniture designer. ... In 2006 luthier Yuri Landman built the Moodswinger, a 12 string overtone zither for Aaron Hemphill of the noiseband Liars The Moodswinger is a custom made string instrument made by Yuri Landman. ... Liars is currently a three-piece band consisting of Australian-born Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums). ...

Glenn Branca

Guitarist and composer Glenn Branca has created several primitive but effective working models of third bridge guitars for his first symphonies. Glenn Branca (born October 6, 1948 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is an avant-garde composer and guitarist. ...

Hans Reichel

Since the 1970s, German guitarist and luthier Hans Reichel has created guitars with third-bridge-like qualities. Hans Reichel (Born May 10, 1949) is a German improvisational guitarist, luthier, inventor, and typographer. ...

Pencilina

Main article: Pencilina

The pencilina is a custom-made string instrument invented around 1985 by Bradford Reed. The instrument is a double neck third bridge guitar with four bass strings and six guitar strings. A homemade musical instrument invented by Bradford Reed ... A homemade musical instrument invented by Bradford Reed ...

Neptune

The American band Neptune has also created custom-made guitars with drumsticks used as a third bridge. Neptune Neptune is a noise music band from Boston that built all their guitars and basses out of heaps of scrap metal. ...

Moodswinger

Main article: Moodswinger

In 2003 experimental luthier Yuri landman created his first third bridge zither. In 2006 he built a 12-string third bridge guitar for Aaron Hemphill of the Liars he called the Moodswinger. In 2006 luthier Yuri Landman built the Moodswinger, a 12 string overtone zither for Aaron Hemphill of the noiseband Liars The Moodswinger is a custom made string instrument made by Yuri Landman. ... An engravers impression of Antonio Stradivari examining an instrument. ... Yuri Landman (born 1-2-1973) is a dutch multi disciplined artist most well known for his work as an experimental luthier, but also active as a comic artist, illustrator, musician, singer, graphic designer and furniture designer. ... A Musima Guitar Zither 45 strings with 21 melody, 24 chords The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music. ... Liars is currently a three-piece band consisting of Australian-born Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums). ... In 2006 luthier Yuri Landman built the Moodswinger, a 12 string overtone zither for Aaron Hemphill of the noiseband Liars The Moodswinger is a custom made string instrument made by Yuri Landman. ...

The tuning of this instrument is a circle of fourths: In music theory, the circle of fifths (or cycle of fifths) is a geometrical space that depicts relationships among the 12 equal-tempered pitch classes comprising the familiar chromatic scale. ...

• E-A-D-G-C-F-A#-D#-G#-C#-F#-B, arranged in 3 clusters of 4 strings each.

The pickup and electronics are built into the neck instead of in the body like usual electric guitars.

How it works

third bridge positions can be compared with flageolet positions

The third bridge divides the strings into two segments with different pitches. Depending on where the string is played, a harmonic-like second tone is created. This sound is often described as a bell-like tone. The string resonates more or less when the back side is struck, depending on the position of the third bridge along the string. The reason this happens can be explained by the theory of acoustic resonance and microtonality. At harmonic nodal positions, the string resonates more than at other positions. For instance, dividing the string 1/3 + 2/3 creates a clear overtone, while 24/33 + 9/33 creates an indistict overtone. A Flageolet is a woodwind musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. ... Acoustic resonance is an important consideration for instrument builders as most acoustic instruments use resonators, such as the strings and body of a violin, the length of tube in a flute, and the shape of a drum membrane. ... Microtonal music is music using microtones -- intervals of less than a semitone, or as Charles Ives put it, the notes between the cracks of the piano. ... In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. ...

More complicated: The fundamental tone, often referred to simply as the fundamental, is the lowest frequency in a harmonic series. ...

See also

• Guitar harmonics
• Harmony
• Mathematics of musical scales

Guitar harmonics are fun sounds to produce. ... Harmony is the result of polyphony (more than one note being played simultaneously). ... A musical scale is a discrete set of pitches used in making or describing music. ...

Bibliography

• Helmholtz, H. von. (1877). Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik. 1877, 6th ed., Braunschweig: Vieweg, 1913; trans. by A.J. Ellis as On the sensations of tone as a physiological basis for the theory of music (1885). Reprinted New York: Dover, 1954. ISBN 0-486-60753-4
• Partch, Harry. Genesis of a Music, 2nd ed. Da capo press, 1974. ISBN 0-306-80106-X

External links

• GlennBranca.com
• www.pencilina.com, Bradford Reed's home page
• Oddmusic A website dedicated to unique, odd, ethnic, experimental and unusual musical instruments and resources.
• The interaction of reflected waves on a string is illustrated in a simplified animation that can be found at Edward Zobel's "Zona Land".