Research
During the course of our project, one of the first steps we undertook after deciding to design a built-in guitar tuner was to immediately research for information on past solutions for inspiration, look up patents to ensure that our design was original, and most importantly, conduct a market research survey among musicians and guitarists to ensure that our product would have a receptive audience.
Scholarly Journal Articles
The first source of information during our research was scholarly journal articles and other marketed devices that we were able to find using the Google Scholar search engine. Below, we have listed downloadable PDF files that we found especially relevant to our endeavor along a few select evaluations of the articles.
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a_digital_guitar_tuner.pdf | |
File Size: | 853 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
automatic_acoustic_guitar_tuner.pdf | |
File Size: | 1325 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
batteries.pdf | |
File Size: | 1242 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
gibson-lp-standard-2010-owners-manual-1.0.pdf | |
File Size: | 873 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
planet_waves_tuner_up_bracket.pdf | |
File Size: | 2935 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
planet_waves_universal_chromatic_tuner.pdf | |
File Size: | 550 kb |
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![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/rtf.png)
digital_guitar_tuner_evaluation.docx | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/rtf.png)
automatic_accoustic_guitar_tuner_evaluation.docx | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
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batteries_evaluation.docx | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Patents
During our patent search, we were unable to discover any patents that encompassed what we intended to to design and build in an electric guitar, although we did find some similar designs for acoustic guitars. We used both the US Patent office and Google Patents Search. Below we have listed some of the more relevant links to patents we found.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=nGOzAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=built+in+guitar+tuner&hl=en&ei=nwyeTsjNAYjdqgGZzfTJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=VImXAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=built+in+guitar+tuner&hl=en&ei=nwyeTsjNAYjdqgGZzfTJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=built%20in%20guitar%20tuner&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=t58UAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA6&dq=built+in+guitar+tuner&hl=en&ei=nwyeTsjNAYjdqgGZzfTJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=built%20in%20guitar%20tuner&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=VImXAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=built+in+guitar+tuner&hl=en&ei=nwyeTsjNAYjdqgGZzfTJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=built%20in%20guitar%20tuner&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=t58UAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA6&dq=built+in+guitar+tuner&hl=en&ei=nwyeTsjNAYjdqgGZzfTJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=built%20in%20guitar%20tuner&f=false
Market Research Surveys
The second to last step of research that our design team undertook was the distribution of surveys among musicians, particularly string players and guitarists. Surveys were distributed among local music stores and Lakewood High School. We took careful measures to ensure a range distribution among demographics. Below, we have listed files including both the original survey along with an excel sheet with our survey results.
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survey_question_sheet.docx | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
File Type: | docx |
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survey_data.docx | |
File Size: | 26 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Interviews
The final step of our pre-design research consisted of a series of ten interviews with guitarists and bassists in local bands, aspiring young musicians, music directors, and music store owners. Below are files containing the questions asked during the course of our interviews and a selection of our interview summations.
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interview_sheets.docx | |
File Size: | 10 kb |
File Type: | docx |
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interview_scottyoung.docx | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
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interview_evaluations.docx | |
File Size: | 12 kb |
File Type: | docx |