Malletech design team earns two more United States Patents

The United States Patents and Trademark Office has announced the granting of two more patents for unique inventions available only on Malletech instruments.  The first, issued to Leigh Howard Stevens and the two Swiss engineers who worked on the project with him, Roger Clerc and Josef Eberl, was for the improved vibrato technology used on the Malletech Love Vibe.  It allows the “real time control of the speed and depth of vibrato” through a duel function pedal -- and all without use of an electric motor!  If you haven’t heard it yet, listen to Malletech Artist Ed Smith demonstrate some of its expressive capabilities in the Inspiration section of the site. 

Shutter Open                                 Shutter Closed

The second award is for an improved resonator design that Malletech is calling “SST”:  Super Smooth Tubes.  The simplest way to describe this is “smoothly bent resonator tubes” – the elimination of all, or most of the soldered or welded joints on the low resonators.   Only a few experimental instruments have been made this way, but the option will be offered to anyone buying a Malletech in the near future.  In short, this technology offers cleaner, more “in tune” harmonics, a bit longer ring and a bit more volume.  It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, so read the “Geeks” article if you are interested.  For those who are not interested in the science behind the improved sound, it happens to look better so just look at the pictures!