  We investigate the structure of the instantaneous Bethe-Salpeter equation for
\(q\bar{q}\)-bound states in the general case of unequal quark masses and
develop a numerical scheme for the calculation of mass spectra and
Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes. In order to appreciate the merits of the various
competing models beyond the reproduction of the mass spectra we present
explicit formulas to calculate electroweak decays. The results for an explicit
quark model will be compared to experimental data in a subsequent paper
