"...My good friends at StoryWood Music in Raleigh NC, approached me about wanting to design a custom guitar from the ground up - just for me. They were very patient as I described wanting a hybrid of sorts. An acoustic guitar that played like a Les Paul Junior. A solid body electric guitar, but with the feel and fretboard of an acoustic guitar. I also wanted to pick out components and design features that were all completely original and in certain cases, probably never paired up before. I asked them to make it solid, yet lightweight. I asked for a balance between great looks and functionality. We discussed just about every aspect of the instrument before beginning production. And they delivered wonderfully!
Storywood Music has created a guitar that opens up a whole new world of tonal possibilities. The 4 R-4 or also called 'The Junior".
I'm super excited to play this new instrument and honored that they included me in their story..."
- Bill West
The StoryWood 4R-4 is the only set-neck model in our lineup, and our Jr-inspired flat-top design includes modern elements in keeping with the needs of modern players. With a very slightly enlarged body, we’ve added an all-access neck joint and finished it off with a 14 degree angled headstock with much straighter string pull over the nut. We currently have a limited stock of reclaimed and very old mahogany taken from the Vaughan Furniture factory in Galax, VA that will work exceptionally well with this design.
The 4R-4 comes standard with a single P-90 in the bridge position, with volume and tone controls and a 3-way switch that adds both straight-to-output jack and cocked-wah tones. We’ve chosen the Resomax Sonic 1 wraparound bridge from Graphtech as standard.
Pictured above is a variant of the 4R-4 with the Graphtech piezo system installed, providing electric and acoustic tones. This guitar has a chambered Duke Ellington School of the Arts reclaimed cypress body, and a top and neck made from salvaged Port Orford Cedar, chosen to enhance the acoustic nature of this instrument. This specific guitar was built with a focus on the acoustic side, with the neck joining the body in a way that provides a wider strumming and picking area. The neck joins the body closer to the 20th fret on standard models.
4R-4 Standard Specs:
Options include:
Figured fingerboard – Options here include a variety of figured dark tropical woods, when available.
Bound fingerboard – Fingerboards can be bound with a choice of white or black traditional binding or contrasting reclaimed wood.
Semi-hollow construction - The 4R-4 can be built with body chambering for weight reduction.
Graphtech Ghost piezo system – The piezo option is configured with the GraphTech Resomax wraparound bridge with Ghost piezo saddles and the Ghost pre-amp system.
Laser engraved artwork
StoryWood guitars are designed with magnetic control cavity covers, using tiny neodymium magnets, instead of screws.
Standard cavity covers match the body wood.
The Easy-Access neck heel is also shown here, allowing greater access to upper frets.
The 4R-4 headstock shape is slightly asymmetric in design (just for fun) and creates a straighter string path across the nut to the tuning keys.
This reduces opportunity for string binding at the nut during bends, which can create tuning problems.
For a visual step up, consider a bound fingerboard. This can be done in white or black traditional binding or using contrasting reclaimed wood.
Pictured here, this neck is a mixture of water-recovered Panamanian Rock Walnut for the fingerboard, salvaged Port Orford Cedar for the core neck, and traditional white binding.
As a custom request, dots were eliminated from the face of the neck.
Visit StoryWood for more inspiration towards your next guitar!