My new R4

[Horse]

Originally Posted by k.online

Forgive me father, it's been several weeks since my last confession. Oh wait... ;-)

All mods are now done. Bone nut, pro fret dress and setup, Pigtail bridge and studs, Lollar 'Costello' P-90 in the neck, standard Lollar P-90 in the bridge, CTS pots and RS Grey Tigers. In short, it is perfect...!!! Open and airy in the neck, nice and raunchy on the bridge, smooth volume and tone controls. The Pigtail bridge is feather light and added some additional jangle and acoustic volume to the guitar.

I have lowered my action significantly in an attempt to get me playing with a lighter touch and more dynamics. I tend to play very hard live and tense up accordingly. Playing four or five nights a week combined with extensive mouse use on my recent recording project has unfortunately left me with pretty severe cases of carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand and tendonitis in my left. Along with physio and massage therapy, I am currently wearing sports braces on both my wrists at all times I am not actually playing. My trio has now added a keyboard player (with a real Hammond!!!) to fill in the sound so I can back off chording a bit. If it gets any worse I'll bring in another guitar player and do a BB King-style sing > play a lick > sing. It's a real bummer... and very painful.

hey bro, must be great to have that baby up to such a spec

re the carpel tunnel: im training to be a reiki therapist, it works by unblocking all the blocked points of energy, so allows the body to start healing itself better. think about having a session with a local practitioner, whilst it will not be a miracle cure, its a very effective additional treatment for making you feel less tense and taking away pain! I do it on my girlfriends bad knees and it takes the pain away for days at a time.

just tryin to help!

cant wait to hear the R4 clips mate!

[k.online]

Originally Posted by Horse

hey bro, must be great to have that baby up to such a spec

can't wait to hear the R4 clips mate!

I am going to pretty much take the week off from both guitar and the computer. I don't have a gig until Thursday, then not until Sunday. Good opportunity to heal a bit. I have found that wearing the braces, putting my laptop on my actual lap and using the rather ingenious Apple trackpad, the carpel tunnel isn't bothering me much at all. But hey, it's summer and we should all walk away from the computer as much as possible...!!!

The keyboard player helped so much tonight. Takes the pressure off of me. Just got home from a gig and my hands actually feel surprisingly good. Might be a permanent addition to the band. Loved the sound.

I'll dial up some clips when I am back in the swing.

Originally Posted by Horse

re the carpel tunnel: im training to be a reiki therapist, it works by unblocking all the blocked points of energy, so allows the body to start healing itself better. think about having a session with a local practitioner, whilst it will not be a miracle cure, its a very effective additional treatment for making you feel less tense and taking away pain! I do it on my girlfriends bad knees and it takes the pain away for days at a time.

We here in Vancouver are pretty new-agey for the most part. As far as I am concerned, as long as it won't hurt me I am open to pretty much anything. An aquaintance is a Reiki practitioner and I have an appointment on Wednesday.

[neils]

K, I'm a CT sufferer as well. Damn pain in more than one sense. I'm not yet sure what to do with it.

So anyway, how would you compare the Lollar bridge to thte stock R4 bridge. I'm finding myself on the neck nearly all the time and then switching to a mid position with neck/bridge at about a 7/10 volume ratio between the two. I like the bridge if I roll lots of treble off. Never been a bridge pup fan on anything.

So the Lollar got you what over stock?

Neil

[k.online]

Originally Posted by neils

K, I'm a CT sufferer as well. Damn pain in more than one sense. I'm not yet sure what to do with it.

So anyway, how would you compare the Lollar bridge to thte stock R4 bridge. I'm finding myself on the neck nearly all the time and then switching to a mid position with neck/bridge at about a 7/10 volume ratio between the two. I like the bridge if I roll lots of treble off. Never been a bridge pup fan on anything.

So the Lollar got you what over stock?

Neil

I find the wrist braces help a lot. A few days off should also help the healing process.

The Lollar bridge is louder, smoother in the top and thicker in the low-mids than the stock P-90. It's better... much better. In this day and age of $$$ overdrives and $$$$$ amplifiers, $100 on a pickup that is this much better than stock is a fucking bargain. IMO, don't even think about it. It's a no-brainer.

[fretnot]

I've heard that some aftermarket pups don't fit in an R4 without modding it/them. DO any aftermarket p-90s fit perfectly in an R4?

[neils]

K, Well what you describe the Lollar bridge pup did is pretty much what I'd like that pup to do so maybe a rethink is in order.

I kinda like what Vintage Vibe offers, pups ship with 2 sets of magnets so you could run what you like, maybe A2's in the neck and A5's in the bridge etc.

So take care of your arms and pains. I wear larger arm/wrist braces at night and when sleeping and driving long distances. Any braces at work would be impossible for me. Imagine sticking your arms into the deep recesses of fancy german cars with braces on. Can't work.

I'm also still sorting strings and action that work for me. I think I like my action a little higher than most. Makes bends and vibrato easier, especially up around the 5th/3rd frets. Strings I'm still experimenting with. I want to run more than 9's, 10's at least. 11's make me ache.

Neil

[k.online]

Originally Posted by fretnot

I've heard that some aftermarket pups don't fit in an R4 without modding it/them. DO any aftermarket p-90s fit perfectly in an R4?

The Lollars would've worked without routing but we chose to take a little bit of wood out to keep the pickups away from the strings a bit more.

Originally Posted by neils

K, Well what you describe the Lollar bridge pup did is pretty much what I'd like that pup to do so maybe a rethink is in order. I kinda like what Vintage Vibe offers, pups ship with 2 sets of magnets so you could run what you like, maybe A2's in the neck and A5's in the bridge etc.

Sounds interesting. All I can say from my end is that Jason Lollar got them right.

Originally Posted by neils

So take care of your arms and pains. I wear larger arm/wrist braces at night and when sleeping and driving long distances. Any braces at work would be impossible for me. Imagine sticking your arms into the deep recesses of fancy german cars with braces on. Can't work.

My hands are feeling really good. Played pain free for about half an hour today. Progress...

Originally Posted by neils

I'm also still sorting strings and action that work for me. I think I like my action a little higher than most. Makes bends and vibrato easier, especially up around the 5th/3rd frets. Strings I'm still experimenting with. I want to run more than 9's, 10's at least. 11's make me ache.

I used to use 12's and really high action. Now I have backed down to 11's and the action is around 1/8" between the bottom of the string and the top of the 22nd fret all the way across. The nut is also cut a hair higher than normal as well.

[neils]

Really? Lollars won't fit unless you mod the guitar? So are the stock routes not deep enough? Are the stock routes the correct length and width? How much "off" in size are we talking?

OK so who's inaccurate? The Gibson OE pup or the Lollar? I'm a DIY kind of guy but I'm not doing any routing and really don't want anyone else to either. This lind of stuff really ought to fit where it's meant to go.

I wonder if this a a RI guitar w/P90 thing or a general "most replacement P90's need mods to the guitar to fit" kind if thing.

Neil

[k.online]

As I said, the Lollars would have worked but were a bit too close to the strings for my liking. The stock pickups are thinner than both the Lollar and, if memory servers, the P-90s in my friend Rob's original 1956. From what I was told and have read around here, there is a fair bit of variation in the depth of the routes on newer Gibson's as well.

[Horse]

K.online:

Did the Reiki help the condition? pain alleviated?

[k.online]

Originally Posted by Horse

Did the Reiki help the condition? Pain alleviated?

Over the past week I have had Reiki, massage therapy, physiotherapy, worn braces and, most importantly I think, taken a break. Hard to say if any one had more impact than any other, but combined I am definitely feeling much less pain.

Looking forward to playing a full set tonight. Either way, the organ player stays. I freakin' love the sound of a Hammond behind me... ;-)

[Tele Jr.]

Well, I guess I'm on the hook now to try the Lollars for sure. I'm wondering how much deeper the Lollar pups are vs the stock?

It seems like I'm always fighting off tendonitis, I do a fair amount of weight lifting too and it puts added stress on my wrists so I'm always tempering one thing or another to try to stay in shape to play and workout.

I do quite a bit of sort of callisthenic type of warm-ups using finger independence exercises to try to keep the wrists toughened up so they don't break down. It's kind of a commitment to doing that but one I feel I need to make. I have had injuries where I've worn a brace on my wrist and even a splint on a finger. I don't wear a brace at night now but I do make a very conscious effort to make sure I keep my wrists straight and don't let them get curled up when I sleep.

My R4 neck is on the smaller side and I have it strung up pretty low with the so called James Burton string set 9-40 so it literally plays like butter, prolly the easiest playing instrument I've ever owned.

[Horse]

Originally Posted by k.online

Over the past week I have had Reiki, massage therapy, physiotherapy, worn braces and, most importantly I think, taken a break. Hard to say if any one had more impact than any other, but combined I am definitely feeling much less pain.

Looking forward to playing a full set tonight. Either way, the organ player stays. I freakin' love the sound of a Hammond behind me... ;-)

im glad youre feeling better brother!

[k.online]

I have now had two gigs and a jam pretty much pain free. Still wearing the braces as a precaution whenever I can.

Found an incredible deal on a late-60's Deluxe Reverb on Craigslist because it 'wasn't working'. A quick look at the empty tube sockets might be a clue... ;-) I dropped the chassis out and it looked good so I snagged it. Dropped it off to my tech who looked it over, did some minor repairs, installed some JJ's and a G12H-30 I had laying around. I have never really been a big fan of Fender amps but this thing sounds fantastic. I think my tastes have changed in the last few years, going more for clearer tones. I still like some hair on it but not nearly as much gain as I used to.

Originally Posted by Tele Jr.

My R4 neck is on the smaller side and I have it strung up pretty low with the so called James Burton string set 9-40 so it literally plays like butter, prolly the easiest playing instrument I've ever owned.

9's...? Really...? I used to play the D'Addario 12-54's on a Strat. These days I have backed down to 11's on the R4 and 10's on my Tele. I can't even imagine strings that light on a Gibson. I'd tear them off.

One of the regulars who comes to see us a lot emailed me a recording that she did on her cell phone. There's a lot of compression from the phone mic but it actually sounds pretty good. Pretty sure it's the Tele through the Deluxe.

oldLoveSolo.mp3

[neils]

That MP3 was good enough to dig the solo.

I'm running 10's. My arms hurt so I may give some 9's a shot. What the hell there just strings right and I can always go back.

Over the weekend I jammed with my brother and nephew. I finally got to dime my Blackheart 5W. Very very cool. Amp on 10, guitar on 10, a little OCD and a little MI Audio Crunch Box mixed in sometimes. Neither pedal had the gain turned up past 9'oclock so it was just a little of each.

During one Jam I was wringing out one note real good and I turned to the amp and the note rolled over into some sweet feedback. I did that a few times. Stuff like that isn't really what my brother is into but he gave me a look and a nod. He dug it.

We were jamming to Santana's Europa. My nephew was playing my R4, his first Gibson experience and I was playing my drums. I told him to hit all those pedals and play the neck pup. Damed if he didn't nail that solo and then some. He was very very pleased with himself. I looked at his dad (my brother obviously) and he was so proud of the boy. Woman tone like he'd never played.

Anyhow a fun time. I also got to hear the R4 through two Dr Z amps. My brother has a Maz 18 and a Z28. So I got to play with "Z's" with EL84's and 6L6's.

I really like the bridge pup in the R4 with the "6's" in the Z28. Compared to the EL84's it is like a whole 'nother pup. Fatter and fuller. Much richer than the Maz or my Blackheart. I didn't get to play the Z28 enough to find out how I liked the neck pup though.

Not that I need more than 5 watts but when I get another amp I'll have to look more carefully at the output tube options or get an amp that lets me swap out various tubes.

Neil

[Horse]

Originally Posted by k.online

I have now had two gigs and a jam pretty much pain free. Still wearing the braces as a precaution whenever I can.

Found an incredible deal on a late-60's Deluxe Reverb on Craigslist because it 'wasn't working'. A quick look at the empty tube sockets might be a clue... ;-) I dropped the chassis out and it looked good so I snagged it. Dropped it off to my tech who looked it over, did some minor repairs, installed some JJ's and a G12H-30 I had laying around. I have never really been a big fan of Fender amps but this thing sounds fantastic. I think my tastes have changed in the last few years, going more for clearer tones. I still like some hair on it but not nearly as much gain as I used to.


oldLoveSolo.mp3

K,

im with you there, i find myslef backing off the gain nowdays and finding that sweetspot clean tone, vocal, pure and fantastic, you cant beat it

[Tele Jr.]

Originally Posted by k.online

9's...? Really...? I used to play the D'Addario 12-54's on a Strat. These days I have backed down to 11's on the R4 and 10's on my Tele. I can't even imagine strings that light on a Gibson. I'd tear them off.

Yup, and I tune down to E flat too...

I like the sound and feel of heavier strings. My issue with wanting to use lighter ones is I feel that there is more available picking articulation nuance, heavy strings tend to make every picked note sound the same. Coming from a horn background, you have to be very careful to attack the note just like you want to, that's what I want with my guitar, I'm not looking for forgiveness, just maximum nuance of the attack of the note. Also with high speed finger picking, the fingers can dominate the attack so much more than with heavier strings, and you can get different nuances out of the attack as you commence and execute the phrase. I like the speed nuance for creating tension and resolution within phrases. I can also get better vocal like subtlety of expression with two string double stop bends in combination with high speed picking.

There's a definite trade off going that light, because you really have to learn to control your touch or you can loose intonation really easy too.

I used to use a lighter G too, 9,11 13, similar to Rev's 8,10,12's, and I do think it's cool for leads, but when I started doing P&W a few years back I needed a stronger rhythm sound and went with the regular 15 G string.

I do use 11's on my acoustic and spend a lot of time with that, so I sort of use that to beef up on but then I want my electrics to play like butter...

But when I start to have tendonitis issues I will lay off the acoustic for a while.

I've also been completely into clean tones for several years now after spending the majority of my youth as a sort of heavy metal robert johnson.

I'm actually more of a Twin lover vs the Deluxe, I love clean headroom. I believe that most pro trumpet players who understand the concept of how to put air through a horn can easily play with twin like power. So that's what I'm looking for with my guitar too, to basically do the moral equivalent of what a man with a horn can do volume and dymamics wise.

Nice clip there K, I like your blues style.

With my '07 R9

http://s173.photobucket.com/player.s...fs=1&os=1&ap=1

With an '03 8502 Tele

http://s173.photobucket.com/player.s...fs=1&os=1&ap=1

[k.online]

Nice playing TJ. Your touch is a LOT lighter than mine. I would tear your guitars apart... ;-)

How 'bout a clip with that beautiful R4 of yours...?!?!?

I used to use really heavy strings on my acoustic (a recent J-45) but have now backed it down to 11's, same as my electric. It's breezier sounding and I can play more lead. I often do solo acoustic gigs and have recently started using the looper in my Eventide Time Factor. Grab the first verse in the looper, play something different over it in the second, solo, whatever. Really helps take the pressure off playing solo. Don't feel quite as naked.

[Tele Jr.]

I like to try to calibrate my touch with the guitar sort of like classical musicians are routinely trained. If you think of the normal range of dynamics on any instrument as going from like ppp for real soft to FFF for real loud, the normal speaking volume if you will is usually expressed as MF, Mezzo Forte, or a kind of medium loud. Sort of confidently loud but not outside of the so called normal speaking range, and certainly not like raising ones voice, or shouting level loud. So it tries to leave room to get quite louder if needed and also room to back off as well. This is a very difficult and challenging concept to try to apply to the guitar but one that I'm always trying to do and ingrain in my practice. Hand in hand with that is the notion that ascending phrases should routinely get louder and accelerate slightly while descending passages should get softer again and decelerate slightly again. P-90's have a wonderful dynamic range to them and respond to the touch at times almost like a percussion instrument.

I do a lot of solo stuff for P&W, over the years I have tended to use an electric for that more and more. The R4 is really well suited for that Imho and is capable of some pretty sweet and intimate textures.

I have used backing tracks but never a looper live, also I will just dive into a solo with no accompaniment, but when I do that I try to play lines that outline the chords as I go too and keep a sort of swinging driving foot-tapping rhythm going on. I've looked at loopers, it's been on my sort list for a while now, I should prolly have one by now I know.

No clips with the R4 yet, but maybe soon...

[mattymel]

well...i ordered some lollars today. got the 50s wound neck, and a overwound bridge. its kind of crazy how much more open sound ing the lollars are. once these are in, my R4 is pretty much done i think.

[k.online]

Well, my beloved R4 took it's first, and hopefully only, fall off a guitar stand on Wednesday night. The way it went down I thought for sure the headstock would be cracked. Fortunately, there is absolutely no damage to the wood or finish, but the Kluson's on the treble side are all bent, the G almost around the headstock.

Could have been so much worse.

Tomorrow I will see if I can straighten them out. Worst case scenario is that I have a good excuse to buy a set of the RS Klusons.

[k.online]

They straightened out perfectly. Actually, I was surprised how much force I had to apply with the knockometer to straighten them. Kinda gives an idea of how hard the fall had to be to bend them. Can't believe there is no other damage. Very lucky.

[skoop678]

This sucks....I want one soooo bad!!!!

[lewddude]

Originally Posted by k.online

They straightened out perfectly. Actually, I was surprised how much force I had to apply with the knockometer to straighten them. Kinda gives an idea of how hard the fall had to be to bend them. Can't believe there is no other damage. Very lucky.

Ouch! I am happy for you that all turned out well! You are Lucky! Get a Hurcules stand!!!

PS I am soooo tempted to do the Costello neck p90...

[k.online]

Originally Posted by lewddude

Ouch! I am happy for you that all turned out well! You are lucky! Get a Hurcules stand!!!

Any stand would have gone down in this case. The guitar didn't come out of the stand, it went over stand and all.

Originally Posted by lewddude

PS... I am soooo tempted to do the Costello neck P-90...

You won't regret it. Sounds soooo good... ;-)

[lewddude]

Originally Posted by k.online

Any stand would have gone down in this case. The guitar didn't come out of the stand, it went over stand and all.

Did someone tackle it or fall into it or something???

as for the Lollars, did they fit right? Some are saying the stock route is not quite deep enough.

[k.online]

Originally Posted by lewddude

Did someone tackle it or fall into it or something???

It got knocked over in the dark. I am not sure by whom...

Originally Posted by lewddude

As for the Lollars, did they fit right? Some are saying the stock route is not quite deep enough.

The Lollar pickups are deeper than the stock pickups but I am also told by my tech that the route depth in Gibson guitars varies quite a bit as well. In my guitar, the Lollars would have worked but were a bit closer to the strings than I would like so we chose to route a little bit.

Can't sleep tonight...

[Toris93]

Sweet! im happy for you! its an amazing feeling finding that "one" guitar that just fits you/make you better and makes you wanna sell everything else=)

[Horse]

Originally Posted by k.online

Well, my beloved R4 took it's first, and hopefully only, fall off a guitar stand on Wednesday night. The way it went down I thought for sure the headstock would be cracked. Fortunately, there is absolutely no damage to the wood or finish, but the Kluson's on the treble side are all bent, the G almost around the headstock.

Could have been so much worse.

Tomorrow I will see if I can straighten them out. Worst case scenario is that I have a good excuse to buy a set of the RS Klusons.

holy crap mate, you didnt need that! id keep that baby in my music room and never take her out!

[k.online]

Originally Posted by Horse

holy crap mate, you didnt need that! id keep that baby in my music room and never take her out!

Nah, I play her at every gig. Guitars die if you don't. I recently played a dead mint, all original 1959 Les Paul that had been under a bed since new. It was nothing special at all to play.

A beautiful guitar that you don't play is like a beautiful wife that you don't... ;-)