What about Peter Buck?

[chuck_king]

FWIW, his AC30 has Celestion G12H30 speakers in it.

[chronictown]

Chuck - awesome photos, thanks so much for posting them. Peter Buck's the major reason I got into Rickenbackers in the first place. Very cool to see his present touring collection - love that 330 BG! I never knew his 360 had a sticker in the soundhole as well

[belmondo]

does anyone know, how Peter got his 12-string-sound on "So. Central Rain"?
Double-tracked, okay, but what else? And what model?

I always LOVED that particular sound!

Mark

[ted_williams]

Perhaps Mitch Easter could answer that for you. He may have used Mitch's 12 string on that song.

[rickboy88]

I love the 12 string sound on "So. Central Rain" as well (almost as much as XTC's "Senses Working Overtime") but in the REM promo video of the song it doesn't look like he's playing a Ric 12 (hard to make out what he's playing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rLlVWrvO-Q

[Sweden]

I love the 12 string sound on "So. Central Rain" as well (almost as much as XTC's "Senses Working Overtime") but in the REM promo video of the song it doesn't look like he's playing a Ric 12 (hard to make out what he's playing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rLlVWrvO-Q

First post on the boards... I'll be hanging about here a lot I think.

In that video Peter's it is thought that Peter's playing a Guild Starfire (possibly a Starfire III). Not sure if it was lying around in the studio where the video was recorded, or if was Peter's own. Mike's playing his 4003 (4001?) though.

An interesting fact is of course that in that video Michael was actually singing the vocals, and not lip-synching, so the vocals heard in the video version were actually sung live there and then.

/David

[blue330]

Hello! I missed this one... that's a Fender Electric XII on South Central Rain. I think there are 4 instruments of mine that you hear on a lot of the old R.E.M. recordings- that 12-string, which I've had since I was 12 or 13, a Danelectro electric sitar (the one without drone strings),a Gibson LG-1 acoustic, and a Gibson B25-12N. On "Reckoning", we made much use of a Rockman, ha ha!
There is probably no less hip piece of gear on earth but Don Dixon and I used them quite a bit for awhile there and you can imagine how this was useful addition to the R.E.M. guitar sonic palette at the time. It definitely revved up the Fender and gave it that supersonic top end.

I do see those guys occasionally. The entire R.E.M. operation has always been a friendly, class act. Like, their office called me to see if I wanted to go to a show on the current tour. Sure!

[blue330]

PS-
Yeah, what the heck is that guitar? It's not what you hear on the recording, in any case. And it is true about the live vocal! But another cool thing about that video is that the music mix was a live feed, too- we actually were mixing off the 2" master tape into the shoot's audio equipment (a Nagra tape recorder running in sync with the camera, I guess), so the vocal and mix are not the same as the record. Although the backing track is the same information as the record, just not the identical mix. That was shot at Reflection Studio in the course of making the record, and afterward the audio guy on the shoot bought my old Quantum console which was used to make Chronic Town and the Radio Free Europe single. For any trivia buffs out there...

[chronictown]

Thanks for all that info, Mitch. So the intro to So. Central Rain was actually played on a Fender XII... That song's often listed as a "favorite Rick 12 song" by a lot of people, including myself! Who knew?

[kennyhowes]

There you go, Mitch. I never thought that record sounded like a Ric.

[blue330]

Sharp ears, Kenny! I guess it's a little confusing because I think the 360 is also playing all the parts in addition to the 12-string. But you'd know if anybody would, I reckon. Is that, um, your Lightshow??

[kennyhowes]

Sharp ears, Kenny! I guess it's a little confusing because I think the 360 is also playing all the parts in addition to the 12-string. But you'd know if anybody would, I reckon.

Well that makes sense. And then he's playing a Gretsch Tennesean or something in the video. Continuity, boys!

Is that, um, your Lightshow??

As my avatar? Yes indeed, and my hand as well.

My lightshow is under the knife right this minute but should be back home and a fully operational battlestation within the month.

[belmondo]

Hello! I missed this one... that's a Fender Electric XII on South Central Rain.

so here it goes: "all you know is wrong" .. to quote some U2 :-0

i am shocked, Mitch :-[

my favourite Rick-sound comes from a Fender.. ouch

[kennyhowes]

...but doubled with a 360/6. Right Mitch?

[scott_s]

Bumping an old thread to comment on the idea of a Peter Buck signature 360...

I think, cosmetics aside, there are some features of PB's guitar that might make for an appealling model:

1) Jumbo frets
2) Unfinished fretboard
3) Aftermarket brass bridge (does anyone know if PB did this for sustain or less string breakage?)
4) Bass-cut cap (I can't prove this, but I think I'm hearing one on the recordings. Hell, make it switchable like the current 4003 )

Maybe a "sticker kit" could be an option, so you could dress it up like whatever era you want.

I guess if an official signature model never happens, then these are some more ideas for those who want to turn their guitars into "tribute" models...

- Scott