Peter Buck's Alternate Stringing

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Sort of getting back to the original tone of this topic, "the stringing and playing style of Mr. Buck," I noticed long ago that his right hand is always elevated above the guitar. I find this difficult and must use my right ring and small finger as a base against either the bridge or pickguard, dependent upon which guitar I use. Don't most players have his/her own "something" that is unique? A second Buckism I noticed long ago was his tendency to loosen his fretting arm sleeve and let it dangle a couple of inches up, strumming sleeve in tact. No matter, PB is my favorite player of all-time, Marr, Ronson, Frehley and Nugent sitting closely in chairs, waiting their turn to go on!

Addendum: Personally, I'd consider anything that sells new up to about $650 as a budget guitar. Where the arbitrary $700 threshold originated was my own wallet many years ago.

...wisdom

If your wallet had a hole in it, and you lost $500 dollars, would you just shrug your shoulders?

[indianation65]

I'd be bothered by the loss of a 10 dollar bill, much less hundreds of dollars. Regarding guitars, everyone has his or her top limit as to what he'd pay for any guitar. I believe he/she also has a dollar amount as to what he/she considers a lesser-valued guitar, even though it's still worth something to the buyer no matter what he paid. My arbitrary threshold from budget to higher was mentioned earlier. Everyone reading has his own. Now then, "rawk" on REM, or should I say "chime/chug" on?

...wisdom

[Sweden]

Sort of getting back to the original tone of this topic, "the stringing and playing style of Mr. Buck," I noticed long ago that his right hand is always elevated above the guitar. I find this difficult and must use my right ring and small finger as a base against either the bridge or pickguard, dependent upon which guitar I use.

I agree that he has that right hand technique, also using much more "arm than wrist". He also generally plays very, very close to the bridge. For me, it varies with the guitar. On the Rick I tend to play in the same way as Peter, not sure if I'm unpurposedly mimicking him or if it's related to the construction (string height over body, bridge construction etc). It should also be mentioned that Peter on his Rick has removed the rubber grommets/distances between the two pick guard "levels", meaning that the pickguard is closer to the body and more difficult to lean fingers on.

/David

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

I'd be bothered by the loss of a 10 dollar bill, much less hundreds of dollars. Regarding guitars, everyone has his or her top limit as to what he'd pay for any guitar. I believe he/she also has a dollar amount as to what he/she considers a lesser-valued guitar, even though it's still worth something to the buyer no matter what he paid. My arbitrary threshold from budget to higher was mentioned earlier. Everyone reading has his own. Now then, "rawk" on REM, or should I say "chime/chug" on?

...wisdom

Regarding Peter, he bought his first Rickenbacker (The famous 360) used from a Mom and Pop store in Athens, GA. He probably still worked at Wuxtrys, though I doubt it was for much (Though, he may not have been since Radio Free Europe/Sitting Still was out, and REM were playing gigs throughout the South). I'm guessing it was for a damn good price, because they sometimes didn't even have a pot to p*ss in. So, the next "budget" guitar a kid picks up could define his sound.

I certainly wanted a Ric for my first guitar, and probably would have been a much different player if I had. Instead I got a 2004 Mexican Strat (Before Fender made upgrades the next year, and they started sounding much closer to Americans. The pickups sucked, the wood sucked, but it was solid as a rock), and then saved up for a '76 Les Paul. I probably wouldn't have bought another guitar if I had the Ric the first year I was playing.

Anyway, it's cool if Peter likes cheaper guitars, but... Eastwood.

That being said, a lot of other players play close to the bridge - Richard Thompson, one of Peter's favorites, does. He must have a strong arm, because he plays those 13 gauge strings.

[Sweden]

If you Google "Steve Wynn Eastwood", you will find a link to a video in which Steve Wynn talks about how Scott turned him onto Eastwood guitars during the recording of the first Baseball Project album, and how much he likes them (he describes them as better-quality updates of "the old classic cheap guitars"). He also says that when he bought his Scott got him the "special REM artist discount deal".

Even more Eastwood guitars in the hands of Scott now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/countfeed/ ... 7672998438

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

I thought I would pop in and share more Peter gear pics.



With the Marr!



Guess where that is.

Not Ric pics, but the only two picks I have ever seen of Peter and his black Strat.

[Sweden]

Fingerpicking even. That's a rare sight.