The Backyard Dusk

Okay, so in lieu of a comprehensive page of Richard Buckner's gear, here's a post to help get the ball rolling.

Things to keep in mind as you read the list:

1. In terms of how stuff got included in the list: Basically, I made notes (either mental or on paper) when I attended his shows, and I gleaned much information from photographs, various Buckner interviews/press/media I've seen, and of course from the contributions of other concert-goers (like Jason -- see previous blog entry). Some of this info may not be current -- that is, although Buckner used the gear listed at some point, he may not use it anymore. Some day I'll try to indicate the years he used the equipment, if I get enough info to establish the dates.
   
   
2. This list is not complete, by any means. There's probably a lot of missing details. So, any help filling in the blanks is appreciated! Even if you don't know anything about guitars or other gear, if you have photos you can share, I'll try to identify them. In fact, if you have Buckner photos, send me e-mail and I'll link to them (or if you don't have a web site, I can post them with your name).

Acoustic guitars:

• Gibson (small-bodied) steel-string (vintage or tobacco sunburst) *
• Gibson 1950s classical (solid spruce top, perhaps an early C-1 model) * (seen in the last photo on this page of pictures taken by Wes Williams in 2002)
• Gibson dreadnought, probably an older J-50 (engraved tortoise pickguard with a bordering edge, dot inlays on fingerboard, natural finish, no decorative inlay on headstock)
• Kalamazoo steel-string (tobacco sunburst...maybe KG-11 or KG-14?)
• Guild D-50 (dreadnought, solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides)
• A 12-string
  

AFAIK, all of his stage guitars are modded with pickups.

* According to Greg on the Doubters list (from a post in July), these guitars got stolen! Yikes.


Electric guitars:

• Danelectro 56-U2 ("Commie red" late 1990s reissue). Danelectro made a bunch of these reissues and other guitars until a year or two ago...now the guitars aren't even listed on the company's site anymore, so take a look at archive.org's cached page from 2003.
• Danelectro Hodad Tremolo (white/violet pearl). See above entry for the U2. Look at archive.org's cached page for the Hodad (from 2003).
  
• A hollowbody archtop (Gibson L-5 body shape, trapeze-style tailpiece, natural finish, maybe a maple top?...maybe a Barrington...help me identify it!)
  
• A semi-hollowbody archtop. I couldn't see the manufacturer and I was far away, but if I had to guess, maybe Gibson, Gretsch, or...?.
• Fender Telecaster (don't know which specific model)
  

Amps:

• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (valve/tube amp, 40 watts)
  
• Fender Blues Deluxe (valve/tube amp, 15 watts)
• More Fender amps
  
• Gretsch amp
  

Acoustic guitar pickups and preamps:

• L. R. Baggs pickups (not sure which ones)
  
• L. R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. (two units)

Effects: Pedals:

• Boss SD-2 Dual Overdrive (two units)
  
  
• A compression pedal (Boss?)
  
  
• A stereo tremolo pedal (obviously not Boss)
  


• Boss Digital Delay (two units) (maybe DD-5, but could have been DD-3. The DD-5 isn't being manufactured anymore and has been replaced in the Boss product line by the DD-6.)
• Boss RC-20 Loop Station
  


• Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
  
• Danelectro Dan-O-Matic Chromatic Tuner (DT1 or DT2)


• Boss LS-2 Line Selector

Effects: Other:

• EBow (I'm not sure if he uses the PlusEBow or an older model)

Cables:
Seems to be mix-and-match/whatever's available. At one show, I saw a Mars Music-branded patch cable linking a couple of pedals. (Mars Music went out of business in September 2002.)

Strings:

• Bulk, light gauge steel strings
• Normal tension nylon strings (for the Gibson classical)
• D'Addario ECG24 Chromes Flatwound jazz light gauge strings (for the Danelectro)
• Medium gauge strings
• Martin strings

Capos:

• Kyser Quick-Change
• A few other kinds, too -- I've forgotten the other ones I've seen him use.

Picks:
Dunlop .73 gauge (probably the yellow Tortex picks, but possibly the gray nylon picks)

Acoustic Guitar Magazine did a profile on Buckner in April 1999, and featured info on his gear in the "What They Play" section. Many of the details mentioned there have been added here. Info for this list also contributed by Jason Leonard. Thanks!