Chris Buck and Revstar: Instant Connection

“Guitar was something that I fell in love with [at an early age] and wanted to spend an increasing amount of time doing,” recalls internationally acclaimed blues/rock guitarist Chris Buck. “I would rush home from school and disappear off to my bedroom, put my favorite records on and try and replicate what I was hearing.” But it was Buck’s equal determination to forge his own unique sound that led him to develop his distinctive “pick and fingers” playing technique, where he alternates between fingering and more traditional plucking — something that got the attention of legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, with whom Buck would eventually share a stage.

Born in Newport, South Wales, Buck first picked up a guitar at the age of 13. In 2013, his debut album Postcards From Capricornus, was released. His soulful playing would soon capture a wide audience, and he would be voted Best New Guitarist, Best Blues Guitarist and Best Pop Guitarist in successive years by the readers of Guitarist magazine, as well as winning Music Radar’s prestigious Best New Guitarist award in 2017.

Yet despite accolades from guitar greats like Slash and Buck’s hugely popular YouTube channel (which has more than 32 million views), Chris insists that “it’s folly to attach numbers to music [though] it’s incredibly flattering to see that people enjoy what you do!” He also makes it clear that he doesn’t crave the spotlight. “From that first moment I played in front of a crowd, I never wanted to be the ‘virtuoso guitar guy,” he says. “All of my favorite musicians were very much part of a band — that sense of interaction and spontaneity is incomparable. Making music with your mates: there’s no better feeling.” That kind of selfless approach, combined with an unwavering dedication to his craft, put Buck atop both the iTunes and Amazon album charts in 2022 with his band Cardinal Black’s debut album January Came Close.

Chris Buck’s relationship with the Yamaha Revstar began back in 2015, shortly after the launch of the original series. While browsing a local music shop, he noticed a Revstar hanging on the wall and was immediately drawn to its shape, citing its “individuality without being derivative of any of the well-known guitar designs.” It was an instant connection that marked the beginning of a long partnership grounded in instinct and genuine appreciation. Starting with the RS720B and RS502T models, Chris spent countless hours and travelled thousands of miles with Revstar guitars in hand, forging a deep bond with the instrument.

In 2021, Yamaha built a custom Revstar for Buck, with its distinctive Honey Gold finish quickly becoming synonymous with his unique tone and visual identity. Today, this aesthetic has been refined into the RS02CB Chris Buck Signature Revstar, unveiled at the 2026 NAMM show.

We recently had a chance to ask Chris a few questions about his playing, his gear, and his experience working with Yamaha to develop the RS02CB. As you’ll see, his responses are informative, insightful, and filled with his characteristic self-deprecating humor.

Who are your main influences as a guitarist, both in terms of playing style and tonality?

My first — and only, come to think of it — guitar hero was Slash. Discovering Guns N’ Roses and understanding his influence on their sound was pivotal in my development not only as a musician, but as a person, and it defined what I wanted to do with my life — be a guitarist, write songs, be in a band.

In terms of his playing, I was immediately drawn to Slash’s phrasing and approach to crafting intriguing guitar parts and solos. He’ll seamlessly blend between fluid and laconic lines to frenzied, intense bursts in just a few seconds and consequently, there’s a dynamism and excitement in his playing that few possess. If it’s at all possible for one of the most lauded, instantly recognizable musicians on earth to still be underrated, I’d argue that Slash is. I can’t say enough good things about him as a musician or as a person.

How would you describe your own approach to playing guitar?

I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I only really have to play music that I write and that I enjoy — which is just as well, since I don’t have the versatility or attention span to be a session player! But whatever I’m playing, the approach is always the same: make sure it’s fitting and that it’s musical. Even as a guitarist in a band that has a fair few guitar solos, the reality of being in a band is that for 90% of the show, you’re essentially a backing musician for the singer, so making sure that my guitar parts are there to serve the song and play a supporting role is paramount. When there are instrumental breaks or solos, you have a bit more freedom, but still, I’ve made my name from trying to play parts that are sympathetic and complementary to the song and that are musicl and melodic in their own right. All my favorite musicians have an impeccable sense of melody, harmony and fluidity that help them craft perfect parts for the song. That’s my aim.

You’re known as a gear aficionado. What was it about the Revstar that drew you to adopt it as your main instrument? How does it help you express your unique sound?

Finding the Revstar felt like a bit of a perfect storm. I was at a point where I felt like I was starting to develop my own musical identity— more by luck than judgement! — and the prospect of playing a guitar that had none of the baggage of my previous instruments of choice was intriguing. It’s human nature to try to listen with our eyes as much as our ears, and playing a guitar that didn’t have any immediate reference points of the music I’d grown up listening to helped focus my mind on what I was trying to achieve. Also, anyone that tells you that a guitar’s aesthetic appeal isn’t important is lying through their teeth, and there was something about the Revstar that immediately spoke to me. I think it’s such a cool guitar!

You’ve been quoted as saying, “More than any other guitar I’ve ever owned, [the Revstar] feels like my guitar.” What specifically about it makes it feel that way?

Honestly, I think a huge part of that is time spent; my Custom Shop Revstar has been literally everywhere with me over the past few years and it’d be impossible to go through so many situations — both professional and personal — with a possession and not develop a strong bond. It’s the same with a watch, a car, an old suitcase. It sounds silly, but when you tour as much as Cardinal Black have over the last few years, it’s those little personal things that give you a real, tangible link to home and help keep you sane doing an often insane profession. And when you play a guitar as much as I have my Revstar, you get to know it inside out: its quirks, its strengths, its weaknesses, its idiosyncrasies. Six years in, it feels like an old friend.

You collaborated with Yamaha to create the Chris Buck Signature Revstar. Can you talk about the nature of that collaboration? What specifically did you want included in the specs to ensure that the final instrument would reflect your unique playing style?

It’s still utterly surreal to think that I have a signature Yamaha guitar; it’s the kind of thing that you find yourself daydreaming about in math class when you’re a kid. I’m fortunate to have a genuinely great relationship with Yamaha that stretches back ten years and as such, the development of my signature model was a fun, collaborative process even if I’d unwittingly done the hard work when I spec’d my Custom Shop model seven years ago! We made a couple of tweaks and amendments along the way but principally, the heavy lifting had been done when we went back and forth on the specs of my Custom Shop model in 2019. I knew that in order for it to be a true signature model, it had be as close as feasible to the guitar that I’d become associated with, with some allowances for production techniques and factory methods, but principally, it had to fundamentally be the same guitar with all of the same tonal capabilities of my own. I’m absolutely over the moon with the way that it turned out. It’s a remarkable instrument, even if I say so myself!

Why did you opt for a more traditional wrapover tail piece? Why P90 pickups? And how have those P90s been customized for the RS02CB?

Some of the best guitars I’ve ever played have been wrap tails and without descending dangerously close to guitarist pseudo-science (!) I think there’s definitely something to be said for the directness of the contact of the strings to the body that you get with a wrapover tail. Much like P90 pickups, they feel like a true, unfiltered representation of the guitar’s natural acoustic qualities and resonance so the combination of the two is magical.

We also spent a particularly long time making sure that the pickups were absolutely perfect — there’d been a few different sets of P90s in my Custom Shop over the years but the custom-voiced P90-style pickups that Yamaha and I developed for my signature model are as good as they’ve ever sounded. They’re dynamic and responsive but with that characteristic P90 grit and bark when you really dig in. I think because P90s were effectively superseded by humbuckers, theres’s a propensity for people to dismiss them as an inferior design, but for my money, they have the potential to be the perfect pickup when done right.

What strings do you use on your RS02CB? Amps? Effects?

It’s typically strung with Ernie Ball 10.5 gauge strings — a happy medium between the 10s I like to use at home and 11s that I find most comfortable on the road. I tend to gravitate toward loud, clean amplifiers, with a few different options of overdrive in front and the odd taste effects like harmonic tremolo or Echorec-style delays. Nothing too crazy but also enough versatility to give a bit of sonic variation to Cardinal Black’s music, which can be pretty varied.

What do you love most about your Chris Buck signature Revstar?

Honestly, the fact that it’s mine! As I said, it’s still so bizarre to think that I have a signature Yamaha guitar, and to see an instrument in guitar stores worldwide that represents the bond I have with my own Revstar is nothing short of a dream come true. The response has been incredible, so I’m extremely proud of what we’ve achieved, especially since Yamaha isn’t a company that’s known for issuing signature models very often. The gravitas of having a signature instrument with one of the most iconic brands in the world isn’t lost on me and the fact that it truly is a signature model is the icing on the cake. I couldn’t ask for more.

Check out the video:

Discover more about the RS02CB Chris Buck Signature Revstar.