The surreal story of Peter Buck’s stolen Rickenbacker
Pete Townshend, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Marr; the harmonious chime of the Rickenbacker guitar is closely associated with a select few players. The other most notable figure of this set is R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, a man long deemed something of an American equivalent to the former Smiths guitarist.
An indie hero in his own right, with a bag of distinctive flourishes to his name, Buck deserves his place in the history books. However, his legacy would not have been the same without his trusty Rickenbacker 360 Jetglo. It certainly would not have been so distinctive.
As the guitarist revealed in 2021, he was once nearly separated from his axe for good. It was stolen and held for ransom as part of a surreal inside job featuring an associate of the band. This curious caper involves a Finnish motorcycle gang and legal teams and reads more like the words of a twisty Thomas Pynchon novel than it does real life. Alas, this is rock ‘n’ roll, and nothing is too shocking.
Buck recounted this tale during a 2021 interview with the Daily Express. The conversation came ahead of Martin and Paul Kelly’s release of the book Rickenbacker Guitars: Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fireglo. The R.E.M. said that his trusty guitar, the black Rickenbacker 360 Jetglo, which he played on every one of the band’s albums, was stolen during a 2008 gig in Finland by an associate of the group.
“It was an inside job and I was furious,” Buck said, revealing that the associate was holding the guitar for a $1 million ransom. Explaining how his long-term weapon of choice eventually made its way back to him, Buck said that the band were helped by a local gang of bikers: “While our legal team were working it out, some fearsome fellows were riding around on motorbikes, explaining to people we thought connected to the theft, ‘Somebody knows something and we’re going to find out.'”
The guitarist continued: “We explained to the idiot who stole the guitar, ‘If you ‘find’ this guitar, you get to be the good guy and you can have €10,000. But if you press on, that’s extortion and you’ll get up to 30 years in prison”.
“He took the €10,000,” Buck recalled. “When I got [the guitar] back, I felt bad about that black Ricky for a few days. I had to play it and sweat on it again, as I’d been thinking, ‘Some real scumbag has held this for a week.'”
Buck has never revealed whether there was another reason behind the associate taking the guitar for ransom but said it was returned by an “anonymous source”, saying at the time: “It’s great to have it back in my hands.”
Watch Peter Buck and his guitar in action below.
