The Revstar Revolution

How Cardinal Black guitarist Chris Buck completely nailed his brand-new signature Yamaha Revstar

- BY ADAM KOVAC

CHRIS BUCK KNOWS he's caused a fuss among guitarists. There are certain things you don't do; you don't speak ill of Jimi or Eddie, you don't modify a vintage guitar and you don't talk shit about the Fender Stratocaster. But in a recent sitdown with Guitar World's Paul Riario, the words just slipped out. Playing a Strat, the Welsh guitarist said, comes with "baggage."

As the video made its way through the Instagram algorithm, the blowback began. "My brother in Christ, you play blues music," wrote one commenter. "Maybe you should go play the flute," snarked another.

The Cardinal Black guitarist watched this all go down with some chagrin. "I'm getting a lot of love on socials at the moment," he says. He knows he didn't make his point as eloquently as he would've liked. It's not like he even dislikes the instrument; his first guitar was a Squier Telecaster, but as a lover of players like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore, he had originally wanted a Strat. He was only talked out of it by his dad, who encouraged him to stand out from the other kids taking lessons and showed him pictures of Keith Richards and Bruce Springsteen to drive the point home.

He didn't say anything especially terrible, all things considered. Strats do have a particular sound, and that sound is associated with certain artists. Buck, however, wants to forge his own sonic path, and that's exactly what he's doing with the launch of his new signature Yamaha Revstar.

"I fell in love with the Revstar for the fact that it was different from your T-type, S-type, Les Paul or whatever"

While the guitar is getting its formal launch at the 2026 NAMM Show, its development began half a decade ago. In 2020, Buck was picking up his first Yamaha custom-shop guitar. Once again, there was a familial connection, as his father had an SG1000 "that was kind of heavier than my car," Buck says.