Talking Guitar With Between The Buried And Me’s Dustie Waring



Like all Between The Buried And Me albums, Coma Ecliptic is a journey into finely crafted musicianship, deep emotional exploration and lyrical intricacy. This particular journey tells the tale of a man in a coma, journeying through his past lives and deciding whether to stay or move on. It’s one of those albums that invites you in and keeps you glued to the speakers with its twists and turns. And for guitar fans it’s loaded with great performances and tones courtesy of Dustie Waring and Paul Waggoner. Dustie has recently joined the Seymour Duncan family, and we caught up with him for a quick chat while the band is out on the road on the Coma Ecliptic tour with Animals As Leaders. You can check out the tour dates here.



So you’re on the Coma Ecliptic tour with Animals As Leaders. How’s it going?



It’s kicking ass man! All the shows have been super awesome.



Had a chance to talk guitar with Tosin Abasi?



Oh yeah. We’ve been touring together since 2003, so we always talk gear and play each other’s stuff.



The new album is incredible! You guys must bust your butts writing stuff this complex. How do you collectively get your songs from the idea stage to something this intricate?



Thanks very much man, we’re super stoked that it’s out and getting great feedback. It can be a good bit of work but we’ve been writing and playing together for over 10 years now so there’s a comfortable energy that’s always present, making it a very smooth process. Every member contributes in the writing process which to me, makes it easier. Five people with five different writing styles and music influence makes for a pretty nutty product.



Did you discuss any particular influential concept albums before writing this?



No, we just let Tommy [Tommy Giles Rogers, vocals/keys] go nuts with the ideas he had. The music naturally followed the mood of the story.



The guitar tones on the album are huge but they never overwhelm the composition. What kind of research do you put into dialing in your tones?



We’ve recorded so many time by now. Each time you learn a little more about gain structures and what will sound good in a mix and through a mic. [Producer] Jamie King is very responsible for teaching us things like this along the way. I always look forward to this process, as dialing in tones is one of my favorite things to do. We paid a lot of attention and used a lot of different tones to accommodate each part.



Tell us about the PRS guitars you currently have on the road! Your signature model is beautiful.



Thanks a lot! I play my signature model 99% of the time just because it’s dialed in to be exactly what I desire in an instrument. I have a Private Stock Singlecut with a Floyd Rose out with me as well. It’s almost too sick to play sometimes, haha! We aren’t a band that brings an unnecessary amount of guitars out that will never get used, so usually there’s only two or three apiece on the road. My third is the guitar my signature model was based on. One of my older Custom Shop PRS 24 Floyd models, back before they were actually a model.



What Seymour Duncan gear have you been using lately?



I’m using a Custom Shop Alnico II Pro neck and the ’59/Custom Hybrid in my signature model right now. I have a custom JB/Jazz Hot Rodded Humbucker set in my Singlecut and third guitar. I’m currently waiting on my first prototype set of custom DW pickups as we speak!





Dustie also posts great guitar photos on his Instagram, like the pics below. Follow him here.