Monday, May 3, 2010
Peter Webster of Guitar O Rama Dies in Bike Accident
Breaking News Kathleen Richards — Mon, May 3, 2010 at 3:41 PM
It appears that Guitar O Rama owner Peter Webster died on Friday after being hit by a car while he was riding his bike in Oakland. According to the Oakland Tribune, 60-year-old Webster was riding his bike near the intersection of 52nd and Market streets shortly before 6 p.m. when he was hit. The driver of the car was not injured, and there have not been any arrests in connection with the crash. Though local reports haven't confirmed that this Peter Webster was the same Peter Webster of the guitar shop, a commenter in the Craigslist music forum confirmed it was him because one of his bandmates in San Diego was contacted by authorities, who were "having a hard time locating any family, which was why they were slow on releasing the name." No one answered the phone at the store.
"Pete was a character and people either loved him or hated him, but either way he was a fantastic guitarist, a fine (if inconsistent and slow) craftsman who built guitars and amps for all kinds of pros, and most of all a generous friend to those who knew him even a little bit," wrote the commenter.
Webster owned Guitar O Rama on Telegraph Avenue between 61st and 62nd streets. He built and repaired guitars and amps in his tiny shop, which apparently used to be located on Park Street in Alameda, and did work for such local musicians as Country Joe McDonald. Webster also used to own Heritage Guitar Works in Clovis, Calif., with his business partner John Kinnard.
Comments (24)
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I just now learned of Pete's death.. he did some fantastic work on my guitar, and he was always cool to chat to whenever I stopped by his shop. RIP Pete.. I'm gonna miss you buddy.
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Peter was a great friend. I bought and traded several guitars and amps from him. I took lessons from peter to get past a block i was having. I remember peter saying to me " you can do whatever you want in music as long as it sounds right. Its all about feeling. Tats what its really all about".
Peter was great at chicken pickin on the guitar. He could play any style with ease.
I traded some Rare fillmore handbills once for part of a trade on a guitar. You know, the flying eyeball rick griffin Hendrix handbill?
i wa so shocked when i went past the shop during my last visit and saw all the posings for his memorial.
I will truly miss my good friend Peter. We saw a lot of shows together.
RIP Peter.
Bike helmets for kids? No problem. Bike helmets for adults? Sometimes overlooked. Here are the facts:
#Fatalities among bicyclists younger than 16 have declined 86% since 1975.
#During the same period, deaths among bicyclists age 16 and over increased by a whopping 91%.
#More than 85% of bike deaths occur among people age 16 and over.
#Helmet use has been estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85%. The takeaway for both children and adults is obvious: Always wear a melmet whenever you bike. Information is from Liberty Mutual.
As an R.N. I worked in traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. We have a saying "Once a brain injury, always a brain injury." I will be at the Memorial Ride with my helmet on. My helmet always goes on my head before I mount the bike... Google Bay Area Easy Riders Bicycling to learn how to get all over the Bay area safely and car free. It is led by a licensed bicycle safety instructor. I assist in this group....Join us for fun and safe riding...we will teach you the rules of the road along with great safe, scenic rides.
At the foot of this parade
tired horns began to fade
goes the tuba player with his red giraffe,
And every note played through the years
turning into all these tears
Sad old times down here on Telegraph.
For my friend Pete ...
... Sean
We are organizing a memorial bike ride for Peter and the other cyclists who was recently killed in Oakland. It is happening Sunday, June 13th at Noon starting from 52nd and Market where some words will be spoken about Peter. Please let me know if you would like to say something. polkamaster at gmail
This is a sad day for me... I never new him well, however he was a part of my life. He was a friend of the family, always honest and a pleasure to talk to. May his soul rest in peace.
I have known Pete for about 15 years and have talked hours and hours of guitar with him. He enjoyed the fact that I knew my stuff and he shared many stories with me about seeing The Who in England back '67 and of Playing Stevie Ray Vaughn's #1 Strat back in '89. He was a really neat guy. Pete, in fact, just finished a five year project for me. Maybe one of his last. He took a '66 Gretsch Astro Jet that had the headstock broken off and crafted a new one and laminated it to the old neck. He did a great job but he had it for FIVE YEARS! Pete was on my list to stop by and say hello recently but didn't make it. RIP Pete. I hope you are up there with your beloved pooches Pumkin and Jack.
Jacques
Oooops, my finger slipped. Sorry about the one letter post.
I think it's high time we outlawed bicycles and gave everybody handguns. Hmmmm. . . . maybe not, maybe we should Not outlaw bikes, maybe we should just equip all bikes with rocket launchers.
Perhaps it's not a good time to be making jokes, but if Pete were here I know a goofy comment like that would get an even goofier reply from him, and then we'd be off on another fun-filled ride through absurdity. I've read that people either loved or hated Pete, I am proud to say I very much fall into the former catagory. I can't imagine why anyone would hate Pete. He never refretted my Vox bass neck like he promised to, but I don't give a crap. You can't put a price on the free entertainment he's given me just in conversation, let alone his dazzling displays of musicianship while demonstrating one of his new toys. Pete's sloppy, moldering shop was one of the smelliest dives I've ever been in. I can honestly say that when both of his pooches were living (and peeing freely) it was really rank. But Pete was such a fun guy to hang out with, such a funny and gentle soul that once you got into another lively gab fest with him you barely noticed the pong. . . . now That's character!
One thing Pete was was a character, but he also Had character, and heart. I used to tell people about him all the time, like a great discovery you want to share with everyone. I loved Pete, he was one in a million. ~ Lee
just last week i was suddenly struck by an urge to contact pete! i put "pete webster" in my iPod and was hoping to see him soon. today while on the way home i was again filled with the urge to stop by the farmer's market (which was just closing) so i stopped into thin man music on webster street where i begun talking about pete and was informed about this tragic situation. i am at a loss for words... pete, you crazy character! what will we do without you? i can only hope that you are shredding the hell out of some telecaster on the next plain, and that you're warming the tubes on an old fender champ for us so that we can continue on where we left off...miss you pete!!!
I drove by Pete's shop today and saw flowers, I wondered why. Half hour later I picked up a newspaper and found out - I was stunned. Comments above described him perfectly. As a 15 year customer and friend, there's a Pete story behind my favorite guitars. He was the kind of guy, when you wanted to run in quickly for new strings or to drop off an instrument ,you'd end up talking to him for an hour and enjoying every minute of it, with his many and interesting guitar stories. Miss you, Pal. Say hello to the friendliest pit bulls I ever met. Build some guitars up there. Brian P.
Pete was such a nice and whacky guy. Definitely a neighborhood icon. So sad to hear he is gone.
Tom
Peter is my brother. He has two sons who are fine lads, one in construction and the other graduating college this spring.
I've read many comments about him and I chuckle over the positive and negative as they were all Pete. We lived for a couple of years in San Mateo when Pete was in high school. He was into the 60s bay area scene: he painted his room flat black and filled it with black lights and posters, hung out at the cemetery with his friends and terrorized me as only an older brother gets to do.
The thing about Peter, that was amazing, is that he could pick up just about any instrument and play it. I know he had several invitations to tour with or join bands. I never understood why he didn't energetically pursue a music career. (Or maybe I do...)
Our grandfather, Luke Shea Sloane, was a true renaissance man. He painted, invented, played violin, taught and made his own violins. That's where Pete started his own work on instruments, something he enjoyed doing. I have a beautiful mandolin Peter made and gave to me. So if the negative reviews I've read are true, I guess my brother did fabulous work, when he had a mind to.
It is a hard thing to lose two out of four brothers when they are young. Our younger brother, Matthew, at 42 died in 2002. And Peter I think, at 60, is at a young age in the modern world to pass on. A rather dark irony, is that our mother, Marnie Sloane Webster, died on march 16th this year, which is Peter's birthday.
For myself, I know where my brother is, and look forward to spending eternity with him. Although I do wonder if there is sibling rivalry in heaven.... I am glad for all the friends he made, and the music he played. And for our Irish forefathers: Sláinte ~ Jeremy Webster
Pete was a good friend and kind hearted soul. He attended my church in Alameda. He was a giver and loved sharing his gift of music with everyone. He rode that bike everywhere. Rest in Peace Pete. You will be truely missed.
Pete was one of the gentler, more generous souls I've met in this business. He is missed. Our world will be just a little colder without Guitar-O-Rama.
My sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of who I now know as Pete. Friday evening I had just returned from Jamaica and was at my daughters home at 53rd and Market St. when we heard the sirens outside. My son in-law and myself went to see what was going on, when we saw this guy struggling for his life...it was too much to bear. The neighborhood always comes out of their houses when things happen. The police blocked the streets off until around 2am doing all to determine how this tragic accident happened. Well this corner is notorious for all types of incidents..the corner house has been hit by random car accidents 3 times, my daughters house has been hit by a runnaway automobile, a teenager was hit on a scooter by a car all at the same location. DO YOU THINK WE NEED A STOPLIGHT??? After learning that beloved Pete did not survive, and that we had no idea of who he was, I was guided to go out early around 7am and light a white candle to assist in the guidance of his soul to transcend peacefully, and I burnt indian sage to clear the energy from lingering in the area. As the day went on I again heard the neighborhood children laughing and enjoying this beautiful Saturday. I still wondered who this person was who had lost his life on this corner Oakland. I am a bicyclist also and see the growing number of folks who ride daily past my daughters house, wow, I saw riders with their helmets on the back of their bikes and being very carefree and comfortable without helmets. We MUST be aware that we share the road...and our lives are very interconnected and joined.
Blessings of peace,
a neighbor that will ride with you in my thoughts,
N.S. Ihsan
Yes, Pete will be missed by many. I was his UPS driver since he opened on Telegraph and we immediately bonded do to "one eyed Jack". Then came Pumpkin who was rescued by Pete from a cruel life. He gave them both lots of love and when Jack passed, neither one of us could talk about it for months, we just nodded, in fear of breaking down in tears.....both of us. We loved our dogs and talked about them as long as time would allow. Once he got over J and P's passing he was talking about getting a small dog, he never did. Probably just as well. I too feel he is with his beloved two dogs he took great care of both while alive and when they died.
We both shared our seperate dreams of retiring to the country life away from the city maddness with dogs in tow. I can still see him riding that damn bike up and down Telegraph......without his helmet. Let this be a lesson and yes, something to remember Pete by, either at the accident sight or near his shop. He was a true friend and a lover of dogs. He has left a big hole in my heart.
The only thing helping make sense of all this is knowing he is kicking back with his two loves, Jack and Pumpkin.
Kim
What a loss to the local music community. Pete a.k.a P.A.Ws Webster was a very close friend of mine who was not only an incredible musician, playing everything from the fiddle to the hurdy gurdy, but also an expert on politics, government conspiracies, european cars and just about anything that was obscure and foreign to mainstream culture.
A long time Berkeley local Pete was well loved by such stars as Joe Jackson, Country Joe and the Fish even weirdo punk artists such as The Dead Kennedy's and The Residence.
Pete had one of the most active minds of any human I had ever known. His gears were always turning as he was obsessed with materials and sound. Capable of turning a 99 dollar Stratocaster into vibrant fine tuned instrument, he completely understood the Guitar market and used it to his advantage.
It is such a shame that he never did make it to Chile, where he ofter talked of retiring, he never did finish that 8 string Baritone or the one man drum kit that could be operated with a bicycle gear............... For all the damn things he wanted to do with his time it was always the idea that was more important.
I dear friend for life I'm sure Pete is in a better world with his beloved late pit bulls "Jaaaaaaaaaaack" and "Pumpkin" sipping Italian Soda on a Mountain top it Chile.
Miss you very Much!
Friends forever
Brian.
I loved going to Pete's store. One of my basses is still there in the middle of being worked on... I miss him.
Terrible loss to the Bay Area Music community! As a more recent friend of Pete's, He inspired me both with his fine finger picking and his historical and encyclopedic knowledge of guitars, amp and restorations. He was very generous with his time and his kindness.
We will miss you, Pete!
I would like to see a ghost bike placed at the site of the accident in his memory and as a reminder for everyone to watch for bicycles. There will continue to be more bikes on the streets and we must all learn to share the road safely and predictably with bicycle education and helmets for everyone.
Pete was an absolute sweetheart. I know he has a son in SoCal - possibly San Diego. He also ha a few dogs - I hope that someone is out there taking care of them.
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