Sure, choosing not to damp strings has it’s benefits.
The obvious drawback of not employing a damping technique is that high gain playing requires you to play quite hard to sound clean. The result is hard, percussive attack. If that’s what you like, that’s fine. If you want a more legato sound, then a lack of damping is going to be a real problem.
Ok so instead of the work “anchoring” which to me sounds like your planting your middle, ring and pinky firmly on the guitar I do like the word “light touch” with the body of the guitar. But I would say there are degrees of touch. I do notice that my pinky is the most connected with the guitar. But I also feel a sense of float too with the middle and ring finger. Could we say that there can exist a combination of light touch and floating which creates a good balance?
I feel that anchoring creates tension if this means force applied to the guitar. Whereas light touch denotes contact but not force.
I do feel that light touch allows for string dampening as well as string tracking. and the slight float of the middle and ring finger allows for relaxing and not so much tension as in firm anchoring
Here you can see my middle and ring fingers are more or less floating (they do still brush the pickguard at times) and the pinky is more attached to the guitar but lightly.
Thoughts? It would be nice to see other examples in the form of pictures
I always thought that he plants his fingers for the opposite reason, to reduce the size/amplitude of his picking motion. Since he is originally left handed (I think?) he picks with his “less precise” (less precise for him, don’t shoot me!) right hand, and he utilizes elbow as his main motion, which is arguably a more “coarse” motion as well, I thought he did this to keep things in check.
I mean mobility is the sense that his anchor has minimal impact on his ability to change strings.
Yes, I see, I should have read more carefully. 
This is also why I cannot make this approach work, I have a very reduced range of motion between index and middle, and if I anchored like that, I would practically freeze up my hand.
For me “anchoring” is not about supporting my hand or whatever. It’s just a reference point to know where my hand is at the moment. Because using eyes with such small movements and such speed is useless. So, yes, light touching for me is anchoring.
I use edge of my palm, that part under the thumb, pinky or/and ring hooked on highest string, and MAB-like two fingers on the pickguard. No consistency, I know… It depends on a technique I use, my current mood, moon phase, weather on Mars etc
Sorry if this sounds really ignorant but who is MAB?
Michael Angelo Batio
Tell me about ignorance. I hadn’t knew who Van Halen was until I came to this forum ))
Lol thanks for understanding!
So lets put away the word “anchor” and perhaps talk about degree of touch and location of middle, ring and pinky fingers.
I do feel that a light touch on the guitar grounds your tactile connection to the guitar so as to assist with string tracking and control.
Can someone prove to me otherwise that curled fingers are better and easier than light touch of fingers? And if it is better how do the mechanics of curled fingers/no touch prove superior… In Detail?
I don’t think there’s a ‘best’ approach. It depends on a current situation and your preferences, overall feeling, anatomical nuances etc.
If it works - it works. I don’t think people consiously choose their anchoring method.
