One of the lesser-known guitarists in the latest entry is Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. Newer guitarists may not be familiar with Buckingham, but his style and sound inspired several generations of guitarists. He’s probably best known for his signing, songwriting, and producing skills, but his guitar playing was instrumental in the success of Fleetwood Mac, so it’s worth checking out. I’ll take a look at his sound and give you an idea of the kind of setup that is required to reproduce some of his signature sounds.
The first thing that makes Buckingham so unique is the fact that he uses a finger playing style. Originally playing banjo, Lindsey Buckingham transitioned to guitar, and her virtuosic performances are a signature Fleetwood Mac sound. Buckingham thumbs bass lines while using the other fingers to express sweeping melodies and arpeggios. The resulting music is truly original and inspiring.
Looking at its setup, one thing you’ll notice is that it has a truly unique axle. His electric Turner is not a guitar that has much fame, outside of Lindsey Buckingham. The shape of it, clearly similar to that of a violin, is one of the most unique characteristics of the guitar. You’ll also find Buckingham playing an acoustic on several tracks. There is nothing especially important to say about the acoustics of him, apart from the way he plays the instrument.
There is a specific performance that I would like to analyze. During a private gathering of Fleetwood Mac in 1997, Buckingham performed the song “Big Love”, playing a solid-body nylon-string Gibson Chet Atkins guitar. The reason I chose this one is because of the unique sound he got from using that particular guitar. In fact, he can recreate this sound even if he doesn’t have this particular axis. Using his acoustic electric guitar, I’ll show you how to simulate this sound using his guitar and some simple effects.
To simulate this sound, you will need delay and reverb. If you have an amp with these effects built in it will work just fine. For the delay time, you’ll want to set it to around 125 milliseconds. You should be able to adjust the mix on the delay, setting it to be mostly the direct signal. This is important because when you’re soloing and playing intricate melodies, you don’t want delayed notes to muddy the sound you’re trying to create. If you’re using a delay unit, like the ones built into some amps, that only let you adjust the delay time at the touch of a button, you may have a hard time getting the exact sound I’m trying to teach. You can play around with the settings to see if you can get a similar sound or just use this guide as a way to get ideas for new sounds.
Another adjustment you might want to consider, if you have a good delay, is to remove some of the high end of the delayed signal. Again, this is to make sure your original notes really sing. As for your reverb, you’ll want to reduce the size of the room to around 35 percent. If you can’t change the room size, don’t worry, just know that this will be more of a creative exercise for you, rather than a full recreation of the original Buckingham sounds. Finally, you’ll want to roll out a good chunk of the midrange from your amp (or board if you’re going straight into one). This will keep things crisp and clear when you’re actually writing notes.
Although the use of built-in effects is limiting, you can get a unique sound with this guide. For those with a good effects board or pedals that allow them to adjust all of these settings, you will find that the result of these settings is a deep, airy sound. This is great for adding some depth to a track where the lead guitar part is played on an acoustic. If you haven’t heard the version of “Big Love” I’m talking about, go online and search for videos or recordings of the ’97 Fleetwood Mac reunion show. It’s really worth your time and it’s a great performance! Good luck and happy guitar playing!
