One of the lesser-known guitarists from the latest entry is Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham. 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 production 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 the sound of it and give you an idea of ​​the type of setup that is required to reproduce some of its signature sounds.

The first thing that makes Buckingham so unique is the fact that he uses a fingerpicking style. Originally playing banjo, Lindsey Buckingham transitioned to guitar, and her virtuosic playing is a signature Fleetwood Mac sound. Buckingham plays bass lines with his thumb while using his other fingers to express melodies and sweeping 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 spindle. His Turner electric isn’t a very famous guitar, outside of Lindsey Buckingham. Its shape, clearly resembling that of a violin, is one of the guitar’s most unique features. You’ll also find Buckingham playing an acoustic on several tracks. There’s nothing particularly important to say about his acoustics, other than the way he plays the instrument.

There is a specific performance that I would like to analyze. During a private Fleetwood Mac gathering in 1997, Buckingham performed the song “Big Love”, playing a Gibson Chet Atkins solid-body nylon-string guitar. The reason I chose this one is because of the unique sound he got using that particular guitar. In fact, he can recreate this sound even if he doesn’t have this particular shaft. 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 muddying up the sound you’re trying to create. If you’re using a delay unit, like the ones built into some amps, that only allow you to adjust the delay time at the touch of a button, you may find it difficult to get 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 setting you might want to consider, if you have good delay, is to remove some of the high end of the delayed signal. Again, this is to make sure that your original notes actually 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 size of the room, don’t worry, just know that this will be more of a creative exercise for you, rather than a complete recreation of Buckingham’s original sounds. Finally, you’ll want to pull out a good chunk of your amp’s (or board if going directly into one) midrange. 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 and airy sound. This is great for adding some depth to a track where the lead guitar part is being played on an acoustic. If you haven’t heard the version of “Big Love” I’m telling you 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 sound!