All Access: Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham recently wrapped up the second leg of his first U.S. solo tour in nearly 14 years. Mix caught up with Buckingham and his three-piece band at the historic Golden State Theatre in Monterey, Calif. Constructed in the ’20s, the Golden State had suffered the fate of many large movie palaces — it was divided into smaller rooms and painted gray when its ornate murals began to fade. The theater was recently meticulously restored and now provides an awesome backdrop for film and live performance engagements. Amidst the neo-classical paintings and decor, Buckingham played songs from new release Under the Skin, as well as tunes from past solo albums and Fleetwood Mac classics. The charismatic entertainer had the audience on their feet and dancing in the aisles.

Neale Heywood uses Fender Strat guitars. His gear comprises a Fender Vibro-King amp and an SWR California Blonde acoustic amp. He also has some boutique pedals. His backing vocals are heard through an Audio-Technica 4054.

Buckingham and Heywood use Sound Image PD 1×12 wedges, while Tuggle relies on SI PD 1x15s. Hirano is on Sennheiser EW300 in-ears.

Bassist/keyboardist Brett Tuggle’s gear lineup comprises a vintage Wurlitzer 200A, a Triton LE synth and an E-mu sampler. The bass rig is an SWR and a couple of Ernie Ball/StingRay basses. He also plays through an SWR California Blonde acoustic guitar amp. He sings through a Shure SM58.

For Taku Hirano’s drum kit, mics include SM57 on hat and shaker, 414s on overheads and SM91 on cajon. “The drum kit is [Roland] V-Drum,” monitor engineer Matt Lavoice says, “so we take direct outs for kick, snare, toms and other sounds.”