Lindsey Buckingham

• No pick — play entirely with the right hand fingers. The index finger provides the attack for downstrokes; the other fingers pluck treble strings
• The right-hand thumb plays bass strings while fingers handle the treble — this enables simultaneous bass movement and melody lines impossible with a pick
• Percussive right-hand technique: strike the strings then immediately mute with the palm for a percussive, staccato quality
• Study "The Chain" bass run — even though it's played on guitar, the bass riff shows Buckingham's comfort moving into low register territory
• Clean amp is essential — the natural pick-free attack has a different transient than a picked note. Overdrive compresses and obscures this difference
• Acoustic guitar technique applied to electric — Buckingham's right-hand approach is essentially folk/classical acoustic technique transposed to electric
• "Big Love" (live solo version) is the masterclass — his right-hand creates rhythm, bass, chords and melody simultaneously on one guitar
• Moderate compression on the amp or a light compressor pedal evens out the finger-attack variations for studio consistency
• Tune to Eb standard for most Fleetwood Mac recordings — like many players from this era, Buckingham played a half step down

Lindsey Buckingham is arguably the most influential fingerstyle rock guitarist — playing without a pick, his right hand produces simultaneous bass lines, chord stabs and melody on a Stratocaster with a rhythmic power and percussive attack that pick players cannot replicate.