1979 Rick Turner Model 1 Original Lindsey Buckingham Guitar

From our Rick Turner Collection

This is it! This is the Fleetwood Mac Guitar built in conjunction with Rick Turner and Lindsey Buckingham in 1979 that went on to define the sound of Fleetwood Mac. Lindsey Buckingham toured and recorded with this Model 1 (Serial #79-003) for over 25 years. 

The guitar sat "retired" in Rick's shop for 10+ years in Santa Cruz, California before he finally decided it should be in the hands of a real player. After all, the guitar is still very playable. And the tone? Well, you've already heard the tone. 

The guitar was a prototype that Rick built along with 2 others in 1979. The 2 others went to Rick and Rick's brother-in-law. Both are MIA. The third prototype was designed specifically for Lindsey Buckingham. It was Lindsey's goal to come up with a guitar that had the warmth and sustain of a Les Paul, with the clarity and precision of a Fender Stratocaster. Rick built it and Lindsey loved it. It was Rick's desire to continue to modify and make improvements to the prototype, but Lindsey loved the tone so much that he didn't want Rick to change a thing.

The story goes that when Rick finally completed the guitar, he brought it to a rehearsal for Fleetwood Mac where they were rehearsing for an upcoming tour. Rick got there early and put it on the stage. Lindsey arrived first. He picked it up and played for 2 hours. He shouted down to his guitar tech, Ray Lindsey... "Leave the Strat, the Les Paul and the Ovation at home. This is all I'm gonna need." And the rest as they say, is history!

The guitar is beat to hell, but yet still structurally very solid. It's got a Honduran Mahogany body with black binding. A multi layered laminated neck with Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard. Rick's electronics which included an active preamp with hum cancelling pick up and a parametric EQ.  

This guitar was sold to Heartbreaker Guitars in the Summer of 2018 and was immediately purchased by a collector. This collector has decided to sell the guitar, so it is once again in our hands. The guitar has the original case (beat to hell) as well as documentation from Rick Turner. 

We had the guitar reviewed by Premier Guitar here: