David Gilmour and Mesa Mark I/IIC+

[igfraso]

Check the site: gilmourish.com

regards

 

[cho]

Yeah, in particular, check out:

http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=50

Gilmour's signature lead sound from the Animals/Wall period (Dogs, Pigs, Comfortably numb) apparently was using a Big Muff into a clean amp channel: Hiwatts in particular, (but I have also read that he used Mark I's on the Wall tour). It is interesting that he usually got his distortion (for lead sounds) from a Big Muff, and not by using amp distortion. Also, he often put a Colorsound Power boost (or later, a Pete Cornish boost) after the Big Muff, for more treble articulation and to drive the amp a little more.

I don't think Gilmour could have used a IIC+ on the Wall tour... The Wall tour was in '80/'81. Didn't the IIC+ come out well after that?

 

[lesterpaul]

there was a very detailed Guitar World 1-2 yrs ago that nailed Gilmour's axe/ampology....will dust it off for you if I don't forget

 

[EleventhHour2139]

These metal guys don't have the subtle vibrato that Gilmour and Gambale are known for...

I love Gilmour, but I think that's a little bit of a broad generalization there...

 

[Restless Rocks]

EMG still sells the DG20 prewired rig and I'm pretty sure he used this for many of the signature solos.
http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Guitar&categoryid=11&catalogid=56

 

[kiff]

I was listening to pantera today (live 101 and GSTK) and that guy's tone was just dead and horrible; the riffs and leads were awesome though.

These metal guys don't have the subtle vibrato that Gilmour and Gambale are known for...

Dime's sound on GSTK was his worse by far IMO. You've heard VDoP right? Still a little sterile compared to a great tube amp, but I've heard a lot worse from bad tube amps. Dime's one of the best IMO. Dime and Gilmour are by far my favorite guitarists. Their feel is way beyond anyone elses IMO.

 

[stephen sawall]

EMG still sells the DG20 prewired rig and I'm pretty sure he used this for many of the signature solos.
http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Guitar&categoryid=11&catalogid=56

I have that in my 69 Strat that I got in 78.
If you turn up the SPC you can hear a lot of Gilmour lead tone come thru.

 

[Boogie Woogie Man]

EMG still sells the DG20 prewired rig and I'm pretty sure he used this for many of the signature solos.
http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Guitar&categoryid=11&catalogid=56

That's all he has used for years and years on Strats, I doubt if he would ever change that now.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I recently saw him with his newer ensemble (which included Richard Wright) and he was playing a very stock looking Black Strat. The pups were either stock or he was using emg SV's, they had what looked like staggered pole peices. I have the DG20 set on an 89 Candy Apple Red strat and his tone is for sure there if you can find it in your fingers. Appeared to be using a HiWatt amp integrated into a rack.

 

[progrockmike]

The black strat you saw him using is THE black strat (or one of the new replicas that Fender built and is now selling). The January issues of Guitar World and Guitar Player both have an extensive write up on it. That was the guitar used on many of his most famous soloes, including Comfortably Numb. Based on the GP article it looks like he used some custom wound Seymour Duncans in there back in the day and still has them in there. The Fender replicas have Fender pickups that they custom wound to match the Duncans.

 

[mule#1]

Check the site: gilmourish.com

regards

Nice Site!!!!! Gilmour was a mojor influence on me. What a vibrato and that tone mmmm mmmm mmmmm!

 

[kiff]

I recently saw him with his newer ensemble (which included Richard Wright)

Lucky you! At least I can say I saw them back in '93 (?) on Floyd's Division Bell tour. They played the "Sun Bowl" here. Awesome show!

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

Wasnt dimebag using solid state Randalls for the majority of his Pantera tenure? I know he switched to Krank in 2002-2003 with Damage Plan but I remember reading an interview in which he said Krank was the first tube amp he actually liked over his solid state Randall "warhead" amps. and as most I love Gilmors tone and Floyd was/is a major influence on me.

 

[John C]

EMG still sells the DG20 prewired rig and I'm pretty sure he used this for many of the signature solos.
http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Guitar&categoryid=11&catalogid=56

Only on the signature solos live from say 1985-1999 or so and anything from Momentary Lapse of Reason or Division Bell. Gilmourish.com is a great resource; also the timeline on Fender's site for the Gilmour signature Strats.

According to Gilmourish the original Black Strat had stock Fender pickups in it through Wish You Were Here (granted the neck was changed from the 1969 big headstock maple to a pre-CBS rosewood board neck sometime before Dark Side of the Moon). Sometime between completing WYWH and going into the studio for Animals he put in a DiMarzio replacement pickup, which was used on Animals, the David Gilmour solo album (There's No Way Out Of Here is from that one) and the first few sessions for The Wall. From what I've read they recorded for a very brief time and took a break; I don't think anyone knows (or remembers) if any of those takes made it on the album. By the time they came back Gilmour had changed the neck again (from an early 60s rosewood board to a 21-fret maple neck made by Grover Jackson at Charvel but with a Fender decal) and put in the custom-wound Duncan bridge pickup, which is now sold as the SSL-5. That was used on the remainder of the Wall sessions where he used a Strat and on the tour - including the Comfortably Numb solo.

Gilmour eventually put on a 22-fret neck from Charvel (again with a Fender decal) and a Kahler trem; this was for The Final Cut. Then he started using the 1983 Fender '57 reissues, which he put the EMG pickups in around the time of Live Aid in 1985. He loaned the Black Strat to the Hard Rock Cafe for their collection (well, he said "loan" and they thought "gift") and he eventually got it back from them in the late 1990s. His tech brought it back to life by putting on a Fender AV '57 neck, plugged the Kahler routing and put a Fender vintage trem back on it, and generally rebuilding the guitar.