Anyone interested?

So I do recognize some key guitars in this list. The Black Strat, which is the most iconic. The Goldtop, which I think is the one used on “Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2”. The Red Strat from his live work during the “Delicate Sound of Thunder” and “Pulse” era. His famous White Strat with serial #0001. But what I haven’t specifically seen in the lists I’ve come across is his “Workmate” Telecaster from “The Wall” and his “About Face” album, or the Bill Lewis 24-fret guitar he used on “Brain Damage”. Has anyone seen if those were listed? Just curious which of his “iconic” guitars he’s keeping, if any.

You know what the worst part about this is? My wife is now seeing that even Gilmour has no problem selling his most famous guitars, and is wondering why I can’t sell a few of my average ones!

Hasn’t Clapton done something like this a number of times?
 
Ah yes, you are right. Forgot about Pompeii and jumped straight to the Dark Side era where he fitted the rosewood.

I don't know if it means the end of touring though.... I mean he did A LOT of touring without the black strat.. The whole Pulse tour era was without it for example. Some people liked the EMG equipped rigs better than the Black Strat tones really, myself being one of them. But, I think the black strat looks cooler lol

He toured without the Black Strat for a time, but I think its telling that as soon as he got it back it again became his main guitar and the Red Strat was all but retired. If he's parting with it for a 2nd time I reckon this time its final.

He's toured plenty without it. I'm not sure it's that clear an indicator. Though, he's getting on in years and not touring any more may totally be a thing he's planning for.

But he tours like what, once every 10 years now? 2006, 2016. At that pace he'd be more likely to use a walker in 2026 then a guitar. I reckon he's just going to focus on making music in his studio, maybe the odd gig, but nothing more.

I dig that he's not just hoarding it all and passing it along in a will. Parting it out for charity like this as his life sunsets is incredibly cool.

True. But I think its part of becoming old. Once you've made the decision you're no longer going to do certain things, and no longer need that big house, you're likely to start giving away things. My grandmother is always trying to give us some of her stuff.

You know what the worst part about this is? My wife is now seeing that even Gilmour has no problem selling his most famous guitars, and is wondering why I can’t sell a few of my average ones!

I'd say when I'm as old as Gilmour is and no longer play. Meanwhile, if you want to have some extra room feel free to sell some of your shoes.

Hasn’t Clapton done something like this a number of times?

Could be. But he has a long standing signature guitar line based on his favorites, so he can always get more which look and feel exactly the same.
 
"That was enough for me, I just wanted a strat."

Best quote from the legend, he's very humble about where they came from, what they were used for, and how amazing those axe's really sound... Keep rockin' Mr. Gilmour please.

For a man who just wanted a strat he sure has modified and changed it over the decades, different necks, pickups, connectors, switchers, floyd rose on and off again.

If it were me I would have kept it. I have a lot of guitars, but my favorite I want to be buried with it.
 
For a man who just wanted a strat he sure has modified and changed it over the decades, different necks, pickups, connectors, switchers, floyd rose on and off again.

If it were me I would have kept it. I have a lot of guitars, but my favorite I want to be buried with it.


I think the fact he did so many changes to it really illustrate it was “just” another guitar to him. No worry about resale, history etc. Just a strat and if a new output jack seemed like a good idea, then grab the drill.

Hendrix was the same way. Had his preferences in string gauge, setup etc, but he was basically a grab a strat off the store rack and play it. Didn’t need a master craftsman build, didn’t have one prized guitar that he couldn’t live without.

I mean heck, he gave away his iconic hand painted V.... and then the dude he gave it to repainted it black and sold it. Would of been worth a fortune with the original paint job today.


In some ways though, no being tied to an instrument has its advantages. Need a replacement, go to the local store and grab another. Need a replacement prized 64 sunburst with the neck from a 78, and pickups from a guy who doesn’t build anymore.... that is going to take so doing to locate.

Same with pedals etc, Boss pedal goes missing, easy to get another. King of Tone ? Spend a fortune or wait over half a year, so hope it’s not intergral to your tone lol.
 
He is worth an estimated $150 million. I also don't get why he doesn't keep it. But hey.....He can do what ever he wants of course. He deserves all he has. He gave us something special!
 
I think the fact he did so many changes to it really illustrate it was “just” another guitar to him. No worry about resale, history etc. Just a strat and if a new output jack seemed like a good idea, then grab the drill.

I dunno, I don't give a f*** about resale value on any of my guitars, mod the shit out of them, but I do care about them. Which is why I want to be buried with my favorite guitar. And if the black strat meant nothing to him, why re-adopt it after Live8 and exclusively play on it again? It obviously meant something to him, as wow, this guitar feels like an old pair of comfy shoes. Why did I ever part with it?

Hendrix was the same way. Had his preferences in string gauge, setup etc, but he was basically a grab a strat off the store rack and play it. Didn’t need a master craftsman build, didn’t have one prized guitar that he couldn’t live without.

I reckon it was a different time back then. Guitar smashing and guitar burning was all the rage back then.

I mean heck, he gave away his iconic hand painted V.... and then the dude he gave it to repainted it black and sold it. Would of been worth a fortune with the original paint job today.

I wonder two things. A: when did he repainted it and sold it, and B: does he still smack his head on table for having done so?

In some ways though, no being tied to an instrument has its advantages. Need a replacement, go to the local store and grab another. Need a replacement prized 64 sunburst with the neck from a 78, and pickups from a guy who doesn’t build anymore.... that is going to take so doing to locate.

No two guitars are the same. I had two identical strats, same model in every aspect, yet I favored one over the other. You can pick a replacement off the rack but its just not going to be the same. Great if you can do.

Same with pedals etc, Boss pedal goes missing, easy to get another. King of Tone ? Buy a pcb off the internet, spend $25 on parts, solder for an afternoon and Bob's your uncle.

Fixed it for ya. ;):D
 
I think Gilmour may have broken it out again because fans wanted to see it again. The guitar has its own book after all lol.

It’s like when a band does certain songs, has a certain stage setup again, costumes etc. Does the artist really like that stuff or do the fans want to see it ?

I’m sure he likes the guitar, but maybe he would of been equally happy playing anything else.... but the fans, they want to hear the black strat
 
I would be stunned if that Black strat sold for only 150K. Given the amount of love Gilmour has, the amount of $ some baby boomer loving guitarists have and the $ other iconic guitars have gone for that seems really low.
 
I think Gilmour may have broken it out again because fans wanted to see it again. The guitar has its own book after all lol.

Google tells me the book came out after the return of the black strat. Was there a massive clamoring for David to start playing it again? Where fans holding up signs and placards demanding he would play it again? Not to mention that plenty of people seemed to like the red strat and its active tone. Plenty people here seem to do.

In my experience, the only fans who fret about what guitar a guitarist of a famous band plays are guitar nerds. Which tend to be a very small percentage of any audience. This is why I always say, only 99% of any audience don't notice what gear and tone a guitar player has. I still think he reconnected to that guitar at Live8 and wondered why the hell he had even parted with it.

It’s like when a band does certain songs, has a certain stage setup again, costumes etc. Does the artist really like that stuff or do the fans want to see it ?

I reckon it depends on the artist and the show. Kiss obviously has to perform with the outfits and the makeup, that is what the fans want to see. Similarly with Slipknot. But that is also their own fault for having used that as a gimmick to get famous. Now they're stuck with it. The price you pay for using a gimmick.

In the other vein U2 has also used elaborate stage setups, but those were always thematically tied to the album they were touring for. So they weren't required to repeat those come the next tour. And even then costumes and stage setup are not the same as guitar, because guitarists have often switched gear and guitars between tours. I can't think of a single case where a guitar player had to absolutely use the same guitar for the same song for show reasons. Edge has used Explorers, Strats and Les Pauls for I Will Follow and back to Explorers again, depending on what he liked at the time. In the end costumes are instantly recognizable to everyone in the audience, guitars aren't, unless you are a guitar nerd. Which 99% of any audience isn't.

I’m sure he likes the guitar, but maybe he would of been equally happy playing anything else.... but the fans, they want to hear the black strat

Like I said, no, people were perfectly happy with the red strat. And isn't even the Pulse guitar tone, with the red strat, one of the holy grails of Gilmour live tones? Red strat, black strat, blue strat, white strat, as long as David had a great tone people don't care. He picked that guitar again because he wanted too, not because he had too. And that is why I find it telling that he's parting with it again.

Surely.

When I was early in my tonal conquest, I wanted the red one with lace sensors... Then I saw the price tag @ $5,400-5,900 and settled for a PRS.....

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...avid-gilmour-signature-stratocaster-nos-black

Craziness... It is awesome that he's donating it all to his charities though!

So mod your own guitar? For a tenth of that money you can probably create either your own red or black strat. Depending on the guitar youé going to mod of course. Loaded pickguards for both the red and black strats exist. EMG still sells and market them as if David still uses them.
 
So mod your own guitar? For a tenth of that money you can probably create either your own red or black strat. Depending on the guitar youé going to mod of course. Loaded pickguards for both the red and black strats exist. EMG still sells and market them as if David still uses them.
Yep, the guitar you see in my avatar is my take on the black strat which costed me way less than the gilmour signature and, for me, it's better than the original due to my customization.
Warmoth neck with compound radius, stainless steel frets, kinman noiseless pickups, locking tuners, graphtech nut and saddles, roller string trees and recently I also installed an Antares ATG luthier kit
 
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Yep, the guitar you see in my avatar is my take on the black strat which costed me way less than the gilmour signature and, for me, it's better than the original due to my customization.
Warmoth neck with compund radius, stainless steel frets, kinman noiseless pickups, locking tuners, graphtech nut, roller string tress and recently I also installed an Antares ATG luthier kit

Naturally, because while you may like to sound like David Gilmour, you're not like him. What works for him may not work for you and vice versa. I had the google the Antares kit, interesting bit of kit, but it seems it has been discontinued.
 
Naturally, because while you may like to sound like David Gilmour, you're not like him. What works for him may not work for you and vice versa. I had the google the Antares kit, interesting bit of kit, but it seems it has been discontinued.
Yes, .antares extincted the entire autotune for guitar line....it was really superior pitch tech, but the UI was a little unwieldy,
Both with the built-in kit and the clunky foot pedal that interfaced with any GK Roland 13 pin...i believe it was the use of the autotune brand name that may have doomed them.
 
Naturally, because while you may like to sound like David Gilmour, you're not like him. What works for him may not work for you and vice versa.
Exactly, I've chased his tone for years but at the same time didn't want to get rid of my preferences and my way of playing.

I don't get why many wants to copy every detail, even his string brand, when they don't have his fingers to begin with.

I had the google the Antares kit, interesting bit of kit, but it seems it has been discontinued.
Yep, but from time to time some kits appear on reverb.
If you play a lot of alt tunings songs live it's definitely worth it.
 
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Exactly, I've chased his tone for years but at the same time didn't want to get rid of my preferences and my way of playing.

I don't get why many wants to copy every detail, even his string brand, when they don't have his fingers to begin with.


Yep, but from time to time some kits appear on reverb.
If you play a lot of alt tunings songs live it's definitely worth it.
Amazon product ASIN B008BEENFU
 
I don't think that has the full pack loaded, it will miss a lot of features
You’re probably right, My ATG guitar is a prototype I purchased at NAMM several years ago from sweetwood guitars, it came bundled with the full package, Then I bought the floor unit, then they closed shop.....
 
Here he is on his YouTube channel explaining why he's selling them.



My wife says he read Marie Kondo's book and is just getting swept up in the clean-up craze. :D
 
But what I haven’t specifically seen in the lists I’ve come across is his “Workmate” Telecaster from “The Wall” and his “About Face” album, or the Bill Lewis 24-fret guitar he used on “Brain Damage”. Has anyone seen if those were listed? Just curious which of his “iconic” guitars he’s keeping, if any.
I don’t know about the Lewis guitar, but he did mention not including the Workmate guitar. It was one of about 20 he said he couldn’t part with for one reason or another.

On the subject of his returning to the Black Strat, he decided to get it back when he was doing the Live 8 reunion show with Pink Floyd. It would have had a significant and proper place in that last PF performance, but whatever the reason in David’s mind, that was the show he decided to retrieve it for using, and he then decided he liked it better and stayed with it since. In his own words, he now plays his Fender signature models, and will go to them for his Black Strat sounds.

Like Eric Clapton did for his charitable causes, David is doing something to better the quality of life for some fellow human beings. Hats off to him. He also covers his “retiring” in one of the articles. As a person who just retired from one profession last week and is undecided about what sort of work I want to do, and how much of it, I totally get what he is saying. He doesn’t have to retire... or not. He can decide day to day, and has more than earned that right. I’m glad for him.
 
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