Question Gilmour tones

[jbert]

I've rediscovered David Gilmour's awesome talent and tone in the past year or so, to the point where I'm thinking of modifying a Silhouette Special by installing DG20 EMGs.

Has anyone already dpne this, and did it make a noticeable difference in achieving that "The Wall" / "Pulse" tone I'm looking for? I realize that there are also effect and amp contributions to his tone, but I do think the "input" (EMGs, maple board, etc) have a lot to do with his signature sound from that era.

Thanks!

Jbert

P.S. I'm obviously staying in EBMM territory for this project and do not intend on getting and modifuing a str*t. I'm also not considering the outrageously expensive signature black str*t that was recently launched.

 

[John C]

jbert,

Gilmour has had a lot of different tones over the years; he used completely different equipment for "The Wall" compared to "Pulse". "Pulse" was his touring rig at the time which guitar-wise was a Fender '57 Reissue Strat with the EMG set.

Going back to the "The Wall" that was the "Black Strat", which was a guitar that was constantly modified over the years but began life as a '69 Strat. By the time Gilmour started recording "The Wall" the guitar had the '69 body, a pre-CBS rosewood board neck, and the pickups were two original '69 Fender pickups (neck and middle) and a DiMarzio pickup in the bridge position; this was the same configuration as used on Animals. Pretty early in the sessions he updated the Black Strat with a custom-wound Duncan pickup (now sold as the SSL-5) and a maple neck from Charvel. This was used for most of "The Wall" and the brief tour.

Try Gilmourish for a lot of details on Gilmour's rig.

 

[D.K.]

You know, it's funny, because "the Wall"/"Pulse" sound is as far apart as it actually could be!

I don't want to get too scientific on this topic (visit Gilmourish - there is no better website on Dave's tone and equipment), but basically all things prior the 1987-reunion (including the Wall) and everything David has done after PULSE was recorded using passive single coils (mostly fender CS 54 or CS 69). His active days were from 1987 to 1994, now he uses the EMGs only for "Shine On..." (watch his last DVDs).

Speaking about emulating his tone - I believe to be able to catch that with my silhouette quite accurately - to my ear it depends much more on the way You use flanger, phaser and fuzz pedals, than on the exact brand of the passive single coils (granted, they should be vintage oriented). Your silhouette special should be the weapon of choice for that...

And of course - David Gilmour's tone is 90% what's in his fingers! It's that bendy, soft, bluesy, atmospheric and extremely melodic playing that he has no match at. He has played so many different guitars and tons of equipment, but has alsways stayed his GREAT self.

 

[D.K.]

Hey John - You beat me on Gilmourish!

 

[banjoplayer]

jbert,
Try Gilmourish for a lot of details on Gilmour's rig.

A lot of History of the "Black Strat" also here: The David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster : By The Fender Custom Shop

 

[Ricman]

Just a thought - Jamie Humphries, a british EBMM endorsee and all round guitar-genius, has recently done a world tour with The Australian Pink Floyd - who are a massive tribute band. I'll bet if you shoot Blind Lemonm or Strings and Things an email they'll know how Jamie got his sound. I think he used Silo Specials. He usually plays an ASS.
Just a thought.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

There's also a complete book by David's tech called "the Black Strat". I picked it up one day while waiting for someone in a bookstore....wondering how anyone could write an entire book about David's guitar. It was pretty interesting.

I love playing his leads. Style over brute force.

jack

 

[jbert]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was familiar with the Gilmourish site and the Black Str*t book, but was trying to get the Gilmour sound with an EBMM.

For the Gilmour afficionados, sorry for the conflicting references between The Wall and Pulse - I guess the best way to describe what I'm after is the Comfortably Numb tone from Pulse.

Thanks very much Ricman for the Jamie Humphries reference. I'm seeing Aussie Floyd when they come here in December and can't wait. Looks like Jamie is using a Silo Special with maple board - not sure if the pickups are stock, but if he's an endorsee I would expect they must be.

The bottom line is that I think I have the equipment I need, and I think I should just focus my efforts on the fingers and phrasing!

Cheers,

Jbert

 

[Shadowbox]

IMO, your Silo Special will be just fine!

There was an article in either Guitar Player or Guitar World a few months back that documented Gilmour's gear through the years. A staple in his rig (outside of the vintage pedals, delay units, etc.) was an Alembic bass preamp.

 

[travs]

great thread and info. thank you to all of the above for the info. DG is the real deal.

 

[fsmith]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was familiar with the Gilmourish site and the Black Str*t book, but was trying to get the Gilmour sound with an EBMM.

The bottom line is that I think I have the equipment I need, and I think I should just focus my efforts on the fingers and phrasing!

Hey jbert, long time no talk... Alright what you need to do check out LickLibrary.com, and get Learn To Play Pink Floyd Vol 2 (2DVDSET)

The bonus footage is what you're looking for. I have both vol 1 and 2 and they are excellent.

He goes into great detail talking about setting up his SiloSpecs as well as his amp and pedal board to get the tones you are looking for. He also shows you how to play 10 songs over the 2 DVD set.

I've been a Lick Library member for years and have many of their DVD tutorials and recommend them highly. They cost a little more what with the conversion rate, but they really can't be beat.

In fact I think I still owe you one from a few years back and would be willing to ship you the set to check out before you buy... Let me know.

Take care,
fred

 

[jbert]

Hey Fred,

Very nice to hear from you. I really appreciate the tip on the Lick Library - I hadn't heard of this material before.

Sure looks like it would be just what I'm looking for - many thanks.

Take care,

Jean

 

[marantz1300]

Do you mean like this? Sounds sweet to me.I'm going to try them in my maple necked ash bodied 6 bolt silo.

 

[John C]

I just got a chance to get back on-line this afternoon; really if you're looking for the Pulse-era Gilmour I would think putting the EMG set into a maple-board Silo Special would get you really close since Gilmour was just using them in a alder body/maple board '57 RI Strat.

My personal favorite era Gilmour is the DSOTM and WYWH era; I think my Silo Special with the stock DiMarzio pickups get me close enough to that late 60s/early 70s stock Strat pickup sound to keep a smile on my face. I'm running it into a Princeton Reverb Reissue with a Fulltone Fulldrive 2. The Fulldrive gets me the really nice basic overdrive and boost, but one of these days I'm going to put together more of a "Gilmourized" pedal board with either a Fuzz Face or a Big Muff (maybe both) and a couple of time delay effects (phaser, flanger, chorus, or echo).

 

[Jimmyb]

Silhouette special SSS will get you right there. Plus, you'll have some good results using an Albert Lee.

For 'Another brick part 2' don't forget that he used a LP with P90's, so an ASS with MM90's might get you close to that.

The really key things for Gilmour tones are a powerful clean amplifier, Muff, Delay and modulation (it's varied over the years from univibes, to electric mistress' to Boss CE2's)

 

[Bud]

Nothing to add but great thread guys

 

[kbaim]

Not exactly helpful to your original question if emg's will get you to sound like DG...but

After I bought my first Luke, the sound from it was so much better than the STRAT which i had owned and played from the mid 70's, that I put a set of DG 20's in the strat.

I noticed 2 things immediately. 1) The sound to my ears was way way better than the original p/u's that were in there, and 2) the neck of the strat was so much bigger than my Luke it seemed as if i was battling the guitar as opposed to playing my luke.

So even though i fell in love with the tone, it sits in my closet unplayed but stays there as it was my first electric and has sentimental value. Its also the reason why I bought a Sunburst Luke as Luke #3 since the strat was sunburst!

 

[fogman]

Here's Pete doing some Floyd with a BFR AL!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubEVSaw7mJA]YouTube - Ernie Ball Albert Lee BFR[/ame]

 

[Jimmyb]

You can also get some great Gilmour tones from the 20th Silhouette.

 

[robelinda2]

MM90's for that Brick tone for sure.