Question Gilmour tones

[robelinda2]

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!

100% agree Keith! Something special about the Luke, the neck is so classy, it feels incredible to play, and the tone is just amazing.

 

[azazael]

Hey guys
I wouldn't say it was necessary to have EMGs to get a Gilmour sound.
Ultimately the only reason that he ever went for EMGs was that the touring rig had got so big and exotic with so many lights and other fancy stuff going on that at the volumes that David had to play his single coil pickups where picking up interference from all the other equipment. Thats pretty much reason he went active, that and possibly his signal chain had become so big his sound was lacking something.

I've recorded a few Floyd things using my Axis's they are on my myspace.

 

[azazael]

Also forgot to add that as the stages were gettin bigger his guitar signal would have needed that extra oomph or perhaps consistency? for using a big long cable or a wireless system into an already lengthy signal chain?

 

[Jimmyb]

For the Pulse Tour, he used a wireless system (I think it was a Samson system).

The main reason for using the EMG's was because of the noise from the lighting rig. More recently, due in some way to better isolation from the lx, he has gone back to passive pickups.

There really isn't any definitive way of getting his exact sound. As with a lot of the great players, the tones come from the person.

I'd love to try an Albert, or SSS silo to see what they sounded like though.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

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

YouTube - Ernie Ball Albert Lee BFR

Position 4 on the toggle gets me going MORE AL MORE AL MORE AL!!!!!! I frikkin Love that spot for clean tone

 

[marantz1300]

I have single coil EMGs in one silo and Dimarzios in my other.The EMGs are smoother and a bit better balanced from neck to bridge.But I prefer the twang of the Dimarzios and I'm lazy,so I dont like having to unplug the lead to save the battery.

 

[edcat]

The Pete Cornish pedals Gilmour uses have a great deal to do with his tone. These are very expensive but if you want to nail Gilmour's sound they will help you do it.

 

[Jimmyb]

The Pete Cornish pedals Gilmour uses have a great deal to do with his tone. These are very expensive but if you want to nail Gilmour's sound they will help you do it.

Well, to a certain extent they will, but most of the 'Classic' Gilmour tones were produced with a Big Muff, compressor, delay and modulation (this has changed over the years, but includes the Electric Mistress, Univibe, Boss CE-2 and Demeter Tremulator).

Don't get me wrong, Pete's stuff is fantastic, but you don't need to have it to get good Gilmour tones.

 

[dmullen]

Never saw that clip before Pete...nice playing.

 

[azazael]

What did you guys think of the Gilmour tones I made on those tracks?
Not sure about Comfortably Numb, I just liked the tone don't think thats that "true" though

 

[Jimmyb]

What did you guys think of the Gilmour tones I made on those tracks?
Not sure about Comfortably Numb, I just liked the tone don't think thats that "true" though

There are some really good tones on there. 'True' is a subjective thing really. Even David has had different tones when playing it throughout the years.

I'd love to see DG playing a Silo special, or an ASS with MM90's. That would be cool!