David Gilmour guitar sound

[mwollin]

I think david gilmour has an increadable guitar sound. How does he do it? Any suggestions? both his delay and lead sounds!?!?

[yavuzj]

He has a huge rig and it includes some marshalls or marshall cabinets. A guitar magazine that concentrates on rigs published it once. I can not remember its name though.
Guitar Shop???? [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

You know what?I bet he would have the same sound with any pedal Guitar Amp combo. i would also bet you would sound like yourself thru his rig. But that is what i think.

[pk_hat]

I recently read about various compression techniques and they mentioned something about David's sound.
It has a rather specific setting of fast attack, very slow release and medium ratio (4:1).
Of course, the guitar, the amp and the player have a lot do with it, but that compression will help obtain that fluid and forever sustained style.

pk

[Craig Betteridge]

I have read that he plays at VERY loud volumes when recording.

Also noticed on one of the videos that I have (can't remember which one sorry) that it looks like all he uses for effects is a bunch of good ol' Boss pedals. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[murph16]

You have to have David Gilmour's fingers and play just like him to get a guitar to sound like his.
If you handed his guitar (all plugged in, tweaked, compressors set, and running through a Pink Floyd PA) to anyone else, it would sound different just because it's a different set of fingers with a different technique.
That's the complete literal response. Truth is, you can come close (fast attack, long release, decent ratio, stereo delay WITH chorus, etc..), but it really comes right down to the player.
The most amazing thing to me about Gilmour is that he's primarily a Strat guy, and his guitar SOLOS sound very LesPaul-ish to me (I can hear the strat quality when he's playing rhythm). Strats aren't supposed to produce that much sustain. I also understand his pick-up design is extremely custom and extremely unique. Don't know the details.
It's fun tryin'! Good luck. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[brainwaves997]

There is an internet site that is dedicated to Gilmour and explains his rig in depth. At the present moment I can't find it, but I'm searching. As soon as I find it, I'll post it.

I do remember one thing about the rig when I was searching for a good "Gilmour-like" sound for myself. He used a Boss CS-2 Compression pedal which from what I've heard has a quite different sound from the newer CS-3. You can most likely find one of those on EBay pretty easily.

Good luck!

-mike

[mwollin]

hey,

I totally understand that no one will ever sound like david gilmour just becuase he has his own unique style. I know that his technique has alot to do with it. However, songs like Another brick in the wall and run like hell where he has that cool delay effct, wouldnt sound as good if the guitar was completely dry on the album. I'm not trying to be him I just really like his sound and wanted to know what kind of equipment/ and amps he used to get it, regardless of the style of music he is playing.

~Mike

[gerax]

Hi

This is a tough question to answer; as pointed out above, the majority of Gilmour's sound comes from Gilmour himself, but I think the gear he uses (as for all guitarists) plays a big role, being an extension of how he hears things in his head.
I was doing live sound for a band that was doing Pink Floyd covers, and the 2 guitar players put a really hard effort in copping the tone of Gilmour (and in my opinion they got really really close); after doing extensive research this is what they came up with:

Guitar : Fender Stratocaster American standard with EMG SA88 Active Pickups (you won't get such a clean and sparkling detailed sound with passive ones).
Pedals: this is where all the hell breaks loose: Boss CS-2 compressor, Big Muff PII and Ratt pedals for lead sounds, Electro Harmonix Small Stone Flanger, MXR Phase 90 Phaser, MXR Analog Delay, and a few other they were testing out.
All of the pedals were run thru a Digital Music Corp. GCX Guitar switcher that I got them, which kept all the pedals buffered and isolated to prevent ground loops; Gilmour uses a switcher made by Pete Cornish in England, which also switches his amps.
In the rack I got them a Lexicon MPX-1 for reverbs and other time domain effects; Gilmor uses a Lexicon PCM 70 and 90, and an Eventide H3500.
Amps : Gilmour is said to be using the preamp section of an Alembic Bass preamp, and then going into the power section of 4 parallel linked Hiwat Heads (for an enormous headroom and clean sound)with Wem cabinets; the guys in the band got away really well with just a Hiwat combo (vintage model) and a Fender Blues Deville for less clean sounds.
Gilmour also uses a Leslie cabinet for the swirly rotating sound he sometimes gets.
His cabinets are miked with Neumann U87.
To keep track of all the gear used by one of the most influential and imitated guitarists in the world is almost impossible, but with patience, willingness to experiment and some money to spend you can get quite close if you want.

Hope this helps.

L.G. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[flashbak]

gerax,
Nicely done!

flashbak

[gerax]

Oh, by the way, set aside engineering for a living, I'm a guitar player too, and studied Gilmour and other's tone in depht when I was playing in bands, to get mine happening, so this question didn't came as a surprise.

Cheers

L.G. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]