As David Gilmour prepares to say goodbye to 120 guitars used over his career, the Pink Floyd legend gave an interview with auction house Christie’s detailing his life in guitars.
Amongst the snippets of wisdom imparted was his opinion that “The Stratocaster tends to enhance the personality of the person playing it… People playing Fenders are more recognisably themselves than people playing some of the other well-known guitars.”
Before he says goodbye to 120 of his guitars in June, David Gilmour shared his wisdom on some of his favourite tools used over his career.
In the interview, Gilmour remarked that he learnt to play by trying to copy his masters on a guitar that his parents bought him, called a Tatay. Still, he states “The Stratocaster was my boyhood dream guitar. I loved Hank Marvin playing the Fender Stratocaster but I always wanted to sing and play.”
“The Black Strat was just a guitar. It was my guitar; it was the one I used. What can you say? It has earned its keep.”
Although he is most known for playing a black 1970 Stratocaster a.k.a ‘The Black Strat’, Gilmour has enjoyed a variety of other makes in his career, including Gretch.
“I always had a fondness for Gretsch guitars. Maybe it’s because Duane Eddy played a Gretsch in his early years. You can hear a guitar on a track on the radio and you can usually tell when it’s a Gretsch.”
He also made the surprising revelation that the solo on Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) was, in fact, a Gibson, played without an amp!
“I’d always kind of wanted a Gibson Les Paul. We used to be sent various circulars of guitars that were on sale throughout the world. There was one guitar trader in New Jersey who had the 1955 Les Paul on his list. It was all gold – the back and the sides and the back of the neck, and it looked great. I bought it and had it sent to LA where we were working on The Wall album.
Not long after it arrived I used it for the solo on ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)’. We injected it straight through the desk and onto tape, not through any amplifier at all. I’ve always loved that guitar.”
Head over to Christie’s to see the full interview and list of guitars that will go under the hammer.
