By Richard Mahon In this column, I'll be examining Pink Floyd
guitarist David Gilmour's
gear and playing techniques from a musicians point of view. Please
feel free to e-mail me with questions and ideas for future articles
at RichM66@Compuserve.com
if you feel you have an idea that readers of Spare Bricks might find
of interest. With his second solo album About Face
completed, David Gilmour began to plan his first solo tour. He'd
had many guitars stolen during his years of touring with Pink
Floyd and didn't want to run the risks involved in taking his
older, more valuable guitars on the road. These guitars are first seen on the video of Gilmour's performance at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, April 30, 1984. He begins with a creme colored '57 re-issue then immediately switches to a '62 Candy Apple Red re-issue for the 2nd song. The creme '57 is re-issue used for the majority of the show.
Gilmour appeared with the Bryan Ferry band at
Live Aid at Wembley
Stadium, London, July 13, 1985. When the first song in the set
begins, Gilmour is playing what appears to be a sunburst '57 re-issue.
He's forced to switch guitars when the guitar fails. The guitar
he switches to is the earliest documented appearance of Gilmour's
signature '57 Candy Apple Red re-issue, with EMG pickups. This setup was used on two guitars at the start of the 1987 tour for A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. The creme '57 re-issue could be the same guitar used on the About Face tour with different pickups. Gilmour would alternate between this guitar and the Candy Apple Red guitar in the early dates of the tour. As the tour progressed, he began to use the Candy Apple Red '57 re-issue exclusively.
Richard Mahon is a Spare Bricks Staff Writer |