GILMOUR, GUITARS & GEAR
Gilmour, Guitars & Gear
In this column, I'll be examining Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's gear and playing techniques from a musician's 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. Past articles are now posted at - http://richardmahon.8m.com/sbarchive.htm
Though Pink Floyd have always been known for their advancements in the use of electric equipment, the sounds of acoustic guitars go back to their first album, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and played a part in defining their signature sound.
Syd Barrett used a 1963 Sovereign acoustic and a Yamaha 12-string acoustic guitar during sessions for Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
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David Gilmour used a steel string acoustic guitar and Roger Waters used a nylon string classical guitar during Pink Floyd's appearance at the KQED-TV studios in San Francisco on April 29, 1970.
David Gilmour used Martin acoustic guitars during the 1972-1974 Pink Floyd tours.
Gilmour and Waters both used acoustic guitars during the 1977 Animals tour and the live performances of The Wall in 1980-81. For The Wall, Gilmour used an Ovation acoustic guitar during "Goodbye Blue Sky" and a nylon string classical guitar during "Is There Anybody Out There." Waters used an Ovation acoustic guitar during "Welcome To The Machine" during the Animals tour and "Mother" for The Wall tour.
Gilmour's tours for A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, from 1987-89, included a Takamine acoustic guitar and Gibson J-200. The Gibson was most notably used during "Wish You Were Here." Backup guitarist Tim Renwick also used a Takamine acoustic guitar with a high-strung Ovation during this tour.
A "high-strung" acoustic guitar is a standard guitar with 4 of the strings tuned higher. The goal is to recreate the sound of a 12-string guitar. Gilmour has referred to this formula as a "poor man's 12-string." The 1st and 2nd strings are in standard tuning, while 3rd, 4th and 5th strings are tuned an octave higher, exactly how they would be tuned on a 12-string. The change-up is the 6th string that is a duplicate of the 1st string, making it 2 octaves above standard tuning. Reportedly, Gilmour and Lee Ritenour used a pair of high-strung guitars for Gilmour's vocal section of "Comfortably Numb" during recording sessions for The Wall." This tuning is most prominently used during the intro to "Hey You."
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For The Division Bell tour in 1994, Gilmour used two Gibson J-200s. One guitar was in standard tuning and a second was tuned differently for live performances of "Poles Apart." A Chet Atkins acoustic-electric guitar was also used. Tim Renwick used 6 and 12-string Takamine acoustics along with a high-strung Ovation and a Chet Atkins acoustic-electric.
In sessions for his first solo album, David Gilmour, Gilmour used Martin D-18 and Martin D-35 acoustic guitars. While he used a Martin D-35 in the recording sessions for his second solo album, About Face, he used an Ovation Custom Legend guitar on tour. Both guitars had a capo at the 3rd fret for the song "Murder". A Washburn steel-string solid-body acoustic-electric guitar also accompanied Gilmour on the 1984 About Face tour. Second guitarist Mick Ralphs used an Ovation acoustic guitar.
Roger Waters used blue and natural wood colored Ovation guitars during his first two solo tours for The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking in 1984-85 and Radio KAOS in 1987.
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Waters used a Washburn RR300 for parts of acoustic songs during his 1999-2000 In The Flesh tours. This led to a collaboration: a Roger Waters signature guitar produced by Washburn. This new guitar, the RW300, will be used on Waters' 2002 In The Flesh tour. It features a chambered mahogany body with a solid spruce top. It also includes a Seymour Duncan P90 style pickup, a Fishman pre-amp along with a piezo bridge.
Waters also used a second Washburn acoustic guitar. It was sunburst and high-strung for "Comfortably Numb." Other members of Waters' band used the guitar on various songs as seen on Waters' live DVD release, In The Flesh.