Since 1967, David Gilmour has earned a reputation as the undisputed master of psychedelic rock guitar as singer and guitarist for rock giants Pink Floyd and various other projects. 🤘
Today he turns a proud 80 years old and can look back on a more than eventful life with a musical output of almost astonishing proportions. We congratulate him and have some interesting facts about the master and his craft ready for the occasion.
David Gilmour: a Childhood Friendship ends in Tragedy
David “Dave” Gilmour began playing guitar as a teenager in various local bands in Cambridge, England. In his youth, he occasionally performed on the streets with his school friend Syd Barrett. Their main interest was the music of Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
And it was precisely this Syd Barrett whom he would initially support in Pink Floyd from 1968 onwards, only to replace him when Barrett left the band in April of that year due to his drug use and mental illness. When Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, Gilmour took over the leading role and recorded three more studio albums with the band.
David Gilmour’s sure Instinct: the Sound comes from his Fingers
After the Pink Floyd era, which had without a doubt been associated with various mind-altering substances, David Gilmour’s performances were no longer drenched in visually stunning laser shows. But his inimitable guitar playing and his distinctive, instantly recognizable sound have lost none of their fascination. Like few others, he embodies the motto “the sound comes from the fingers”, continuing to impress with his sure instinct for harmonic and tonal relationships.
How David Gilmour created his Sound
An important part of David Gilmour’s iconic sound is, of course, his gear. Having relied on the famous black Stratocaster as his main guitar for many years, he later also played various other instruments whose sound suited the song. Back in the sixties, he often used a blonde Les Paul-shaped Höfner, which he played through a Vox AC30.
Vox
AC30 Handwired
Today, he still mostly uses a modified 1957 reissue Stratocaster equipped with EMG pickups, an SPC mid-boost, and an EXG expander. For his amps, he often relies on two 100-watt tops from Hiwatt, sending the guitar signal to the left amplifier through a CE-2 chorus to widen the sound.
In addition to various distortion pedals, David Gilmour uses the legendary Lexicon PCM70 reverb unit, an ingenious old MXR delay system and a TC Electronic TC 2290 for his effects. The cabinets are usually two Marshall cabinets equipped with Celestion speakers. To control the entire setup, David Gilmour uses a custom-built pedalboard manufactured by Custom Audio Electronics.
tc electronic
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David Gilmour turns 80: Recreate his Sound with these Pickups and Accessories
In our shop, you’ll find a fully pre-wired pickup set with 3 EMG SA pickups, volume control, EXG Guitar Expander for bass and treble boost, and a 5-way switch: EMG DG20 David Gilmour.
EMG
DG20 David Gilmour
David Gilmour: A Musical Workaholic even outside of Pink Floyd
David Gilmour became world famous as a key member of Pink Floyd, and most people most associate him with the mega band to this day. No wonder, as he was instrumental in shaping the sound of iconic albums such as “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “Wish You Were Here”.
However, David Gilmour has also released solo albums during his career and collaborated with other artists such as Sir Paul McCartney. He even discovered Kate Bush and Sam Brown, and made guest appearances on albums by Supertramp, Pete Townsend, Bryan Ferry, Elton John, B. B. King, Alan Parsons, Donovan and many others.
Here’s an overview of Pink Floyd’s studio albums featuring David Gilmour:
- A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) – Gilmour’s debut
- More (1969)
- Ummagumma (1969)
- Atom Heart Mother (1970)
- Meddle (1971)
- Obscured by Clouds (1972)
- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
- Wish You Were Here (1975)
- Animals (1977)
- The Wall (1979)
- The Final Cut (1983)
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) – First album under Gilmour’s leadership
- The Division Bell (1994)
- The Endless River (2014) – Last album, mainly instrumental recordings from 1993/94
David Gilmour: “I try to imagine that the guitar is singing.”
David Gilmour was never a high-speed guitar wizard. Rather, his artistry lay in making the guitar sing. He described this himself in 1984 with his typical honesty:
“I’ve never had fast fingers, they’re really pretty slow compared to most, and the coordination between left and right hand and stuff is not great. […] So I have to rely on other things. […] I just try and make nice, sort of, melodies with it, like try to make it sing, I try to imagine that the guitar’s kind of singing, you know?”
With his highly emotional guitar playing, perfect control of bending, vibrato and sustain, and not least his unmistakable sound, David Gilmour was instantly recognizable. This made him a role model for entire generations of rock, prog and alternative guitarists.
When the Vocals and Guitar become one
David Gilmour touches listeners not just with his guitar playing, but also with his singing. There is no showmanship in his vocals either; rather, he takes listeners on a journey of emotional depth, gentle intonation and bluesy coloring, often with an almost whispering expression. His singing often transitions seamlessly into his melodic and percussive guitar playing.
Iconic Solos that will never be forgotten
David Gilmour has always demonstrated that a few well-placed notes can have a greater impact than technical showmanship. His solo in “Comfortably Numb” is often cited as one of the best guitar solos of all time (to date). Another famous solo, which has often been covered despite or perhaps because of its emotional complexity, is undoubtedly the one from “Another Brick in the Wall”, in which he showcases his percussive perfection and his signature bendings.
Gibson
Les Paul 54 Goldtop VOS
In the song, David Gilmour delivers a bending over five semitones, raising the note by five frets. The solo was recorded using a Gibson Les Paul 54 Goldtop. Hear for yourself in this video, as have around 131 million David Gilmour fans before you:
Pink Floyd – “Another Brick in The Wall” PULSE Remastered 2019
Auction Proceeds from Guitar Collection donated to Climate Protection
Over his career, David Gilmour had collected a large number of guitars, more than 100 models in total. But in 2019, he parted with these treasures. He auctioned off his collection, including his famous “Black Strat” – the instrument he had played most often and one of the most iconic guitars in rock history – and the white 1954 Stratocaster with the serial number 0001. The total proceeds were over $21 million, with the most expensive items being the white Strat, which sold for $1.8 million, a 1969 Martin D-35 for around $1.1 million, and, at the top of the list, “The Black Strat,” which was purchased by billionaire Jim Irsay for his collection for almost $4 million. David Gilmour donated the proceeds to ClientEarth, a climate protection organization. Explaining his motives, he said:
“We need a civilized world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung.” Incidentally, David Gilmour had already sold one of his houses in London for the equivalent of around five million euros in 2003 and donated the proceeds to the British homeless charity.
David Gilmour: “I wouldn’t do that without Rick.”
David Gilmour has always been opinionated and emotionally dependable. In 2016, before a solo concert at the amphitheater in Pompeii, Italy, where “Pink Floyd Live in Pompeii” had been performed 44 years earlier, he was asked by “Rolling Stone” why he would not be playing “Echoes” at the show.
“It would be wonderful to play ‘Echoes’ here, but without Rick I wouldn’t do it,” he said. “There’s something that’s specifically so individual about the way that Rick and I play in that, that you can’t get someone to learn it and do it just like that. That’s not what music’s about.”
When Richard “Rick” Wright, Pink Floyd’s keyboardist, passed away in September 2008, David Gilmour had known beforehand that his old friend had given up the fight against brain cancer, but had kept quiet about the fact that Wright was dying.
Here’s an excerpt from David Gilmour’s solo discography:
- About Face (1984)
- On an Island (2006)
- Rattle That Lock (2015)
- Luck and Strange (2024)
- Live in Gdansk (2008)
- Live at Pompeii (2017)
- Metallic Spheres (2010, with The Orb)
- Metallic Spheres in Colour (2023, with The Orb)
- “There’s No Way Out of Here” (1978)
- “Blue Light” (1984)
- “On an Island” (2006)
- “Rattle That Lock” (2015)
- “The Piper’s Call” (2024)
- “Between Two Points” (2024)
David Gilmour Turns 80 – when Life Comes full Circle
Hardly any other guitarist in recent decades has managed to anchor himself so firmly in the memories of fans with such melodious and sensitive solos. No electric guitar has sung as emotionally as David Gilmour’s. With his soulful voice and his recognizable, song-oriented guitar playing, he has had a decisive influence on the history of rock music over the past decades. And he did so without any formal training. Instead, in 1968, at the dawn of Pink Floyd’s success, he dropped out of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge without a degree. But eventually, life came full circle: in 2009, the university awarded David Gilmour an honorary doctorate.
David Gilmour Turns 80 – Congratulations on his Birthday and his Life’s Work
Regularly appearing in lists of the “greatest guitarists of all time”, David Gilmour is of course a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and enjoys high respect across genre boundaries. We can already congratulate him not only on his 80th birthday, but also on his incredible life’s work. And fortunately, he is still going strong. We are excited to see what else he will achieve.
Your Feedback on David Gilmour
What fascinates you most about David Gilmour, which songs and solos have influenced you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
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