David Gilmour Signature Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar

There are a handful of guitars that have shaped the sound of rock music, and indeed the course of rock history, with their distinctive tones. David Gilmour's legendary "Black Strat" ranks high among this select company of instruments. This was the ax that the Pink Floyd guitarist wielded on Dark Side of the Moon , Wish You Were Here , Animals and The Wall , and on all three of his solo studio albums. The guitar was also with him at London's Hyde Park for Pink Floyd's 2005 reunion at Live 8.

Now aspiring David Gilmours everywhere can own a piece of the legend. Fender's new David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster was carefully modeled after the original Black Strat. As usual with Fender Signature models, there will be a high-end, so-close-it's-a-forgery Relic version of the instrument and a more affordable N.O.S. (New Old Stock) version.

The Strat was nothing special when Gilmour purchased it at Manny's Music in New York in 1970, just an off-the-shelf late- Sixties Stratocaster. Gilmour bought it in a hurry to replace a Strat that had been stolen during a Pink Floyd U.S. tour. The guitar originally had a Sunburst finish, but it had been oversprayed with black paint at the factory as a custom finish. The Relic version of the Gilmour Signature Strat reproduces even this detail-the alder body features black lacquer sprayed over a three-color Sunburst finish. The N.O.S. version has simply a black nitrocellulose lacquer finish sprayed on an alder body.

Because the guitar was neither rare nor collectible when Gilmour bought it, he made it his "bodge-up guitar"-the instrument he'd experiment on by changing pickups and necks and drilling holes to add bits of circuitry that were later discarded. "The guitar was never treated with any reverence at all. It was just a working tool," says longtime Gilmour guitar tech Phil Taylor, who worked closely with Fender to create the David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster. But because it was also a working tool, it was the guitar most likely to be in Gilmour's hands when Pink Floyd were making history. The Black Strat first went into service on Pink Floyd's 1970 album Atom Heart Mother and remained in heavy use throughout the group's Seventies heyday. It is the guitar Gilmour played on the classic Floyd instrumental "Echoes" and for two of the three solos in "Money." And this is the guitar that played what many fans regard as Gilmour's greatest solo ever, the one in "Comfortably Numb."

The Black Strat spent the years from 1983 to 1993 enshrined in display cases at various Hard Rock Cafe locations. When Gilmour took possession of it again in '93, he outfitted it with a Fender '57 Reissue Vintage Strat neck, which is the neck style used on the Gilmour Signature Strat as well. When the guitar made a high-profile return to the limelight at the Live 8 Pink Floyd reunion show, interest in Pink Floyd and the Black Strat reached a new level, and Fender got to work replicating the historic instrument as the David Gilmour Signature Strat.

The signature model reflects all the custom mods Gilmour implemented over the years, down to the shortened vintage vibrato arm that's a key part of his technique. The historic process of replicating the guitar has been well documented: Phil Taylor published his own book, The Black Strat , based on research he did as part of the Fender project, and the folks at Fender have produced their own DVD that traces the full evolution of the David Gilmour Signature Stratocaster. A copy of Taylor's book will be included with every Fender David Gilmour Signature Stratocaster, along with the three-disc version of Gilmour's recently released concert extravaganza Live in Gdansk . (Guitar World published a full report on the Taylor book in the January 2008 issue.)

Look for an exclusive video on the making of the Black Strat replica, featuring Gilmour and Phil Taylor, on the CD-RO M that will accompany the March issue of Guitar World .

David Gilmour and the Fender Custom Shop are extremely proud to release one of the most iconic and highly-anticipated musical instruments of the past 50 years, the Fender Custom Shop David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster, based on David Gilmour's famous "Black Strat" guitar. A cornerstone of Pink Floyd's revolutionary and incomparable sound, David Gilmour's Black Strat is featured extensively on The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and his critically-acclaimed 2006 solo effort, On An Island.

The Fender Custom Shop worked hand-in-hand with David Gilmour and his longstanding guitar technician, Phil Taylor, to create his signature model, a reproduction of the Black Strat-complete with its unmistakable look, sound and feel. Featuring a Black nitrocellulose lacquer finish alder body with a black pickguard, one-piece maple neck, custom pickups, and David Gilmour's now-famous electronics and shortened vintage tremolo arm, the David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster is as beautiful, powerful and idiosyncratic as David Gilmour's playing. Additionally, David Gilmour's signature guitar comes with a custom case, Evidence Audio%u2122 high-end guitar cable, David Gilmour's three-disc Live in Gdansk CD/DVD package, and a copy of Phil Taylor's The Black Strat book.

The David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster Guitar from the Fender Custom Shop has an alder body, black or black over three-color sunburst finish, a black pickguard, a one-piece straight-grain maple neck, custom pickups, and Gilmour's now-famous electronics and shortened vintage tremolo arm.

A cornerstone of Pink Floyd's incomparably revolutionary sound, Gilmour's Black Strat is featured extensively on The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and his critically acclaimed 2006 solo effort, On An Island. The Fender Custom Shop worked hand-in-hand with Gilmour and his longtime guitar technician, Phil Taylor, to create this signature model instrument, a detailed reproduction of the Black Strat-complete in its unmistakable look, sound, and feel.

The David Gilmour Signature Strat comes with a custom Fender guitar case, an Evidence high-end guitar cable, Gilmour's three-disc Live in Gdansk CD/DVD set, and Phil Taylor's 2007 book about the guitar's history, The Black Strat. The first 500 guitars sold in either finish option will include a limited edition, signed copy of The Black Strat book, autographed by Phil Taylor.

Fender Custom Shop Custom Shop David Gilmour Signature Stratocaster Electric Guitar Features:

* Body: Alder
* Finish: Nitrocellulose lacquer
* Neck: one-piece maple, reissue C-shaped, .790" to .870" taper
* Fingerboard: Maple, 7.25" radius
* Frets: 21, vintage
* Scale Length: 25.5"
* Nut: 1.675"
* Hardware: Vintage
* Tuning Keys: Vintage
* Bridge: Vintage Stratocaster® with Custom shortened vintage tremelo arm
* Pickguard: .120" one-ply black acrylic pickguard (exclusive to Gilmour model)

Pickups:
* Neck: Custom Hand-Wound Fat '50s Strat®
* Middle: Custom Wound Strat®
* Bridge: Seymour Duncan® SSL-5

Pickup Switching: Startocaster® five-way switch with two-way toggle that adds activates
* neck pickup to the middle and bridge positions
* Controls: Standard Stratocaster®
* Volume, Tone, Tone arrangement
* Strings: GHS® David Gilmour Signature Set

Incuded Accessories:
* Case: Special center pocket black tolex case with crushed
* green lining, "David Gilmour" embroidered on interior

Accessories: Evidence Audio%u2122 guitar cable
* Unique Features: Special three-beveled vintage tremolo block, custom
* shortened vintage tremolo arm. Two-way toggle activates
* neck pickup in the middle and bridge positions.

Fender Custom Shop Custom Shop David Gilmour Signature Stratocaster Electric Guitar Includes:

* Includes Fender deluxe case with "David Gilmour" embroidered on crushed green lining.

There's always been a lot of stories and rumours about the Black Strat. In Phil Taylor's book "The Black Strat - A History of David Gilmour's black Fender Stratocaster", one of the biggest rumours is finally verified: the Black Strat is the one used on Live at Pompeii. The Black Strat was David's second Black Stratocaster. The first was also bought at Manny's in New York on Floyd's tour in the States in April-May 1970. However, this guitar got stolen on the same tour and David made a trip back to Manny's on their way home to London and bought what is now his legendary Black Stratocaster. The guitar made it's live debut at the Bath festival in June 1970.

During Pink Floyd's mid summer rehearsals at King's Cross in London in 1974 David replaces the original white pickguard with a black 1-ply. The guitar has gone through many changes both before and after:

Read more here.

David Jon Gilmour, CBE (born 6 March 1946) is an English rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist, one of the lead singers and one of the main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist. Gilmour has been actively involved with many charities over the course of his career. In 2003, he was appointed CBE for services to music and philanthropy and was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution title at the 2008 Q Awards.Rolling Stone has described him as "one of rock's most distinctive guitarists".

Gilmour is the owner of Strat #0001. However, this is not the first Stratocaster ever made, but the first to be given a serial number. It was last seen at the Strat Pack Concert in Wembley Arena in 2004. The Black Strat was finally brought out of retirement by David in 2005 and fitted with a new Charvel neck for the Pink Floyd reunion at the Live 8 concert. David subsequently used it again for his "On An Island" tour in 2006.

The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top horn for balance while standing. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists and can be heard on many historic recordings. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson SG and the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most common and enduring models of electric guitar in the world. The design of the Stratocaster has transcended the field of music to rank among the classic industrial designs of all time; examples have been exhibited at major museums around the world.