(A) Boss CS-2 Compression/Sustainer.
These are no longer available new from Roland. You can only purchase the CS-3 which (to my ear) does not sound as smooth as the CS-2.
(B) Pro Co. Rat II Distortion.
The first generation Rat’s distortion, filter & volume knobs yield various Marshally distortion tones.
(C) Cornish Big Muff.
Pete Cornish custom Big Muff. (looks like Pete has taken an original Big Muff and housed it in a custom box). I don’t know if this has been modified in any other way.
(D) Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer.
This GE-7 has been set to be used in conjunction with the Rat distortion pedal.
(E) Cornish Soft Sustain.
This is obviously a Pete Cornish custom effect. Notice the combination of the GE-7 graphic EQ sliders & the knobs for sustain & volume.
(F) Sovtek Big Muff II.
The Big Muff is a very heavy-vibed fuzz with volume, tone & sustain controls. The muff sounds huge & powerful despite it’s feeble tone control range & is looser & more gargantuan than say a Pro Co. Rat II.
(G) Chandler Tube Driver #2.
The Tube Driver offers lots of tight girthy gain and has an openness that sets it apart from other distortion boxes. Features high/low EQ, tube drive & output controls. These later became known as Tube Works Tube Driver.
(H) MXR Dynacomp Compressor.
The Dynacomp has a natural sounding expansion & a nice bright tone to it.
(I) Ibanez CP-9 Compressor.
(J) Boss Metalizer.
No longer available new from Roland.
(K) Chandler Tube Driver #1.
The Tube Driver offers lots of tight girthy gain and has an openness that sets it apart from other distortion boxes. Features high/low EQ, tube drive & output controls. This later became known as Tube Works Tube Driver.
(L) Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer.
This GE-7 has been set to boost the top & bottom ranges. Labelled T&B
(M) Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer.
This GE-7 has been set to boost the bass ranges. Labelled BASS
(N) Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer.
This GE-7 has been set to boost the mid ranges. Labelled MID The Rack
With Dave Gilmour’s rack system we meet a marriage of technologies, old & new. He has always exhibited a preference for older, analogue effects but has had Pete Cornish create a switching system which guarantees ease of use with optimum, low noise performance. 
(A) Furman PL-8 Power Conditioner And Light Controller.
I can only guess that this controls the lights on top of the rack so Dave can see the pedals.
(B) TC. Electronics TC-2290 Dynamic Digital Delay + Effects Control Processor.
This is Dave’s primary delay unit. He uses this on most songs.
(C) Uni-Vibe.
The Uni-Vibe unit featues volume & intensity controls, a chorus/vibrato switch & sepearate speed controls for the slow or fast speed options. It also requires a seperate foot switch pedal for fast or slow. Gilmour does not use the chorus option! This effect was originally a footpedal, however Gilmour had his longtime technician Phil Taylor make a rack system out of it. He even had the old logo embossed on the face plate of the new rack.
(D) Digitech IPS-33B Super Harmony Machine.
Diatonic pitch shifter.
(E) Lexicon PCM-70 Digital Effects Processor.
Dave uses the PCM-70 to store the circular delay sounds you hear in Shine On & Time. Because it has a multi tap function it can pretty accurately duplicate the kind of echo Dave used to get from his old Binson echo unit.
(F) MXR Delay System II.
This is another rack system that began life as a footpedal. Phil also added a digital readout that he says is really nowhere close to being an accurate indication of delay time.
(G) Phil Taylor Custom Rack.
This is yet another custom made rack from footpedals. It contains the following effects.
Boss CE-2 Chorus
The original chorus from Boss has rate & depth knobs & sounds sweet, rich & dynamic. There are two CE-2’s loaded into this rack one is marked Mono Chorus & the other Left Chorus. (The left chorus is inserted in the signal path for the left channel of Dave’s amp setup).
Electric Mistress
The Electric Mistress has rate, range & colour controls, plus a filter matrix switch. This is sort of a bizzarre sounding flanger that gets extremely detuned & twisted.
Tremulator
The Tremulator has speed and depth controls.
(H) Dynachord CL5222 Leslie Simulator.
(I) Samson UHF Dual Receiver.
(J) Peterson Strobe Tuner.
Other Effects & Equipment
There are a few footpedals & other items which are not pictured or part of Dave’s current live rig but have been and still are used by him in the studio.
MXR Phase 90
This was MXR’s first effect and only has a speed knob that yields complex, swirly phase textures with silky highs & lots of vocal inflection. Also does decent rotating speaker imitations at higher speeds.
Arbiter Fuzz Face
The classic of classic fuzzes sounds big, deep & bad. The Fuzz Face takes you from clean to insanity with a mere twiddle of your guitars volume knob.
Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Distortion
An 80’s classic Gilmour used on About Face (notably at the end of Murder). It delivers incredibly gutsy grind & tons of deep bass boost. Features low/high and colour mix controls.
Maestro Rover
The Maestro Rover looks like a late 1950’s NASA satellite (I will try and get a scan of this thing) but it’s a rotating speaker designed to go between your guitar and your amp. This sure fire attention getter has amp & instrument inputs & features volume, speed, slow & fast controls. A crossover routes the upper frequencies through the Rover’s amplifier to the rotating speaker, while the lower frequencies are sent to your stage amp.
Orange Treble/Bass Boost.
Heil Voice Box
The Midi Foot Controller
This Bob Bradshaw designed pedalboard is used to select individual or different preset combinations of effects. This doesn’t do the actual switching though. The left side of Dave’s rack unit contains his Pete Cornish custom built switcher, which has 24 sends & returns & uses gold plated relays to turn individual effects on and off. In addition to this, it also sends standard MIDI program numbers to the various MIDI processors that are contained in his rack (such as the Lexicon). It can also send almost anything he wants to the rack, such as a delay time or whatever. I’m not sure if he uses any of these features, but it’s there.
For information on a similar type of pedalboard designed by Rocktron/Bradshaw. 
(A) TC. Electronics TC-2290 Digital Delay + Effects Control Processor. On/Off
(B) Lexicon PCM-70 Digital Effects Processor. On/Off
(C) Doppola’s. On/Off
(D) Leslie. On/Off
(E) Left Chorus (Rack Mounted Boss CE-2). On/Off
(F) Acoustic. On/Off
This seems to be a switch Dave uses to toggle between electric & acoustic setups.
(G) Midi.
(H) Store.
(I) MXR Delay System II. On/Off
(J) Graphic B (Mid). On/Off
(K) Graphic A (Bass). On/Off
(L) Graphic C (T & B). On/Off
(M) Tremulator (Rack Mounted). On/Off
(N) Chorus (Rack Mounted Boss CE-2). On/Off
(O) Univibe. On/Off
(P) Electric Mistress. On/Off
(Q) Chandler Tube Driver #2. On/Off
(R) Sovtek Big Muff. On/Off
(S) Cornish Soft Sustain. On/Off
(T) Pro Co. Rat II. On/Off
(U) Chandler Tube Driver #1. On/Off
(V) Pete Cornish Big Muff. On/Off
(W) Hyper. On/Off
This toggles the Boss Metalizer
(X) Ibanez CP-9 Compressor. On/Off
(Y) Digitech Whammy. On/Off
(Z) Bank Switch.
Selects the bank number for preset sounds.
(1) Preset Numbers. 1/0
(2) Preset Numbers. 2
(3) Preset Numbers. 3
(4) Preset Numbers. 4
(5) MXR Dynacomp Compressor. On/Off
(6) Boss CS-2 Compressor. On/Off
(7) Doppola’s. Slow/Fast
Selects which speed the doppola’s rotate at.
(8) Leslie. Slow/Fast
Selects the speed of the Dynachord CL5222 Leslie Speaker Simulator.
(9) Univibe. Slow/Fast
Selects the speed of the univibe rotating speaker simulator.
(10) Ernie Ball Volume Pedal.
(11) Digitech Whammy Pedal.
FX Facts
Despite the apparent complexity of Dave Gilmour’s set up, the actual contents of each track may come as something of a surprise. Essentially his sound is fairly clean, choosing different distortion units to add their characteristic sound to his signal. As an example, to reproduce the track Money from Dark Side Of The Moon live in concert, Gilmour uses this effects combination.
Main Riff: Pete Cornish Soft Sustain with Chandler Tube Driver #2.
Solo: Boss CS-2 Compressor with Chandler Tube Driver #1, Sovtek Big Muff & TC Electronics digital delay.
Solo (Dry Sound): Chandler Tube Driver #1 with Pro Co. Rat II Distortion. The Amplification
Preamp
After journeying through the rack system the signal meets an alembic F2-B bass guitar preamp. This has been modified with an extra tube, lowered output impedance & a different capacitor to help cut the low end.
Amps
Gilmour has always been a fan of Hi-Watt amps, tending to use AP-100 watt heads on stage and combo’s in the studio. Live three of the heads are used as power amps & another three are used as slaves. All use Mullard E-34 valves which are desperately difficult to get a hold of these days, but Floyd head of backline Phil Taylor still has a cupboard full!
(A) Right channel output to 4×12’s 1+10 8 ohm.
I am guessing that (1+10) refers to channel inputs on a mixer i.e. channel 1 left, channel 10 right.
(B) Left channel output to 4×12’s 2+9 8 ohm.
Again (2+9) could be channel 2 right, channel 9 left. If this is the case then Dave could have, for instance, channels 1+2 as a stereo pair for the Marshalls & channels 9+10 as a stereo pair for the WEM’s.
(C) Spare AP-100.
(D) Output to Heil Voice Box via Pete Cornish Dummy Load Box 8 ohm.
(E) Output to Doppola’s 87, 88 8 ohm.
(F) Output to Doppola 89 8 ohm.
Speaker Cabinets & Doppola’s
Speaker Cabinets
The right channel Hi-Watt powers a WEM 4×12 which is loaded with Fane Cresendo speakers and a Marshall loaded with Celestion speakers. A second Hi-Watt does the same thing for the left channel which also carries a chorused signal from a Boss CE-2 Chorus. (See Footpedals Incorporated Into A Rack Space). In the second rack, one AP-100 feeds the Jim Dunlop Heil Voice Box, another feeds Doppola’s 87 & 88 (8 ohm) & a third feeds Doppola 89 (16 ohm).
Doppola’s
These rotating speaker units were designed by Phil Taylor & Paul Leader to provide Gilmour with that ‘Leslie’ effect on his guitar. Leslie cabinets themselves might have seemed the obvious choice, but Gilmour was after a slightly different sound. In the studio he had been using Maestro Rover units which are revolving full range speakers but they are too low powered for live use and so the Doppola’s were born. Three units are used on stage each loaded with two six inch 100 watt drivers.
(A) Marshall 4×12 cabinet with Celestion speakers.
(B) WEM 4×12 cabinet with Fane Cresendo speakers.
(C) Custom Doppola rotating speakers.
Further info/images from Webpage by Murray Browne
I’ve been looking at American Strats for awhile now, and then a 50’s strat caught my eye. It was made in Mexico, but it was an alder body. I want to know if that would be a better choice than an American strat…thanks guys
Well… I JUST completed my Strat search… actually… I wasn’t even looking for a Strat, but once I found this one I had to have it.
The American made ’62 reissue… a beautiful guitar that plays and sounds better than any other current model strat I looked at. I’m using it mostly through my Victoria 35w 2×10. My second choice would be a G&L Legacy (lots of GREAT deals on EBAY right now if bugget is an issue). I’d deffinately go w/ one of these over a Mex strat, an Amer. Standard too. Pop a EMG DG20 kit into a G&L Legacy and you just may make ole’ Mr. Gilmour himself jealous… Oh! But don’t forget to saw down the tremelo bar!
Good Hunting!
~Jake
: I’ve been looking at American Strats for awhile now, and then a 50’s strat caught my eye. It was made in Mexico, but it was an alder body. I want to know if that would be a better choice than an American strat…thanks guys
Thanks for the ingo Jake, but I’m really tight on money, and I don’t think that a 62 would fit into my budget, otherwise I’d just get a ’57. Can you or anyone else give me some more info?
Adam..There are some very good Mex Strats out there. Be very careful and try several..at least..you will eventually find a good one. A very good friend has a real winner..and I’m buying it off him, plays much better than most of the new American strats. One thing though..they only have 21 frets, if you can live with that you should be happy
Bruce
I thought I knew a lot about guitars and effects…I was kinda wrong. I know what distortion sounds like what, but what the hell does CHORUS do? and what is Overdrive? and what do they sound like? I’m sorry, but I’ve just been using regular distortion pedals, sustainers, and the "gain" button on my amp, lol. Please help me out, thanks guys, this site KICKS ASS!
: I thought I knew a lot about guitars and effects…I was kinda wrong. I know what distortion sounds like what, but what the hell does CHORUS do? and what is Overdrive? and what do they sound like? I’m sorry, but I’ve just been using regular distortion pedals, sustainers, and the "gain" button on my amp, lol. Please help me out, thanks guys, this site KICKS ASS!
Chorus is a doubling effect, it’s supposed to sound like two guitars playing in unison but it just adds a kind of swirlyness to the tone. Overdrive is the sound you get when you start turning a tube amp up. Basically it’s that sound which isn’t quite clean and it’s not gritty enough to get labelled distortion (it’s a type of distortion).
Iam excited. Just bought the cs-2 off ebay for $150 bones. The guy bought it new when it came out played it 2x and stoped playing guitar and it has been sitting in his closet for the past 15 years. He said he put about 2 hrs on it! there is one chip tho. I was waiting to find one in really good shape. All the ones i saw on the net look really beat up. Question: do you guys really think ill hear the difference…I have the cs-3 now…Hope i didnt buy it for nothing…Peace. Love. Empathy. Mark
Is that in U.S. dollars!!!? Can’t be! I only paid $45 for mine off Ebay.
: Iam excited. Just bought the cs-2 off ebay for $150 bones. The guy bought it new when it came out played it 2x and stoped playing guitar and it has been sitting in his closet for the past 15 years. He said he put about 2 hrs on it! there is one chip tho. I was waiting to find one in really good shape. All the ones i saw on the net look really beat up. Question: do you guys really think ill hear the difference…I have the cs-3 now…Hope i didnt buy it for nothing…Peace. Love. Empathy. Mark
Its In Near mint condition. Was in the guys closet, unused, for 15 years! I figured it was worth it. It is a lot quieter then the cs-3…Not as punch as cs-3…Do you like yours? Let me know…-mark
: Is that in U.S. dollars!!!? Can’t be! I only paid $45 for mine off Ebay.
: : Iam excited. Just bought the cs-2 off ebay for $150 bones. The guy bought it new when it came out played it 2x and stoped playing guitar and it has been sitting in his closet for the past 15 years. He said he put about 2 hrs on it! there is one chip tho. I was waiting to find one in really good shape. All the ones i saw on the net look really beat up. Question: do you guys really think ill hear the difference…I have the cs-3 now…Hope i didnt buy it for nothing…Peace. Love. Empathy. Mark
does any one have any cool settings for boss me – 10 to emulate gilmour sounds, i know his equip is broader based but i don`t have the same bucks to spend
thanx
OK! Now I have finally bought mysef a MXR dynacomp. What I first recognized was that it doesn’t harden the distortion signal so much as other compressors. I liked that. It’s quite easy to use with an overdrive unit and it smoothens out any bee like sounds. But I found it quite hard to use on clean signal. The sound gets very punctured and sloppy. Any suggestions on settings for like Shine On (pulse) and a favoured setting when used with the Muff and Mistress? And most of all; I’m gonna throw away my crappy CS-3!
hi!! i’ve eventually find another user that would use the dynacomp for the intro solo in Shine on (especially for that emphasys on attack isn’t true???) the others i’ve told this have always said me that it’s good only the CS-2 so…
coming back to your question: David uses dynacomp with the level (output) at about 1:30 and sensitivity (sustain) at about 10:30 these are his settings…remember to put it in the first position and to use the best cable you can afford: the dynacomp amplifies everything and so also the noise…
hope this help and…SHINE ON
Andrea
Thank you! It’s difficult to figure out wether he uses the CS-2 or the DC on Shine On (PULSE) since he used both on the tour, but when listening to old bootlegs from the Animals tour in ’77, you can definetely pick out the DC. It gives the mild overdrive sound a fat sustain. I also discovered that my Boss turbo overdrive (OD-2) got new life. The DC evens out the fuzz smoothly and add a nice sloppy, picking to it. Very Coming Back To Lifeish! Ofcourse whan playing Animals and Wall stuff I use the DC with the Muff and the Mistress. A powerful match!
I noticed that when the DC is placed before the Muff, the level knob on the DC has almost no effect. Am I the only one?
Also, when you chain the DC, Muff, and Mistress together, in what order do you guys do it?
I totally agree with riis w/ regards to the DC. It’s a very nice compressor – the DC is the only pedal that I have on at all times. DC + delay is enough to clone the intro of Coming Back to Life (with decent guitar and amp of course).
: Thank you! It’s difficult to figure out wether he uses the CS-2 or the DC on Shine On (PULSE) since he used both on the tour, but when listening to old bootlegs from the Animals tour in ’77, you can definetely pick out the DC. It gives the mild overdrive sound a fat sustain. I also discovered that my Boss turbo overdrive (OD-2) got new life. The DC evens out the fuzz smoothly and add a nice sloppy, picking to it. Very Coming Back To Lifeish! Ofcourse whan playing Animals and Wall stuff I use the DC with the Muff and the Mistress. A powerful match!
Please say with experience with both (not CS-3)
: Thank you! It’s difficult to figure out wether he uses the CS-2 or the DC on Shine On (PULSE) since he used both on the tour, but when listening to old bootlegs from the Animals tour in ’77, you can definetely pick out the DC. It gives the mild overdrive sound a fat sustain. I also discovered that my Boss turbo overdrive (OD-2) got new life. The DC evens out the fuzz smoothly and add a nice sloppy, picking to it. Very Coming Back To Lifeish! Ofcourse whan playing Animals and Wall stuff I use the DC with the Muff and the Mistress. A powerful match!
Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
It doesn’t work with active pickups because of the internal preamps and the hendrix wah is relatively new and have circuitry in them that stops it working. Older wahs don’t have this circuitry.
: Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
try putting it as your first pedal in the linue up(guitar wah, etc…
: Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
: try putting it as your first pedal in the linue up(guitar wah, etc…
: : Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
The "screaming howls" are done by using a metal slide and playing really high up with loads of reverb. You won’t get this howl with a wah alone. Doesn’t matter what pickup you use.
http://www.gargantuansound.com
Ive got a coulple wahs and it works with both of them. another way to do it is to put in a battery with not much juice… its made my wah pedal make those noises.
: : try putting it as your first pedal in the linue up(guitar wah, etc…
: : : Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
:
: The "screaming howls" are done by using a metal slide and playing really high up with loads of reverb. You won’t get this howl with a wah alone. Doesn’t matter what pickup you use.
: http://www.gargantuansound.com
It’s possible it doesn’t work with active (DG) pickups. Remeber back in the Echoes/Pompeii days he used passive pickups!
: try putting it as your first pedal in the linue up(guitar wah, etc…
: : Do the screaming howels work with the DG pickups and the jimmie hendrex wah peddle…some reason i cant get it to work…I pluged it in backwards and screwed with the tone knobs and nothing…please help. mark
I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
: I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
I have a Rat 2! This is what you need! I have played the Rat Vintage (reissue) and there is very little difference in sound/tone.
Also you will appreciate the LED light on the Rat 2, as the vintage does not have one. According to all the info I have obtained on Gilmour, including this web page,
he uses the Rat 2. Plug into the Rat 2 and you will nail all the solos in ‘Money’, especially the dry solo.
This pedal even works well for ‘Time’. Get a Rat 2 and you will be stomping on it more than your Big Muff, gauranteed!
For other reasons, The Rat 2 is like instant Marshall Stack! Way better distortion than the high gain on my Marshall JTM622.
It also cleans up very nice when you back off on the guitar volume knob with middle or neck pickups.
I swear by the Rat 2 for Gilmour sound. Trust me on this one! $69 and worth every penny. Don’t buy another piece of gear for your Gilmour sound before you buy this one.
Any questions? email me or reply to this.
The sound is the same between them. The Vintage rat is true bypass but does not have a LED to tell you it’s engaged. The Rat 2 has a LED but is not true bypass.
: : I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
: I have a Rat 2! This is what you need! I have played the Rat Vintage (reissue) and there is very little difference in sound/tone.
: Also you will appreciate the LED light on the Rat 2, as the vintage does not have one. According to all the info I have obtained on Gilmour, including this web page,
: he uses the Rat 2. Plug into the Rat 2 and you will nail all the solos in ‘Money’, especially the dry solo.
: This pedal even works well for ‘Time’. Get a Rat 2 and you will be stomping on it more than your Big Muff, gauranteed!
: For other reasons, The Rat 2 is like instant Marshall Stack! Way better distortion than the high gain on my Marshall JTM622.
: It also cleans up very nice when you back off on the guitar volume knob with middle or neck pickups.
: I swear by the Rat 2 for Gilmour sound. Trust me on this one! $69 and worth every penny. Don’t buy another piece of gear for your Gilmour sound before you buy this one.
: Any questions? email me or reply to this.
I agree alittle, but its by far not my fav pedal for creating distortion, I have a true vintage rat 2
from 85 I think, in any case I am not too thrilled by it, I use it as overdrive basicly but
I don’t use it more than my Muff, I’d say go for a flanger or chorus if you don’t have one, the rat can wait if you have
an overdrive.
: : I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
: I have a Rat 2! This is what you need! I have played the Rat Vintage (reissue) and there is very little difference in sound/tone.
: Also you will appreciate the LED light on the Rat 2, as the vintage does not have one. According to all the info I have obtained on Gilmour, including this web page,
: he uses the Rat 2. Plug into the Rat 2 and you will nail all the solos in ‘Money’, especially the dry solo.
: This pedal even works well for ‘Time’. Get a Rat 2 and you will be stomping on it more than your Big Muff, gauranteed!
: For other reasons, The Rat 2 is like instant Marshall Stack! Way better distortion than the high gain on my Marshall JTM622.
: It also cleans up very nice when you back off on the guitar volume knob with middle or neck pickups.
: I swear by the Rat 2 for Gilmour sound. Trust me on this one! $69 and worth every penny. Don’t buy another piece of gear for your Gilmour sound before you buy this one.
: Any questions? email me or reply to this.
this is my first time writing to this site…
i have a question.
what is a big muff ? and
for my first big muff what out is out there in the market
that i can buy,..? any recommendations ?
Remo
I agree alittle, but its by far not my fav pedal for creating distortion, I have a true vintage rat 2
: from 85 I think, in any case I am not too thrilled by it, I use it as overdrive basicly but
: I don’t use it more than my Muff, I’d say go for a flanger or chorus if you don’t have one, the rat can wait if you have
: an overdrive.
: : : I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
: : I have a Rat 2! This is what you need! I have played the Rat Vintage (reissue) and there is very little difference in sound/tone.
: : Also you will appreciate the LED light on the Rat 2, as the vintage does not have one. According to all the info I have obtained on Gilmour, including this web page,
: : he uses the Rat 2. Plug into the Rat 2 and you will nail all the solos in ‘Money’, especially the dry solo.
: : This pedal even works well for ‘Time’. Get a Rat 2 and you will be stomping on it more than your Big Muff, gauranteed!
: : For other reasons, The Rat 2 is like instant Marshall Stack! Way better distortion than the high gain on my Marshall JTM622.
: : It also cleans up very nice when you back off on the guitar volume knob with middle or neck pickups.
: : I swear by the Rat 2 for Gilmour sound. Trust me on this one! $69 and worth every penny. Don’t buy another piece of gear for your Gilmour sound before you buy this one.
: : Any questions? email me or reply to this.
: this is my first time writing to this site…
: i have a question.
: what is a big muff ? and
: for my first big muff what out is out there in the market
: that i can buy,..? any recommendations ?
: Remo
: I agree alittle, but its by far not my fav pedal for creating distortion, I have a true vintage rat 2
: : from 85 I think, in any case I am not too thrilled by it, I use it as overdrive basicly but
: : I don’t use it more than my Muff, I’d say go for a flanger or chorus if you don’t have one, the rat can wait if you have
: : an overdrive.
: : : : I’m thinking about buying a RAT pedal, but then I noticed that there’s a RAT2 and one called Vintage RAT. Does any of you guys know the difference. Dave’s using RAT2 doesn’t he?
: : : I have a Rat 2! This is what you need! I have played the Rat Vintage (reissue) and there is very little difference in sound/tone.
: : : Also you will appreciate the LED light on the Rat 2, as the vintage does not have one. According to all the info I have obtained on Gilmour, including this web page,
: : : he uses the Rat 2. Plug into the Rat 2 and you will nail all the solos in ‘Money’, especially the dry solo.
: : : This pedal even works well for ‘Time’. Get a Rat 2 and you will be stomping on it more than your Big Muff, gauranteed!
: : : For other reasons, The Rat 2 is like instant Marshall Stack! Way better distortion than the high gain on my Marshall JTM622.
: : : It also cleans up very nice when you back off on the guitar volume knob with middle or neck pickups.
: : : I swear by the Rat 2 for Gilmour sound. Trust me on this one! $69 and worth every penny. Don’t buy another piece of gear for your Gilmour sound before you buy this one.
: : : Any questions? email me or reply to this.
***Hi I m Steve : I would like to suggest you a Carl Martin -ROCKDRIVE.it is a simple unit box pedal. I ve just bougth it and it s impressing close to the gilmour tube distorded sound. Good luck steve
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Hello I have just started learning com. numb on the guitar and I was hoping that someone maybe able to e-mail and let me know what sort of guitar effects/distortions are used for this song. Thank you
For the main thing,
Big Muff Pi, Electric Mistress, Rotating Speakers, Chorus, Delay, good finger tone.
Rotating Speakers can be substitued with a leslie simulator….what most people can afford
is chorud delay, flanger, and big muff….
Floyd
: Hello I have just started learning com. numb on the guitar and I was hoping that someone maybe able to e-mail and let me know what sort of guitar effects/distortions are used for this song. Thank you
i was wondering same things…
have you heard the strong emphasis of the attack at the beginning of
the 1st solo in Shine on?? many do it with a CS-2, but i’d think it’s
the dynacomp, that in matter of fact produces that emphasis…
also i think that for all that stuff from The Wall (on PULSE) he uses
the CP-9 from Ibanez, for that punchy sound for all other things the
CS-2…
another thing: i would you tell you a thing that i’ve noticed
watching PULSE video: during TIME David selects middle+bridge pickups
(verse and solo)…the same thing happens during the dry solo of money (with rat II) would you think??? does he automatically switch to bridge+middle when using the rat??
thanx Andrea
I think he uses bridge and mid pickup for more of a bass response, as I do.
Floyd
: i was wondering same things…
: have you heard the strong emphasis of the attack at the beginning of
: the 1st solo in Shine on?? many do it with a CS-2, but i’d think it’s
: the dynacomp, that in matter of fact produces that emphasis…
: also i think that for all that stuff from The Wall (on PULSE) he uses
: the CP-9 from Ibanez, for that punchy sound for all other things the
: CS-2…
: another thing: i would you tell you a thing that i’ve noticed
: watching PULSE video: during TIME David selects middle+bridge pickups
: (verse and solo)…the same thing happens during the dry solo of money (with rat II) would you think??? does he automatically switch to bridge+middle when using the rat??
: thanx Andrea
hi there!!!
i’ive seen on harmonycentral.com the reviews of Danelectro daddy-o and fabtone. i’ve read that fabtone could be a better choice for bigmuff: isn’t noisy at all:-), has more tonal control (bass & treble), ten times the gain of a bigmuff and has also a smooth and huge tone as a bigmuff (that is what interests us)…so what you think?? could it be a good choice??? the most important thing: it’s cheaper than a big muff so…but sounds so good…
another thing: how do you see the danelectro daddy-o (an overdrive) instead of a Chandler Tube Driver??? i’ve read a lot of good things about this…also this is a cheap pedal…
thanx, Andrea
Nothing works beter than originals….you get what you pay for generally, its worth going the extra mile, just takes
longer
: hi there!!!
: i’ive seen on harmonycentral.com the reviews of Danelectro daddy-o and fabtone. i’ve read that fabtone could be a better choice for bigmuff: isn’t noisy at all:-), has more tonal control (bass & treble), ten times the gain of a bigmuff and has also a smooth and huge tone as a bigmuff (that is what interests us)…so what you think?? could it be a good choice??? the most important thing: it’s cheaper than a big muff so…but sounds so good…
: another thing: how do you see the danelectro daddy-o (an overdrive) instead of a Chandler Tube Driver??? i’ve read a lot of good things about this…also this is a cheap pedal…
: thanx, Andrea
The Encyclopedia doesn’t reveal much of the earliest equipement Dave used. Between 68-71 he used a Dallas Arbeiter Fuzz Face, a Binson echo and a Vox wah. But you can definetely hear other pedals, such as a different overdrive unit and some sort of a compressor for that crisp tone. Does anyone have a clue when he started to use compressors? And witch brand he used? For that other overdrive, did he use a pre-amp that early or did he just crank his clean channel?
Did gilmour use the phase 90 for "Have"? if so what setting does everyone have for that? thanks mark
I generally would say 10-12 Oclock
: Did gilmour use the phase 90 for "Have"? if so what setting does everyone have for that? thanks mark
I have a sick stompbox-fetish, but I’m fairly new to the game. I would like to have a book about stompboxes. Does any of you guys know of a huge book with tons of pix and pages with an outstanding listing af nearly every stompbox made? Please recomend the best stompbox ever! It would be nice to have an ISBN number and/or the name of the author. TANX!
Try http://www.harmony-central.com
Under the guitar-or effects-database there are thousands and thousands of reviews of different guitarequipment.
Has anyone here tried the Guitar Armor (banner below)? It seems like a very interesting product – I’d like to hear testimonials if any.
please i’ve a very big problem…i would find a good site with very good informations about settings effects of David…only with very interesting facts…not the same things that are found here or elsehwere…please help me this is driving me crazy!!!
Here has quite a few, I like that site better than this one.
http://www.mikesguitarsite.co.uk/pfloyd/gear/gear.htm
got to the bootm and select effects settings
they seem pretty accurate
: please i’ve a very big problem…i would find a good site with very good informations about settings effects of David…only with very interesting facts…not the same things that are found here or elsehwere…please help me this is driving me crazy!!!
I’m trying to find the perfect compression pedal for my gear. My set-up is US ’57 strat=Boss CS 3=Big Muff=El.Mistress=Boss DD 5=Sound City 50plus Amp. Now, I’m fairly happy with this, but I feel that there’s something missing. I think that the CS 3 is sounding too thin and it makes a lot of noise and hiss when both level and sustain is turned up more than 12o’clock. I’ve never tried the MXR DC, but I’ve heard that it’s smoother and got’s lots of balls. I need a compressor that smoothes out my sound to a soft drink and at the same time keeps a bright and fat sound. Anyone? Or do you recomend other brands?
My 2 cents.
I A/B tested the CS-2 and CS-3. By far the CS-2 wins. The CS3 is much more noisier and alters the tone too much.
The CS2 does exactly what it is suppose to do… compress the signal, keep quiet, and does not alter true tone.
Have not tried the MXR Dynacomp or Ibanez CP9. I most certainly will in the future. The CS-2 is probably the only one you really need.
I say go to guitar center and try a dynacomp out, I use a CS-2, your describing the things why the CS-2 is better
than the CS-3, but I haven’t ever tried a dynacomp.
: I’m trying to find the perfect compression pedal for my gear. My set-up is US ’57 strat=Boss CS 3=Big Muff=El.Mistress=Boss DD 5=Sound City 50plus Amp. Now, I’m fairly happy with this, but I feel that there’s something missing. I think that the CS 3 is sounding too thin and it makes a lot of noise and hiss when both level and sustain is turned up more than 12o’clock. I’ve never tried the MXR DC, but I’ve heard that it’s smoother and got’s lots of balls. I need a compressor that smoothes out my sound to a soft drink and at the same time keeps a bright and fat sound. Anyone? Or do you recomend other brands?
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum as Floyd – I own the Dynacomp but never tried the Boss compressors. All I can say is I am completely happy with my MXR. My strat and Dynacomp alone can almost perfectly emulate the first solo in Shine On.
One minor issue is the fact that the Dynacomp makes the "clicking" sound of the pick very very audible. This could be good or bad depending on your preference. For me, a distortion pedal, like the Muff, usually eliminates this excess clicking.
I leave both knobs on my DC at 1 o’clock, all the time.
Hope that helps.
: I say go to guitar center and try a dynacomp out, I use a CS-2, your describing the things why the CS-2 is better
: than the CS-3, but I haven’t ever tried a dynacomp.
: : I’m trying to find the perfect compression pedal for my gear. My set-up is US ’57 strat=Boss CS 3=Big Muff=El.Mistress=Boss DD 5=Sound City 50plus Amp. Now, I’m fairly happy with this, but I feel that there’s something missing. I think that the CS 3 is sounding too thin and it makes a lot of noise and hiss when both level and sustain is turned up more than 12o’clock. I’ve never tried the MXR DC, but I’ve heard that it’s smoother and got’s lots of balls. I need a compressor that smoothes out my sound to a soft drink and at the same time keeps a bright and fat sound. Anyone? Or do you recomend other brands?
Forgot to mention – the Dynacomp, as far as mine goes, creates almost no noise nor hiss, even at high levels. Since my strat is also a USA 57RI, you should have comparable results.
: I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum as Floyd – I own the Dynacomp but never tried the Boss compressors. All I can say is I am completely happy with my MXR. My strat and Dynacomp alone can almost perfectly emulate the first solo in Shine On.
: One minor issue is the fact that the Dynacomp makes the "clicking" sound of the pick very very audible. This could be good or bad depending on your preference. For me, a distortion pedal, like the Muff, usually eliminates this excess clicking.
: I leave both knobs on my DC at 1 o’clock, all the time.
: Hope that helps.
: : I say go to guitar center and try a dynacomp out, I use a CS-2, your describing the things why the CS-2 is better
: : than the CS-3, but I haven’t ever tried a dynacomp.
: : : I’m trying to find the perfect compression pedal for my gear. My set-up is US ’57 strat=Boss CS 3=Big Muff=El.Mistress=Boss DD 5=Sound City 50plus Amp. Now, I’m fairly happy with this, but I feel that there’s something missing. I think that the CS 3 is sounding too thin and it makes a lot of noise and hiss when both level and sustain is turned up more than 12o’clock. I’ve never tried the MXR DC, but I’ve heard that it’s smoother and got’s lots of balls. I need a compressor that smoothes out my sound to a soft drink and at the same time keeps a bright and fat sound. Anyone? Or do you recomend other brands?
hello!! i’ve seen on PULSE that David during Sorrow on the intro use the SPC to gradually send amplifiers in feedback and the EXG is set to 0. Probably for that powerful sound he turn on also the GE-7 marked "BASS" to turn off then when intro ends. i would have your opinions on the other GE-7 that he uses. Probably that marked "MID" is used on the intro of "Time" but what about that marked "TREBLE&BASS"?? this two (MID and TREBLE&BASS) emulate the EXG and SPC (keep your mind that GE-7s make only a 2/3 db boost)…so in your opinion when he uses the GE-7s or the EXG7SPC???
Well I have no idea, I’d say he uses the SPC and EXG as just an onboard preamp in a way, just as I do
I don’t have any GE-7’s but I’d assume there just to further exagerate the paticular bit he is playing On Pulse
he did use his EQ’s quite a bit, I forget where I found the site with the effects settings though…
: hello!! i’ve seen on PULSE that David during Sorrow on the intro use the SPC to gradually send amplifiers in feedback and the EXG is set to 0. Probably for that powerful sound he turn on also the GE-7 marked "BASS" to turn off then when intro ends. i would have your opinions on the other GE-7 that he uses. Probably that marked "MID" is used on the intro of "Time" but what about that marked "TREBLE&BASS"?? this two (MID and TREBLE&BASS) emulate the EXG and SPC (keep your mind that GE-7s make only a 2/3 db boost)…so in your opinion when he uses the GE-7s or the EXG7SPC???
To those who try to get Gilmours sound with anything but a Hiwatt,don’t even think about it.As someone who helps build amplifiers,
there are classic tones which will only come from certain classic amps(Hiwatt,Marshall,Fender,Vox,etc.)The difference is night and day,so
you may be able to get the effects close,but the amp,and speakers are the main sound effects.Keep Crankin!
True, but you are wrong if you think that’s the solution. You can easily create a similar sound with a Fender twin or a Sound City, but no matter how much $ you put into it, it’s 95% in the fingers. Dave can a sloppy bass with only two strings and still make it sound like Floyd (he did a guest-apperance with Spinal Tap doing that). So keep on trying!
Yeah hiwatt is his most predominate amp, but like the previous writer said he used various stuff, selmer, fender
mesa, etc. Its that clean tone he’s after, but in any case I am getting a hiwatt so who carres?
;o)
: True, but you are wrong if you think that’s the solution. You can easily create a similar sound with a Fender twin or a Sound City, but no matter how much $ you put into it, it’s 95% in the fingers. Dave can a sloppy bass with only two strings and still make it sound like Floyd (he did a guest-apperance with Spinal Tap doing that). So keep on trying!
Yeah, and also he has been known to use plenty of different amps in the studio, but he still sounds like himself, so that kind of refutes your claim that you MUST have a Hiwatt in order to sound like Gilmour.
Who’s amps do you help make? Hiwatt perhaps??
: True, but you are wrong if you think that’s the solution. You can easily create a similar sound with a Fender twin or a Sound City, but no matter how much $ you put into it, it’s 95% in the fingers. Dave can a sloppy bass with only two strings and still make it sound like Floyd (he did a guest-apperance with Spinal Tap doing that). So keep on trying!
i was thinking that probably the Alembic F-2B is not so necessary because the trick for that creamy sound could be the Tube Driver. Now you can’t buy them but the Tube Works made copies of them and the Real Tube is what is closer to the Chandler Tube Driver. Also i think that David uses 2 of this because: one is set to a very low drive setting to make the sound creamy and to use with distortion boxes and the other one at a higher drive setting to use for a crunch rhythm sound as heard on the verse of Time (PULSE) but always maintaining that creamy sound Tube Driver give…what do you think? am i wrong??
Go to here to see a picture of gilmours signal pather in order. This should settle mistress placement, and etc…I try to stick
it as much as possable, but thats not to say he doesn’t play with other orders sometimes….
http://www.mikesguitarsite.co.uk/pfloyd/gear/signal.htm
there it is ^
Anybody try the Electric Mistress before the Big Muff? I did and got a stronger signal and a more defined tone.
The Electric Mis seems to rob a little power from the signal when I run it after the Big Muff. It is an older Electric Mis from the 70s.
with AC power and no ground on the power plug. The Big Muff is a new US reissue. Is it a rule that the Muff is run Before the Miss
to achieve Gilmour tone?
It’s true that the singnal is weaker when using the Mistress after the Muff, but when placed before, it gives a strange, swollen sound. I place mine after, and I feel that the slightly sloppy sound is the right Gilmour sound. If you listen to Another Brick part 1 on the Is there anobody out there? album, you’ll hear what I mean.
Do you think the same holds true for the Phase 90 and the Big Muff? Some people (in previous postings) say that you get Comf Numb by placing the Phase 90 BEFORE the Muff, but I personally think that doing so sounds horrible. Would you agree that the Phase 90 should be placed after the Muff?
: It’s true that the singnal is weaker when using the Mistress after the Muff, but when placed before, it gives a strange, swollen sound. I place mine after, and I feel that the slightly sloppy sound is the right Gilmour sound. If you listen to Another Brick part 1 on the Is there anobody out there? album, you’ll hear what I mean.
I totally agree. I always use the phaser AFTER the Muff. I also disagree with those who believe that he used phaser on Comf. Numb. I can hear a phaser at all. He used Muff, a mild flanger (Mistress) fed through 2 diff. amps in the studio. On the 80 tour, he added lots of flanger from the Mistress.
Assuming a $500 budget, what, in your opinions, would be your amp of choice to best emulate the sound of David Gilmour?
I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with Celestion Vintage 30 replacement ($350 used), and now I’m not so sure if that was a wise choice. My rationale at the time was this – I had read that Gilmour often used a 59 RI Fender Bassman in his studio, and I read also that the Fender HRD created a sound very similar to that of the Bassman. From there, I concluded that the HRD would be a good choice. But I’m not sure now if I really like the sound.
Any opinions? Are Marshalls generally better?
Try and find a 60’s 70’s silverface fender twin reverb, gilmour used alot of those, it will take some searching
but you should be able to find one pne the internet. Tryt ebay, google.com etc
: Assuming a $500 budget, what, in your opinions, would be your amp of choice to best emulate the sound of David Gilmour?
: I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with Celestion Vintage 30 replacement ($350 used), and now I’m not so sure if that was a wise choice. My rationale at the time was this – I had read that Gilmour often used a 59 RI Fender Bassman in his studio, and I read also that the Fender HRD created a sound very similar to that of the Bassman. From there, I concluded that the HRD would be a good choice. But I’m not sure now if I really like the sound.
: Any opinions? Are Marshalls generally better?
I found a 1983 Fender Twin Reverb II for $500 on eBay, it’s got that old vintage sound but as it’s
from the 80’s it doesn’t carry that vintage price – yet – the unaltered sound of this amp is beautiful!
: Try and find a 60’s 70’s silverface fender twin reverb, gilmour used alot of those, it will take some searching
: but you should be able to find one pne the internet. Tryt ebay, google.com etc
: : Assuming a $500 budget, what, in your opinions, would be your amp of choice to best emulate the sound of David Gilmour?
: : I bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with Celestion Vintage 30 replacement ($350 used), and now I’m not so sure if that was a wise choice. My rationale at the time was this – I had read that Gilmour often used a 59 RI Fender Bassman in his studio, and I read also that the Fender HRD created a sound very similar to that of the Bassman. From there, I concluded that the HRD would be a good choice. But I’m not sure now if I really like the sound.
: : Any opinions? Are Marshalls generally better?
hi everybody!!! i’m an italian boy and Pink Floyd’s music is just THE music of my life and David Gilmour is my MUSICAL GOD… i’m happy with my setup that’s an Eko strato, an Ibanez TS-5 and DL-5 and a Rockaxe 10 watt amp.in my semplicity, i can emulate his sound very well but again…yes i agree the most important thing is in his fingers and i’ve experimented for two years learning to play guitar with feeling not only to play 10.000 times faster than light…
stop with this…the point is a strange little box i’ve noticed down the microphone of David…someone know what the hell is??? please help and for any question you have my e-mail…i love talk about his gear…thanx bye
sorry…i’ve seen that box on PULSE…so what’s??
You mean a "talk box", or?
A long plastic tube that you put in your mouth.
http://www.gargantuansound.com
Do you mean the box with the tube that’s mounted to the mic-stand? It’s a Jim Dunlop Heil Voice Box. It’s used on Keep Talking and to make the pig oinks on Pigs (Animals ’77). I think it’s some sort of a pre-amp used as an efx box. It sends the guitar sound through the tube (for that it needs a pre-amp) and you can mould the sound with your mouth. The downside of it is if you get spit into it (moist), the pre-amp can click and is known to have busted a few teeth, Dave’s is slightly modified but I don’t know how.
I need to know what’s used on the solo on the song Free Four….it’s a kickass solo and my band is going to add it to our list of songs we perform, but only until I know how to match the sound…
I think he used a Fuzz Face at the time. He played on a 57 US strat and possibly a Hi-Watt amp. If you can’t find a Fuzz face, you can pretty much nail the sound with a Big Muff. I use an Ibanez Tube Screamer and sometimes a Boss Blues Driver (BD-2). I use a bright setting on my amp and use an external EQ to boost the middle range. Both of the pedals are set with about 75% gain and 75% level for extra boost. That’s all. Don’t spoil the sound with all kinds of efx. The early Gilmour kept it VERY simple.
If you like the tone Gilmour has on the Wall live then here’s all you have to do to get it. I have a Marshall VS65R which is nothing like something Gilmour would use but all I do is set it to a bright clean tone with lots of midrange. I bought a brand new Big Muff U.S. reissue and a brand new Deluxe Electric Mistress Flanger. The flanger is great for all things and gives a nice tone but the Big Muff is only good in collaboration with the flanger (to me). So to get to the point, by using both of these, you can absolutely NAIL Gilmour’s tone on the Wall live. It sounds like his solos on Comfortably Numb, Hey You, Mother, and all the rest. The flanger especially is fuckin awesome but both of them together make the perfect wall live sound. Email me if you get these and you want to know what I have the pedals set too. I hope you like them!!
– Chris Failla
Yes. The Big Muff and the Mistress is a perfect match. What’s your set up? Do you place the Mistress after the Muff? What’s your setting on the 3 knobs on the Mistress? Do you use any compression together with this? I’d like to get a nother fans view on this setup. Tanx.
I used to have more effects but I sorta narrowed it down because some weren’t that useful in getting Gilmour’s tone. Right now I go from my Strat – MXR Phase 90 – Electric Mistress – Big Muff (US reissue) – Cry Baby – to my amp. On the Deluxe Electric Mistress (keep in my mind this is a brand new reissue and its not vintage) I have the color knob set at 1:30, the range knob set at 12:00, and the rate knob set at 9:00. This seems to be good for an all around cool tone, even when I am playing without the Big Muff on a clean channel. The mistress also sounds good when playing Brain Damage/Eclipse. I have my Big Muff’s volume set at 9:00, tone at 1:30, and sustain all the way up. With the Phase 90, I usually have it set at 9:00 which is good for lots of Floyd songs like Shine On, Breathe, Have a Cigar, but if I want to do Any Colour You Like, I set it to 3:00 and It sounds almost perfect to how it sounded on Dark Side. I was told Gilmour used a Univibe (which is basically just a phase shifter and not really a rotating speaker simulator). As far as I am concerned, you don’t need the Univibe for anything Gilmourish. I don’t think he used it much at all and It’s really expensive. I tried one of those univibes out and I thought it sounded like shit and it was extremely stupid. You are really better off with the MXR Phase 90 which will cover more songs for you. I know Eddie Van Halen used one too along with many others. The pedal I use the least is probably my Cry Baby. I only use it if I am playing someone elses song and they used it. Like Jimi Hendrix or stuff like that. I know Gilmour had one but he didn’t really use it much either. It’s just a rule of thumb that everyone has to own a Wah in their setup, lol. That’s about it as far as my effects and setup goes. I always use the bridge pickup on my guitar (for Gilmour). I installed a DiMarzio Fast Track 2 stacked humbucking pickup (humbucker in the size of a single coil) and I love it. You have no more 60 cycle hum and it sounds good to pull of Gilmour. This is a much better way to go as opposed to buying the EMG’s. All you really need is a humbucker in the bridge and you are set. I have a Marshall VS65R and if you are interested in knowing what I set it too, you can just post another message or email me and I’d be more than happy to tell you. If anyone else wants to post messages about their setups and effect settings, feel free to do so. It would be interested in reading how others have things setup. Thanx!
– Chris Failla
To all Electric Mistress and MXR Phase 90 owners –
I currently own the MXR Phase 90, and I’m now interested in getting the Electric Mistress after reading this post (especially because I already have a Big Muff Pi).
My question to you guys is the following – how much of an overlap do you think the EM is with the Phase90? I tend to think that phasers and flangers are somewhat similar, and I was wondering if there was a better place to invest my money than to have both the EM and the Phase90. Are these two pedals very distinct and indepedently useful enough to justify owning both? Or would I get the most of the benefit of both pedals just by owning one of them?
Thanks
: I used to have more effects but I sorta narrowed it down because some weren’t that useful in getting Gilmour’s tone. Right now I go from my Strat – MXR Phase 90 – Electric Mistress – Big Muff (US reissue) – Cry Baby – to my amp. On the Deluxe Electric Mistress (keep in my mind this is a brand new reissue and its not vintage) I have the color knob set at 1:30, the range knob set at 12:00, and the rate knob set at 9:00. This seems to be good for an all around cool tone, even when I am playing without the Big Muff on a clean channel. The mistress also sounds good when playing Brain Damage/Eclipse. I have my Big Muff’s volume set at 9:00, tone at 1:30, and sustain all the way up. With the Phase 90, I usually have it set at 9:00 which is good for lots of Floyd songs like Shine On, Breathe, Have a Cigar, but if I want to do Any Colour You Like, I set it to 3:00 and It sounds almost perfect to how it sounded on Dark Side. I was told Gilmour used a Univibe (which is basically just a phase shifter and not really a rotating speaker simulator). As far as I am concerned, you don’t need the Univibe for anything Gilmourish. I don’t think he used it much at all and It’s really expensive. I tried one of those univibes out and I thought it sounded like shit and it was extremely stupid. You are really better off with the MXR Phase 90 which will cover more songs for you. I know Eddie Van Halen used one too along with many others. The pedal I use the least is probably my Cry Baby. I only use it if I am playing someone elses song and they used it. Like Jimi Hendrix or stuff like that. I know Gilmour had one but he didn’t really use it much either. It’s just a rule of thumb that everyone has to own a Wah in their setup, lol. That’s about it as far as my effects and setup goes. I always use the bridge pickup on my guitar (for Gilmour). I installed a DiMarzio Fast Track 2 stacked humbucking pickup (humbucker in the size of a single coil) and I love it. You have no more 60 cycle hum and it sounds good to pull of Gilmour. This is a much better way to go as opposed to buying the EMG’s. All you really need is a humbucker in the bridge and you are set. I have a Marshall VS65R and if you are interested in knowing what I set it too, you can just post another message or email me and I’d be more than happy to tell you. If anyone else wants to post messages about their setups and effect settings, feel free to do so. It would be interested in reading how others have things setup. Thanx!
: – Chris Failla
Sorry I am a little bit late on posting this followup. See I thought the same thing with the Phase 90 and Electric Mistress. I thought flangers and phasers were sort of on the same step of the ladder. It sure as hell wasnt the case with the Electric Mistress. This pedal is really sweet sounding. It is indeed a flanger but it does have a really nice chorusy sound to it also. I leave it at the same setting at all time and I believe I posted in a few messages back that I have my color set to 1:30, I made a mistake. My color and range are both set to 12:00 and my rate is set at 9:00. To me, this is an all around good setting. I never change from those settings. Sometimes I’ll even run just the Electric Mistress through the my effects loop and it sounds a little bit different and a little quiter. This way it sounds great on a clean tone when you use your neck/mid position pickups on a strat. This isn’t exactly a way to emulate Gilmour by doing this but it sure gives you a pretty nice tone. You can also run the EM through the loop and have distortion on and it sounds really nice there too, but it doesnt sound the same when running it through the front of the amp with the Big Muff. When you do that, you have almost an exact duplicate of The Wall Live (Is there anybody out there?) I highly reccomend the EM and you can buy it at http://www.musiciansfriend.com for about $150. Thats where I bought mine and I chose the cheapest shipping and it came with in a week. Good luck!!!
A phaser and a flanger is two different efx. I’m not sure of the technical side, but I believe they are made out of reverb in a way. A phaser is quite similar to a Leslie (rotating speaker). It provides a warm, fat sound and and the MXR 90 has one rate knob. Gilmour started to use phaser in 72 (eclipse tour) i guess, and it can easily be heard on Breathe and Have a Cigar. A flanger, is a shimmery, swirling sound. The Mistress is the best flanger I’ve heard and has been Dave’s choise since he started to use it in 77. Check out the solo on Mother on the Is there anybody out there? album. These two efx are important to nail the Gilmour sound and you should get both. You can’t compare them. You won’t be disapointed!
recreating gilmours sound is like fighyting an army of 100 by yourself. u cant do it. its the feel.impossible to re-create. ive got a mex strat and a rp7-valve effects pedal with a peavey cab. to obtain a similar sound(thats all u can do)on his solos, i put the amps distortion on about 5 and crank the pedal distortion, add chorus or whatevr the song calls for, compression, eq'[s on 7, and play my fuckin ass off. and anyone will tell u, i can imitate dave with absolut perfection
Its quite possable to get near to his sound, but you must remember the majority of his style is in his
fingers, not his effects. I personally play through a Mex strat, EMG DG20, CS-2, Rat 2, Big Muff, MXR Phaser,
and DD-5, ran into 2 seperate amps to give stereo. I also am getting a hiwatt in the next month or so.
With this I can basicly hit Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and Coming Back To Life. I can do his clean great
but gilmour often uses the electric mistress in conjunction with the big muff, therefore comfortably numb is similiar but not there
I have already invested over 1000$ in just imitating Gilmour, only to find its not just the effects. And I have spent
countless nights playing to myself trying to gain his style of playing, where his fingers are located, how he does his
vibrato, etc. Gilmour once said having the best equipment helps, but its not neccesary…
: recreating gilmours sound is like fighyting an army of 100 by yourself. u cant do it. its the feel.impossible to re-create. ive got a mex strat and a rp7-valve effects pedal with a peavey cab. to obtain a similar sound(thats all u can do)on his solos, i put the amps distortion on about 5 and crank the pedal distortion, add chorus or whatevr the song calls for, compression, eq'[s on 7, and play my fuckin ass off. and anyone will tell u, i can imitate dave with absolut perfection
I agree with mr. Floyd. You can spend 1000 of $ on the right equipement and still be totally lost. It’s 90% in his fingers. Listen to old bootlegs from the early 70ies or Pompeii. Very simple. Just a fuzz and some delay, but it’s Gilmour allright. Even at the Cavern gig last year with McCartney he made No Other Baby sound like Floyd using just his beaten Tele and a Fender Twin. Remember the basics: your thumb should be all around the neck and allways use 3 fingers while bending a string. Use the tremolo with care and for sustain, not jerk it off like you’re in metal band and do everything 3 times slower than you feel is right. Gilmour is extremely slow. Tons of feeling. You should also use a bright setting on your amp and allways use new strings for that extra crispy sound. Enjoy!
I agree, although I did learn Gilmour usually places his fingers towards the end of the fret when he places
his fingers down
ie
|————–*–|
|————–*–|
^ ^
Fret 6 Fret 7
where the star is, is where he puts his fingers, this gives a slight sharper
tone and a tiny bit more bite to it, I have watched PULSE in slow motion
a bunch of times to figure this out, and find it to be true.
: I agree with mr. Floyd. You can spend 1000 of $ on the right equipement and still be totally lost. It’s 90% in his fingers. Listen to old bootlegs from the early 70ies or Pompeii. Very simple. Just a fuzz and some delay, but it’s Gilmour allright. Even at the Cavern gig last year with McCartney he made No Other Baby sound like Floyd using just his beaten Tele and a Fender Twin. Remember the basics: your thumb should be all around the neck and allways use 3 fingers while bending a string. Use the tremolo with care and for sustain, not jerk it off like you’re in metal band and do everything 3 times slower than you feel is right. Gilmour is extremely slow. Tons of feeling. You should also use a bright setting on your amp and allways use new strings for that extra crispy sound. Enjoy!
I know this guy that works at the local music store and he seen Floyd in 1973 during the Dark Side tour. He had binoculars and he seen Gilmour playing a black strat with a maple neck and fretboard (just like the on in pompeii) BUT it had a Gibson steel plated humbucker cut into the bridge position. Does anyone know anything about this or have pictures of Gilmour with this guitar. If so, please post a message or email me. Thank you very much!!
– Chris Failla
Hmm, well gilmour had this strat, I think late 60’s strat, right before CBS period, or in the middle of the phase I believe.
During that time he would try alot of stuff, he tried rosewood fretbaord, locking tremelo system, etc…So its very possable he was just trying
something out, or perhaps it was a different guitar, he is a very big guitar collector, and uses various ones, including les pauls, gibsons, strats,
telecasters, esquires, and various older guitars…so its anyones guess really
: I know this guy that works at the local music store and he seen Floyd in 1973 during the Dark Side tour. He had binoculars and he seen Gilmour playing a black strat with a maple neck and fretboard (just like the on in pompeii) BUT it had a Gibson steel plated humbucker cut into the bridge position. Does anyone know anything about this or have pictures of Gilmour with this guitar. If so, please post a message or email me. Thank you very much!!
: – Chris Failla
My friend has an Ampeg j-12r Jet II Tube amp. I havent actually heard it in a while, but from what I remember, it sounds really nice. There is only one problem, when you turn the volume past 5, it crackles. He doesnt know why its doing it cuz it never used to. Do you think that it needs tubes or a new speaker and how much does it cost to replace that kind of stuff? I told him I was looking for a tube amp and he said he would sell it to me for 100 bucks but I want to wait until I know what is wrong, and how much it’ll cost me to get it repaired. If anyone has any idea, please let me know. Thank you so much!!!
– Chris Failla
Seeing as how it’s my first post, just want to thank everyone that contributes. This site is amazing 😉 I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and I’m nowhere as good as I should be but I’m hoping that be really learning Floyd songs I’ll be able to get some actual technique 🙂 But my question mainly concerns amps. I’m playing with a Marshall Valvestate 8080 (80 watt combo amp, just one tube for the gain channel that I don’t use). Seeing as how I don’t have that much money, does any recommend any amps that are pretty inexpensive but still sound great. Also, how much do tubes really affect the sound? Thanks everyone!
The main effect that tubes have on the sound is that you can turn the clean channel of a tube amp up and as it gets louder it starts to overdrive as the volume knob goes over halfway the overdrive increases and you start getting some compression. This is a very nice sound. If you try doing that with the clean channel of a solid state amp, as soon as it starts to overdrive/distort it just sounds horrible, non musical.
Jazz musicians who use a purely clean sound often use solid state amps because they just need a nice clean sound which solid states do quite well.
: Seeing as how it’s my first post, just want to thank everyone that contributes. This site is amazing 😉 I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and I’m nowhere as good as I should be but I’m hoping that be really learning Floyd songs I’ll be able to get some actual technique 🙂 But my question mainly concerns amps. I’m playing with a Marshall Valvestate 8080 (80 watt combo amp, just one tube for the gain channel that I don’t use). Seeing as how I don’t have that much money, does any recommend any amps that are pretty inexpensive but still sound great. Also, how much do tubes really affect the sound? Thanks everyone!
I hear the selmer treble and bass is a nice tube amp, I think it only 50 watts, but gilmour and barrett used
them in the early years, there only about 150$ if you look on the internet
Floyd
: The main effect that tubes have on the sound is that you can turn the clean channel of a tube amp up and as it gets louder it starts to overdrive as the volume knob goes over halfway the overdrive increases and you start getting some compression. This is a very nice sound. If you try doing that with the clean channel of a solid state amp, as soon as it starts to overdrive/distort it just sounds horrible, non musical.
: Jazz musicians who use a purely clean sound often use solid state amps because they just need a nice clean sound which solid states do quite well.
:
: : Seeing as how it’s my first post, just want to thank everyone that contributes. This site is amazing 😉 I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and I’m nowhere as good as I should be but I’m hoping that be really learning Floyd songs I’ll be able to get some actual technique 🙂 But my question mainly concerns amps. I’m playing with a Marshall Valvestate 8080 (80 watt combo amp, just one tube for the gain channel that I don’t use). Seeing as how I don’t have that much money, does any recommend any amps that are pretty inexpensive but still sound great. Also, how much do tubes really affect the sound? Thanks everyone!
Anyone know how Gilmour (and many others for that matter) can make their artificial harmonics so loud, distinct, and sustained – like for example the first note in the 2nd solo in Comf Numb?
I was never much of a A.H. guy, but my understanding is that you must strike the string with the pick and thumb almost simultaneously. And yes, I do get the sound, but it’s a measly little *clink*. Is this something to do with technique, or more to do with effects and sound settings? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated because I’ve been grueling over this issue for years. Thanks.
Hey, I would think of pinching, another term for artificial harmonic, more as something that just comes with time. When I do this though, I hold my pick with my thumb on one side and my index and middle finger on the other side. I generally hold the pick pretty close to the bottom and when pinching, my thumb has to be almost level with the bottom end of the pick. It’s just something you have to get used to. Try pinching up and down a string, perhaps the G string. Like start from the bridge and go to the neck pickup and back and forth while pinching. It’s a technique that may help. Try it out!!
– Chris Failla
Yes… I do get the correct sound, it’s just that the loudness of my pinching sound is less than 1/3 of that of a regular note, whereas Gilmour and others, notably Zakk Wylde for example, can get their pinching sound even louder than playing a normal note. What I would like to achieve is this loud, piercing kind of pinched note. Would you say this aspect is something that also comes with practice?
I am inclined to think that effects would play at least a partial role. Would you know of any particular rules of thumb regarding sound setting (treble, bass, distortion, chorus, etc) that would help enhance the pinch?
Also, on a more purely technical note, do people generally rehold (adjust) their pick everytime they go from pinched to regular note and vice versa? That’s what I do now, and it’s quite a drag…
Thanks for you inputs.
: Hey, I would think of pinching, another term for artificial harmonic, more as something that just comes with time. When I do this though, I hold my pick with my thumb on one side and my index and middle finger on the other side. I generally hold the pick pretty close to the bottom and when pinching, my thumb has to be almost level with the bottom end of the pick. It’s just something you have to get used to. Try pinching up and down a string, perhaps the G string. Like start from the bridge and go to the neck pickup and back and forth while pinching. It’s a technique that may help. Try it out!!
: – Chris Failla
I think the key to it is where along the string you strike it. As with a natural harmonic you get the strongest result with the 12th fret producing a harmonic 1 octave higher than the open string, with an artificial harmonic you get good results by picking halfway between the fretted note and the bridge, this produces a strong harmonic 1 octave higher than the fretted note, experiment with picking at different places along the string to get different harmonics.
: Yes… I do get the correct sound, it’s just that the loudness of my pinching sound is less than 1/3 of that of a regular note, whereas Gilmour and others, notably Zakk Wylde for example, can get their pinching sound even louder than playing a normal note. What I would like to achieve is this loud, piercing kind of pinched note. Would you say this aspect is something that also comes with practice?
: I am inclined to think that effects would play at least a partial role. Would you know of any particular rules of thumb regarding sound setting (treble, bass, distortion, chorus, etc) that would help enhance the pinch?
: Also, on a more purely technical note, do people generally rehold (adjust) their pick everytime they go from pinched to regular note and vice versa? That’s what I do now, and it’s quite a drag…
: Thanks for you inputs.
:
: : Hey, I would think of pinching, another term for artificial harmonic, more as something that just comes with time. When I do this though, I hold my pick with my thumb on one side and my index and middle finger on the other side. I generally hold the pick pretty close to the bottom and when pinching, my thumb has to be almost level with the bottom end of the pick. It’s just something you have to get used to. Try pinching up and down a string, perhaps the G string. Like start from the bridge and go to the neck pickup and back and forth while pinching. It’s a technique that may help. Try it out!!
: : – Chris Failla
No, I definetly do not reposition my fingers when I am ready to pinch. I hold the pick low even when I am not pinching. I just sorta shift my thumb when I pinch, it’s just something you get used to. I don’t even think about it so to be honest with you, I didnt even realize what I was doing until you mentioned and then I payed closer attention, lol. I would say effects has nothing to do with the sound of a pinch but, when you have your gain or distortion turned up, pinching is a lot easier, louder, and has a longer sustain. It’s just something that comes with time….
– Chris Failla
On pix of Dave from around 73′-’74, you can see a fairly large white box in his live rack. He has this thing on a small table with tube legs just beside him. I also seen him using this backstage. Is this the EMS guitar-synth used on On the run?
yes it is
: On pix of Dave from around 73′-’74, you can see a fairly large white box in his live rack. He has this thing on a small table with tube legs just beside him. I also seen him using this backstage. Is this the EMS guitar-synth used on On the run?
Has anyone A/B the russian and USA big muff? Is there any diffrence in the sound or anything? I the USA worth the extra bucks? And does it run on a output jack?
Does anyone know what model of a Dimarzio pickup Gilmour put in the bridge position of his black strat around 1977? Also, where did Gilmour get the black pickguard with the single ply black? If anyone knows anything about this please post a message. Thank you!
: Does anyone know what model of a Dimarzio pickup Gilmour put in the bridge position of his black strat around 1977? Also, where did Gilmour get the black pickguard with the single ply black? If anyone knows anything about this please post a message. Thank you!
::: FS 1 Dimarzio- and for the black pguard ,I m looking for the same thing, and" All Parts" has in its catalog a single 1 ply black vintage 8 hole. But If you take a look at the black david strat ,it has not 8 holes,it seems to me 10 holes.The standard strats have 11 holes.Another source his WD music products where they have both.But I have not still ordered because I m not sure what kind of material it is.If you realize somethings mail on my lail and let me know thx steve
He used a Dimarzio FS-1 on his black Strat bridge position. On the majority of Pink Floyd songs, he uses the bridge pickup but on some songs he uses the neck pickup, such as Shine On, Another Brick… pt.2 and (even though I only know of one instance of this) Wish You Were Here. Also the black Strat wasn’t stolen after the Wall tour as he used it at Live 8.
: Does anyone know what model of a Dimarzio pickup Gilmour put in the bridge position of his black strat around 1977? Also, where did Gilmour get the black pickguard with the single ply black? If anyone knows anything about this please post a message. Thank you!
To my surprise, I carefully observed lots of pictures of Gilmour from the Wall shows in 80-81. He used a Black Strat with black pickguard and maple fretboard in this era. I know that Gilmour uses the bridge (treble) pickup for generally everything but a saw that in quite a few pictures, he was using the neck pickup. I was wondering what songs he used a neck pickup on. Please post any info you may have. Thank you.
I guess he got that guitar for the The Wall tour. Haven’t seen it on earlier pix. I believe it got stolen shortly after the tour or on the tour. Dave’s using the bridge pic up for most songs, but you can hear the neck pic up on Another brick 2, both for the rythm and solo. The fat solo on Mother (Is there anybody…CD) also sounds like a bridge, I’ m not sure. He also uses the neck pic up on Shine on (live version), Any colour (pulse) and dogs of war (delicate). It is easy to get fooled by his fat sound, but he’s using a lot of EQ and feeds his guitar through a bass guitar amp to get his live rig more powerful. The EMG pic ups are also boosting the sound of a normally thin bridge pic up. If someone think this is totally wrong, please correct me!
Not sure about what model of pickup, or the pickguard, wasn’t sure of much
of a difference. Generally you use the neck pickup with distortion, I’d assume
he uses it a bit com num, hey you, young lust, etc
: To my surprise, I carefully observed lots of pictures of Gilmour from the Wall shows in 80-81. He used a Black Strat with black pickguard and maple fretboard in this era. I know that Gilmour uses the bridge (treble) pickup for generally everything but a saw that in quite a few pictures, he was using the neck pickup. I was wondering what songs he used a neck pickup on. Please post any info you may have. Thank you.
Hey there! I vould just like to say that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Mr. Riis, or Gilmourish as I like to call him on Smuget a couple of times. It’s fantastic to see how he plays the different floyd tunes. It’s just like being to a floyd concert. I wish I was as good as Riis…
Hey there! I vould just like to say that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Mr. Riis, or Gilmourish as I like to call him on Smuget a couple of times. It’s fantastic to see how he plays the different floyd tunes. It’s just like being to a floyd concert. I wish I was as good as Riis…
Hey.. I recently purchaced an old Dynachord "Hi-Fi favorite II" valve amplifier… it is imaculate and sounds soooo sweet…..
I cant find any info on this amp and am surching hard…. it has two individual channels…. one with a tremelo effect… possibly rotating spkr emmulator….
please help if you can… this amp is beautiful… but I am unshure of the manufacturing period??
RIch.
This is a German amp called DYNACORD from 70s and was used for PA and home use not Hi Fi. Tremelo was a very popular effect in thoses days , still is.
This is defintily NOT rotary speaker "emulator" There were no emulators in thos days only real gear.
http://www.gargantuansound.com
In referance to the Unappealing loudness of the Boss CS-2/CS-3…There has to be someway of tweeking it so its not so darn loud. I tend to have the sustain on like 1 o’clock or 2. and its really too loud. There has to be a way to open it up and do something, maybe add a resistor or soder something…god knows i dont have the knowlege, but one of you might. Come on Guitar techs…spill your guts…keep us regulars to this page updated. rock on! -mark
what do you mean by too loud? gain or volume?
: In referance to the Unappealing loudness of the Boss CS-2/CS-3…There has to be someway of tweeking it so its not so darn loud. I tend to have the sustain on like 1 o’clock or 2. and its really too loud. There has to be a way to open it up and do something, maybe add a resistor or soder something…god knows i dont have the knowlege, but one of you might. Come on Guitar techs…spill your guts…keep us regulars to this page updated. rock on! -mark
I mean when iam playing in my house late at night when i come home, I dont play too loud. So when i turn the cs-3 on it has this hiss that really sucks. Especially when i turn the sustain at about 2 o’clock and volume: 12, Tone: 12 Attack: all the way….btw what the hell does attack even do? I would hate to get a cs-2 because i dont know where they have been…they have been around so long…It prob. took some abuse from the seller. -mark
: what do you mean by too loud? gain or volume?
:
: : In referance to the Unappealing loudness of the Boss CS-2/CS-3…There has to be someway of tweeking it so its not so darn loud. I tend to have the sustain on like 1 o’clock or 2. and its really too loud. There has to be a way to open it up and do something, maybe add a resistor or soder something…god knows i dont have the knowlege, but one of you might. Come on Guitar techs…spill your guts…keep us regulars to this page updated. rock on! -mark
He means when you have distortion on, the CS-3 sounds really shitty cuz it hums and makes tons of unwanted noise.
It has a lot of background noise because it’s a compressor, and part of a compressors function is to boost the low level sounds and attenuate the louder sounds. This raises the overall background noise level, when using distortion as well it can get a bit overbearing.
Solutions? Get humbucking pickups or silent single coils (this is where the noise is orginating from), or get a noise gate, or don’t use so much gain in your distortion pedals, or put up with it.
: He means when you have distortion on, the CS-3 sounds really shitty cuz it hums and makes tons of unwanted noise.
I’d agree with Skogstad, also try keeping the level down on it, and have the distortion volume bumped up
I use a CS-2 and love it, but I rarely turn sustain passed 3, and level passed 2, unless I am playing shine on
Attack I think is how fast or hard it compresses the note being played, I find when I turn it all the way up it
tends to be more "pick-y" and kind of can hear the click of the pick against the string, versus not, I am not really
sure what it does tho, so I just keep it at about 11 o’clock
: It has a lot of background noise because it’s a compressor, and part of a compressors function is to boost the low level sounds and attenuate the louder sounds. This raises the overall background noise level, when using distortion as well it can get a bit overbearing.
: Solutions? Get humbucking pickups or silent single coils (this is where the noise is orginating from), or get a noise gate, or don’t use so much gain in your distortion pedals, or put up with it.
: : He means when you have distortion on, the CS-3 sounds really shitty cuz it hums and makes tons of unwanted noise.
I am in need of info on this guitar. Its a jap import of the late 70’s early 80’s it has a spruce top rosewood sides 2pc rosewood back ebony fretboard maple neck with steel reinforcement very fine finish nice action looks like a martin D-45 any clues???????
rick :[email protected]
I have a Big Muff and I like it a lot. It is a USA reissue version. The pedal is pretty noisy though. That is the only drawback. Does anyone know how to shield it or do something with the wiring instead to reduce the noise it gives out? Also, I’ve read that Gilmour did something with his Strat around the Animals/Wall era that supposedly got rid of some single coil noise. Something that had to do with shielding or something to that effect. Does anyone know anything about this either? I’d appreciate your help if you can give it to me. Thank you!!
Just applied shielding to the strat. Try gluiing aluminium foil to the back of the pickguard, and if you are
capable, get some shileding paint and paint the inside of the guitar, I believe he did that, but with the EMG’s
I don’t have that problem very much…the loudness of the muff is its primary characteristic, as are with alot of EH pedals/
: I have a Big Muff and I like it a lot. It is a USA reissue version. The pedal is pretty noisy though. That is the only drawback. Does anyone know how to shield it or do something with the wiring instead to reduce the noise it gives out? Also, I’ve read that Gilmour did something with his Strat around the Animals/Wall era that supposedly got rid of some single coil noise. Something that had to do with shielding or something to that effect. Does anyone know anything about this either? I’d appreciate your help if you can give it to me. Thank you!!
I would like to thank all of you who provided me with the information on the screeming sounds on Echoes! My wha wha has gotten new life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
no problem
: I would like to thank all of you who provided me with the information on the screeming sounds on Echoes! My wha wha has gotten new life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neat sound isn’t it?
: no problem
: : I would like to thank all of you who provided me with the information on the screeming sounds on Echoes! My wha wha has gotten new life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve posted this question before, but once again. How the hell does Dave use the big muff? I’ve tried EVERYTHING!!!!!! And it sounds like crap! My set-up is; guitar (strat), Gollmer Composus(comperession), Big muff (sovtec), Electric Mistress(flanger) and this is fed through a Boss GT-3 for delays and reverb. I use a Sound City (quite similar to the Hi Watt). Daves sound on Comf. Numb (PULSE version) is smooth and got lots of sustain. I get the sustain allright, but the Big Muff sounds like a crappy Boss pedal. As if a wasp is trying desperately to get out. Anyone?
For me, getting an AC adapter (as opposed to battery) for my Big Muff made a world of difference. If you don’t have one already, this might be a good place to start.
: I’ve posted this question before, but once again. How the hell does Dave use the big muff? I’ve tried EVERYTHING!!!!!! And it sounds like crap! My set-up is; guitar (strat), Gollmer Composus(comperession), Big muff (sovtec), Electric Mistress(flanger) and this is fed through a Boss GT-3 for delays and reverb. I use a Sound City (quite similar to the Hi Watt). Daves sound on Comf. Numb (PULSE version) is smooth and got lots of sustain. I get the sustain allright, but the Big Muff sounds like a crappy Boss pedal. As if a wasp is trying desperately to get out. Anyone?
sounds like you have the stuff, what kind of muff do you have? It also sounds like the line is
in a correct order. For my russiasn muff I tend to keep the settings 11, 1, 11 (left to right) for a deeper
bassy, yet somewhat clean distortion. I also keep the pickup on the second to last to agian increase bass.
With the flanger you should be able to duplicate the com numb sound closely, if you have the money, I’d
say purchase a vintage muff, mine was 50$ (russian) but it does its job decently, and I can’t afford a vintage right now.
: For me, getting an AC adapter (as opposed to battery) for my Big Muff made a world of difference. If you don’t have one already, this might be a good place to start.
: : I’ve posted this question before, but once again. How the hell does Dave use the big muff? I’ve tried EVERYTHING!!!!!! And it sounds like crap! My set-up is; guitar (strat), Gollmer Composus(comperession), Big muff (sovtec), Electric Mistress(flanger) and this is fed through a Boss GT-3 for delays and reverb. I use a Sound City (quite similar to the Hi Watt). Daves sound on Comf. Numb (PULSE version) is smooth and got lots of sustain. I get the sustain allright, but the Big Muff sounds like a crappy Boss pedal. As if a wasp is trying desperately to get out. Anyone?
For my russiasn muff I tend to keep the settings 11, 1, 11 (left to right) for a deeper
: bassy, yet somewhat clean distortion.
I have the Russian one. I take it that you mean o’clock settings? Volume at 11 o’clock, sustain 1 o’clock, tone 11 o’clock? Do you have any experience with the Gollmer Composus? I’ve tried my friend’s MXR dyna comp and it seems to have more balls to it that mine, maybe that’s my problem?
Woops, meant volume at 1, the others at 11. Never heard of Gollmer.
could be the problem, try it without the compressor, I only use it when I am playing freely-loud
because it adds a bit more gain, which I like but I can’t always play at ear seering volumes
: For my russiasn muff I tend to keep the settings 11, 1, 11 (left to right) for a deeper
: : bassy, yet somewhat clean distortion.
: I have the Russian one. I take it that you mean o’clock settings? Volume at 11 o’clock, sustain 1 o’clock, tone 11 o’clock? Do you have any experience with the Gollmer Composus? I’ve tried my friend’s MXR dyna comp and it seems to have more balls to it that mine, maybe that’s my problem?
Does anybody know the exact changes(specs) he had his alembic modded to.
thanks alot,
P.S. Or anything about his particular F2b.
Gilmour’s tech, Phil Taylor, added an extra tube to the preamp to give it more drive, lowered the impedence in the output and changed the capacitor in the bottom end to get rid of some of the unnecessary lower frequencies.
: Does anybody know the exact changes(specs) he had his alembic modded to.
: thanks alot,
: P.S. Or anything about his particular F2b.
Using a MXR Phase 90 and mild overdrive, I can get pretty close, but just can’t get it quite perfect. Do any of you hear any other major effects in that solo? A chorus maybe? Wonder how he gets that "miumimiu" kind of whining sound – if you know what I mean…
Try the phaser and a CS-2, overdrive as well…he really uses the univibe tho
: Using a MXR Phase 90 and mild overdrive, I can get pretty close, but just can’t get it quite perfect. Do any of you hear any other major effects in that solo? A chorus maybe? Wonder how he gets that "miumimiu" kind of whining sound – if you know what I mean…
I’ve pondered this question myself MILLIONS of times. but as long as you have something to emulate a "tremolo" sound of a leslie, you’re close enough. Hell, i think amp tremolo or vibrato (magnatone) would do a great job. I’ve used a rotosphere, univibe, and Phase 90. I liked the rotosphere but don’t have it anymore (sounds like PULSE version), the univibe wasn’t fluid enough for me. So i traded my U-vibe in for a phase 90 and in my opinion it has the character of a univibe but with a much warmer, liquid tone. and when set in the right spot (cuz all the way up is too fast) it sounds dead on for the original "Any Colour" tone. also, since it’s one of my favorite songs to play and really jam on, i kinda got bored with hearing that same sound all the time. so sometimes i’ll just use the CE-2 instead instead since i have both pedals (CE-2/Phase 90) set to emulate the 2 speeds of a leslie. (Actually on this one MP3 i heard, Gilmour just used a slow sounding u-vibe when playing it live) If I’m covering songs, I stick to how it goes but try to put my own thing to it. so there’s no law that states that you must use a certain effect to play a song. but it helps in the beginning since that’s what you’re used to hearing, but as you get better you’ll use different stuff. btw: if u want that exact sound ,like i said, get a phase 90 if you’re on a budget or don’t want to lug around an extra speaker cab. if that’s not good enough get a fender vibratone or any other cab that has a bigger rotary speaker. If you buy a traditional leslie with a horn or rotosphere , that wont cut it because it sounds gurgly as opposed to swooshy (like wah-wah)
I really need new pickups for my strat, mine are like shit. They are screwed up on something. I want something that will help me achieve a 1970 to 1980 Floyd sound. I am thinking about getting the Fender Custom Shop ’69 Strat pickups since Gilmour tended to use a strat that was from 1969 (or around there) quite often. What is everyone’s opinion?
in all the reviews I have read it said he used Dimarzio pickups
: I really need new pickups for my strat, mine are like shit. They are screwed up on something. I want something that will help me achieve a 1970 to 1980 Floyd sound. I am thinking about getting the Fender Custom Shop ’69 Strat pickups since Gilmour tended to use a strat that was from 1969 (or around there) quite often. What is everyone’s opinion?
Well you are patially right, I think. I read that in 1977, he put a DiMarzio pickup in the bridge position but thats all it said. I am not sure if he replaced all the pickups or not. If anyone would happen to know what model DiMarzio pickup he used I would be really glad to know…. Thank you!
He used a DiMarzio FS-1 in the bridge of his main black strat and the good news is you can still get them!
: Well you are patially right, I think. I read that in 1977, he put a DiMarzio pickup in the bridge position but thats all it said. I am not sure if he replaced all the pickups or not. If anyone would happen to know what model DiMarzio pickup he used I would be really glad to know…. Thank you!
Yeah thats it. I tried once, evan in the PF encyclopedia it didn’t say exactly.
Floyd
: Well you are patially right, I think. I read that in 1977, he put a DiMarzio pickup in the bridge position but thats all it said. I am not sure if he replaced all the pickups or not. If anyone would happen to know what model DiMarzio pickup he used I would be really glad to know…. Thank you!
This popular thread has been given its own page : Can a TSL100 or 122 cover David Gilmour well?
Well if you are looking for a combo, I would go with some sort of tube amp like a 60’s Fender Twin Reverb or something to that sort. If you are looking for heads and cabinets then I would naturally go far a Hiwatt. There is a David Gilmour signature head that Hiwatt makes and it is built to be an exact duplicate of the heads that he has always used. They also make a Gilmour signature of a combo that he used in the studio quite often. All of those Hiwatt amps only have clean channels. For distortion, you have to use pedals. If you are interested, try checking out http://www.hiwatt.co.uk/
See ya – Chris
Hey people,
I am looking at new amps and I was thinking about a TSL. Can a TSL cover Gilmour well. I thinking mainly about the clean tone. If not, what would be a different amp that could?? I am looking for something relativly versatile.
Thanks
I just bought a FuzzFace brand new and I tried it out while I had the DG20 EMG pickup system in my strat. It sounded pretty cool actually. I had the fuzz turned all the way up and the volume was set to match my clean tone. I decided to take out the EMG’s and put in my original Fender pickups so I could get a tone going that is similar to the older days such as Meddle, Obscured, and Dark Side. Well when I went and tried the Fuzz Face after putting the old pickups back in, it seems that a lost a lot of crunch and gain. So now I found out if I want to get a similar amount of gain with the FuzzFace, I have to turn the Volume and Fuzz all the way up on the pedal. It creates sort of an overdrive and therefore I have to play loud to get the sort of tone I wan’t. I wanted the FuzzFace to be able to do that work for me so I can play at any volume level and have the same amount of distortion. Is it possilbe that switching from the EMG’s back to my original pickups can make that much of a difference? I mean I know there is more output with the EMG’s because they are active but do you think it is possible that something is wrong with my pickups or the way I reinstalled them. They seem to sound fine when I run through my regular built-in Marshall distortion. Or, do you think there is something wrong with the FuzzFace (I doubted). Please post your thoughts on my little problem. I appreciate it. See ya!!
: I just bought a FuzzFace brand new and I tried it out while I had the DG20 EMG pickup system in my strat. It sounded pretty cool actually. I had the fuzz turned all the way up and the volume was set to match my clean tone. I decided to take out the EMG’s and put in my original
Fender pickups so I could get a tone going that is similar to the older days such as Meddle, Obscured, and Dark Side. Well when I went and tried the Fuzz Face after putting the old pickups back in, it seems that a lost a lot of crunch and gain. So now I found out if I want to get a similar amount of gain with the FuzzFace, I have to turn the Volume and Fuzz all the way up on the pedal. It creates sort of an overdrive and therefore I have to play loud to get the sort of tone I wan’t. I wanted the FuzzFace to be able to do that work for me so I can play at any volume level and have the same amount of distortion. Is it possilbe that switching from the EMG’s back to my original pickups can make that much of a difference? I mean I know there is more output with the EMG’s because they are active but do you think it is possible that something is wrong with my pickups or the way I reinstalled them. They seem to sound fine when I run through my regular built-in Marshall distortion. Or, do you think there is something wrong with the FuzzFace (I doubted). Please post your thoughts on my little problem. I appreciate it. See ya!!
I forgot to mention that the American reissue from Dunlop
tended towards being better than the English made ones.
The transisters were diffrent too. They had an American
company attempt to reproduce the NKT-275. (Definitely not
as good as the English originals.)
Stuart
: I just bought a FuzzFace brand new and I tried it out while I had the DG20 EMG pickup system in my strat. It sounded pretty cool actually. I had the fuzz turned all the way up and the volume was set to match my clean tone. I decided to take out the EMG’s and put in my original Fender pickups so I could get a tone going that is similar to the older days such as Meddle, Obscured, and Dark Side. Well when I went and tried the Fuzz Face after putting the old pickups back in, it seems that a lost a lot of crunch and gain. So now I found out if I want to get a similar amount of gain with the FuzzFace, I have to turn the Volume and Fuzz all the way up on the pedal. It creates sort of an overdrive and therefore I have to play loud to get the sort of tone I wan’t. I wanted the FuzzFace to be able to do that work for me so I can play at any volume level and have the same amount of distortion. Is it possilbe that switching from the EMG’s back to my original pickups can make that much of a difference? I mean I know there is more output with the EMG’s because they are active but do you think it is possible that something is wrong with my pickups or the way I reinstalled them. They seem to sound fine when I run through my regular built-in Marshall distortion. Or, do you think there is something wrong with the FuzzFace (I doubted). Please post your thoughts on my little problem. I appreciate it. See ya!!
Don’t worry! There is nothing wrong with either set of
pickups! The ptoblem you are experiencing with the Strat’s
original pickups is more often the norm than not.
The problem is with the Fuzz Face. Old ones and reissues
tend to have week or defective transisters more often than not. One usually had to go through about 20 Fuzz Faces in
order to find one that worked reasonably well.
The original Fuzz Faces had AC-128 germanium transisters in
them which really sucked! The recent reissues from England
were equipped with them too and the results were the same.
Furthermore, the components weren’t even up to spec!!
In the 60s, the AC-128s were replaced with NKT-275 germani-
um transisters with way better results. This is the most
sought after and desirable Fuzz Face, and therfore the most
expensive on the vintage guitar seen.
The next change in transisters was the change from germanium
to silicon types; the first ones being the BC-108C. There
were a few more changes in the transisters (all silicon)
until the Fuzz Face’s final year of existance in 1975.
You can contact me for any questions you might have in the future.
Stuart
Where did you get a new FuzzFace? What Brand is it? I havent seen them. The’re not on musicans friend.com
Your Question: My only thought on your question is that since the DG pickups have low magnatism it does not matter how close you put them to the strings, they will give off the same amplitude of sound weather they are higher or lower. This is not the case with regular pickups. Try raising the original pickups closer to the strings. Worth a shot. Keep us updated to see what the problem is. Gee I love this page, Wonder if gilmour sees it. If he does he must laugh at us nuts. hehe Best to all. Maak
Try turning down the Fuzz Face volume and turning up your strats master volume to 8-10. Thats how the fuzz face is.
Try looking at this site…http://www.analogman.com/faq.htm There is some good info there.
: Where did you get a new FuzzFace? What Brand is it? I havent seen them. The’re not on musicans friend.com
: Your Question: My only thought on your question is that since the DG pickups have low magnatism it does not matter how close you put them to the strings, they will give off the same amplitude of sound weather they are higher or lower. This is not the case with regular pickups. Try raising the original pickups closer to the strings. Worth a shot. Keep us updated to see what the problem is. Gee I love this page, Wonder if gilmour sees it. If he does he must laugh at us nuts. hehe Best to all. Maak
Some people have mentioned in the past how one way to achieve a sound close to the Comfortably Numb solo was to combine a phase 90 and a Big Muff. For some reason, when I combine these two pedals, my sound is plain ugly regardless of how I experiment with various combinations of settings and also of whichever order I place the pedals (especially ugly sound when phaser is placed BEFORE the Big Muff). I’m using a strat and a fender amp in clean channel and experimenting with the two pedals in between. Anyone have any suggestions? The only other pedal I currently have at my disposal is a MXR Dynacomp.
Dave used an Electric Mistress on Comfortably Numb when playing it live, but used a Leslie in the studio.
: Some people have mentioned in the past how one way to achieve a sound close to the Comfortably Numb solo was to combine a phase 90 and a Big Muff. For some reason, when I combine these two pedals, my sound is plain ugly regardless of how I experiment with various combinations of settings and also of whichever order I place the pedals (especially ugly sound when phaser is placed BEFORE the Big Muff). I’m using a strat and a fender amp in clean channel and experimenting with the two pedals in between. Anyone have any suggestions? The only other pedal I currently have at my disposal is a MXR Dynacomp.
I use both, I tend to keep my russian muff at about 11, 12, 11 (left to right) the phaser I use at about 12
depending on my mood I’ll throw in some Rat, use the dynacomp too, it should add some gain and give some
nice feedback bits…but thats of course for playing loud, since you really can’t play the muff quiet, effectively/
Floyd
: Some people have mentioned in the past how one way to achieve a sound close to the Comfortably Numb solo was to combine a phase 90 and a Big Muff. For some reason, when I combine these two pedals, my sound is plain ugly regardless of how I experiment with various combinations of settings and also of whichever order I place the pedals (especially ugly sound when phaser is placed BEFORE the Big Muff). I’m using a strat and a fender amp in clean channel and experimenting with the two pedals in between. Anyone have any suggestions? The only other pedal I currently have at my disposal is a MXR Dynacomp.
Are you saying you sometimes use the Big Muff and the Rat at the same time?
Could you tell me the order in which you hook your effects up, starting from the guitar? To this day, I cannot decide where the dynacomp should go.
: I use both, I tend to keep my russian muff at about 11, 12, 11 (left to right) the phaser I use at about 12
: depending on my mood I’ll throw in some Rat, use the dynacomp too, it should add some gain and give some
: nice feedback bits…but thats of course for playing loud, since you really can’t play the muff quiet, effectively/
: Floyd
: : Some people have mentioned in the past how one way to achieve a sound close to the Comfortably Numb solo was to combine a phase 90 and a Big Muff. For some reason, when I combine these two pedals, my sound is plain ugly regardless of how I experiment with various combinations of settings and also of whichever order I place the pedals (especially ugly sound when phaser is placed BEFORE the Big Muff). I’m using a strat and a fender amp in clean channel and experimenting with the two pedals in between. Anyone have any suggestions? The only other pedal I currently have at my disposal is a MXR Dynacomp.
Well I go from my guitar, to tuner, to compressor /sustainer (boss), to rat, to big muff, to phaser, to delay
and to the amp. I try to keep it as close to gilmours line up as possable. Yes I do use the rat and muff together sometimes,
it gives a bit more high end bite, of course I use all the pedals at the same time, sometimes 😉
: Are you saying you sometimes use the Big Muff and the Rat at the same time?
: Could you tell me the order in which you hook your effects up, starting from the guitar? To this day, I cannot decide where the dynacomp should go.
: : I use both, I tend to keep my russian muff at about 11, 12, 11 (left to right) the phaser I use at about 12
: : depending on my mood I’ll throw in some Rat, use the dynacomp too, it should add some gain and give some
: : nice feedback bits…but thats of course for playing loud, since you really can’t play the muff quiet, effectively/
: : Floyd
: : : Some people have mentioned in the past how one way to achieve a sound close to the Comfortably Numb solo was to combine a phase 90 and a Big Muff. For some reason, when I combine these two pedals, my sound is plain ugly regardless of how I experiment with various combinations of settings and also of whichever order I place the pedals (especially ugly sound when phaser is placed BEFORE the Big Muff). I’m using a strat and a fender amp in clean channel and experimenting with the two pedals in between. Anyone have any suggestions? The only other pedal I currently have at my disposal is a MXR Dynacomp.
Hello, I am looking to imitate daves tone using a boss gt-3 multi effects unit, I was wondering if any of you could tell me some details like what effects and level,… he uses in his songs. Any songs will help or websites leading to information to. Much Appreciated…
Jon
Hey Guys and Gals
What is the best compressor for Dave’s tone????? It should be very smooth and have good sustain as well as more organic. Also true bypass would make it perfect if there is such a pedal. Well, what is the best?
I’d say CS-2 just bec ause thats what I use, but if you can try the Dynacomp by MXR, the CS-2 is no longer
in production, search it on the web, never get the CS-3.
Floyd
: Hey Guys and Gals
: What is the best compressor for Dave’s tone????? It should be very smooth and have good sustain as well as more organic. Also true bypass would make it perfect if there is such a pedal. Well, what is the best?
I’d really like to get my hands on a CS-2. I have a CS-3 and I hate it. I really don’t understand exactly what a compressor does for the sound either. I can hear a little but of a difference on a clean tone (it sounds a little more punchier) but when I turn the gain up, I don’t hear it do much of anything. I know Gilmour supposedly uses a compressor with distortion but I don’t knowe exactly what that does for the tone. I want to try an MXR Dyna Comp because they have been around for a while, Gilmour has one and it only has 2 knobs which makes it easier to control, for me at least. If I end up getting one, I will let you guys know how it sounds and everything. Does anyone know if Gilmour has used the MXR dyna comp and past recordings such as Dark Side, WYWH, Animals……If so, tell me what you know sometime when you get a chance. I am curious to find out what Gilmour used compression on. I really want to get that Pink Floyd encyclopedia to find out stuff on gilmour’s gear. Anyways, lets keep some conversations going. I find all this interesting. See ya later!
A compressor "evens out the sound" by making the loud bits quieter and bringing up the overall gain. It means that you can hit the strings hard and the sound won’t be much louder than if you play them softly. The off shoot of this is that it adds sustain. As a note decays the gain is increased making the note trails more audible and giving sustain.
I normally use mine (a CS3) as a volume boost to drive my distorion/overdrive pedals a little bit harder, I don’t like the sound of it when used by itself.
: I’d really like to get my hands on a CS-2. I have a CS-3 and I hate it. I really don’t understand exactly what a compressor does for the sound either. I can hear a little but of a difference on a clean tone (it sounds a little more punchier) but when I turn the gain up, I don’t hear it do much of anything. I know Gilmour supposedly uses a compressor with distortion but I don’t knowe exactly what that does for the tone. I want to try an MXR Dyna Comp because they have been around for a while, Gilmour has one and it only has 2 knobs which makes it easier to control, for me at least. If I end up getting one, I will let you guys know how it sounds and everything. Does anyone know if Gilmour has used the MXR dyna comp and past recordings such as Dark Side, WYWH, Animals……If so, tell me what you know sometime when you get a chance. I am curious to find out what Gilmour used compression on. I really want to get that Pink Floyd encyclopedia to find out stuff on gilmour’s gear. Anyways, lets keep some conversations going. I find all this interesting. See ya later!
: A compressor "evens out the sound" by making the loud bits quieter and bringing up the overall gain. It means that you can hit the strings hard and the sound won’t be much louder than if you play them softly. The off shoot of this is that it adds sustain. As a note decays the gain is increased making the note trails more audible and giving sustain.
: I normally use mine (a CS3) as a volume boost to drive my distorion/overdrive pedals a little bit harder, I don’t like the sound of it when used by itself.
: : I’d really like to get my hands on a CS-2. I have a CS-3 and I hate it. I really don’t understand exactly what a compressor does for the sound either. I can hear a little but of a difference on a clean tone (it sounds a little more punchier) but when I turn the gain up, I don’t hear it do much of anything. I know Gilmour supposedly uses a compressor with distortion but I don’t knowe exactly what that does for the tone. I want to try an MXR Dyna Comp because they have been around for a while, Gilmour has one and it only has 2 knobs which makes it easier to control, for me at least. If I end up getting one, I will let you guys know how it sounds and everything. Does anyone know if Gilmour has used the MXR dyna comp and past recordings such as Dark Side, WYWH, Animals……If so, tell me what you know sometime when you get a chance. I am curious to find out what Gilmour used compression on. I really want to get that Pink Floyd encyclopedia to find out stuff on gilmour’s gear. Anyways, lets keep some conversations going. I find all this interesting. See ya later!
Ok, after hearing alot of complaining about the cs-3 I will have to finaly interject. First, I have not heard the Cs-2 in action, however, how can you not like that clean, crist, popping sound of the cs-3. Its great, i feel, in the begining of shine. If anyone is familar with the machine, a PF cover band. Joe the Lead Guitarist uses one. With a little echo, cs-3, and reverb the begigning sound great. For those of you who still need convincing, go to http://www.themachinelive.com and click on the SOYCD mp3. If you need more you can order the cd. just my .02 – mark