The Black Strat
| Fender Stratocaster "David Gilmour" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | CBS |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Stratocaster |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Alder |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Standard Fender Synchronized |
| Pickup(s) | S-S-S |
The Black Strat is the nickname for a black Fender Stratocaster guitar played by David Gilmour of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It appeared for the first time with Gilmour at the 1970 Bath Festival.
Origins
Gilmour purchased the guitar in 1970 from Manny's in New York City to replace a similar guitar he bought there a few weeks earlier, which had been stolen. The Black Strat was originally a sunburst colour, but had been repainted black by the shop Gilmour bought it from. Since then, it has undergone numerous modifications (see below) and still exists today, being widely cited as David Gilmours favorite guitar. Gilmour still uses the guitar in the majority of his current performances.
Modifications
(Note that the information shown to in the infobox on this page refers to the original specs of the Black Strat).
Throughout the 1970s, Gilmour alternated between using maple and rosewood necks on the Stratocaster. In 1972, Gilmour installed an XLR connector , and replaced the original tuners with Kluson tuners. In 1973, a Gibson PAF Humbucker was installed between the bridge and middle positions of the Strat. In 1976, the original bridge pickup was replaced by a DiMarzio FS-1. This in turn was replaced by a Seymour Duncan SSL1C. In the 1980s he replaced the bridge with a Floyd Rose bridge but soon reverted back to a standard Stratocaster floating bridge. He also replaced the original tremolo arm with a shortened one.
In 1986, Gilmour replaced it with three Candy Apple Red stratocaster guitars with EMG pickups for touring and with a cream stratocaster for rehearsals during the post Roger Waters era. The Black Strat was donated for display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas, Texas.
Recent and Present day
During the 2000s, Gilmour played his black stratocaster again, most notably on his On an Island tour of 2006 and at Pink Floyd's reunion at Live 8, in 2005.
In 2008, Fender announced that their Custom Shop would be making a David Gilmour Signature Black Stratocaster. Technicians worked with both Gilmour and his guitar technican Phil Taylor to recreate the Black Strat. The finished model features in the current Custom Shop lineup.
Taylor is also the author of a book 'The Black Strat' which covers in depth all the modifications and changes made to the Black Strat, along with its use on Pink Floyd tours and albums.
References
- Taylor, Phil (September 1, 2008)). The Black Strat – A History of David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1423445593.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "The Black Stratocaster". Gilmourish.com. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
- Guitar World, 2006,
- "Guitar Heroes", Sound Magazine, (1983)
- About The Black Strat Book