David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

[Robert Delahunt]

Yes, it's out today. I got an email from Fender saying so. I checked it out and it's beautiful!

Tempting. Too bad it's $4000! Maybe I'll have to get something similar to it, just not the same as it

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Yes, it's out today. I got an email from Fender saying so. I checked it out and it's beautiful!

Tempting. Too bad it's $4000! Maybe I'll have to get something similar to it, just not the same as it

$4000 for a strat is definitely not worth it...you could get an american strat, and change it up to look and sound like Gilmour's, and still spend around $3000 less.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Belive that!
There is a huge difference...feel free to think otherwise....but those CS Fenders are da bomb!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Again, I really want it! But $4000 is just too much for me to spend on any guitar. For $2800? I might do something dumb and end up with one. $4000? That's like me buying a Lambo or Ferrari. Not happening.

 

[Sanford]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Anything special about the Gilmour model? Or is it just a '70's era reissue with some black parts?

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

http://www.gilmourish.com/?p=271

 

[Sanford]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Ok, after reading through that and the Fender site's description I'd have to agree that four grand is too high, even with the included extras. I dig the player, he gets some cool sounds...but I won't be buying that guitar.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

The CS is making some really special guitars these days but no Strat/Tele is 4k...not to me it's not, not unless it was made before about 1970!

If you have to have a DG drop 4 large but if you want to get close do what guys have been doing for years...DIY!!!

A Jimmy Vaughan, a black guard, a fat 50's, a CS 69 and an SSL-5 and you're home free!!! Don't foret the shorty tremolo arm, Callaham makes them all day long!

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Well yeah, the price tag is a bit much to say the least. I'd probably get a swap ash/maple/maple Stratocaster (MIA) and then put Alnico II Pro Staggered pickups in it with 500k pots. I like how they sound a lot better than stock pickups.

 

[uOpt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Hmmm.

Go ebay.

Get a 62 body.

Get a 57 neck and a bag of sandpaper to flatten the middle of the back.

The pickups are standard issue and I don't think there's anything special about the tremolo except for you getting a long wirecutter for the arm.

Invest $300 in the finest guitar tech setting the neck and reworking the frets.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

If you have to have a DG drop 4 large but if you want to get close do what guys have been doing for years...DIY!!!

The irony is that Gilmour's is DIY!

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Invest $300 in the finest guitar tech setting the neck and reworking the frets.

I keep hearing that. Who can I trust to do this, though? How do I know someone is trustworthy to do this? (Honest questions: I've considered it before).

 

[uOpt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

I keep hearing that. Who can I trust to do this, though? How do I know someone is trustworthy to do this? (Honest questions: I've considered it before).

Over on mylespaulforums they throw names around. I think Greg from PA is the one recommended to me as "close" to Boston.

Of course you could also get it PLEKed, that most likely beats the Fender CS work.

Keep in mind that Gilmour apart from the semi-57-V neck shape almost certainly uses 9.5" fretboard radius, so for real accuracy there's some work to do.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

Over on mylespaulforums they throw names around. I think Greg from PA is the one recommended to me as "close" to Boston.

Of course you could also get it PLEKed, that most likely beats the Fender CS work.

Keep in mind that Gilmour apart from the semi-57-V neck shape almost certainly uses 9.5" fretboard radius, so for real accuracy there's some work to do.

PLEKed?

Besides which, that means a Lite Ash Strat neck is closer to his neck than say a standard stratocaster. That's an interesting thing.

 

[Philcguitars]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

I can build the Black Strat for far less, and I have the rest of MY life to wear it in!

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

...So y'all are better at making guitars than the CS shop then




Yeah right.......I wanna see and hear that

 

[Oudy]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

$4000 for a strat is definitely not worth it...you could get an american strat, and change it up to look and sound like Gilmour's, and still spend around $3000 less.

prolly said 500 times but coul definitely get something liek 1/5th the price from warmoth easily or ebay even

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

^Have any of you even played a CS strat or Tele???
I have alot of strats in my hands...alot....from old to new...these CS guitars are some of the most soulful playing machines I ever had tried....and they are massively cheaper than a vintage strat or tele, that more than often does not play as well....and are a pain to use live due to the extreme value of these things..
They are scary guitars......but hey what do I know???

 

[uOpt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

PLEKed?

Besides which, that means a Lite Ash Strat neck is closer to his neck than say a standard stratocaster. That's an interesting thing.

A PLEK machine is a German fretwork automaton that levels your frets after measuring with the strings on, to a very high degree of precision. People seem to be very satisfied with it.

The neck profile of Gilmour's actual Strat is that of a 1983 '57 reissue, which is an incorrect attempt at a 50ties V neck. The 83 reissues have mostly a V neck, but the very back is flat. The whole thing looks a bit like a trapezoid. I had already figured that this probably is the perfect neck shape for me long ago. Unfortunately actual 83 57 reissue Strats cost thousands of $$$, too, now that the hype is on.

Of course, everything we said so far is bull. You see, what the guitar really stands and falls with is the wood that the body is made of, and to a lesser degree the neck.

If you want an actually great Strat there is no other way than going through a lot of bodies and picking the best one. It's not that Gilmour did anything else either.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: David Gilmour "The Black" Stratocaster

A PLEK machine is a German fretwork automaton that levels your frets after measuring with the strings on, to a very high degree of precision. People seem to be very satisfied with it.

The neck profile of Gilmour's actual Strat is that of a 1983 '57 reissue, which is an incorrect attempt at a 50ties V neck. The 83 reissues have mostly a V neck, but the very back is flat. The whole thing looks a bit like a trapezoid. I had already figured that this probably is the perfect neck shape for me long ago. Unfortunately actual 83 57 reissue Strats cost thousands of $$$, too, now that the hype is on.

Of course, everything we said so far is bull. You see, what the guitar really stands and falls with is the wood that the body is made of, and to a lesser degree the neck.

If you want an actually great Strat there is no other way than going through a lot of bodies and picking the best one. It's not that Gilmour did anything else either.

Ok. I'll check on the PLEK thing. As for guitars themselves, that seems to be the sticking point: the body. We know what made the Stradivari violins have such a good tone. However, having someone go physically pick out the best (or closest to the Stradivari phenomenon) body wood is not going to happen: not even Warmoth will do it. And I'd think that, given the industry, they already have someone upstream (i.e. as close to the lumber milling process as possible in chain of events) picking out the best specimens anyways.

That being said, what's the best way for someone to obtain such a sought-after body? If I wanted the best guitar body possible, if money was not an option, where would I go?

Also, if money is an option (i.e. I'm looking to, down the road, spend exactly $1000 on a guitar, but the best possible quality for that price, even if it means I must assemble it myself), what is the best place to spend it (i.e. what business)?