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Pink Floyd, The Black Strat
A History of David Gilmour's Black Fender Stratocaster
by: Phil Taylor
www.theblackstrat.com
This is a great book with a ton of photos of Gilmour's infamous "Black Strat" along with a few other guitars he's used over the years. It's written by Phil Taylor, Gilmour's tech since 1974, so finally we are getting the story from the man who has "cared for, handled, dismantled, modified, adjusted, restrung, polishedtuned, plugged in, tested and handed over to David on countless ocassions throughout the years." Too cool! All the internet rumours, here-say and half truths can all be clarified and confirmed.
Gilmour has actually owned three "Black Strats" over the years, although the first was stolen in 1970, and the replacement was the one that became the "Black Strat". This one is on it's 6th neck, originally coming with a 4 bolt, maple capped neck. It seems Gilmour was not immediately drawn to this specific guitar, and for at least a year after it's purchase he used any of several Strats, including a sunburst and a white one. (Pompeii was recorded with the Black one) He eventually replaced the neck of the Black Strat with the rosewood neck from the Sunburst, and at this point it became his go-to guitar. It has had quite a few looks and modifications over the years including:
-toggle to add the Neck Pickup was done on two ocassions
-XLR jack was installed on the edge radius below the output jack to feed the hottest signal possible to a fuzz, then return to the guitar to use the volume as master volume
-body was routed and pickguard was modded to accept a full sized Gibson HB between the bridge and mid pickups
-Dimarzio bridge pickup was added in '76
-Bridge P/U was replaced by a Duncan in '79
-It was routed for a Kahler, then later repaired
Many necks have been used on it including two Charvel necks with Fender logos.
This is an incredible book for Gilmour fans. I believe it's only available at www.theblackstrat.com and between the currency conversion and shipping it's quite an expensive book for US residents, but I knew I had to have it.
Finally I'll leave you with the opening quote of the book:
"I told Phil that I wasn't interested. It seems a daft idea to me, writing a book about an ordinary guitar that I bought at Manny's"
Here is the Humbucker:
And something I think we'll all find interesting.
A History of David Gilmour's Black Fender Stratocaster
by: Phil Taylor
www.theblackstrat.com
This is a great book with a ton of photos of Gilmour's infamous "Black Strat" along with a few other guitars he's used over the years. It's written by Phil Taylor, Gilmour's tech since 1974, so finally we are getting the story from the man who has "cared for, handled, dismantled, modified, adjusted, restrung, polishedtuned, plugged in, tested and handed over to David on countless ocassions throughout the years." Too cool! All the internet rumours, here-say and half truths can all be clarified and confirmed.
Gilmour has actually owned three "Black Strats" over the years, although the first was stolen in 1970, and the replacement was the one that became the "Black Strat". This one is on it's 6th neck, originally coming with a 4 bolt, maple capped neck. It seems Gilmour was not immediately drawn to this specific guitar, and for at least a year after it's purchase he used any of several Strats, including a sunburst and a white one. (Pompeii was recorded with the Black one) He eventually replaced the neck of the Black Strat with the rosewood neck from the Sunburst, and at this point it became his go-to guitar. It has had quite a few looks and modifications over the years including:
-toggle to add the Neck Pickup was done on two ocassions
-XLR jack was installed on the edge radius below the output jack to feed the hottest signal possible to a fuzz, then return to the guitar to use the volume as master volume
-body was routed and pickguard was modded to accept a full sized Gibson HB between the bridge and mid pickups
-Dimarzio bridge pickup was added in '76
-Bridge P/U was replaced by a Duncan in '79
-It was routed for a Kahler, then later repaired
Many necks have been used on it including two Charvel necks with Fender logos.
This is an incredible book for Gilmour fans. I believe it's only available at www.theblackstrat.com and between the currency conversion and shipping it's quite an expensive book for US residents, but I knew I had to have it.
Finally I'll leave you with the opening quote of the book:
"I told Phil that I wasn't interested. It seems a daft idea to me, writing a book about an ordinary guitar that I bought at Manny's"
Here is the Humbucker:
And something I think we'll all find interesting.
