David Gilmour is a valuable member of the popular English rock band ‘Pink Floyd.’ Although David joined the band in 1967 as the fifth member, however, he is the most notable or recognized person in the band. It is most probably because he also is a successful solo music artist, and he has produced music for several singers.
He not only has contributed to the music world but he is also a philanthropist who is always involving himself in different charities for example he has contributed to cancer research charity. Talking about his music career, he is really successful with a net worth estimated to be $200 million and he is also said to be one of the best guitarists in history.
Certainly, David has inspired many of us. He is one of the best musicians in the world and we all are curious to know what equipment he uses. So the main question for today’s article is ‘what guitar does David Gilmour play?’
Well, David has used several guitars during his career however, the most known guitar he played is a 1969 Fender Stratocaster that is nicknamed The Black Strat. Other than that, David has also played guitars from Telecasters and more.
Further in the article, we will talk about in what year, which guitar David used.
What Guitar does David Gilmour play?
We have already answered the question so here we will just elaborate on which guitars David used to play in his musical career. Moreover, he has played both acoustic as well as electric guitar, and below you will find the list of every single guitar David ever played:
Every acoustic guitar David Gilmour played:
Gibson J-45
Of course, there are several acoustic guitars David has played however, it is said that the first time he was seen playing an acoustic guitar is Gibson J-45. He played this guitar back in the 1970s meaning he also played this during Pink Floyd’s album ‘Atom Heart Mother.’ And clearly, this guitar is best for live shows and we have seen him playing this guitar several times.
Mid-1980s Gibson J-200 Celebrity
If you play guitar and are into guitar then you might know that the 80s Gibson J-200 Celebrity is a very limited guitar because it was released only a few. Moreover, David used this guitar during the tour in 1994. Furthermore, as per a source, David once owned three of these guitars.
However, there are also sources who claim that David still owns two of these guitars which he uses as his main acoustic guitar. What is impressive about these guitars is that they have a really good and lovely sound and it also has a good amp system.
Martin D-35
We don’t even need to explain anything about this guitar because everyone knows that this guitar is really great and many popular artists have used the Martin D-35 including the founder of popular rock band Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl.
As great as this guitar is, according to various sources, it is one of David’s favorites.
Taylor 712CE
David used the Taylor 712CE for the show back in the early 20s. This acoustic guitar has a very good single cutaway design. You can still find the live show videos on the internet of David playing this guitar while performing “Wish You Were Here.”
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Ovation Custom Legend 1619-4
Ovation Custom Legend 1619-4 is one of the many guitars David played and it is said that it is one of his important guitar collections. This guitar is very good-looking simple yet elegant, furthermore, it also kind of looks like a classical guitar.
However, in overall it is one of the most popular and fun to play guitars. These are all the acoustic guitars we have seen David play in his live shows and now we will talk about all the electric guitars he ever played.
Every electric guitar David Gilmour played:
1960s Fender Telecaster
This guitar might be really important to David because it was a gift from his parents on his 21st birthday back in 1967. The 1960s Fender Telecaster, to be precise, David’s Telecaster was white and he said that he used to play this guitar when he was in the band Bullitt.
He also used this guitar when he was in Pink Floyd. Unfortunately, no matter how important or love he had for this guitar, he lost it because of a mistake by the airline company and he never got it back.
1959 Fender Telecaster Custom
David has played several Telecaster in his musical career including the 1959 Fender Telecaster. This sunburst Fender Telecaster was played in the ‘Dogs’ from the album ‘Animals.’ Furthermore, it is believed that David still has this guitar with him.
1955 Fender Esquire, aka “The Workmate”
Did you know? David used the 1955 Fender Esquire to record his first two solo albums. Furthermore, David called it “The Workmate” because it looked like it was worn out. It is said that David loved this guitar very much. Furthermore, this guitar is also rare because this model of guitar was limited.
It is said that the previous owner of this guitar was Seymour Duncan.
1954 Fender Stratocaster (#0001)
This is another Stratocaster 54th edition David sold at auction back in 2019. It was back in the 1970s that David bought this guitar and it was sold to him by Phil Taylor, his guitar tech. However, it is said that this guitar’s original owner was the creator Leo Fender, himself. It is also one of the rare and unique vintage guitars out there.
Although the origin of this guitar is not yet clear, it was sold for $1,815,000 in 2019. Furthermore, David played this guitar in 2004 at the Strat Pack show.
1984 Fender Stratocaster V57 (the ’57 reissue), aka “The Red Strat”
David also had the Fender Stratocaster V57 that was finished in Candy Apple Red. As per the reports, David bought this guitar at the London Warehouse. Moreover, this guitar had various modifications. It was also sold back in the 2019 auction for $615,000.
Double-neck Stratocaster
David used this guitar back in 1972 while on a US tour. As per the sources, this guitar was created by luthier Dick Knight. And yes, it was custom designed, however, it is not known if it was made after David asked or not but it is said that David wanted to play normally as well as slide on the same guitar.
It seems that this guitar was only used in 1972 however after that, we never saw this guitar again.
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Gretsch G6128T Duo Jet
David also used this guitar for his first albums according to various sources. Furthermore, he also used this guitar in the 2000s during live shows. There is no information on how David got his hand on this guitar or if he did any modifications but it was also sold for more than $60k in the 2019 auction.
Bill Lewis 24-fret Guitar
It was a custom-made guitar that was created by Bill Lewis, and reports have it that David got this guitar back in the 1970s and he even used this for the recording of “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Meddle.” It looks kind of like the SG body shape.
1969 Fender Stratocaster (The Black Strat)
You might have seen this guitar quite often because this guitar has been part of David’s long journey. He bought it back in 1970 at Manny’s guitar store in New York during Pink Floyd’s tour in North America. Now you might be wondering why he needed new guitar in the middle of a tour, and it is because his guitar was stolen.
Since this guitar has been a part of his long musical journey, it has also been modified several times. In fact, it has been modified so many times that the only thing original is its body. He used this guitar for a long time and in the 1980s he gave it to Hard Rock Cafe, only to get it back in 1997. He then sold this guitar in 2019 for nearly $4 million ($3.975 Million). Making it the most expensive guitar ever. However, later Kurt Cobain’s ’59 Martin D-18E broke that record as it was sold for $6 million.
1955 Gibson Les Paul
While David used a Fender guitar mostly but he also used Gibson Les Paul. As per the reports, he had a ’55 Goldtop model with P-90 and ’53 Goldtop. It is said that he used the Gibson guitar for “The Wall” album.
1952 Reissue Fender Telecaster
You might have seen David using this guitar as he used to play this guitar on live shows. Furthermore, this guitar was used for songs like “Run Like Hell,” as the guitar was mostly turned down to drop D. Moreover, he also had another Telecaster that was on standard tuning.
