Hi, everyone. I’m looking to go for a Gilmour guitar “look” with a black Strat. I’ve looked through the forums, Gilmourish, the book, etc.

Looking at different Strats, I think the hardest to find is one with a neck to match up. The Black Strat has a C shaped maple neck, but it’s tinted. I don’t see any strats with that tinted neck available. Does anyone know if there are? The closest that I see is the Vintage 57, with a tinted V maple neck. All others seem to have the lighter, regular maple necks.

Thank you.

Hi Mikey: well, the US and Mexican Standards both come with lightly tinted C-shape necks these days, permitting you to choose between 21 and 22 frets. Neither of those are finished in nitro and neither are near as dark tint as the Gilmour Sig, and they both have 9.5 inch 'boards, though.

As you say, the various '50s RIs offer much darker tinted lacquer as well as 7.25" radius fingerboards. My CIJ '57 claims a soft V-shape neck: in fact, that V is so soft you could almost call it a sharp C (haha). I have never played the Gilmour Sig but perhaps that gentle V on the CIJ '57 is somewhere in the same ballpark as the "thin shouldered C" that the specs on the Black Strat mention...?

If you really need the nitro part of the equation and don't want to spring for a DG Sig then I guess you gotta go to a shop and try an AVRI '57 alongside a DG and see if they're close enough for your taste. Then do the required mods to the pickups and 'guard.

Personally, after all that I'd have thought you're getting well towards the price of the Sig, so...

Cheers - C

Gilmour has got to be my biggest influence, but as far as the neck, get one that fits you. I ended up getting the Vintage Hot Rod 57 with the soft V 9.5 radius neck, and love it. The 7.25 neck just didn't feel right to me.
And lets face it, none us us are going to play exactly like David Gilmour, All we can do is hope to get close.
Also building a Gilmour Black Strat is going to have no real value to anyone but you, so build it for you, and to your feel. There are different aftermarket necks you can get finished the way you want it. Hope this helps.

That "thin shouldered C" on the Gilmour is the neck CBS/Fender used on the early USA-made reissues from 1982-1984 (and the neck on the original "Black Strat" is one from the vintage white '57 Reissue Gilmour used on the "About Face" tour and the Paul McCartney "Give My Regards To Broad Street" tour). I have played both a Gilmour NOS and I do vaugly remember playing those reissues when they were first released. The neck is very thin in depth - something in-between an 80s American Standard Strat and an Ibanez Wizard neck if that gives you an idea. Cool that Gilmour likes it but it would take a lot of getting used to. And the shape is hard to describe - something like an ellipse so its a "mostly-C-but-a-little-like-a-V" shape. Much more "C" than any current "soft V" shape.

The best advice is go for a neck you like. Personally I would start with your favorite among these 3:

Classic Series '57 in black
American Vintage '57 in black
Hot Rod Vintage '57 in black

Then change out the pickguard to a one-ply black, change the pickups as much as you like (although with the AV '57 you could get by with only changing out the bridge pickup to Gilmour's Duncan SSL-5) and add the micro switch to give you the neck/bridge combo.

For something a bit different you could go with a '60s-style Strat and do the guitar up the way he had it from "Dark Side" through the "David Gilmour" album when he had an early '60s rosewood board neck on the guitar.