My question is this, the Deluxe is a guitar for life, like the reissue, but my intention is to try to emulate as much as possible Gilmour, worth the $ 100 difference? required to have to reject the noiseless, the locking tuners and tremolo of 2 points just for something VINTAGE, with significant pedals I have in mind to buy, it would sound almost the same? you say? Deluxe or American Vintage? (I should clarify that I have little hands, and I'm playing a guitar with medium jumbos and I'm very used to it)

So, gilmour sound. Reject locking tuners and that modern sound? or the HOT ROD?

Thanks! Gaspar.

I guess it depends on how far you want to go the get a Gilmour tone out of your guitar. Most of his tone is loaded with F/X of all kinds but he does also use some slightly out of the ordinary electronics on his guitars as well. I believe he is most noted for using EMG pups with some special tone shaping pots. You can get the whole rig pre-wired and ready to drop in right here.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

If you really want to get carried away you can also get yourself a shorter trem arm here. Scroll down the page to the part called "More Arm Lengths".

Welcome to our forum, by the way.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

The main ingredient to Gilmore's tone since at least the 1980's is his use of EMG's.

As someone else pointed out consider getting the preassemebled EMG pickguard if that's the sound you are after.

A more vintage strat would probably get you closer to his pre-EMG sound, although you would want to research what pickups he was using in the strat back then. I'd assume stock 60's pickups, but could be wrong.

as for the hands- that is one good reason to get the Am Dlx. It's got a compound radius neck and in my opinion it's quite comfortable. I have small hands too so I am not just blowing smoke there. However, everyone is different so don't just take my word for it - try one and see. Sometimes you also have to make a trade-off - tone vs playability.

As others have said it depends on which era Gilmour you want to approximate. If you're wanting the mid-80s (Momentary Lapse and Division Bell) type tones go for any '57 Reissue type Strat (AV '57, Hot Rod '57, even the MIM Classic '50s) and drop in the DG EMG set.

If you are looking for a pre-80s Gilmour sound, then you have to look at the evolution of The Black Strat. It has been modded many, many times over the years; of course it would have its original pickups from the time he bought it (it's a '68 and he got it in '69) up until say the time period between Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon. Some time around then he experimented with putting a Gibson humbucker in the space in-between the bridge and middle Strat pickups. When he tired of that and took that out, he dropped in the pickup set from his backup Strat, which was a circa '71/'72. So Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were also original Fender pickups, but from a slightly later Strat. Sometime in this era he also swapped the neck for a rosewood board one from an early '60s Strat.

Before recording Animals he replaced the bridge pickup with a DiMarzio (not sure of the model but I am sure it's no longer made), so Animals through the David Gilmour solo album and the recording of The Wall had the DiMarzio. For The Wall he had swapped the early 60s neck for a maple board neck made to his specs by Charvel. After recording The Wall he swapped the DiMarzio for a custom-wound Duncan pickup, so The Wall tour, The Final Cut, and the About Face album all had the Duncan bridge pickup. Gilmour still uses that pickup; Duncan makes it available now as the SSL-5 pickup (and on his CS Signatures Gilmour uses a CS '69 in the neck position and a CS Fat 50s in the middle position).

So if you're after say the Wish You Were Here or earlier era then regular Fender pickups from the AV '57 would get you close and CS '69s would really get you there. The problem with the Hot Rod '57 is pickup-wise it doesn't get you very close to his rig (they have SCNs in the neck and middle slot and a DiMarzio rail pickup in the bridge slot) - so unless you really prefer the neck on the Hot Rod over the regular AV '57 I would just go with the regular one because you wouldn't necessarily have to swap pickups. Remember - Gilmour used his 1983 '57 Reissues stock for the About Face tour and other live work until he dropped the EMG set into the candy apple red '57 Reissue about 1985/86 or so; by the time they did Momentary Lapse of Reason that one had become his main Strat.

Now for the American Deluxe - ff course the pickups on it are going to be very different; you would definitely need a pickup swap there. The hardware will give you a different sound, but if you have the right pickups you can get close enough that you can make adjustments through the effects. The tonal difference will show up most when you're playing with a very clean sound.

But based on the neck, would have to leave out the locking tuners, wood AAA, and versatility, just for that unique vintage sound? or you could do the same with the Deluxe? which is cheaper in terms of materials, the deluxe or AVHR57? Thanks for the feedback

I seriously doubt that locking tuners will affect your tone such that you could hear the difference. I have a pretty good ear and I know I would not be able to. I assume you are searching for the sound and function of Gilmour's guitar and not just the way it looks down to the finest detail.

You still need to decide whether you are wanting to emulate the black Strat or the red Strat. As John indicates, they are not the same animal. If you are unsure what you want you can always check out his gear specs here for some good descrptions. Look over on the right side of the page to examine his guitars in closer detail.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

First off let me state that I agree with BMW-KTM in that (pickups aside) the modern features of the American Deluxe like locking tuners and modern trem aren't going to impact your sound that much when playing through overdrives, distortions, long and short delays, and other effects to get that Gilmour tone.

The American Deluxe costs less, but it's not that the materials are that much cheaper. It's more that the nitro finish used on the AV and the HR are more costly to use and apply - primarily due to stringent EPA guidelines in California. Frankly David Gilmour isn't necessarily the guy I think of for "that unique vintage sound" due to his signal chain. Where the AV '57s really shine over the American Deluxe and the HR '57 (at least IMO) are the pure clean tones played straight through a clean amp like a Deluxe Reverb or Twin Reverb. I just haven't found a noiseless pickup that sounds as "right" as a regular single coil for that true vintage sound (think Eric Johnson or SRV). Gilmour is one of my personal favorites, but he rarely goes for that type of tone (but of course when he does it can be quite magical like the intro sections to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond").

You'll also need Gilmour's hands and fingers...

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Thanks for the feedback, The problem here is that I do not choose the 57 because his neck is 7.25 and I have girls hands, the handle would be the perfect hot rod, but the compound radius is tempting, I can not prove any of the 2 guitars because I'm Argentine and here there are those guitars, practically is a blind purchase. The issue of locking tuners tuning is to maintain, is not sound. Thanks guys

the hot rod actually has a 9.5" radius.
it is unfortunate you cannot try them out.
the next best thing is to try some guitars with similar features.
but the neck will be larger on the vintage hot rod so that may be a concern considering your hand size. what model and make guitar are you currently playing?
i may be able to tell you how each compares to it on neck shape and such.

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Heyy, I'm playing a chinesse guitar but with nice wood, it haves medium jumbos but i can't tell you the radius of the neck.

ah ok. well if you can get your hands on a pair of calipers i can tell you what will be close to it. or if you have the funds just buy both

but in all reality since you cannot play them its gonna be a crap shoot. personally i think the deluxe will be more comfortable in smaller hands. but i know guys with little sausage fingers that love huge necks so i dunno.
you really cannot go wrong with either as far as quality and sound, so at this point you may want to just flip a coin. or if you have the funds just buy both

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Go here and print this out and check what you currently have for a radius to get an idea.

http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardia ... Gauges.pdf

Hope this helps

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Fuuuck, i don't want to flip the coin, give me the cons and pros of both guitars please haha. Regresive count

Thanks guys