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Post subject: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your help!
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:31 pm
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Hey all!

I'm buying a new Strat, my very first one. I'm going for the Classic Series 50s, and I want to replace the pickups. I'm a huge Gilmour fan, so that's the main sound/style I'm going to be going for. I also like deep gutteral bluesy type stuff (think John Mayerish type stuff), Mark Knopfler, and other music along that line. There are two pickguards I'm torn between. I love that super smooth Delicate Sound of Thunder-PULSE era tone of the EMG pickups, but I also love that classic Gilmour tone (Black Strat combination: Neck-CS Fat 50s, Middle-CS 69, Bridge: Seymour Duncan SSL-5) from Meddle to his latest solo album. I can't decide for the life of me which pickguard I want, because I love both tones so much. I've been leaning towards the Black Strat combo because to me it seems to be the most versatile, but after listening to the DG20 in action, I'm starting to rethink my decision. They're both such great pickups and both sound great in their own respect, but which can nail all Gilmour tones the best? My main guitar right now is an Epiphone Les Paul fitted with Seymour Duncan Phat Cats, and from what I've read online, the EMGs fatten up the sound of the Strat to make it sound more P90ish, so in theory can't I just use my Les Paul for the EMG type tones? Couldn't I also just set an EQ unit to mid-boost to get that tone with my Les Paul or with the Black Strat pup combo? Thanks a lot for your input! :D


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Epiphone Les Paul Standard with Seymour Duncan Phat Cats,Vox CryBaby, Boss CS-2, BYOC Triangle Big Muff, Boss BD-2, Electric Mistress, TC Flashback delay.

A chorus is on the way, I'm currently looking into either the Diamond Halo or the CostaLab ChorusLab.


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:49 pm
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Hi jcdenton825,

Why not get both? :D

jcdenton825 wrote:
....I love that super smooth Delicate Sound of Thunder-PULSE era tone of the EMG pickups, but I also love that classic Gilmour tone (Black Strat combination: Neck-CS Fat 50s, Middle-CS 69, Bridge: Seymour Duncan SSL-5) from Meddle to his latest solo album...

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:04 pm
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Hahahaha if only...


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:31 pm
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Go with the black strat setup. thats what I did on a black strat I built. I love the sound. I dig the sound he got with the EMG's, but I don't like active pickups. I think if you look at what he is playing now you have your answer....the BLACK strat! It is once again his main guitar, and from footage I've seen, only uses the red one on "Crazy Diamond"
Now thats just the guitar...much more to Gilmour tone than that, obviously. Pretty sure gilmour would sound like Gilmour regardless, doesn't hurt to have 10's of thousands in Pete Cornish custom pedals, and all the other stuff, but I manage to pull off quite a nice Gilmour tone without mortgaging the house. At least to my ears!

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:18 am
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Mayer has the Big Dippers (does Fender even sell those independent of the Mayer sig strat?) and Knopfler uses all Texas Specials... very different from any Gilmour setup. But the Black Strat setup I would think will give you the most tonally diverse strat over the EMG setup.

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:49 pm
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Tiger J wrote:
Knopfler uses all Texas Specials... very different from any Gilmour setup.


Knopfler also used EMG SA's for quite a while, of course, so a bit of common ground with Gilmour there.


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:30 pm
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Vulpinity wrote:
Tiger J wrote:
Knopfler uses all Texas Specials... very different from any Gilmour setup.


Knopfler also used EMG SA's for quite a while, of course, so a bit of common ground with Gilmour there.


Did not know that! I stand corrected.

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my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:56 pm
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Tiger J wrote:
Did not know that! I stand corrected.


From about 1988 to the mid nineties he was indeed mostly an EMG user, usually in his rather spiffy Pensa guitars -

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:12 pm
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Hi jcdenton825: I finally aquired the Gilmour EMG set a couple of years ago. Something grumpy in me had always resisted the idea of active circuitry in guitars but once I finally gave in I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I must admit, I like what they do - though I'm only prepared to go with them on a guitar with a proper battery compartment. Too much fannying about otherwise.

Still, I've more than once read Dave Gilmour saying the only reason he ever used active pickups all those years was because of interference from those giant lighting rigs and once that technology improved enough to cause fewer problems he was happy to set aside the active electronics and go back to what I'm sure I've heard him calling the "pure" single-coil sound. I know he still uses the EMGs now and again but still I think there's an argument for saying Gilmour himself would regard the passive pickups as his ultimate choice.

If that helps focus your thoughts any...?

BTW, regarding Knopfler: I've seen that gentleman play Sultans on everything from a Strat to a Tele to the Pensa Suhr to a Les Paul to a Danelectro. And every time he sounded like himself. I think that fella is on a life-long mission to say to us: "This sound is not the guitar, it's ME, people!"

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:16 pm
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I have to admit that when I ordered my candy apple red American Special Strat with the Texas Specials yesterday at GC I was thinking of Knopfler and Dire Straits the whole way home!

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my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:54 am
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Ceri wrote:
BTW, regarding Knopfler: I've seen that gentleman play Sultans on everything from a Strat to a Tele to the Pensa Suhr to a Les Paul to a Danelectro. And every time he sounded like himself. I think that fella is on a life-long mission to say to us: "This sound is not the guitar, it's ME, people!"


It's a very good point - I'm a firm believer that when you install a new set (of the same rough type - singles for singles, humbuckers for humbuckers, etc) of pickups, your tone may change initially, but over a period of time you subconsciously end up tweaking the tone right back to the sound that comes from your fingers. You can't get away from it, and I think that's what drives some people to be on an endless cycle of pickup changing and general new gear purchasing.

I think once you get above a certain level of quality of gear, you sound like yourself no matter what you do, so may as well embrace that and accept your destiny/doom (delete as appropriate) with open arms. Some people can make a Mexican Strat through a little transistor combo sound like angels weeping with joy, and some people can make a '56 Strat through a Dumble sound like a cat being poked with a pointy stick. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:05 am
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Vulpinity wrote:
Tiger J wrote:
Did not know that! I stand corrected.


From about 1988 to the mid nineties he was indeed mostly an EMG user, usually in his rather spiffy Pensa guitars -

Image


Not all of his MK signatures came with EMGs.

The MK1 was fitted with two SA single coils paired with an 85 humbucker in the bridge. It had also a switchable SPC mid boost push-pull pot. Other features included gold hardware, original Floyd Rose locking trem, Sperzel locking tuners, a bound rosewood fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets and a black-painted headstock.

Over the years John Suhr and Stephen Marchione came up with their own versions of the MK1 called "Carved Top Standard".

The MK2 is a passive guitar equipped with three Lindy Fralin Blues singles, matching headstock, an unbound rosewood neck and a tunamatic tailpiece. It serves as a backup to his namesake Fender signature model since 2003.

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:09 am
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If you going for a great sounding blues Strat, leave the guitar's electronics alone. Its awesome the way it is. If you want it all black, that just cosmetic. You can even buy a stubby tremolo bar for it too.

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:42 am
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I had a similar quandry and went with Lace Sensors. You sort of get the best of both worlds tonally I reckon.

I went for the Red/silver/blue combo for maximum range and I liked them so much I put another set in my Candy Apple Red Strat!

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Post subject: Re: Attention all Gilmour freaks and experts! I need your he
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:48 pm
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Vulpinity wrote:
some people can make a '56 Strat through a Dumble sound like a cat being poked with a pointy stick. :lol:

You have my sound in a nutshell. 8)

Still regarding the Knopfler thing though; seeing him play Sultans of Swing on a Les Paul and yet have it sound the quacky way it's meant to - well that goes against everything we think we know about guitars and pickups! That's the moment you realise the gear really is not the crucial link in the chain...

And to JestersTear1: though I don't recall Gilmour playing Lace Sensors (I stand to be corrected) I do think they are well suited to his kind of sound. If a guy liked what Dave did with the EMGs but hated the idea of active circuitry, well then I believe you could do a lot worse than go for some Sensors. Probably somewhere around Silver might be better for Floyd type sounds - but personally I just love that Silver, Blue, Red set! :D

Cheers - C

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