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Post subject: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:01 am
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Hi guys, I must ask.. why the heck does the David Gilmour Strat cost so much?? At my local music store, it costs 6,200 dollars for a relic and 5,500 for a NOS!!! :shock: That's kind of steep, isn't it?? I could buy a black American Standard, put a black pickguard on it and toss the EXACT same pickups in it, add the neck toggle switch for probably less than $2000!! So, why exactly is the price of the DG strat so high????


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:19 am
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That's Custom Shop pricing for you.
The guys putting the guitars together spend a fair bit more time getting finishing touches right than you'd get on the main production line.
The reason the NOS costs less is because it only has to be finished once as the relic has a sunburst sprayed on first, followed with a black overcoat, and is then reliced. The NOS doesn't have the sunburst sprayed on.

There's no reason at all why you couldn't take a standard production guitar and modify it to a similar spec to the Gilmore model.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:40 am
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stratmangler wrote:
That's Custom Shop pricing for you.
The guys putting the guitars together spend a fair bit more time getting finishing touches right than you'd get on the main production line.
The reason the NOS costs less is because it only has to be finished once as the relic has a sunburst sprayed on first, followed with a black overcoat, and is then reliced. The NOS doesn't have the sunburst sprayed on.

There's no reason at all why you couldn't take a standard production guitar and modify it to a similar spec to the Gilmore model.
That is true about the black over sunburst and the relic job, but the price on labor and materials can't be over $2500... If Gilmour wanted 10% in Royalties, That's $600. $6000-$600=$5400. 5400-2500=$2900. So when you think about it, Fender is making close to $2900 on these guitars. That's quite a lot of money..


Last edited by terra7127 on Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:49 am
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High end luxury products, made for a selected clientele, in a market with little or no competition, are usually priced accordingly.
One shouldn't expect any straight dependancy between production costs and price.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:19 am
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jmattis wrote:
High end luxury products, made for a selected clientele, in a market with little or no competition, are usually priced accordingly.
One shouldn't expect any straight dependancy between production costs and price.


+1

Fundamental supply-and-demand axiom.

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:26 am
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jmattis wrote:
High end luxury products, made for a selected clientele, in a market with little or no competition, are usually priced accordingly.
One shouldn't expect any straight dependency between production costs and price.
That makes sense. That does explain it.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:47 pm
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If you are a Fender collector... cough up and shut up! :mrgreen:

If you just want a Gilmourish Strat... I highly suggest making your own Warmoth for under $2000. Or even cheaper yet at the $800 range... check out the 920D Custom Shop at Sigler Music. They take MIM Standard Strats - strip them down, and do great things with them! They have two 920D Custom Shop Gilmour Strats - one with the battery boosted "red strat" EMGs and one with the "black strat" pups. Never played them but they look like a good deal for a Gilmour Strat on a budget!

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:46 am
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jmattis wrote:
High end luxury products, made for a selected clientele, in a market with little or no competition, are usually priced accordingly.
One shouldn't expect any straight dependancy between production costs and price.


Indeed. And, assuming you don't loose the certificate, a Custom Shop guitar might not depreciate like "lesser" models. It is a product for collectors rather than players so, if you are merely after the technical specification of the guitar, it would be madness to shell out on the certified copy.

On the other hand if you want Gilmours very own Strat obviously you can't have it so the Custom Shop Certified and accredited version is as near as you are going to get. In that respect it might be deemed good value.

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:47 am
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I suggest making your own guitar, as well. Find a neck profile, thickness, fretboard radius, frets, woods that suit your hand and get a custom neck, finish a body yourself, add whatever pickups you want. I bought a Musikraft neck. Finishing a body yourself is a great learning experience.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:19 pm
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Those Sigler customised Strats look to be the ticket!


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 7:28 am
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If you decide to build yours, one of the best sources of information and parts for Strats I've found is Overdrive/StratCat.

Craig, the owner, built his own Gilmour Black Strat, it's beautiful and inspired him to start the business.

I've bought Strat parts from him for years, good advice, descriptions/pics and fast shipping.

I lust after one of his custom pickguards, 1 Ply, 0.120" Acrylic with Rounded & Polished Edge in Eggshell White. Although he refuses to admit one exists. :lol: The Black one is a thing of beauty, see below,.

Go to Black Strat Project to see his meticulous recreation, list of parts & tools and many pics.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:31 am
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Just a few comments about the history of this project, because it came to fruition just as the Mayer Tribute guitar project was getting under way and I used the Gilmour project as a contrast to what was happening with the Mayer.

In reality, the Gilmour guitar is a Tribute instrument. In '08 it was priced significantly lower but price points between the two models was about the same. Considering increases in costs, and the price points of the other Fender Tribute models, the Gilmour was a bargain. David would not consent to the production of this guitar if it was not priced within reach of most guitar aficionados nor if it were limited in number. I paid $4000 for my NOS
and the Mayer eventually was priced at $10K. In addition to finish, the Gilmour relic has had the same structural changes and repairs made to it as the original. This means that parts of the body were cut out to accept a different pickup, and a stereo output jack. These changes had to be reversed when the guitar's electronics were returned to conventional design. Hence, more labor goes into the relic than preparing the NOS body.

As previously suggested, if you are simply interested in the 'vibe' which goes with the design of that guitar, there are alternate sources for that build. I have no way of knowing whether those guitars are fitted with the '57V neck which was put on the Black Strat in '05. In 1983, as Fender was renewing itself, they produced a vintage series of guitars.....'57V's. David acquired one in cream [not the '001'] and his iconic CAR. The CAR was fitted with the EMG-SA's because the nature of Gilmours high gain effects, the stage lighting and such were playing havoc with his guitar. The neck from the cream colored Strat was that which was fitted to the Black Strat in '05.

In the end, it boils to different strokes. For example, there have been several renditions of the Clapton Strat for sale to the public, two of which were LTD's and are no longer available. Those renditions garnered great interest among Clapton collectors. I own an '89 Pewter and a rare '87 Torino Red prototype with the mode switch in the circuit. For me, this defines the guitar as it was originally conceived, notwithstanding the fact that a black guitar was his hallmark. Some were motivated enough to go $25K for a replica of the 'Blackie'. Not me. Different strokes.

The Gilmour guitar is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the only Fender Tribute guitar to have had a book written about it.

" Pink Floyd The Black Strat'' A History of David Gilmour's Black Fender Stratocaster' by Phil Taylor...Hal Leonard Books, pub.

If you intend to purchase it, be sure you're getting the second edition or later. :idea:

Doc :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 11:07 pm
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@ZZDoc

The vintage white '57RI shared the same EMG DG20 set as the CAR guitar.

Following Phil Taylor's recommendations Dave switched back to the Black Strat because he was not satisfied with the tones he got from the EMGs - stating the SAs sounded more like humbuckers than single coils.


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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:33 am
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chromeface wrote:
@ZZDoc The vintage white '57RI shared the same EMG DG20 set as the CAR guitar. Following Phil Taylor's recommendations Dave switched back to the Black Strat because he was not satisfied with the tones he got from the EMGs - stating the SAs sounded more like humbuckers than single coils.

Taylor writes that The Black Strat went on 'permanent loan' to the Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas
in return for the company's donation to the Nordoff-Robbins Music Center Charity. Ten years later, its return was requested and it arrived in 'filthy, poor condition...with damaged and missing parts' having been display 'unsecured and without a glass cabinet......handing at eye level over a table open to vandalism'. In addition to the replacement of certain plastic and metal and an overall cleanup, the Kahler trem and locking nut were removed, the space therein repaired with a wood block and the guitar refinished. The original trem system was reinstalled as well as a new '57V neck. [The photos in the book clearly illustrated the nature of the wood repairs which were necessary to restore top and the bottom of of the guitar when the neck humbucker, the Kahler, and an XLR socket were eventually removed. I remind you that these alterations and restorations of same were reproduced by Fender in the relic version,and required additional labor time.] He used the guitar for the 30th anniversary 'Dark Side of The Moon' DVD documentary. Then it went to display at The Interstellar Exhibition in Paris 2003-2004, properly encased. It was at the third day of rehearsals for "Live 8'' during which he had been using the CAR/EMG's, that it was suggested that he try the Black Strat because it had been used on the original recordings of the songs. Taylor states that 'David's guitar sound instantly ascended to 'another level', and that his interaction with the guitar was 'as if he had just discovered an old lost friend.' From what I can glean from the book is that the pickups on that guitar were the Duncan SSL-1C, at the bridge, which had been installed in 1979, and the stock middle and bridge pickups which were original equipment at purchase. The replica has an SSL-5 at the bridge, which was David's choice for this guitar as were the other two. Those specs can be found on the Custom Shop website and need not be reviewed here. Suffice it to say that the guitar meets his specifications and requirements completely, and he actually performed with his copy of the final prototypes. This guitar definitely possesses its own voice and I will be using it for a gig I'm doing in March because it lends something to era of the songs I've chosen to perform. I expect that the relic copy even moreso because the wood repairs, by nature, would have to contribute something different to the sonic quality of the body. Hope that fills out some details for 'terra' and inspires ownership of the book, and saving of loose change for the guitar. :idea: 8)

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Post subject: Re: Why do the David Gilmour Strat's cost so much??
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:59 am
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I'm just gonna toss my $.02 worth in here...these are strictly my own personal opinions and should be taken as such.

My first comment/suggest here, would be to ask yourself why you're interested in this guitar to begin with. As other's have already suggested, a collector is going to have a very different thought process than an average guitar player...and as others have already said, that's the market these instruments are aimed at (and thus are priced accordingly). If you're not a collector however, in my mind there are only two significant things to think about - sound and aesthetics.

If you just like the look of the infamous "Black Strat"...just pick up a black Strat and slap a black pickguard on it! LOL! Seriously...there's nothing wrong with that. As a person who's also an artist, I can appeciate "aesthetics" and to be perfectly honest, for myself at least it's a lot like looking at women. You don't usually see a woman from across the room (or guitar shop show room floor) and think "gee...I wonder if she's intelligent...", LOL! The same can often be said of guitars...you walk into your favorite guitar store and something catches your eye...THEN you pick it up and play it to see how it sounds and feels. Obviously those later two issues should be more important, however for many folks, aesthetics do play an important roll.

Now if you're more interested in "sound", things here get a bit more complicated. I would state the obvious here in reminding people that 9/10's of ANY guitar player's sound comes from his (her) hands and heart. While this has been posted before....since we're talkin' David Gilmore here, check this vid out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfXL7m2889k


...he's not even playing a Strat, let alone the Black Strat, yet wow...he still sounds like David Gilmore! I wanted to point this out as a lot of people have an interest in something like Signature Series instruments for the wrong reasons. While I typically use this analogy with Eric Clapton, the very simple truth here is that David Gilmore sounds like David Gilmore because heIS David Gilmore. If you're genuinely trying to sound like David, your time and money would be better invested in studying his style and technique as apposed to spending it on ANY specific instrument, Custom Shop or otherwise. In short, if you want to SOUND like Gilmore, then learn to PLAY like Gilmore 8) .

With this in mind, if you're still interested in creating your own version of Gilmore's prized instrument, as others have already said, this guitar is very well documented...for someone with some moderate level luthier skills, it shouldn't be too difficult to do a pretty accurate reproduction at a fraction of the cost of the Custom Shop instrument.

Again, just my own opinions...please use them for what they're worth to you.


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