David Gilmour will be perpetually synonymous with a Fender Stratocaster, but on his latest single, he’s enjoying a new love affair with a Gibson ES-335.
The British prog luminary will release Luck and Strange, his first new solo album in nine years, on September 6 – a record he believes is his best since The Dark Side of the Moon, which in turn is considered one of the greatest guitar albums of all time.
Much of Luck and Strange's magic – besides pairing with a producer who had a “wonderful lack of respect” for Gilmour’s prestigious past – comes from the plethora of guitars the Pink Floyd legend has employed across its 10 new tracks.
Many of the guitars he couldn’t bear to sell at auction star alongside some new acquisitions, with a Gibson ES-335 seducing the seasoned songsmith on his newest single.
“I've not got a huge history with Gibson guitars, but this one is one I've bought comparatively recently to have a different tone, a different thing,” Gilmour explains via his YouTube channel.
“This is a very, very different sort of guitar to what I'm used to,” he adds, and he’s not wrong. The classic Gilmour sound hinges heavily on the snappy bite of a Strat – in particular his iconic black Strat, which shattered records when it was sold at auction in 2019, and was later played by Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Yet Gilmour professes a little regret for not playing one sooner: “I don't know why I didn't discover one of these a long time ago,” he says.
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“Every time you play a nice guitar you're not used to, it gives you something. Sometimes it just gives you a song. This one is a real beauty.”
The song the semi-hollow electric guitar has gifted the Pink Floyd man is Dark and Velvet Nights, which lives up to its name by representing the most shadowy and (dare we say it) Floydian track released thus far.
The Gibson is used for a classic Gilmour solo that feels thicker and warmer as a result of humbuckers here usurping Gilmour’s preferred single-coil setup.
The track follows lead single Piper’s Call, which boasted a one-and-a-half minute solo, and Between Two Points, which features a guest spot from his daughter, Romany Gilmour.
Luck and Strange is out on September 6 and is available to pre-order now.
