“I can’t explain what it is about a guitar that makes it special. This one is different”: David Gilmour couldn’t bear to sell this guitar at auction – now it’s all over his new solo album

David's guitars: #3 the black Gretsch guitar - YouTube

Watch On

David Gilmour has been showcasing the guitars he used to record his upcoming solo album, Luck and Strange – one of which is a vintage Gretsch Duo Jet he refused to part ways with at auction.

In 2019, Gilmour sold a huge number of electric guitars, acoustic guitars and other guitar gear as part of Christie’s The David Gilmour Collection. At the time, it was the most comprehensive sale of guitars ever offered at auction, and raised a total sum of $21,490,750.

The standout lot of the auction was the Pink Floyd legend’s iconic Black Strat, which ended up going for $3,975,000. It currently still sits as the third most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.

One guitar that was notably absent from the sale was a 1950s Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet, which, along with just a small handful of other exceptions, Gilmour simply couldn’t bear to sell.

“I’ve had it since the mid-’70s. It’s got a very particular sound to it, a very hi-fi sort of sound. I just, basically, didn’t want to sell it,” Gilmour says in a new video posted on YouTube. “They’re quite hard to come by.

“I can’t really explain what it is about a guitar that makes it special. This one is definitely different. The tonality of these particular pickups in this guitar is just very different.”

It’s rather telling that Gilmour sold the Black Strat, but decided to hold on to the Gretsch. It’s clearly indicative of the affection the guitarist has for the instrument, which was used on Gilmour’s first solo album in 1978, on the track Where We Start.

Perhaps more notably, he used the guitar onstage in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall to perform the solo of Comfortably Numb.

Gilmour had previously made clear his intention to keep hold of this particular guitar during an interview with Guitarist around the time of the auction, revealing, “I’m holding on to a black Gretsch Duo Jet that I really love.”

The Gretsch is in esteemed company, and is one of only a very small number of guitars that Gilmour couldn't bring himself to sell. That list also includes a “lovely old Gibson steel guitar”, a “1945 Martin D-18”, and his ’55 Fender Esquire that’s nicknamed ‘The Workmate’.

Now, the Gretsch has been put back to work, and will feature on the upcoming record, including its title track.

Visit David Gilmour’s YouTube channel to follow the ongoing guitar breakdown series.

In related Gilmour news, Roger Waters recently reflected on writingWish You Were Here.