‘The Black Strat’
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: COMPETITION WINNER ANNOUNCED (16/11/07)
Frank Par wins a signed copy of ‘The Black Strat’.
Well done, Frank. Please let us know where we should send your prize.
Phil Taylor’s book, ‘The Black Strat: A History Of David Gilmour’s Black Fender Stratocaster’, can now be ordered from TheBlackStrat.com. This is the only way to obtain one at present. You cannot order it anywhere else, although this could well change in the not-too-distant future. I’ll keep you updated on that.
Written to accompany Fender’s long-awaited Gilmour Signature Strat, the book is a must-have for guitarist and non-guitarist alike, owing to its magazine-style mix of photos (there are many never-before-seen shots) and facts. There’s also plenty of technical detail and history.
This Strat will not be available this year. However, when it does become available, should you wish to purchase one, you will also get a copy of Phil’s book, a copy of the ‘Remember That Night’ DVD and a set of GHS strings, all housed in a special case.
Courtesy of Phil, I have a signed copy of ‘The Black Strat’ for you to win.
To be in with a shout, just visit TheBlackStrat.com and take any one word from the homepage, looking carefully at the title. Then post it here, with your daily comment.
No more than one word, no need to explain why you chose it, but please make your chosen word very clear.
Those who opt for the word that I have chosen will be entered into a raffle, with one name selected at random on Friday, when the winner will be announced.
One entry per person only, please. Entries must be submitted by 9.30AM (UK), Friday 16 November.
Good luck.
Once you’ve done that, please click here, see the bottom-left of the page, and vote responsibly. Planet Rock hope to determine the Best (Living) Guitarist, and we all remember ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Take A Breath’ from last year’s tour, don’t we?
And, once you’ve done all that, you can enjoy some more of Phil’s answers to your questions.
I heard you removed the Alembic Pre from this rig this tour. I work at Guitar Center and one morning I see that we all are looking for a vintage one because you called… or something along those lines. Why was it removed and is it going back now? (Matt Surdin)
It was not me who called, I have a few already. The modified Alembics are only used in David’s big Pink Floyd rig – which has not been out since 1994 – and another one with the Yamaha RA200 cabinet, last used in David’s barn earlier this year. See Polly’s photos.
I know David uses a big rack of effects, but, when I went to the Ritzy, he only used one amp and got his distinctive sound. What amp was it and were other effects used from the desk? (Anthony Green)
Get some new glasses. He used two amps: a 1958 Fender Tweed Twin and a 1958 Magnatone 280A, with one of his effects valve pedalboards that I had made.
I’m wondering how you made the black Strat so incredibly quiet on stage! What has changed since the last Pink Floyd tour, when David was still using EMG pickups? (Ben)
Nothing has changed on the guitar. The source of this problem is normally generated from the touring lighting and effects systems. This is picked up by the guitar’s single coil pickups and amplified as noise and interference. The improved designs these days mean that there are few problems. David has great control over his equipment and the way he uses it, and is very good at getting through a show with interference and masking it if needed.
Do we know how much the guitar will be priced at yet?
[Not yet, sorry. There are still contractual negotiations to be finalised. - Features Editor]
Thanks F*Ed, I dont even play guitar but I still have my eye on one
History
The Word: “A”
Today’s Comment: I’m loving Phil’s answers. Great caption Rudders. I looked like an idiot cracking up in my empty office with people walking by….
My word is
“ROCK”
Thank you.
My word is: LEGENDARY
Good luck to everyone!
Hi Fed, and all
Hope all is well, as i havent been able to get on lately so feel a bit out of the loop.
Anyways – i have a bit of advice for you – well perhaps a warning.
If anyone is going to the tutenkahmun exhibit at the o2 (london) expecting to see the very famous burial face mask and sarcophagus, please beware! these items are not on display. Not that you would know it to look at the advertising – the image used on the posters is that of a 12inch figurine – the real treasures are considered too fragile to move and are still in cairo.
I was lucky enough to see them in cairo earlier this year, and we decided to go for a bit of a reminder as to how good it was, we got through the whole tour and ended up in the gift shop wondering if we had made a wrong turn. BTW the gift shop is obscenely overpriced – £10 for a pen, a bloody pen! – and no it didnt come out of the tombs
The exhibit is worth seeing, but if you’re going just to see the masks – then please think twice!
Oh yes fellow Gilmourette Lorraine! Glad you picked a bit of Pompeii and circumstance.
Since I was only 3 at the time I asked mother if she recalled the event and she ‘remembered that night’ and the disrobing! Lol. So did my daddy! Cos he took his off too to get mother’s attention but he said she didn’t take any notice cos she was goo-goo over David so my dad put it under his seat and forgot to pick it up at the end of the show! Now he reckons David owes him a shirt!
Better go back to work. Bye!
Lyn
My word has to be……personal!
BLACK
Any word on when the strings will be available?
[Sorry, no. - Features Editor]
I’m going with Iconic.
Hope you have some great plans for your day off, Fed.
Cheers.
[It's been postponed, actually. It will be a spot of Christmas shopping, though. - Features Editor]
The pics are great and detailed, I particularly love the Hands On photo.
Caption: Phil is lost in Arizona and sees a mirage of a Black Strat in the sand.
What a treat, but it looks like I’m too late to enter :-(
Ah well, I make my choice anyway. Here it is.
“David”
[It's Friday already? If so, I missed a night's sleep and am not happy about it. - Features Editor]
and the word was: history
oh FE’d you tease us so with your word play! it wasn’t my first choice
[just thinking that a note from Mr Taylor to the lucky winner in the book would be truly special?
it being the website comp?]
& was too late for the vote
it had changed to drummers – I saw powell needing oxygen after a solo during a whitesnake show but I went for mitchell, voting responsibly
planet rock was rather cool midnight saturday – hanoi rocks floyd hawkwind & no talking
hope you are ok FE’d? & people are all keeping fine?
andy.
[Fine, thanks. (Vote Moon.) - Features Editor]
My word is ‘David.’ (It must be the most used word on the homepage.)
As for the Planet Rock thingy when i click on it the poll is still about the greatest rock drummer. Have i missed the guitarist section already?
Hope everyone is well.
Just one more thing – the nights are getting darker earlier now, everyone should take note – nature is trying to tell us to watch Davids DVD more often. I’ll certainly be listening to its advice.
& only 1 other has taken my first choice word so far!
andy
My word would be ‘Fender’.
Although I am not a guitar geek, the book does look very nice indeed.
Cheers,
Martin.
chosen word: ISLAND
Hi Fed.
I choose GUITAR.
Did we ever talk about the secret goodies that came with the DVD? Did I miss it?
[We didn't. And we probably won't (not for a while, anyway.) - Features Editor]
Hi all.
I can’t access the strat page so I’m gonna pick a word from other people and hope it’s from the right part of the page… my word is Iconic, since the strat is iconic of David’s sound and David is iconic of the strat (when you think strat, who comes to mind???).
Tim
My word is: Phil
He’s the one who wrote the book, right?
My word is LEGENDARY
Cant wait to see the book, will order it if I don’t win it (very unlikely !)
Gutted that the black strat won’t make it this year, but I’m sure it will be worth waiting for……
[I'm sure that it will be, Anthony. - Features Editor]
Black
Thanks for another fun competition.
Nice STRATOCASTER !! If I played guitar, I would certainly be saving my pennies to purchase one of these beauties!
Promises to be a good book as well!!
~STRATOCASTER~ is my word, in case it didn’t stand out enough!
Good day everyone, and let’s continue to pray for little Aaron Floyd Emery…
Okay, let’s try this again …
I’d just composed a what I thought to be a semi-interesting post and then my computer decided to latch up on me! Maybe I should take the hint … not such an interesting post after all??
As much as I love the words ‘iconic’ and ‘Pompeii’ (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm), I am choosing the word ‘David’ for my entry even though I dislike referring to him as just a word!
Love the cover art of the book … very beautiful, like the music that David makes with his black strat.
Like nickster, I have been have been attempting to cast my vote for David but keep getting an error message. But, if at first you don’t succeed …
Hope everyone out there is well and happy, including you FEd. You’re doing a fine job keeping David’s website up-to-date and always interesting!
Peace ‘n’ love to you all!
Gabrielle
[You're very kind. - Features Editor]
My Word is
FIRST
It’s my first comment here…
The word has to be “official” because the word came through this site. . .
Now, since I’ve already ordered the book, and a signature doesn’t mean all that much to me, if the chosen word is “official”, and I win, could I donate the signed copy of Phil’s book to the Crisis auction with David’s signed photo’s? That would be brill!!
Thanks for the opportunity!
[I don't think that's possible. In any sense, you'd have to ask Crisis. - Features Editor]
My guess is the Features Editor has picked “HISTORY” as the word from the Black Strat website.
I hope Crisis is able to raise a healthy sum of money through the eBay auction.
A friend of mine from Manchester introduced me to their volunteer program last Christmas and we were able to donate some of our time to help feed the homeless and help take care of the facilities that were used for extra housing during the holiday season. It’s another way to give to Crisis and help the homeless.
Hope you’re all well – Happy Thanksgiving to fellow American Gilmour fans and good luck on the Black Strat contest!
Ed Lopez
Caption from Lyn on the train on the way home to Margate-:
“I’m lost and there’s snakes. David, Phil where are you? I want my boomer dads, wahh wahh!”
:-*
LYN
I am definitely going to pick “DAVID” as my word of choice. I really love that word
Thanks
Alpha Martha
My chosen word is “History”.
Fingers crossed.
Best regards.
Julie
I’m going to go with ‘History’. Thanks FEd.
My word is ‘signature’.
I never win anything so I will not hold my breath, but it is fun to try!
You never know, maybe one of these days…..
DARK
Hi there,
My word for the competition is: “Black”
Cheers, John
Hello,
It’s all about David’s guitar so my word is: Strat
Marielle
My chosen word is “backline”.
I’ve always loved the collection of black boxes, jewel lamps, casters, and grille cloth.
Bob
Stratocaster
Loving the DVD! It’s a good excuse to finally upgrade some ancient and creaky old home audio equipment.
Contest Word = Signature.
Phil Taylor’s responses are fascinating to read. I am sure the book will be equally engaging.
Hi Fed… just wanted to say hi…
Black.
Jorge.
Hi,
I looked carefully at the title and decided to choose “BLACK”.
Not sure if it was a good choice though…
My word is ‘awaited’.
So many gifts here ! C’est extraordinaire !
Tschüß. (On prend de ces habitudes ici…)
Michèle
I just wanted to note that the Norwegian TV-channel NRK1 is showing Davids concert from RTN on Friday 16th November at 00.10!
[Thanks for that, Thomas. More TV dates should be following shortly. - Features Editor]
My word is STRAT.
By the way, I looked at the preview page and want to know what David’s t-shirt says. I know the top line is Little David, but I can only make out from the bottom line “Was Small …”. I’m sure it’s probably an ad for something, but I don’t have a clue what Little David is.
Please enlighten me FE’d:)
[I'll just get into my time-travel machine here... - Features Editor]
My chosen word is stratocaster.
Loved the book cover, brilliant signature pic by ST. A must buy for Christmas!
Hello Fed.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
The voting page on Planet Rock alas doesn’t seem to work. I get a 404 error saying the page doesn’t exist. I see that others are having problems too. Must be a kinky linky!
I’ll have another go tomorrow!
Lyn :-o
[The poll has changed. See above. - Features Editor]
[Fine, thanks. (Vote Moon.) - Features Editor]
Already have but i was slightly surprised that Mason wasn’t on there.
Also surprised why Moon is so low. How can someone that entertaining and so good as so many different styles of drumming be so low?
I think that there were too many so’s in that sentence.
Thursdays are so (ul) nights.
Really a very special guitar…is a better choice of Fender for one of your “Signatures Guitars”…and a great moment of course!
I have one question: probably “The Great Gig In The Sky” is recorded in the Royal Albert Hall on the last year with the other songs of the concert. Is it possible that the video of “The Great Gig In The Sky” with Mica Paris will appear on this site?
Thank You
[I'm afraid that's unlikely, but you never know. - Features Editor]
My word is “Legendary”.
HI Fed
I will keep this simple My word is STRAT every guitar players dream guitar.
Please please let me win this one. I do keep trying on every competition on here.
Thanks
Anthony
[You didn't win four tickets to the Ritzy, then? - Features Editor]
Looking carefully at the title my word is:
LEGENDARY
As for my commentary today I take issue with Stephen Barnhart’s green tip. The entire experience of having children cannot be equated to adoption, sorry there is a difference. And even a suggestion that someone should reconsider procreation just because someone else never considered the circumstances is just plain wrong. Maybe the green tip should be get neutered.
Thanks.
Andrew
My choice is – History
Thanks for the competition FEd.
My word…it was the first word I saw…TECHNICIAN, so let’s just go with that…anyways, good luck to everyone!
K.C.
My word is ” History ”
Thank you
My word is: David
Phil’s answers are indepth and really interesting, Phil thanks for your time,
Tomasz
Hello Fed,
A big thank you for another wonderful contest – with yet another fantastic prize!
Hoping that I understand the rules correctly, my word choice is “guitar” as the word appears on the webpage and a picture of a guitar seems to be in the title. Perhaps my thinking is all wrong – the fun is in the trying!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Randall
Okay…I am gonna really stand out…My word is “The” (you did say ANY word…)
So, I went onto the paypal part of the website to see how much it would cost me…$53 American Dollars!
I can’t buy one now…No cash on hand…
(
Thanks George Bush…you are driving our economy into the bloody ground with your damned inflation and your damned war!
On a happier note, I told my parents to donate to Crisis for Christmas and I think they are going to do it!!
Have a good weekend FEd! Job Interview tomorrow, Wish me luck!
)
[Good luck, Ax - Features Editor]
I reckon i’ve figured out the word from your clue in your question:
“Gilmour’s”
Josie Posie
xx
Managed to vote for David on my end. It’s funny people still keep coming up with these little contests to figure out what the best guitar player (alive or dead), best solo, best website. The answer is always the same, and it’s pretty obvious!
My word, History.
Catch up with all of you soon!
Phil
He made the book he should get some credit so my one word is” PHIL
Hi FEd
Wow, from the sample pages shown, this book looks like it is going to be a must have item!
My word is “Strat”
Speaking of the book one of the pages shows a case with “Pink Floyd London” written on it and one of David’s guitar picks. It would be neat if they were part of the package.
Speaking of case, I looked for band stickers (for example, Pink Floyd) to stick on my guitar case recently and couldn’t find any at any store that sells music or instruments. With all the stickers available at any card shop, dollar store, department store, etc, you’d think it would be a no-brainer!
Oh, well.
Just to let you know, I was on the VOX website today and they are running a little popularity contest in celebration of their 50th anniversary.
They are letting people vote for their
1. favourite contemporary (1980 and after) VOX user – David is not one of them
2. favourite classic (pre-1980) VOX user – David is not one of them
3. favourite VOX wah user of all time – David is listed here, so of course I voted right away.
I have a Crybaby myself, but someday I’ll give the VOX a try.
If you want to vote, click my name below and click on the big yellow button labelled “The VOX Gold Awards”.
BLACK
Melissa(*_*)
my word is BLACK
My chosen word is “Phil”, assuming the contest is open to Canadians?
Either way, good luck to everyone.
[It's open to everyone. - Features Editor]
Have a great weekend, you too Fed! Good Luck everyone.
legendary
–> David’s <–
Fantastic competition and prize.
Many thanks to all who have made it possible. Especially you F’Ed.
my word is “island”
because david’s music is like a beautiful and wonderful calm, small island in a world with plenty of mediocrity.
thanks for the good moments, david.
juanjo
(sorry for my bad english)
[Bad English, Juanjo? It's excellent, if you ask me. - Features Editor]
My wife has ordered the book for me for Christmas. The web page for the book has really wetted my appetite, it reminds me of a Dorling Kindersley childrens book from what i have seen & thats meant as a compliment by the way.
Gilmour’s
That’s my word
The pictures look great, I’m sure it’ll be a very interesting read!
My word is ‘chief’.
And since it is almost in sight: pleasant weekend everyone!
Bart
i think ill go with
‘home’
Hmmmmm, looks like one had to choose from the title only? Or did the whole paragraph of the homepage count?
Have a good weekend!! And is Wales fighting for their last chance this weekend for Euro 2008?
[My boys are only playing for their pride now. - Features Editor]
Thanks for entering.
The competition is now closed. The winner will be announced this afternoon.
Good luck to all.