Prior to the About Face tour in early 1984, David and Phil Taylor went to Fender’s London warehouse and bought six new Stratocasters (- International Musician, 08/84). These were the new line of reissues of their most loved models, issued just after CBS sold out of Fender. They bought five 1983 ‘57 reissues, - one blonde with white pickguard and maple neck, four candy apple reds with white pickguards and maple necks and one candy apple red 1983 ‘62 reissue with white pickguard and rosewood neck. They were all fitted with Fender vintage reissue pickups. The candy apple reds became Gilmour’s trademark guitars for the next 15+ years.

The red Strat
Fender 1983 ‘57 Stratocaster originally with Fender vintage reissue pickups.
- Original Fender candy apple red alder body with a white black 1-ply 8 hole pickguard.
- Original Fender ‘57V reissue maple neck with Gotoh tuners.
- EMG-SA pickups with EXG mid-cut/expander and SPC mid booster.
- Shortened tremolo arm to 4.25″.

Guitars

- An early shot of the red Strat (left) without the EMG pickups. These were first seen at the Live Aid show in July 1985 (right)

The first pictures of the guitar (taken around the release of About Face in 1984) shows it pretty much “off the shelf” with the exception of the customized shortened tremolo arm. This is also the state of the guitar during the tour, although it was rarely seen as he mostly used the cream, the red 1962 reissue and the old Black Strat. The first glimpse of the guitar with the EMG pickups dates from David’s guest appearance with Bryan Ferry Live Aid concert in July 1985.

The guitar stayed as David’s main axe for the Momentary/Delicate tour (1987-’90) and the Division Bell studio sessions and tour in 1994. It’s also seen on countless TV- and guest-appearances throughout the 80’s and 90’s. David also used it on a couple of songs on the On an Island recoding sessions and tour, but commented that he prefered the Black Strat as the EMG pickups sounded “too much like humbuckers and not so much as a Strat”.

Guitars

- A very nice closeup of the red 1983 ‘57 reissue Stratocaster with the EMG pickups taken at the 2004 Interstellar Exhibition.
(picture used with permission from Frédéric Peynet)

Guitars

- A closeup of the red’s back taken at the 2004 Interstellar Exhibition. Notice the little sticker “#1″ perhaps indicating that this was David’s main red strat.
(picture used with permission from Stephane Paoli)

The EMG Pickups
As Pink Floyd’s stage shows grew bigger and more complex; David needed pickups that could handle the amount of radio signals and interference from the huge light rig on stage. The old single coil pickups buzzed and hissed too much, which was a problem as early as the Wall tour.
Each of his red Stratocasters (and the cream coloured) has low impedance active EMG-SA single coils with Alnico magnets, which he beefs up with two more tone modules: the EXG mid-cut/expander & SPC mid booster, - controlled with the tone knobs. David mainly use the EXG feature on rhythms as it helps define the notes, especially with a mild overdrive. The EXG is like a V-set EQ boosting the treble and bass. The SPC boosts the midrange producing a tone close to a humbucker. The SPC is where you really hear the Gilmour sound emerge. Turn it all the way up and you get that thick bluesy sound used on Shine On, Another Brick2 etc.