Fender Custom Shop Announces David Gilmour Strat

by Premier Guitar

After years of anticipation, the David Gilmour Strat will officially hit stores on September 22

Scottsdale, Arizona (July 29, 2008) -- David Gilmour and the Fender Custom Shop are extremely proud to announce the highly anticipated release of one of the most iconic musical instruments of the past 50 years -- the David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster guitar. Based on Gilmour’s famous “Black Strat” guitar, the instrument will be available at select Fender retailers worldwide beginning Sept. 22, 2008.

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A cornerstone of Pink Floyd’s incomparably revolutionary sound, Gilmour’s Black Strat is featured extensively on The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and his critically acclaimed 2006 solo effort, On An Island. The Fender Custom Shop worked hand-in-hand with Gilmour and his longtime guitar technician, Phil Taylor, to create this signature model, a detailed reproduction of the Black Strat -- complete in its unmistakable look, sound and feel.

Gilmour bought the original instrument in May 1970 from Manny’s Music in New York. The guitar’s first Pink Floyd recorded appearance came on the group’s fifth album, Atom Heart Mother. It subsequently became Gilmour’s main guitar for live performances and studio work.

The new reproduction -- the David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster guitar -- features an alder body, black over three-color sunburst finish, a black pickguard, a one-piece straight-grain maple neck, custom pickups and Gilmour’s now-infamous electronics and shortened vintage tremolo arm. Beautiful, powerful, unique and as idiosyncratic as Gilmour’s playing, the guitar will be produced by the Fender Custom Shop in N.O.S. (new old stock) and Relic versions.

The David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster guitar comes with a custom case, an Evidence high-end guitar cable, Gilmour’s three-disc Live in Gdansk CD/DVD set and Taylor’s 2007 book about the guitar’s history, The Black Strat. The first 500 guitars sold in either finish option will include a limited edition, signed copy of The Black Strat book, autographed by Phil Taylor.

Specs:


	NOS	Relic
Model Number	015-0068-806	015-0069-806
Colors	(806) Black, (Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish)	(806) Black over 3-Color Sunburst, (Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish)
Body	Comfort Contoured Select Alder
Neck	1-Piece Maple, 1983 Thin-Shouldered “C” Shape, (.790” to .870” Taper), (”Thin-Skin” Dark Tint Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish)
Fingerboard	Maple, 7.25” Radius (184mm)
Frets	21 Vintage Style Frets
Pickups	1 Custom Shop Fat ‘50s Single-Coil Strat Pickup, (Neck), 1 Custom Shop ‘69 Single-Coil Strat Pickup (Middle) 1 Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Single-Coil Strat® Pickup (Bridge)
Controls	Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Middle Pickup)
Pickup Switching	5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup Position 3. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup 1 Mini-Toggle (Adds Neck Pickup in Positions 1, 2 and 3.)
Bridge	American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo with Custom Beveled Tremolo Block and Shortened Tremolo Arm
Machine Heads	Fender/Gotoh Vintage Style Tuning Machines
Hardware	Nickel/Chrome
Pickguard	1-Ply .120” Beveled Black Acrylic, (11 Hole)
Scale	25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut	1.675” (42.5 mm)
Shared Unique Features	Thin-Shouldered “C” Neck Shape Duplicated from David’s 1983 U.S. Vintage ‘57 Strat® Neck Custom Shortened Tremolo Arm Custom Beveled Tremolo Block Black Dot Position Inlays (Narrow Spacing)
Differing Unique Features	White Tremolo Back Cover Aged White Plastic Parts Built as if bought new in its respective year and brought forward in time.	No Back Tremolo Cover Plate Aged White Pickup Covers Aged Parchment Control Knobs Covers A Cosmetically Aged Faithful Re-creation of David’s Infamous “Black Strat”
Strings	GHS, DG Boomers, Nickel Plated Steel, Gauges: (.010, .012, .016, .028, .038, .048)
Accessories	Evidence Audio™ High-End Guitar Cable, Custom Leather Strap, GHS® DG Boomers Strings, DG Pick, David Gilmour’s Three Disc “Live In Gdansk” CD and DVD Package, a Copy of Phil Taylor’s “The Black Strat” Book, Polishing Cloth and the Certificate of Authenticity
Case	Deluxe Black Hardshell Case with Green Crushed Velvet Lining and with “David Gilmour” and Custom Shop Logo Embroidered on the Lid Interior
MSRP	$3999.99	$4799.99

For more information:
Fender Custom Shop

Commentary

Username	Comment
1 2 3 4 5
pINK fUZZ 13 hr 51 min ago	yEAH! mAKE IT IN PINK! tHAT'S A NO BRAINER! Davie Allan & The Arrows ....Moving Right Along is CD of the year and you don't even know about it! Why? Because he is underground baby!Why is he underground? It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it! He is moppin' the stage with his Jazzmaster while others get the rub. Fender is honoring a Jazzmaster guitar. Davie is playing his honorable!LISTEN TO THE GUITAR MAN!
Heavenly Blues yesterday	Davie Allan fans salute Fender for the David Gilmour Stratocaster.
ALIAS PINK FUZZ on 08/19/2008	DAVIE ALLAN FANS SALUTE DAVID GILMOUR!
Dis- Bare -IT! on 08/19/2008	Davie Allan's black guitar is on the dark side of Fender. If they would get themselves out of their craters and see the great Fender Bender,then they would sell off some cool Jazzmasters to the rabbits that run and fill in the bricks. David Gilmour and his black Strat? Pink Floyd should have been the color.
Flamingo Kid on 08/19/2008	Davie Allan's music from his Fender Jazzmaster is like stopping at a truck stop and it looks like a normal hot dog until you bite into it. Then there's a rumbling down inside that causes a gusher to expload forth and with sudden vicious velocity!Chunks and splatters of debris come flying out and no amount of air freshener can clear the atmosphere of the loudness that has transpired.This may be a crude example but it's not your daddy's surf music Jazzmaster. It's from the dark alley and painted black as girls walk by in their summer clothes. Fender is afraid to put that thing out! You will need some pink pepto floyd to add to it!
Eugene Anderson on 08/18/2008	Davie Allan & The Arrows fans give kudos to David Gilmour for getting honored for his wonderful guitar work in Pink Floyd.Be careful with that axe!
Flock Ponty on 08/13/2008	Maybe they should do 10 different guitars then for David Gilmour. Only one for Davie Allan.
mcotruvo on 08/11/2008	Looks nice but where is the infamous switch?
John McLoughlin on 08/09/2008	Dave has had over 10 necks on his guitar since the 70's. THe flamed charvel neck you speak of was 2 necks before this one. He used that charvel neck on his solo album and the final cut. He only had it on there for a year or 2. THe had a birdseye maple charvel neck for the wall era. But this is a faithful reproduction of David's guitar as it is now.
River Belmont on 08/08/2008	The guitar Frankencaster that David gilmour played had a flamed Charvel neck with a Kahler tremelo system. This is a joke. Like the Elvis Jazzmaster guitar was found stripped when he got it but he changed that. If they made a Davie Allan model it would be based on some idiotic principle they'd dream up of how it once looked before he made it a credible grunge assault gun.

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