The Steel Guitar Forum

Check out http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=69 for a very thorough run-down on all of David's steel guitars. If you backtrack to the home page, this site lists every guitar and every effect he's used on on every album. A tall order, but I'm not kidding. The effects are even listed in the chain in which they were used either in studio or on stage.

I agree with those above who think Gilmour is a master of finding the right note. He's one of my favorites, to be sure. When you play the solos (steel or regular guitar) the way he plays them, you realize how innovative he was in using little tricks and licks to achieve his signature sound. Quarter tone string bends are one example -- he'll bend a string a full step and hold it for four or five beats, and then give it another quarter tone bend before letting go of the bend and moving on to another note.

The DVD that the second YouTube clip is from, where David is playing the Gibson lap steel, is really outstanding in my opinion. It's from Robert Wyatt's Meltdown Concert, and features Gilmour doing a lot of the back catalog with acoustic guitars, a small choir. Caroline Dale, an outstanding cellist, helps out in all sorts of innovative ways, especially playing the keyboard arpeggios on "Comfortably Numb." Looks like quite a workout on the cello, but she handles it beautifully. The DVD is packaged as "David Gilmour in Concert" and was put out in 2002. He even throws in a bit of opera and a Richard Thompson favorite ("Dimming of the Day") for good measure.

A final note -- this is my first post, so greetings to all. I'm fairly new at lap steel. OK, I'm a rank beginner. But I've loved the sound of the instrument for decades, and figured now is the time to jump in and do some learning. Glad I found this forum and Brad's Page of Steel!

Dave in Memphis

...

Rick,

A Bakelite Ric is visable in one of the tunes aired on VH1, the Gdansk show. His band mate is playing it. All you really get to see is an end view of the headstock but it is definately a Baked Ricky.

I wonder if that is Gilmour's guitar?

Greetings David!

RH

James Kerr wrote:I tend to agree with Chris Ivey, I know David Gilmore is a very accomplished player, but having watched the Vids I don't find anything there which would impress me as much as some of the Lap Steel players on this Forum.

No one would argue that a lot of people who post here could play rings around him on lap steel.

For myself, it's a bit inspiring to see someone who's obviously not a lap steel 'player' (very limited technique, using a flat pick, etc)nonetheless get a nice sound out of the instrument.

Kind of like guys who can only play a few licks now and then on blues harp, but it sounds right for that song.

First of all, I did not know DG played lap steel.

That being said, it does not surprise me. His tone as well as his phrasing have to me been exquisite over the years. Less is more indeed.

Thank you for posting these, definitely opened my eyes.

David Gilmour is my favorite electric guitarist. His tastes match my own, though I can't even come close to translating my head to my fingers like he can.

My favorite steel guitarist is Bill Elm of Friends of Dean Martinez. If you listen to the third album up to the present, you'll hear plenty of shared characteristics between Elm and Gilmour. I love them both for the same reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr7c_2lpRZo

David on a weiss..........

Thanks Terry, I'm always up for a good smile

I know there are a few die-hard Pink Floyd fans on here, but I'm surprised no one mentioned UNICORN. Not the best name for a British country/rock band, so their biggest claim to fame is that David Gilmour produced several of their album between '74 and '77, just as he was getting into pedal and lap steel...so naturally, he plays steel on at least ten of their songs, and another one of was redone for his solo album in '78 (There's No Way Out of Here). Their back catalog was remastered in Gilmour's houseboat studio a few years ago, but until then I think it was out of print. Definitely more of a country flavor to his playing here than anywhere else...unless you have the Quadraphonic 8-track or vinyl of Wish You Were Here, which, instead of the familiar acoustic solo between the verses of the title track, is all steel. If he ever used the pedals on his early Fender 1000, it would've been around this time - 1974 was the only time he ever used the 1000 in concert, and the pedals were attached (after that they usually weren't), plus he was volunteering to produce a country/rock band, and apparently using it even on Wish You Were Here. Now, I know B.J. Cole jammed with him during the recording of Then I Close My Eyes from his 2006 album, though I don't know when they met - but Cole was in Cochise in the early '70s with two guys from Gilmour's pre-Pink Floyd band, who both also played on his first solo album (along with his brother! Trivia galore!). With all of that said, one could hypothesize that if Gilmour ever had any pedal steel instruction, it could very well have been from B.J. Cole...who is a forum member, and can correct me if I'm wrong (I hope he chimes in about anything!).
Also, if Gilmour used a ZB steel on anything, it would most likely have been...wait for it...Comfortably Numb. No joke. The second measure just has one big slide up to the b minor, and then it's gone, but this was in 1979, and it had been about 4 years since Pink Floyd had recorded or performed anything with lap steel.
A few other things worth looking into: Gilmour recorded a few soundtracks in the 1991-92 for documentaries, mainly La Carrera Panamericana and The Colours of Infinity (actually a great film about fractals with Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote many things including Childhood's End, which Gilmour based his song of the same name on, though it sadly didn't feature any lap steel. Sorry for the inclusion.) Both of these soundtracks are covered with his red Jedson lap steel with an EMG-H active humbucker.
And one more thing...of '70s Floyd albums, over half of the songs have lap steel on them. At least three out of five on Atom Heart Mother, every song on Meddle, four on Obscured By Clouds, two on Dark Side of the Moon, and Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Part VI. Not to mention (though I'm obviously going to) several tracks on The Division Bell, No Way from his first solo album, and maybe even some stuff on Ummagumma. I think that covers everything, and I'll work out the percentages later...but steel guitar was definitely a huge factor not only on those two tracks that everyone knows, but in their classic sound in general.

Oh, and here's that link to the Unicorn albums that I started the thread about anyway.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tdglenn/unic ... rnmain.htm[/url]

Syd Barrett lives....


(I'm a die hard fan)

So I take it you play all of your slide parts with your Zippo?

David Gilmour's guitar and steel playing is instantly recognizable. It's a signature sound, like Santana's, Eric Clapton's, Niel Young's, BB King's, etc. You can hear it and instantly know who it is.
And it has absolutely nothing to do with how many notes one can play or how fast. It is not a competition, it is about communicating with and building an audience. (a rather large one)
Why would anyone care if someone on this forum or anywhere else for that matter could play more notes or be more technically adept etc?
David has moved many many people with his music. Including me.

Jonathan Hart wrote:So I take it you play all of your slide parts with your Zippo?

If that's what it takes to get a specific sound I'm looking for, then yes...

Pete Honychurch wrote: David has moved many many people with his music.

That would include none other than Link Wray, a big fan of DG.

Thanks for that.. I've always thought his standard electric guitar ideas were great to try to apply to lapsteel too. He's the man on the money-I always suspected he was into Peter Green and this was confirmed after reading an extensive interview with him a few years ago. Goosebumpy players.
Cheers, Joel

Joel Bloom wrote:I always suspected he was into Peter Green...

Gilmour played Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" on Jools Holland's radio show a couple years ago...just found it on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t98nc4FazxM

Great stuff, there you go-thanks for that
Cheers, Joel

If you haven't checked him out, Bill Elm (Friends of Dean Martinez) is the Gilmour of the steel guitar, in my opinion. He doesn't sound that way in the first few albums, though.