Skip to content
Gear Avail

Progressive rock

David Gilmour

Pink Floyd, 1971 to 1983

The most copied board in the history of the instrument, and the one that proves ambience is a compositional choice rather than a coat of paint. Big Muff into a modulated, heavily delayed clean amp, with a compressor keeping every bent note singing.

Load this board into the builder

The chain

Shown in conventional signal order rather than the order the sources list them, so it reads the way it would be wired: guitar on the left, amp on the right.

  1. 1
    Wah / filterNo photo available

    Dunlop Cry Baby

    Wah / filter

    Used sparingly, mostly parked partway through the sweep as a fixed midrange filter.

    Not stocked by any store we track

    Search the site
  2. 2
    CompressorNo photo available

    MXR Dyna Comp

    Compressor

    Evens out the picking so the long bends hold their level all the way through.

    Not stocked by any store we track

    Search the site
  3. 3
    Drive / fuzzNo photo available

    Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

    Drive / fuzz

    The lead voice. Thick, sustaining, and deliberately scooped, which is why it sits under a vocal instead of fighting it.

    Not stocked by any store we track

    Search the site
  4. 4
    ModulationNo photo available

    Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress

    Modulation

    A flanger run slow and shallow, adding movement without ever announcing itself as an effect.

    Not stocked by any store we track

    Search the site
  5. 5
    DelayNo photo available

    Binson Echorec

    Delayrack or amp-top unit

    A magnetic-drum echo with multiple playback heads, and the reason the early repeats swirl rather than simply repeat.

    Not stocked by any store we track

    Search the site

Documented on

  • The Dark Side of the Moon

    album · 1973

    • Time
    • Money

    The Time solo is the Big Muff and the compressor doing exactly what they were put there for.

  • Wish You Were Here

    album · 1975

    • Shine On You Crazy Diamond

  • The Wall

    album · 1979

    • Comfortably Numb
    • Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2

    Routinely voted the best guitar solo ever recorded, and it is four boxes and a lot of restraint.

Editorial gear history, assembled from interviews, rig rundowns, live photography and liner notes. David Gilmour is not affiliated with Gear Avail and nothing here is an endorsement. Rigs change between tours and between takes, so this one is scoped to 1971 to 1983 rather than presented as a career-long setup. In most cases what is documented is that a pedal was on the board during those sessions or that tour, not that it is audible on a specific bar of a specific take.