David Gilmour, guitarist and vocalist of Pink Floyd, is revered for shaping progressive and psychedelic rock with his songwriting chops and transcendent solos on landmark albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall.
His “Black Strat” is perhaps his most notable guitar and the one that defined his signature tone – marked by soaring bends, vocal-like vibrato, sustain, and expansive delay.
His expressive solos across his repertoire, including those in pieces such as Comfortably Numb and Time, comfortably solidify his position in any “greatest of all time list,” including Guitar World’s. Beyond Pink Floyd, his solo work, including his latest, 2024’s Luck and Strange, continues to set the benchmark for emotive guitar playing.
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At 32, Matthieu Lucas hosts guitars wielded by the likes of Slash, Eric Clapton and AC/DC at Parisian guitar emporium Matt’s Guitar Shop. He is driven by his core belief that vintage guitars, once owned by legendary musicians, are meant to be played on stage again
How 10cc’s Rick Fenn ended up working with David Gilmour, Peter Green, Mike Oldfield, and almost all of his other heroes
The underrated guitar great looks back on the “improbable serendipities” that punctuate his 50-year career, hails the guitar he’s been playing for almost all of it, and reveals the favorite solos in his catalog
Guitar expert reveals the guitars that could surpass the new auction record held by David Gilmour’s Black Strat
Matthieu Lucas from Matt’s Guitar Shop in Paris gives Guitar World the lowdown on which guitars could likely break the Gilmour record one day
I attended the biggest guitar auction in history – and witnessed a new dawn in the value of the instrument
The monumental bidding wars that took place on the first night of the Jim Irsay Collection auction at Christie’s New York were a testament to the power of the instrument and the aura of the classic rock gods, and left attendees spellbound
The 16 most expensive guitars of all time
Fenders owned by Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, Martins belonging to Kurt Cobain and David Gilmour, and one independently made axe headline the list of most profitable guitars sold at auction
![The Jim Irsay Collection's three big stars of the night [L-R]: Kurt Cobain's 1969 Mustang, David Gilmour's record-breaking Black Strat, and Jerry Garcia's Tiger.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7b4qJRk85dSviaveTCjfAe-840-80.jpg.webp)
World record for most expensive guitar shattered three times in one night as Jim Irsay auction sees David Gilmour's Black Strat fetch $14.5m
On any other night, $6,907,000 for Kurt Cobain's Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang and $11,560,000 for Jerry Garcia's “Tiger” would have been world records. But this wasn’t any other night...
