David Gilmour's guitar strings: the Black Strat rig, sourced
Documented strings David Gilmour uses with Pink Floyd and solo: GHS Boomers signature electric, Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic. Includes the Black Strat's record 2026 auction sale. With citations.
Pink Floyd / Solo · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
David Gilmour's main touring Stratocaster today is a Fender Custom Shop replica he calls the 'Black Cat,' after the original 'Black Strat' sold at a record $14.55 million Christie's auction in March 2026, the most expensive guitar ever sold. Electric strings are a GHS Boomers signature hybrid (.010, .012, .016, .028, .038, .048); acoustic is Ernie Ball Earthwood light gauge, per longtime guitar tech Phil Taylor. He's used GHS Boomers since 1979's The Wall sessions.
Who David Gilmour is
David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1968 and became the band's primary lead guitarist and, alongside Roger Waters, co-vocalist. The Pink Floyd catalog from The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) through The Division Bell (1994), plus solo records including On an Island (2006) and 2024's Luck and Strange, is one of the most identifiable lead-guitar bodies of work in classic rock: vocal phrasing, long sustain, and the bend-and-vibrato feel built on a Fender Stratocaster.
His main guitar for over four decades, a modified 1969 Stratocaster nicknamed the Black Strat, became rock's most expensive guitar in March 2026, selling at a record-breaking Christie's auction for $14.55 million. Gilmour still plays a Stratocaster live and in the studio, a Custom Shop replica he calls the Black Cat, with Pink Floyd's catalog still the reference point for his tone.
What he plays
Two documented sets, sourced from longtime guitar tech Phil Taylor: GHS Boomers David Gilmour Signature (.010, .012, .016, .028, .038, .048) on electric, and Ernie Ball Earthwood light gauge on acoustic.
The electric set, sold under GHS part number GB-DGF, is a custom hybrid: lighter high E than a stock .011 set, heavier low E than a stock .010 set, and a plain G string (.016) rather than a wound G. He's been on GHS Boomers since 1979, when he switched during the studio sessions for The Wall.
The acoustic set is a different brand entirely, Ernie Ball rather than GHS, light gauge. Phil Taylor has confirmed both sets in the same interview, so the split isn't a guess: two brands for two jobs.
Electric guitars
One guitar carried nearly the whole Pink Floyd catalog, then made auction history twice. Sourced from Gilmourish's Black Strat history (drawing on Phil Taylor's book and Christie's own auction catalog) and Ground Guitar's gear archive.
1971 to 2016 · sold twice · now the most expensive guitar ever
The Black Strat, 1969 Fender Stratocaster
Bought at Manny's Music in New York in 1970, it became Gilmour's main guitar by 1972 and carried The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Retired after a run of Royal Albert Hall shows in September 2016. Gilmour sold it at a 2019 Christie's charity auction to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay for $3,975,000. After Irsay's death in 2025, the guitar returned to Christie's in March 2026 and sold for $14,550,000, more than doubling the previous world record for a guitar at auction.
Source: Gilmourish, Black Strat history; Rolling Stone, 2026.
Current main guitar · Fender Custom Shop
"Black Cat" Strat replica
Gilmour kept several Fender Custom Shop replicas of the Black Strat when he sold the original, and this one, nicknamed for a cat sticker on the body, is his current main Stratocaster. "I even forget that it's not the same one I used before on all those albums," he told Guitar Player. It's featured throughout his 2024 solo album Luck and Strange, including the instrumental title track "Black Cat."
Source: Guitar.com, 2024.
Acoustic guitars
A street-corner buy in New York became one of the most-heard acoustics in rock. Sourced from Ground Guitar's gear archive.
Bought 1970 · sold at auction 2019, $1,095,000
1969 Martin D-35
Gilmour bought this guitar from a street vendor outside Manny's Music in New York in 1970, needing something for the acoustic song "Grantchester Meadows" on that week's tour. It became his main acoustic from Wish You Were Here forward, playing the solo on the title track, plus parts on Animals, The Wall, About Face, On an Island, and Rattle That Lock. Sold at the same 2019 Christie's charity auction as the Black Strat, for $1,095,000, third-highest of the sale behind the Black Strat and his 1954 "0001" Stratocaster.
Source: Ground Guitar.
Used alongside the D-35, early 1970s
Martin D12-28, 12-string
A second Martin from the same era. On "Wish You Were Here," Gilmour used the D-35 for the solo and this 12-string for the intro and verses, layering the two for the song's acoustic bed.
Source: Ground Guitar.
Amps and effects
Clean headroom on the amp, all the character from a handful of pedals. Sourced from Ground Guitar's gear archive, drawing on Phil Taylor interviews in Guitarist, Guitar Player, and Guitar World.
Main amp since the earliest Pink Floyd days
Hiwatt DR103, 100W
Two AP (All Purpose) DR103 heads from 1969 to 1973, then more purchased in 1974 by guitar tech Phil Taylor, run through WEM Super Starfinder 200 cabinets loaded with 4x12-inch Fane Crescendo speakers. Hiwatts run bright and clean rather than gain-heavy, so the amp stays a clean platform and the pedals do the coloring.
Source: Ground Guitar, citing Phil Taylor, Guitarist Magazine, 1995.
Since 1974 · the Comfortably Numb fuzz
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Phil Taylor introduced Gilmour to the Big Muff in 1974, and it's stayed central to his sound ever since, most famously on the "Comfortably Numb" solo. Gilmour has tried later Big Muff versions but has often preferred his original unit. A Univox Uni-Vibe, later built into his amp rack, added the swirling modulation heard on "Breathe" and "Time" before a Pete Cornish custom pedalboard took over in the late 1970s.
Source: Ground Guitar, citing Phil Taylor, Guitar Player, 2009.
Why this fits the rig
The Black Strat's spec, and the Custom Shop replicas built to match it, is a 25.5-inch-scale Stratocaster with a custom pickup configuration tuned for high-headroom clean-to-edge-of-breakup work. The .048 low E of the GHS signature set sits at meaningful tension in E standard, enough that dense layered rhythm passages on Comfortably Numb or Sorrow don't go floppy, while the .010 high E preserves the bend-light feel his lead lines depend on. The plain .016 G string is the detail most beginners replicating the rig miss: a wound G has a different attack envelope and less consistent bending pitch, both of which would compromise his vocal-style phrasing.
Sustain comes from the amp and pedal chain, a Hiwatt pushed into its clean headroom, a Big Muff set lower than most players expect, and enough delay trail to give every note room to breathe, but the string gauge sets up the input feel the rest of the chain builds on.
Strings
Two documented sets: his exact GHS Boomers signature for electric, and the closest off-the-shelf GHS Boomers gauge if you want a similar (not identical) feel.
Boomers David Gilmour Signature Blue (GB-DGF, .010–.048)
Why this one: David Gilmour's official GHS Boomers signature, the Blue version. Custom hybrid: .010 high E for bend-light feel, .048 low E for tight rhythm response, plain .016 G for vocal-style bending. The exact set the Black Strat, and its Custom Shop replicas, ship with.
Acoustic · verified-use · closest confirmed catalog match
Ernie Ball Earthwood 80/20 Bronze Light (.011–.052)
Per Phil Taylor, Gilmour plays "Ernie Ball Earthwood light gauge" on his Martins, a different brand from his electric strings. Ernie Ball's Earthwood 80/20 Bronze line has exactly one gauge tier literally named Light, SKU P02004, which makes this the closest confirmed catalog match. Taylor's account names the brand and gauge tier, not the exact SKU, so treat this as best-match, not a 100% identical confirmation.
Source: Ground Guitar, citing Phil Taylor, Guitar World.
Closest off-the-shelf equivalent · not his exact gauge
The standard, non-hybrid GHS Boomers set, same brand family as Gilmour's signature but a uniform .046 low E rather than his heavier .048, and a wound rather than plain G. If you want GHS's "Power String" feel without ordering the signature set, this is the off-the-shelf way in.
Not the same gauge as Gilmour's signature set.
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