David Gilmour Doesn't Know What Makes a Guitar Special - Do You?

[@prestonlight122]

You know it’s special when you feel like you can’t stop playing it and you know it’s a keeper when you still feel that way a long time later.

[@Luke_Williamson]

Your playing never ceases to amaze me

[@Arthur_My_Dear]

A special guitar is one that makes you smile shortly after picking it up, makes you want to play for ages, just feels right and bonds with you. You know when you and the guitar are working together. Only happened 3 times in 40 years for me. And…I sold each one for something ‘better’.

[@LeftEarth2]

Regardless of the guitar itself, it's the passion and soul that you put into each note you play that really makes the difference. The guitar's overall quality of materials and craftsmanship is the deciding factor in ease of use, functionality, and longevity of the instrument. Even a poorly made guitar can be setup correctly and played. _So to answer what makes a guitar great?_ _A great setup combined with good craftsmanship, and an inspired player._ You are key to the results. - Rock On!!! 🎸

[@greggaravet4932]

What makes guitar special is one that makes you want to play it.

[@honkytonkinson9787]

My guitar feels good to play, feels good to look at, feels good to listen to through either of my amps, other people tell me it looks cool and that feels good. I can’t quite specify what sets I apart from other similar guitars other than it’s better

[@bryancollins6796]

I find that acoustic response on an electric guitar is an indicator of its amplified response. If it resonates well, plug it in.

[@stoneyroberts9118]

I think it is a culmination of things about it that inspires you when you’re playing it. The feel, the tone. I like many types of guitars but recently have found that every Ibanez AZ model I have played have been inspiring. Don’t know what Ibanez have done in particular with these models but I find that all I have to do is a very small action and trem adjustment and am satisfied. Recently got to play the Luca mantovanelli signature LM1 and it blows every fender Strat I’ve played away. The smoothness of the recessed gotoh trem and the compound radius fretboard and it could be those stainless steel frets , but that guitar was Awsome. Cheers

[@davidparkerguitar]

This is a good thing to discuss precisely because it's so hard to articulate. My Tele-style guitars all have the same "ingredients," but some sound/play/feel like "just" a combination of their parts, and some are much more than that for some reason. If you have to separate elements, I more or less agree it goes (for me) neck, pickups, aesthetics.

[@daniyalahmed97]

Mate I am honestly always so impressed with your playing and videos. Been contemplating staring a similar channel for years. Was it worth it in your opinion?

[@jimmcdougall9973]

Yes. 1) Neck, 2) Setup (including the type of bridge), 3) Pickups (make a big difference to tone, irrespective of height). Lastly would be what it looks like, aesthetics.

[@Bluepillphil-d1w]

Looks come first

[@pb25193]

Scale length

[@Adventuresingearland]

Some interesting questions posed here, John. Lovely episode - thanks.

[@picksalot1]

I don't think it's actually any Specs on the guitar. For me, it's the mysterious/magical feeling I get when I pick up the guitar, that it has stories to tell in it, or I have stories to tell, and that guitar knows how to pull them out of me.

[@rockerbuck967]

Exactly!! When it speaks to you, you'll know it!

[@shinjial]

A special guitar are the friends you make along the way.

[@mr.bluenotedoobop]

Love that intro but now all I hear is Uncle Larry’s voice saying you need to have the bar close to your hand or in hand 😅😅

[@GuitarsOK]

😂

[@ksharpe10]

The SPECIAL John Cordy Got it RIGHT!!!! YOU!!! That Glassy Vox to my EARS sounds like Your HeadFirst amp. At 450 I sure Hope you still own it, probably Loaned it to Jake or one of the Tonys.

[@mikeellis4345]

If David Gilmour doesn’t know what makes a guitar great then I surely will never know and I really don’t worry about that .. I just know what I like about my guitars. That’s good enough for me. A great guitar player like David can make any guitar sound great, and I would not know if he thought that guitar was great or not by listening to him play it.

[@law6044]

I drove down to Peach guitars from Leeds to buy an American Vintage Strat. Got down there and the team had a few examples of the 61 Strat in a room ready for me, amp set up. Brought my pedal board and they let me try each of them out on my own. Incredible store and the guys were super helpful. Would definitely make the trip down again to try before I buy. I think ordering a guitar online takes away the ‘specialness’ and the connection you have to the instrument

[@revtimewest]

I have a revstar element that I knew was coming home with me 2 minutes after playing it. Its better than the standard and pro I have played. All the bits n pieces are in perfect syncronicity. It does happen even on cheap cheap guitars. I have also played 6k guitars that were crap.

[@vpovince1001]

Agreed hard to feel an instrument when you’re using amps at a music store. I gotta be plugging into my amps.

[@GuitarsOK]

I have said this for years. Glad to hear someone else say it. Sometimes I can find a decent amp at a guitar store (if i return to the same one a few times and they have the same amp) and like it. But, normally it’s always kind of strange to play a guitar through an amp I’m not use to, maybe pedals I’ve never used before etc. haha

[@CJJC]

That’s a hell of a T-shirt.

[@johnnorth9355]

It's like partners - keepers are few and far between and soulmates even rarer. You gotta keep on searching until your heart tells you that you have found the 'one'.

[@rfpho1456]

The special ones are the ones you keep picking up. They’re usually very resonant unplugged. Don’t have to be expensive. My first electric - a Korean G&L tribute is a bit special - not hugely fond of the neck tbh - but sounds good and is very resonant.

[@lyricbread]

@johnnathancordy could you measure the distance between the pickups and strings on the blue K-Line while holding down the strings at the last fret?

[@johnplaystheguitar123]

how good the frets are, the neck feel and how close it is to your preference, the set up and how close it is to your preference. how you're feeling on that particular day when you try it for first time. thats it really.

[@kierenmoore3236]

Glassy Vox 2024 sounds nice 😎👍🏼

[@1970Richiez]

Amazing playing buy the way... its definitely how it makes you feel playing it... I dont keep a guitar if it doesn't feel right

[@antioche6276]

4:26 "Deez necks" I'm cackling

[@thejuggernaut5327]

We see you JNC😂

[@chuckdriver8269]

Amazing playing, as always. However, I hear all the glassy, high frequencies inherent with digital modeling (very plastic). I can’t unhear it and find it strange that so many people don’t hear it too.

[@nekkon1989]

We do hear it. We just don't care enough. While having tube amps at our disposal, we acknowledge that digital modelling nowadays sounds really good

[@r0bophonic]

Luckily the Line 6 stuff has a global EQ so you can easily cut the highs if they bug you. They should probably do that by default so it sounds more like a limited range guitar cab.

[@SuchaDoofus]

16 bit KZbin Audio sucks. Who knew?

[@TheActressAndBishop]

Completely agree!!!! I have two guitars I love more than the others and they're not the expensive ones .. but they're .. _rigth_ .. somehow .. It's changed how I think about guitars .. I'm looking for a "vibe" now .. and it's something I can find even if the guitar is set up horribly .. bizzarely

[@bluwng]

Does your guitar have a thinner body than a standard Strat? I really like thinner, lighter, smoother bodies vs heavy, sharp, wide Strat types.

[@Commonsenseprevails23]

John will you be reviewing the sire x5? Thankyou for the content!

[@onlyusernameleft2]

As a true Pink Floyd fan- i.e. one who believes Animals was their only good album- every time I hear their music, read about them, or see Roger's name in a breathless ragebait headline in UK media, all I think about is the guy on Twitter who thought DSotM famously never contained images of, or lyrical symbolism about rainbows. I have to assume he thought they only sang about walls.

[@forrealthoughbruh]

Special = guitar companies when they want to create FOMO and charge more for a barely better guitar. IMO : “SPECIAL” is a guitar that you connect with and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Second: it’s the one you find that you do some custom work on yourself to set it up, play and sound the way you prefer. I have PRS SE 24, Squire 60’s vibe and a few others that I’ve done custom work and people who have more expensive versions prefer mine. Note: If you’re not comfortable with set up buy from sweetwater and have them do the $200 plec. It will make a mid or budget guitar play like a dream.

[@worthmoremusic]

I would assume David Gilmour's special or favorite guitar would be the one he mainly used when he joined Pink Floyd in '67...because if it wasn't for joining Pink Floyd, Gilmour made not have become so well known !

[@cbsaulren]

Some guitars just have that mojo

[@DrTortoiselle]

We need to talk about David Gilmour.

[@guitargeartips1951]

I think until you have had a guitar made for you to your specs you cannot recognise a guitar that is special. I had a Waghorn Sauria S specified with Tom together in 2014 and it wasnt until 2021 that I got it as I wanted it. I also modded a yamaha pacifica, with various diMarzio, Kiesel, Suhr and SD pickups until I found what I liked and then put in the Waghorn. Tom and I spent time on my hands and the Musicman Axis Super Sport which has a superb neck for my left hand, being a D shape and satin. In my 20s I migrated to bands with a Gibson SG Special with diMarzios using a Carlsboro 100w 8 x 12 inch stack, going down to a Peavey Classic which has that channel loaded into a channel distortion. Now I realise I am a humbucker/P90 guy and single coils are not really my thing. My Jamstik Studio twin humbucker Alninco V with midi pickup is Special compared to all of my guitars. If I had to have one this would be the one. No mods. Its made by Alp China and then modified by Jamstik with the midi pickup. It coil splits and doesnt have a tone control, it sounds wondrous and the midi takes you into the land of synths.😁😁😁

[@kierenmoore3236]

Gretsch Gilmour Signature Model, incoming … … … 😉☺️

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

i once thought that my 57 ri strat was the shit...then i asked someone with a 1964 strat to compare....i'll never do that again...

[@kierenmoore3236]

50s-style LP neck … y’mean, a ‘59, rather than a ‘58 (or a ‘60), presumably … ? 🙂

[@SlyRyFry]

Humans make guitars special. Without us its just a piece of wood with some hardware and electronics that won't do anything

[@pearsonart]

Tone follows the neck.

[@jonathanmetze9796]

My favorite guitar at the moment is a Mexican Strat. It’s not my nicest guitar and I don’t like the bridge pick up. Magic is weird

[@crapmalls]

He plays a replica of his old guitar so.... Maybe good is enough

[@johnnyboywonder]

Twatocaster😆🤣😂😅

[@TRLgoodvibesdotcom]

Jim Irsay (owner of the Indianapolis Colts) owns the Black Strat. It’s in his collection which I think he lends out as an exhibit. I really don’t know why Gilmour sold it. Hard on cash? 😆 That’s an interesting question I’d like to know the answer too.