Big Tone Music Brewery is Build Your Own Clone’s sister company. The idea with BTMB is to take the BYOC concept further and not only make clones of old classics but develop the designs and create new effects and pedals based on the guitarists’ demands. The Royal Beaver (RB) is their first and the latest addition to the ever growing Big Muff family.

The RB is housed in an Electro Harmonix XO-ish sized box with a bright purple led, true bypass switching and it operates on a 9V battery or adaptor. The right side of the pedal feature the familiar volume, tone and gain controls and an additional 4-way EQ switch (similar to the EH Big Muff Tone Wicker) switching between scooped (classic Big Muff tones), flat, mids (mid range boost) and none (bypassing the tone control). The left side of the pedal feature controls for three clipping stages – two for classic Muff tones and a third for further tone experimentation. Each clipping stage is switched on/off with individual mini toggle switched for different combinations. See the BTMB site for more technical info (fear not… the pedal comes with a user manual).

For this review I did an A/B test for each of the RB’s Big Muff models. All pedals were tested with a Stratocaster loaded with Fender CS69/Duncan SSL5 pickups into a Reeves Custom 50w amp with a 4×12″ Sound City cab with Weber Thames speakers.

Triangle Version 1 & 2
The RB can produce two different Triangle era Muffs (late 60s/ early 70s). I don’t own an original EH Triangle my self so I tested the RB against a BYOC Large Beaver (3-knob Triangle clone). I’ve always preferred the Triangle Muff. Its warm tone, violin-like sustain and smooth attack makes it the most musical of the Muffs. I was a bit surprised though that none of the RBs sounded quite like the LB, which after all is designed by the same company and based on the same pedal. RB’s Version 1 has a bit more gain while Version 2 seems to have less gain and appears slightly darker. Still, Version 1 works better on it’s own than the LB, which I rarely use without an overdrive behind it.

Winner: Royal Beaver.

Ram’s Head Version
The problem with old EH pedals is that none are identical so it’s hard to judge the sound by just one pedal. I’m proud to own an original ‘73 Ram’s Head but it might be quite different to the one used as a basis for the RB. The RB is a lot more quiet than the ‘73 (I’d be surprised if it wasn’t…). The ‘73 has a brighter tone closer to David’s Animals sounds, while the RB is smoother like David’s Wall tones (David apparently used the same pedal for both Animals and Wall though). I do miss the ability to make the RB sound really dirty but some fine tweaking on the clipping controls helps. All in all, the RB has a much smoother tone, a super tight lower end and a more dynamic attack compared to the ‘73, which is what I’m looking for in a Muff. Just add an Electric Mistress and book your next gig!

Winner: Royal Beaver.

NYC Original and Reissue
I’ve never been a fan of the NYC late 70’s Muff or the current reissue. Always thought they sounded muddy and less musical than the earlier EH models. I don’t have a 70’s in my collection though so the RB is tested against the current NYC reissue (which honestly isn’t fair). There really isn’t much to say other than that the RB has a lot more presence and bite and a generally smoother tone. Hmm… perhaps I’m beginning to like this version too…

Winner: Royal Beaver (although not tested against a 70’s NYC).

Sovtek Green Russian
The very first Muff I bought was a green Sovtek around 1996-97. I still have it. There aren’t many clones of this particular model and the ones I’ve tried doesn’t quite match my old beast. The RB sounds unmistakably like an early Sovtek with the familiar growling lower end and endless sustain. Compared to the other Muffs this one has a lot more gain. Still, it doesn’t quite make it. I miss some of that nastiness and feeling of total mayhem when you engage the pedal. The RB sound more like a shiny Cornish P2 than a viscous green tank from the cold war (which isn’t a bad thing but not quite what I expected).

Winner: Sovtek Green Muff.

What I like about the RB is it’s versatility. Using only one clipping stage produce a warm overdrive (similar to the new EH Germanium 4 BM) with a dynamic response ideal for humbuckers. Two clipping stages produce those classic Big Muff tones and by fine tweaking the volt, gain and bias controls you can add whatever you feel is missing to each Muff model. Engaging the third clipping stage adds a whole new range of sounds with endless sustain and tons of screaming fuzz. One of my favourites is to set the pedal up for a Ram’s Head and set the EQ switch for None bypassing the tone control adding a slight volume boost and an extreme punch.

$329 is perhaps a bit steep for a pedal but then again, this isn’t your average clone. The Royal Beaver has made it to my stage board and also ended up being my main distortion for all my leads on the new Airbag album that we’re working on. It’s always great fun to discover new pedals that exceeds your expectations and the Royal Beaver certainly did just that for me. Being a huge BYOC I’m perhaps a bit biased but I’m anxiously looking forward to new exciting stuff from BTMB! Visit Big Tone Music Brewery for more info about the Royal Beaver.

This is actually the first time I used the Reeves Custom 50 on a live show – been borrowing Mesa, Fenders lately. In combo with my old Sound City cab loaded with Weber Thames it performed incredibly well… even on this rather small stage. For the past year or so I’ve mainly been using a Fender CIJ ‘65 reissue Strat modified with EMG DG20 pickups. I think I’m more into rosewood at the moment and this neck with the binding and all just melts in my palm. Not so sure about the DG20 but they kind of adds that warm humbucker tone I use in a studio setting and still sounds pretty much like a Strat. Check out my review here.

The pedal board has changed a bit lately too. I once swore I’d never ditch the Coloursound Power Boost and the AnalogMan Sun Face but I have. Not that I don’t like them anymore but they’re a bit redundant for my Airbag tones. I mainly use the BK Tube Driver (now back with the 12AX7 tube) with a Dunlop RotoVibe and Boss DD2 for this song. On the solo between the first chorus and second verse I add a Fulltone OCD for a bit more bite and the main solo at the end of the song is Vox wah wah > TD > BYOC LB triangle > Boss DD2 > TRex Replica. The very last solo is Gollmer Composus > Fulltone OCD > Boss DD2.

We’re working on the followup to our debut album Identity and are aiming for an early 2011 release although it’s a bit too early to tell. Check out our website airbagsound.com and join our Facebook page for the latest news, more clips and stuff from the ongoing studio sessions.

David is collaborating on the new Bryan Ferry album Olympia that’s set for October 25th. Not too many details yet but check out Bryan’s site and listen to the new single – amazing! Don’t think David’s on it but a great song in true Ferry style!

As just announced on BrainDamage.co.uk The Orb’s next album is due in medio October as well with David collaborating on several tracks. David did a session with Orb last year and what initially was planned as a guest appearance ended up being much more and Metallic Spheres is now being released as The Orb featuring David Gilmour!

The EPK from the sessions shows a very relaxed atmosphere with David playing his own NOS signature and what appears to be a Supro double neck lap steel guitar. I can’t make out any pedal board or anything though… sounds to me that it’s all digital but perhaps some details will emerge for us to feast in later!

Although the filming is of rather poor quality it’s great to see them together again – great… what an understatement! Hard to believe that it’s almost five years to the day since last time. Then David wasn’t really up for it and now he was the one to suggest them playing together! One can only speculate why he seems to have changed his mind about certain things (he’s getting older, friends dies, time heals, Polly has told him wise word or two… etc) but it’s good to know that the two are enjoying each other’s company again.

Roger seems to be having an out-of-body experience and forgets to play his bass, plays too loud and waves his arms a bit too hysterically… just like we like to see him and it brings back great memories from that day in Hyde Park in 2005. I’m sure David had the time of his life as well but a true british gentleman doesn’t ramble around the stage but rather nods and smile as polite as he can :)

I always love hearing David play Floyd in settings like this. He seems to be more relaxed and doesn’t have to think about signature licks and album versions etc. He just plays whatever he feels like and that’s when he really shines as a musician. Wonderful blues work on Phil Spector’s old classic To Know Him is to Love Him and amazing tone one Comfortably Numb. I can see him on top of that wall already with the Black Strat, the Hendrix strap and… oh, man it’s gonna be the show of the decade! Hands in the air everybody who wants to see those Yamaha cabs on stage again!

And of course nice to hear Another Brick again! They haven’t performed that one together since The Wall tour in 1981 and David hasn’t played it since the PULSE tour. The song was “bought” by one of the attendees and was done without any rehearsals but David seemed to remember most of it. I’m glad this is charity though… The bidding sounded awfully close to a TV preaching show ha ha! Empty your pockets and touch the screen!

As listed in a post below David’s rig featured the Black Strat, Alessandro Bluetic 20w head with a matching 2×12 cabinet, Hiwatt SA212 combo, MXR Digital Delay II and a Conn Strobo tuner. I can’t make out which pedal board he used but it’s for sure either the 2006 Cornish or the 1999 board (as seen with Al Green earlier this summer). Effectswise it sounds like he mostly used a Tube Driver for To Know Him with the middle/bridge pickup combo (4th position), Tube Driver and delay for Another Brick and Muff (+ possibly a mild Tube Driver) and delay for Comfortably Numb. Wish You Were Here was performed with a Gibson Western ‘59 fitted with a LR Baggs M1 pickup (as seen on the 2006 On An Island tour).

The “seagull” effect happened by chance as one of Pink Floyd’s roadies plugged David’s guitar into his wah wah the wrong way. After having survived the blast from the loud feedback Gilmour discovered that he could use the effect and it can be heard on many Floyd songs from Embryo to Echoes and Is there Anybody Out There. Check out the “Echoes seagull effect tutorial” for more info and tips.

The Gullmour Wah is housed in a T-Rex sized box with the familiar heartbeat pyramids from Dark Side of the Moon in glow-in-the-dark decals. The pedal is all handmade based around the classic Clyde McCoy circuit using a 500mh inductor, BC109 transistors and true bypass switching – one chicken head knob for controlling the sweep, one stomp switch for switching on/off the pedal and one for switching between fixed wah and reversed wah.

Tonewise the Gullmour sounds very much like any other vintage style wah – it’s a wah wah pedal! It’s very silent and unlike my VOX at least, it doesn’t seem to cut the treble as much… or anything at all as far as I can hear. It’s hard to describe how a loud feedback sounds like but I can tell you that it works! With the pedal set for the fixed wah feature it’s easy to hear that this is is a well made pedal with lots of character and just a really nice vintage wah tone. Works very well with cleans, Tube Drivers, Muffs etc.

The seagull effect is achieved exactly as with a standard wah wah pedal by using the mid+bridge pickup position and the lower volume control on the guitar to control the volume and pitch of the effect. Add a little delay (aprox 300ms) and you’re there. Note that the Gullmour Wah needs to be placed first in your chain or at least in front of any buffered pedals or the seagull effect won’t work.

A reverse wah wah pedal might be a bit redundant. After all you can just bend down and reverse the connections on your regular wah or simply modify the pedal with a switch on it’s heel like featured in the 1976-1983 Cornish pedal board. However, not all pedals in the world are meant for recreating David’s sounds and some of us won’t bother with mods or stuff like that (I admit I’m all thumbs when it comes to electronics). I’ve always liked the tone you get when you add a mild filter to a solo but it can be a real pain to find the sweetspot on your wah wah pedal when you have to switch it on in a matter of milliseconds. The Gullmour wah’s fixed wah wah feature has a wide sweep and it’s very easy to just dial it in.

You can also use the Gulmour wah with an expression pedal like a Yamaha FC-7 and be able to use it like any wah wah pedal. It will work backwards tho – treble sweep when the pedal is towards you and bass sweep when the pedal is away. Eye Rock offers a simple adaptor to easily fix this.

The Gulmour Wah might not be the first pedal you buy or a must for any pedal board but it’s a cool addition to the world of David Gilmour related pedals and versatile for lots most other genres and tones as well. Visit the Eye-Rock Electronics store for more details and soundclips.

In addition to the clip Roger says “Here is a 2 minute taster of the gig David and I did together for The Hoping Foundation back in July. The sound quality is crap but it was a great night for me, and for him, and also for “US and THEM” . Please support the Hoping Foundation, they are doing great work for refugee children. David and I have given the charity the whole 29 mins and I’m told they’re going to put it up at approximately 5.00pm (UK time) on Monday. Go to hopingfoundation.org/ to see the video and please support the charity if you can.
Roger”

See posts below for song list and a list of David’s gear from the event.

From Roger Waters’ Facebook page:

“Some weeks passed with David cajoling me from time to time, telling me how easy it would be, but I clung resolutely to my fear of failure until one day he made one final entreaty. I quote “If you do ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’ for The Hoping Foundation Gig, I’ll come and do ‘C. Numb’ on one of your Wall shows”. Well! You could have knocked me down with a feather. How fucking cool! I was blown away.”

“PS. Just heard from David, he will decide in due course which gig he wants to do, it will be a surprise!”

Stay tuned for more info…

Together with Guy Pratt (bass and acoustic guitar), Harry Waters (keyboards, Roger’s son), Andy Newmark (drums, Roxy Music), Chester Kamen (guitar, Bryan Ferry) and Jonjo Grisdale (keyboards) they performed Wish You Were Here, To Know Him Is To Love Him (Phil Spector), Comfortably Numb and Another Brick In the Wall (part 2).

David used his Gibson 1959 acoustic and the Black Strat. Polly’s pictures (posted on her site) reveals some details about David’s setup – the Alessandro Bluetic 20w head with a matching 2×12 cabinet, Hiwatt SA212 combo, MXR Digital Delay II and a Conn Strobo tuner. It’s not know what pedal board David used but it’s fair to assume that he either used the 2006 Cornish board or the 1999 board (as seen with Al Green last week).

The charity event (“Hoping” stands for Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation) raised £350,000. The fact that they played together and the two Wall numbers surely adds fuel to the rumours (or rather wish) that David will join Roger at some point on the upcoming Wall tour.

Time was written around Christmas 1971-72. Pink Floyd had been touring almost continuously since Syd’s departure in early ’68 and although they’d released many albums since then they we’re still beating the old songs and felt they badly needed something new that would finally let them break free from the psychedelic days. Dark Side of the Moon not only did that but it also catapulted Floyd into superstardom.

I’ve always considered Time to be a bit underrated. Not in the sense that it’s not a fan favourite – it’s one of the most played Floyd songs on radio and a live favourite since its release – but I think that to fully appreciate the genius of Time you need to put in a bigger context than just hearing it on Dark Side of the Moon or PULSE. It’s easy to think of Time as just another rock song with a cool guitar solo but to me it’s a culmination of everything Floyd is all about. A big melting pot of every cliché but in a good sense… just like Beatles’ Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds. It’s more Beatles than Beatles. Time is also interesting in terms of how it evolved from originally being a slow Echoes dreamy kind of song in early 1972 to the hard edged rock number that ended up on the album. Listen to shows like Rainbow (February 1972) and Hollywood Bowl (September 1972) and hear the difference.

The intro is a structured version of any free form instrumental improv number Floyd would typically perform around 1969-70. The endless theme over a few chords, the sound effects and instruments drenched in echo is the very essence of early Floyd. The tight rhythm section – the steady bass and groovy drums are the signature of Waters and Mason going back to Atom Heart Mother, Echoes, Childhood End and later Have A Cigar, Pigs etc. David’s guitar solo is a powerful statement from a new guitar God that had finally found his place in the band but also a tribute to contemporary influences like Jimi Hendrix. The solo also refelcts David’s ealier work on songs like Let There Be Light, The Nile Song and Echoes.

The tone
Relicating an authentic tone for Time is both easy and difficult. A guitar, amp and 2-3 effects doesn’t require a master’s degree to figure out but it has its obvious limitations, which is good to keep in mind… don’t overdo things. Much of the magic lies in the way the album was recorded. Microphone placement, volume, studio compression, limiters, noise gates… everything makes the sound. Not just the actual rig. It’s about allowing space in your playing and creating the contrast between a dry straight to the point rhythm and echo mayhem on the solo. Listen to how David’s using his tone and volume to create the violin like sustained notes on the solo and how he’s adding small fills and licks to the rhythms rather than strumming like mad.

The studio and live versions of Time is very similar. David actually went all the way back to the 1972 pre-album version with his PULSE setup adding the UniVibe for both rhythms and the solo. While Dark Side feature very little guitar on the rhythm sections later live versions and PULSE has a bit more guitar following the drum and bass pattern.

I’ll be focusing on the album version and PULSE for the setups and tone tips. Please see the Album Gear Guides for details on David’s setups for the 1972 Eclipse tour and 1973-75 Dark Side of the Moon tour, 1987-89 Momentary/Delicate tour and 2006 On An Island tour.

Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd recorded Time and Dark Side of the Moon in Abbey Road between June 1972 and January 1973. David’s main setup featured:

Fender Stratocaster “The Black Strat”
- 1969 black alder body with a white pickguard, ‘63 rosewood neck and stock Fender late 60s pickups.
Hiwatt DR103 All Purpose 100W heads
Fender Twin Reverb silverface 100W
WEM Super Starfinder 200 cabinets
- with 4×12” Fane Crescendo speakers with metal dust caps.

Note: David fitted his Black Strat with a Gibson humbucker in January 1973. It is not documented when David recorded his guitars for Dark Side of the Moon but the basic rhythm tracks were done in June ‘72 and the majority of the album in October ’72 indicating that the pickup was installed after David’s main sessions.

Coloursound Power Boost
- (mainly set for full overdrive) bass 50%, treble 30%, gain 75%
Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (silicon)
- fuzz 100%, volume 75-100%
Binson Echorec
- intro (swell mode) 350ms
- solo (repeat mode) 350ms

PULSE
Pink Floyd’s last live album PULSE was recorded at a number of European shows in 1994 and featured a complete performance of Dark Side of the Moon. David’s setup for Time:

Fender Stratocaster ’57 reissue
- 1983 candy apple red body with a white pickguard, maple neck and EMG SA pickups with SPC and EXG controls.
Hiwatt DR103 100w heads
Hiwatt STA-100w heads
Alembic F-2B tube preamp
WEM Super Starfinder 200 speaker cabinets
Marshall JCM 800 400w speaker cabinets
Doppola rotating speaker cabinets

MXR Dynacomp (intro)
- sustain 10:00, volume 2:00
Ibanez CP-9 (intro)
- attack 11:00, level 11:00, threshold 1:00
Boss CE-2
- speed 11:00, depth 1:00
TC Electronics 2290 (intro/solo)
- long delay 500ms
Lexicon PCM 70 (intro)
- multi-tap echo 350ms
Chandler Tube Driver
- level 11:30, hi 11:30, low 3:00, drive 4:00
Sovtek Big Muff
- sustain 60%, volume 60%, tone 40%
UniVox Uni-Vibe
- volume 2:00, intensity 12:00, slow speed 2:00, fast speed 4:00 (o’clock), mode: chorus

Note: All settings above are based on pictures of David’s gear and my own experience. You may need to make further adjustments for your rig.

Guitars
Although you could get away with using a Les Paul or humbuckers in general I recommend a Stratocaster for the authentic tone and feel. The album version especially is all about that bright screaming single coil Hendrix tone. Which pickups to go for depends on whether you prefer the 70s version (like me) or PULSE. For the 1972-75 tone I’d go for Fender Custom Shop 69 or Duncan SSL1 (or similar late 60s pickups). You can also beef things up by having a Duncan SSL5 or DiMarzio FS-1 in the bridge (this is also a perfect setup for the 2006 version of the song). If you prefer David’s tones on Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) and PULSE (1994) then the EMG DG20 set is the way to go. It’s hard to achieve that tone with anything else but keep in mind that these pickups will give you a hard time achieving classic single coil sounds (see my review here).

Amps
As mentioned throughout this site an amp with as much headroom as possible is crucial for David’s tones. Time is all about finding the sweetspot between the amp and your pedals using the amp as a powerful basis for the overdrives and fuzz tones. Again, Time is all about using your tone and volume to create powerful rhythms and a screaming fuzz solo. This is very hard to achieve on a small transistor amp without having to push the amp into overdrive resulting in feedback and a generally oversaturated tone. Don’t expect your Roland Cube to perform like a 100w tube stack just because you have a Strat and a large pedal board. A Hiwatt, Sound City, Reeves and similar would obviously be the best choice. The powerful clean tone and tubes makes them ideal for the vintage fuzz tones. Playing at home requires something smaller like the great Peavey Classic 30 combo or Fender Blues Junior. Budgetwise I’d go for a Fender transistor like the Frontman to match David’s fairly bright album tones. Check out the Buyer’s Gear Guide for more tips.

Always connect your effects into the front inputs and set your amp to something like this: bass 50%, treble 50-60%, mids 40% and the master volume should be about 1/3 of the channel volume. If your amp allows it I also recommend linking the normal and bright channel inputs for more presence (link the upper normal and lower bright and plug your guitar into the upper bright. Set the bright volume slightly lower than the normal volume).

Effects
As I’ve mentioned Time is about keeping things simple. It’s easy to overdo things adding compressors, EQs, chorus etc but as with almost everything David does it’s based on the tone from his guitar and amp. Don’t be too caught up in the huge PULSE rig but narrow it down to just the basics.

Boosting
The term boosting can be a bit confusing. Volume boost? Gain boost? Should the booster go in front or after the distortion? Boosting is essential to get David’s lead tone on Time. A single fuzz or Muff may sound quite dull and lifeless but adding an overdrive adds character, dynamics and a slight volume boost.

A booster is basically any overdrive pedal. The Colorsound Power Boost and BK Tube Driver are ideal for this purpose with their transparent bright tone that doesn’t colour as much as Tube Screamer would, which has more mid range. Keep in mind that when you combine two gain pedals you need to match the gain and volume on both. If you max your Muff and add a booster you’ll only get a lot of feedback, noise etc. The fuzz needs a bit more gain to fully saturate though so you need to be extra careful with the booster.

Set the fuzz or Muff up for unity level with the amp and about 50-60 gain on the Muff and 80-100% gain on the fuzz. Connect the overdrive/booster after the fuzz/Muff and set the gain just on the edge of overdrive and the volume for a mild boost. Fine-tune the settings until you get the desired tone. Remember to use the clean channel on your amp and set the master lower than the channel volume as explained above.

Rhythms – Overdrives
Dark Side of the Moon – Colorsound Power Boost
PULSE – Chandler Tube Driver

The Colorsound Power Boost was David’s main overdrive between 1972-1983 (in various forms and clones). Its bright, transparent tone is ideal to boost a tube amp into punchy overdrive and it’s an excellent booster for both a fuzz and Big Muff.

The Chandler/BK Tube Driver has been David’s main choice since the early 90s. It’s very similar to the Colorsound Power Boost ca be used for any period.

There are many Colorsound Power Boost clones on the market (ThroBak, Vintage FX, Absolutely Analog) but none of these manages to come close original in my opinion. Similar sounding pedals would be the Boss BD2 (be sure to get a modified version – AnalogMan or Keeley), Fulltone OCD (my favourite!) and check out the Behringer Vintage Tube Overdrive 911 for a good sounding budget model.

The Power Boost and Tube Driver can be a challenge on smaller solid state amps or if you’re mainly playing at home on a low volume. These pedals are designed for loud powerful tube amps and can sound quite flat and harsh on the “wrong” set up. If you’re in doubt I recommend something a bit more versatile like the Fulltone OCD or Fulldrive or simply an Ibanez/Maxon 808 Tube Screamer. Check out this article for more.

Solo – The Fuzz
Dark Side of the Moon – Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (silicon)
PULSE – Sovtek “Civil War” Big Muff (in combo with a Tube Driver)

The Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (silicon) was David’s main fuzz/distortion between 1971-77. There are different reports on what amp David used for the solo. David mentions a Hiwatt in several interviews but both Alan Parsons (engineer) and Chris Thomas (mix) remember that he used a Fender Twin with a Fuzz Face “so loud that they had to leave the studio”. The Fuzz Face’s bright, dirty tone is the signature on many Floyd classics like Echoes, Time and Money. To make an otherwise harsh and dirty fuzz sing like a violin you really need to crank the hell out of your amp and I also recommend using a booster/overdrive behind it to add a bit more balls.

A vintage Dallas Arbiter is extremely expensive and hard to come by but there are plenty of great sounding clones to choose from. My favourites are the Analogman Sun Face BC108 and the MJM London Fuzz (blue). You’ll have a hard time getting any closer to David’s Dark Side/Pompeii tones! Check out the Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face and the Skreddy Lunar Module as well. The Dunlop Classic Fuzz and BBE Free Fuzz should match most budgets.

David’s PULSE rig featured two Big Muffs – the Sovtek “Civil War” and a Pete Cornish P2 (they’re more or less identical – David used the Sovtek on Time). Compared to the early 70s Muffs they have a bit more mid range and bass. David combined the Big Muff with a Tube Driver adding a mild boost (see details for boosting above).

The old Sovteks are beginning to get quite pricy but you can get your hands on a green model (more or less identical to the yellow) for a reasonable price. Any Muff will do though and I prefer a ’71 triangle model myself. Check out Stomp Under Foot Civil War, Absolutely Analog Green Russian and Top Tone DG1 for Sovtek/P2 clones, the excellent BYOC Large Beaver triangle/ram’s head Muff (my definitive favourite) and the MJM Foxey Fuzz (triangle clone). There aren’t many cheap good sounding Muffs on the market (I don’t recommend the current US and Sovtek models) but the EH Big Muff Tone Wicker (with some cool features for tone expansion) and the EH Little Big Muff will do the job.

As with the Power Boost and Tube Driver, fuzz and Muffs are quite demanding and a bit tricky to dial in. Again, these pedals were originally designed for loud powerful tube amps and I strongly recommend something more versatile if you’re uncertain whether these are suited for your rig or not. The RAT is a potato that works with just about any guitar and amp. You can easily tweak this for warm Muff tones or screaming bright fuzz. Just be sure to get a model with the LM308 chip for a smoother tone (pre 2000 models) or get a clone (BYOC Mighty Mouse, Absolutely Analog Ratzo). I also recommend the Boss DS-1 AnalogMan model (modified for a much smoother tone than the stock Boss model).

Echo/delay
Dark Side of the Moon – Binson Echorec
PULSE – TC Electronics 2290 (long single delay) and Lexicon PCM 70 (multi ping pong delay)

On Dark Side David used a Binson Echorec for echo/delay. It’s not documented which model he used but as the Binson II has a maximum tempo at around 300-310ms I assume that a Binson PE was employed for the track.

Echo/delay tempo reference clip (recorded with a Line 6 POD X3).
- First three notes are digital single delay 500ms. Recommended if you only have one unit in your rig or for blending with the analog echo.
- Second three notes are analog echo 350ms. Recommended if you only have one unit in your rig or for blending with the digital delay.
- Last three notes are digital ping pong delay 350ms. This is a great alternative for replicating the Binson multi head repeats.

The Binson is of course nearly impossible to come by and if you do it’s going to cost you a shitload. The Binson’s playback heads creates a unique echo with several notes in each repeat – as heard on the intro. This can be replicated by using a digital ping pong delay set for around 350ms. Most digital processors like the Line 6 (DL4 and Echo Park), TC Electronics Nova, Lexicon etc feature ping pong modes. A single tap also works nicely for both the intro and solo. For authentic 70s tones I recommend an analog echo/delay pedal with a slightly darker tone compared to a typical digital unit. Check out the T-Rex Replica (my favourite), MXR Carbon Copy and EH Deluxe Memory Man and the Ibanez DE7 and EH Memory Toy for great sounding budget models.

A digital delay with a brighter tone fits PULSE nicely. Check out one of the processors mentioned above or try to get your hands on the wonderful Boss DD-2.

Modulation
Modulation is not a must but David’s been using different effects throughout the years for adding depth and character to his tone. The UniVibe is a classic Gilmour effect featured on the early 1972 versions and on PULSE (both rhythms and solo). You can also use a phaser like David did on the 1974-75 leg of the Dark Side of the Moon tour (placing the phaser in front of the gain effects makes it sound even more like a UniVibe). For authentic UniVibe tones I recommend the MJM Sixties Vibe and Fulltone Deja Vibe. The Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe and Lovepedal PickleVibe are great sounding budget models.

David also used chorus on both the Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) and PULSE (1994) versions. Personally I think this is redundant and bit against the whole idea of keeping it basic be sure it’s an analog model like the Boss CE2, Ibanez CS9, EH Small Stone or the BYOC Analog Chorus (CE2 clone).

My stage setup
Fender Stratocaser
- 1996 MIJ 50’s Collectable Series Fender Custom Shop 69 pickups (neck and middle) and Seymour Duncan SSL-5 (bridge).
Reeves Custom 50w tube amp with linked inputs
– bass 50%, treble 50%, mids 40%
Sound City speaker cabinet
- 4×12” Weber Thames 80w speakers

Intro (bridge pickup)

Gollmer Composus: comp 1:00, sust 2:00, vol 2:00
Colorsound Power Boost (clean volume boost): treble 9:30, bass 12:00, volume 9:30, master 1:30
T-Rex Replica: echo 9:00, repeat 12:00, level 12:30 unity, tempo
Boss DD2: level 12:00, feedback 12:00, time

Rhythms and solo (middle pickup, bridge for solo)

AnalogMan Sun Face (added for solo): fuzz 100%, volume 75%
Tube Driver (mild overdrive):
level 2:00, hi 1:30, lo 2:00, drive 12:00
MJM Sixties Vibe (added for chorus parts): rate 40%, volume unity, intensity 70%
T-Rex Replica: echo 9:00, repeat 12:00, level 12:30 unity, tempo

My setup is kind of a mix between early 1972 versions and 1975. I love David’s UniVibe tones from 1972 but I don’t think it fits the solo when I’m using a fuzz so I’m only using it on the chorus section to add a bit more character and depth.

I’m using two delays on the intro – one set for a fast slap back echo and one for a single long delay. The echo is mixed slightly lower than the delay adding a sense of reverb. I’m also using the Colorsound Power Boost set for a mild volume boost for a bit more bite.

As a basis for the rhythms and solo I’m using the Tube Driver set for warm, fairly mild overdrive. I’m using the guitar volume control to increase the volume for the fills and roll it back a hair or two for the rhythms. I prefer a dry tone without any delays to keep the verse as tight as possible. For the solo I hit the Sun Face on top of the Tube Driver and add rich delay for a stellar tone!

So, I hope this made sense and that you got a little wiser. I think the main focus should be to keep things simple and trying to understand how David’s using only a handful of effects and volume to create his tone. Please feel free to share your own Time tone tips!

Follow the discussion on the official Gilmourish.Com Facebook page and don’t forget to check out the previous “examining” features as well: Dogs, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Comfortably Numb and Echoes.

Although not a very interesting performance guitarwise it’s nice to see David on stage again! He was playing the 1956 Gibson Gold Top with a Bigsby tremolo system – same guitar used on On an Island and ‘06 tour – into an Alessandro Bluetic 20w head with a matching 2×12 cabinet. Seems that he used the 1999 Pete Cornish All Tubes effects board and not the current 2006 board. There’s also the familiar Conn Strobo tuner on top of the amp.