Gilmourish

Buying an amp often causes a lot more consideration than buying a guitar. Or perhaps the contrary. One often put more effort in buying a guitar and pedals than a good amp. Naturally, it’s also a matter of how big your pocketbook is. In this article we’ll look at a couple of models suitable for David’s tones and the dos and don’ts when you’ve decided to spend your savings.

Let’s start with some basics. A typical Gilmourish amp should have lots of headroom (headroom: the more headroom, the less the amp distorts when you play loud). David has always depended on that clean transparent tone and he’s using effect pedals to colour his tone rather than using the natural overdrive from cranked tubes. While Hendrix used the overdrive from his Marshalls to boost the Fuzz Face, David is using pedals to colour that clean tone from the amp. This allows a better control of your high gain sounds and to maintain a clean tone as a basis. The amp should preferably also have a pronounced bass/treble tone or what’s often referred to as a scooped mids tone.

Tubes or transistor?
The world of guitarists seems to be divided in two. Some people can’t stand the sterile lifeless tone of transistor amps and swear by the magic created by glowing tubes. The other half feels that transistor amps will deliver that same sweet tone day in day out and can’t stand the unpredictable and moody tube amp. It’s really up to you to decide. Bring your guitar and a couple of your favourite pedals to your local guitar centre and try several amps. Perhaps you’ll be surprised and end up with something you really didn’t expect.

Before you decide though, it’s wise to consider how you intend to use the amp. If you’re touring a lot or rehearsing with your band in a large studio, a 50w or 100w tube head with a matching cabinet will give you the best Gilmourish tone. Keep in mind that 100w is NOT twice as loud as 50w but rather 2-3Db. In most cases you’ll be better off with a 50w because these are easier to drive and get to work with the pedals. If you’re playing at home with neighbours all around, you should consider a smaller 10-30w transistor or tube combo. Tube heads needs to be cranked to some extent to get the sound you want. Below a certain point your effects will sound thin and lifeless. It’s better then to get a smaller amp that you can push a little extra without having to play too loud.

The problem however is that it’s difficult to find amps suitable for playing at home that’ll give you that powerful clean Gilmourish tone. If we go back to the basics described above, the amp, regardless price range, should be able to give you clean tone without too much mid range. To get more headroom from a small amp you can replace the tubes with someone less aggressive (my favourite is JJ Electronics, while Sovtek and most Asian tubes tend to be slightly more aggressive) and get speakers with more output and a warmer tone (David’s using a 100w head with a 200w cabinet). It can also be wise not to use too hot pickups. EMGs and high output humbuckers will almost certainly distort a smaller amp but vintage style low output single coils (like Fender CS 54 or 69) will give you a cleaner tone.

I often get asked “why can’t I get David’s Comfortably Numb tone when I have the exact pedals as he does?” The answer is often that the amp is too small or has too little headroom to handle all your pedals. A combination of compressor + Big Muff + Tube Driver (or any distortion + overdrive/booster) works fine on loud tube rigs but will in mostcases be total overkill on smaller amps. David’s pedals are combined and tweaked for his stage rig consisting of at least two 100w Hiwatt heads and two 4×12” 200w speaker cabs. Try rolling down the gain on both the distortion and overdrive. If this doesn’t work, ditch the overdrive. In most cases the Muff alone with some delay will be what you’re searching for.

Linked inputs
Some amps has a normal channel and a bright channel and you might realise that the normal might be a bit too dark and lack some presence while the bright channel is too bright and lack bass. The trick is to use a small patch cable and connect the two by joining the upper normal and the lower bright and plugging your guitar into the upper bright (leaving the lower left normal open). This brings the two characteristics together and adds more presence to your tone. Leave the normal channel volume slightly higher that the bright volume.

Amp settings
Any amp or effect settings suggested throughout this site should be considered as guidelines for your won tone. Not a gospel. David’s settings might be way off if you don’t have the same gear he’s using and you might even realize that you need to constantly adjust your settings depending on where you’re playing. A small rehearsal room or small venue calls for mild settings but a larger stage might need more of everything.

David’s Hiwatt settings
- David is rarely seen using the exact same settings one night to another but it appears to be something like this:

Linked inputs as described above, bass 50%, treble 50-60%, mids 40% and presence around 60%. The normal channel volume should be slightly higher than the bright/brilliance volume.

The Gilmourish amp
I think the best choice for the Gilmour tones are tube amps, so let’s concentrate on that.

Hiwatts are known for their superior military standards, their transparent super clean tone and loudness. Hiwatts has been David’s main choice on and off since late summer 1969. The heads in his current rig was bought new in 1974 by his long time technician Phil Taylor. It’s a common consensus that older Hiwatts, like the 1973-74 models, are better than the new reissues. Hiwatts are expensive but you’ll most likely save a lot of money on a mint used ’74 head off EBay than buying a new model.

David’s been using Custom 100 heads on stage and SA212 combos on several studio sessions. The Custom 50 might be a better choice for a smaller rehearsal studios and smaller/medium sized stages.

The high gain series is not recommended for David’s tones.

Sound City amps, designed by Dave Reeves in the late 60’s before he went on to start his own company Hiwatt, was for a long time neglected and forgotten but has regained its glory and the prices are rising rapidly. The Sound City L100 and 50Plus are more or less identical to the Hiwatt Custom 50 and 100 and even though they’re not in production anymore, you can get these heads for much less the price of a Hiwatt on EBay.

Arbiter is now offering a new line of Sound City amps. These should not be mistaken for the old amps and are not recommended for David’s tones.

Reeves Amplification is building amps based on the specifications of David Reeves’ Hiwatts from the early 70’s. Reeves Custom 50 and 100 are, as their name suggests, true replicas of Hiwatt Custom 50 and 100 and very similar to the models Reeves designed for Sound City. This is quite simply the closest you’ll get to the classic early 70s Hiwatt tones!

Fender has wide range of Gilmourish amps to choose from and besides the Hiwatts Fender has always been a favoured amp by Gilmour, especially for recording sessions.

The ’57 Twin 50w and ’59 Bassman 40w reissue tweed combos are both used many times by David. They’re ideal for smaller venues and rehearsal rooms and loud enough to match most criteria. It’s also worth checking out the Hot Rod and Blues Deluxe.

I also recommend searching EBay or classifieds for older Fenders like a Dual Showman 100W head, a Bassman 50w or 100w head (a personal favourite of mine) and Twin Silverface.

Personally I think that Marshall amps in general aren’t ideal for David’s tones. I know there are many (strong) opinions about this but I find them to be a bit too aggressive and the clean channel lack some character and depth. Still, you can get some wonderful tones with classics like JCM 800 or a 1959 Super Lead 100w Plexi, especially with a high output speaker cabinet.

I use a small 1982 5210 transistor combo with a single 12” Celestion 12GM70 speaker at home. These pops up frequently on EBay for an affordable price. The tone is very reminiscent of a Hiwatt/Sound City with a warm super smooth clean channel and the distortion channel (although we don’t want to use that) is like plugging your guitar into a RAT or MXR Distortion +.

The new valve states and modern Marshalls are in my opinion good for only one thing. Thrash metal.

One of the best amps for a tight budget is the Peavey Classic 30w and 50w combos. It has a lot of headroom and a typical vintage scooped mids tone ideal for David’s sounds. Highly recommended!

Ceriatone is a small company based in South East Asia offering DIY parts and complete assembled amp kits. They make stunning replicas of classic amps, like especially Fenders and Marshall and their very own Hiwatt clone, Hey Watt! High quality handwired amps, excellent customer service and fast delivery. Ceriatone gets a lot of praise on the net for good reason!

See the Buyer’s Gear Guide – Budget for more recommended amps.

Digital processors and plugins
If an amp is too loud for your small bedroom or sensitive neighbours then there’s lots of digital alternatives and a set of good headphones will take you far. The Boss GT boards feature a stunning range of both Boss pedals and clones or “based on” of old classics like Big Muffs, Fuzz Face and Tube Screamer. The advanced amp sim technology makes this a versatile board both for a stage or studio.

Line 6 has tons of different solutions, whether you want a multi pedal board, a USB POD loaded with pedals and amp sims or just a digital plug in like the POD Farm. All works nicely with popular recording software like QBase, Logic and Garageband. Don’t be fooled though. Although these units claim to feature clones of many of David’s pedals and amps they’re “based on” not actual clones. Some sounds great while others are pure shit.

If you already have QBase, Logic or Garageband installed you can simply plug your guitar into your Mac or PC and start jamming with top quality virtual pedal boards and amp sims. There’s also lots of other plug ins that goes hand in hand with most recording software, like Guitar Rig, ApliTube and BBEs StompWare.

Tubes
Changing or replacing tubes depends very much on how often you play and how hard you push your amp. Preamp tubes (smaller tubes often enclosed in metal shields) rarely needs to be replaced and can last for years. Power tubes (larger tubes) normally needs to be changed once every year like a light bulb. Often you’ll hear changes in your tone, like loss of volume and/or bass and generally a flat lifeless tone. You can also see a blue gas or frosting inside the tubes when they’re dying. Expect to give the new tubes some time to break in. Depending how often you play all tubes needs a couple of weeks to settle in and bring your amp back to normal. Keep this in mind as well when you’re changing the tube in your Tube Driver.

The choice of tubes can have a significant impact on your tone. I’m very pleased with JJ Electronics especially and TADs. Check out TubeDepot and Eurotubes for a variety of brands.

Speakers
People often seem to forget that speakers play a huge role in creating the overall tone. If you’re having problems with an amp that’s too aggressive or one that has way too much mid range, then replacing the speakers with a high gain model or a model with less mids might solve much of the problem. Ceramic speakers have more headroom while Alnico tends to break up/distort more easily.

Celestion speakers are often favoured but I find these to be a bit too bright and punchy. Vintage 30 with its 60w per speaker will give you plenty of headroom to work with while Greenbacks with only 25w will distort more easily in a setup of a 100w head and a 4×12” loaded cabinet.

David’s classic WEM cabs are loaded with old Fane speakers and I’ve found that Reeves Vintage Purple and Weber Thames is the closest match. Both have high output and rugged construction that will give you tons of headroom and an incredibly warm balanced tone.

Speaker cables
As with instruments cables, speaker cables are often overlooked. Using a good quality hi end cable between the head and cabinet does wonders to your tone and justice to your valued amp. The Evidence Audio Siren is David’s choice and once you plug it in it’s like lifting a thick blanket from your amp!

Amp maintenance
Whether or not you have a transistor or tube amp unless you have experience in handling electric components you should stay away from solving problems yourself. Keep in mind that this is powerful stuff and electricity can be stored for days. There is a possibility of death!

There’s a number of reasons why your amp may not sound its best. As talked about above, you should replace power tubes about once a year. Crackling noises, pops and general tone loss might be caused by dying tubes or burned sockets. Try replacing one tube at a time and see if the problem disappears. The same symptoms might also be caused by leaking capacitors or loose soldering. This is something you should have a pro to look at! The problem might also not be your amp at all, but somewhere in the chain between your guitar and the amp or the guitar it self. Unhook everything, start by just plugging the guitar into the amp and carefully add pedals etc until the problem appears.