Added: 4 years ago
From: WrayLS
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  • This is cool. I put a black pickguard on my Strat today and it looks legit, but it needs to SOUND legit. Where did you get the switch for the pickup from?

  • I saw this 3 years ago when I was just getting into electric guitars and learning how they work. Now I have 2 strat copies I put together from parts, wired in a way I came up with based on ideas from this video. You really inspired me!

  • @BlackAngusYoung Fantastic! Thanks for letting me know.

  • It really bothers me when people insult someone's project or instrument. Not to mention insult a truly nice guy like Wray. I played the real deal GD NOS, relic. I did not feel it was worth the $. Like Wray I took the time to build one myself. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I like the one I built a heck of a lot more than the 4K Fender CS model, it means more to me, and I saved a lot of money. Wray, kudos man! Keep on rocking!

  • @fenderbluesdeluxe What can I say? Thanks.

  • @terrytibbs0138: If that's the best you can come up with, you're an idiot.

  • Thanks for info, I didn't know how David got that "Floyd" sound. I have a mim strat for a litle while now and thought maybe it was some type of pedal he used to change the sound to that nice sounding riff.

  • thanks boss ...dig the vid

  • I just got a used mex strat black with white pickguard mint condition... the black on black looks great but i am kind of more and more liking it in its original simplicity. Love fender strats, they play like a dream.

  • awesome man ! 

  • a black les paul would be sexier

  • beautiful, and it sounds great... cheers from Chile! =)

  • gilmour strat is not the first one made.there were a few(hard to say how many) that were proto types.some say the first 50 ..that didn't have serial#...my friend has one..it dates to early 54 with no serial#....but because of the fear of the pick gaurd shinking he can't take it off the guitar...yes the bake lite dose that and sometimes you can never line it up again...so you loss your pick gaurd and the guitar is worthless then...

  • when i saw that hanging up behind you in other vids i thought it was the actual one ! wow thats pretty cool!

  • There are no guitars worth $5k..imo...if you want to live in the world of hype, make a name worth money, i would like to sell you swamp land in Florida. I have built my own strat. I used the finest OEM parts that Fender has built. Different parts from different years. I have an Ash Deluxe body, American Standard neck, customized pickguard w all top of line pots, caps, pups...deluxe 2 point bridge, locking tuners. I have $1200 invested...give me a name to put on here, i'll sell it for $5k!

  • Nice, can I borrow your Strat for my next video tutorial? :-)

  • Dude i so want the fs1 pickup...how is the hum....The mark knoplfer dimarzio video on the right has awsome sound with the fs1..

  • have you ever built a guitar for someone?

  • I built this about 10 years ago - long before the Fender issues were available. Besides, I'd never spend that kind of money on a guitar. You go ahead though - then show us YOUR video.

  • @WrayLS Indeed sir. I made one for me too. Linked here on you video as a response, It's a demo on clean channel. I wonder if the tone is similar to yours.

    Cheers.

  • @WrayLS Nice guitar, the vid is short but you can tell the guitar has tone! I'm still not sure what to do, make one out of my current strat (white and needs black paint) or buy a new black MIJ 57. Plus pickups, man too many choices, CS69's, Fat 50's or Fralins??? Do you mind that the 69's don't hum cancel on the 2nd position? Curious if these sound warmer or fatter than the fat 50s or Lindy Blues Specials? Oh BTW Fig's a hater, that's what they do, hate probably cuz he's got a little pecker?

  • dude ur dog's goin to town on that bone hahaha.  great strat. gunna have someone build one for me as well!

  • especially the american made

  • an AMERCAN strat by any other name is still a strat....mine is surf-green on white....sorta retro like me....couldn't afford one til i hit 50)

  • playing guitar in pajamas? ur like me in the future.

  • what are the 3 positions of the mini switch? I mean.. which pickups are active on positon-1..\.. position-2 ..|.. and positon-3 ../.. ?  thanks! :)

  • @figaz555 ur calling someone a noob when its not a vidéo of a game , ur such a nerd waw

  • Looks beautiful mate, well done

  • brother I'm adding you ......your a saint!

  • its maple neck?

  • That really looks like his Strat. You rule dude, nice job.

  • Cool strat. I have couple of strats and want to complete my collection with a tribute to Gilmour black strat.  Got the pickguard with custom electrics on its way, a maple neck too... I need to source a body next.

  • According to some people I have known that have been playing guitar for years Gilmours strat is the first strat ever made its from 1954 and has the serial number 001 now strats have almost 12 digits compare tell me that wouldnt be the first ever strat.

  • @slickrick199525 The Black strat david uses is a 1970, bought in NYC

  • @madcap2003 He is not probably talking about the other strat gilmour has. It does have serial number 0001 or something like that, but gilmour himself said it porbably isn't the first one. Oh and the black strat was bought in Manny's Music 1969, in midtown manhattan, such a legendary store, which is no more as there now is a sam ash where mannys music used to be at.

  • @madcap2003 So is Angus Youngs Black SG 61 reissue.

  • i hear the edge uses fs-1's in the bridges of his strats. you ever tried to get his kind of sound with this guitar?

  • Nice guitar, beautiful playing. I would hate to be whatever you dog is tearing apart. lol

  • My black Squier Strat is set up like the 1977 In the flesh tour. But I have Fender CS 1954's in the neck and middle positions and the DiMarzio FS-1 on the bridge. I re-finished the maple/rosewood neck, and the bridge has a black pickup. I can't wait until I can take these on stage for the first time ever! I'm not good enough yet. I've only been playing guitar for about two years, but have had little time to practice. :-(

  • I gotta know. Is your bridge a modern bridge? or is it a vintage sync. style? Mine is the Vintage like David's. I'm almost done with my Black Strat project. All I need now are the vintage tuners, and the maple one piece neck. I have a Fender Fat 50's neck pup, a Fender CS 1969 middle pup, and a seymour duncan SSL-1 at the bridge. I went to Gilmourish to start off with, and Stratcat where they sell all the parts you need to make a Gilmour Strat. I mean ALL of the parts. It's where I got my parts.

  • where do you get a black pick guard without the white outline? thanks.

  • @JEFFMM71 You can get them at Warmoth(dot)com. They have practically everything custom built by them.

  • I'm thinking about throwing an FS-1 on my Strat, does it pick up those Wall and Animal tones nicely? That's what I'm going for, easier said than done haha

  • @bhagan92 hey man you can buy what you want, but i would get the ssl-5 a very good gilmour pickup...cause its what he uses basically, just a souped up ssl-1 i tried the fs-1 and it didnt last long...it messed up about a month or two having it installed. maybe mine was a fluke though. just tryin to help.

  • @hunter1609 Thanks man I'll check it out

  • guess what.... I'm getting one... off ebay, i can't wait XD

  • Very nice work ! I bet you can sell a lot of these especially to all of us viewing your project now ! Take my name ! Where can you get a black pick guard ? Interesting comment about EMG - they have the "EMG-DG20 David Gilmour Pre-Wired Pickguard/Pickup Set" used on his RED strat. But if you are after the sound from Dark Side of the Moon andThe Wall, I guess you are better off just using that DIMARZIO DP110 FS-1, especially if that EMG product makes your strat sound like it has humbuckers in it !

  • ive read somewhere that he uses symoure duncan. not to sure about that, but i might give them a shot when i go to build my blackstrat, if they dont sound well then i can always go for the dimarzio's

  • correction: it costs almost 5000 dollars! thats like syd barret crazy

  • hahahahahaa

  • LOL the dog in the background almost looks like its chewing the wires!

    on topic: nice project dude, i bet it was much cheaper to do than buying it from fender. i hear thats it has a sycho price tag

  • what kind of pickups do u have

  • Fender 1969's. Abigale Ybarra-signed.

  • hey man great strat, but i was wondering what pickups you are using in the middle and neck positions. thanks

  • ooo dude nice playing :)

  • sweet, can you build me one? lol

  • I thought the switch brought the neck pickup on - not the bridge?

  • Yeah it does. In that book 'The Black Strat' it says the switch controls the neck pickup.

  • how did u install the bridge on/off switch?

  • its pretty easy to do but you will have to cut a hole in your scratchplate to add the switch , \i have fitted on to my squire strat and found the info online as to where to solder the switch to , I managed to do a pretty good job of it and I am rubbish at soldering . the switch also gives you the combination of all pickups on at once wich is a nice feature .

  • whats the name of the song, that you played right at the very start?

  • shine on you crazy diamond. thats like the most popular gilmour lick.

  • "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)". Though I think you have me confused because that's Pink Floyd's most famous lick. Hahaha.

  • of you have bridge pickup along with th 5 way selector @ bridge would it produce a humbucker-ish sound?

  • cool im doing the same sorta project with an fender mexican 2009 model but gona use gold hardware and lace pickups

  • Hi there, mind if I ask you if this pickguard ia an 11 hole/1-ply ? Because I just happen to find the 8 hole ones (the old pattern), and my Fender is an American Series 2005. If it is an 11 hole, could you please tell me where you found it? I'm really impressed by the difficulty to find this pickguard!

    Thank you and congrats for the guitar, great replica :)

  • Is that an Epiphone Valve Jr. in the back?

  • It looks great! Nice job!

  • Be careful! Don't you let your dog eat up your great Strat! :)

  • Don't worry. It's only a Behringer pedal.

  • lol i see the fender stool you bought in the background

  • Have you played it loud with the distortion? I'm starting to make a dg setup, and I kinda want the fs-1 (the wall tone), but its not a stacked single so I dont know how much noise there would be in the sound. So im kinda stuck between this and the duncan ssl-5 like he uses now.

  • If you shield the cavety properly, it should be extremely quiet. Remember, you hear noise at all volumes. If this Strat was noisy, you'd hear it. I completely shielded the insides with copper tape. It's not magic but it works like it.

  • I love the dog Gnashing on the bone in the background!!

  • That's Jasper.

  • isn't it missing the whammy bar?

  • David's "Black Beauty" ... and does DAVID ever play it BEAUTIFULLY!

  • Nice work! I also have replicated the black strat. Mine is a 1993 USA black fender strat, and I added a black pickguard and (white of course) SCN noiseless pickups.  All I have left is the switch to keep the neck pickup on.

  • Awesome.

  • this will be the next guitar Ill build

  • Terrific! I had a 40th anniversary black strat with aged golden maple neck a year ago, but in a moment of weakness I sold it to buy my Martin-D28. I had ordered a black pickguard for it too! I was planning on the pickup switch, shortened tremolo, remove the tremolo plate, and I was going to sand and distress all the areas on the body and neck in accordance to The Black Strat by Phil Taylor as well! Ugh.

    At least I still have a Les Paul, but still. I like to think about what could have been. :(

  • Hi! Beautiful guitar!

    My guitar looks the same, but it's left handed. I changed pickups and now it has Fender Noiseless Pickups on. For extra shielding do you know if I can use aluminium instead copper?

    Thank you very much Bob

  • Sorry to chime in but yeah, they use aluminum on the back of most pickguards I think a nice thick copper is better however, and you can shield the inside cavities as well. Nice Strat BTW, I can' t decide if I want to paint mine black or white???

  • really nice man.

  • Lol at the dog in the background

    Nice guitar btw

  • jeje, I bought EMG active pick ups, they are a must! He used them at delicate sound of thunder. But, don´t be nervous my friends, I don´t think he worries too much about it. it´s on his fingers! try that and you`ll get great sounds!

  • i jus got that sort of swich in my strat

  • awsome job on that strat

  • Erm, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' is actually played on the red strat...

  • The song was recorded in 1975 on the black Strat. His red Strat is an '83.

  • Seriously? Oh sorry, I'm probably confused because of PULSE and the Royal Albert Hall dvd. So yeah, you're right. Sorry!

  • Sorry for your comment....

    But if you listen to the original "Shine on you crazy diamond"

    on the "Wish you were here" album is played on the Black Strat:-))

  • exellent job on the strat just wondering do you take orders ?

  • Not since my divorce. ;)

  • haha! I am sorry gonna have to use that one myself :P

  • wut a nice F strat !!

    I play with my DOG also, but he gets pissed if I play anything other than Pink FLoyd. This is Y I love my dog....

  • Nice guitar, just wondering what is that little riff you play at 0.03?

    New to floyd and they have one hell of a back catalogue to get through to find it!

  • Well then, you MUST check out their album Wish You Were Here. The answer's there...

  • thanks WrayLS, will be on to it straight away :-)

  • is the beginig of shine on your crazy diamond

  • My dog chills with me when I play too. Good job on the strat.

  • how much it cost to put all this together?

  • Around $500.

  • Nice dog.

  • where did you get that tiny switch for the coil tap at?

  • It's not anyhing special. I got mine at an electronics supply store.

  • Cool, guitar. And that Strat sound we all love at 1:14

  • what pickups are in this guitar. I know david uses the emg's but i think thats only in the red strat. (dg-20 system) they are just emg sa's

  • Neck and middle are Fender 1969's. He has a Seymour Duncan in the bridge slot. The EMG DG-20's are in his red and white Strats.

  • Seymour Duncan SSL-1 in the bridge, in case anyone wants to know EXACTLY which model :)

  • is gilmour's model coming out this month? cuz i dont know if its too early or not, but i havent seen it yet and iv been looking to build one until i heard about the other one.

  • I would build your own. the one fender makes will be nice but its going to have davids name on the head stock just like my clapton strat. sometimes i wish i could sand it off. make your own then its yours not his. see where im coming from

  • ahh thank you. iv been trying to decide what to do.

  • not to mention the actual Gilmour model four grand.

  • could you possibley make a tutorial video on how to wire it like you doing it

  • would any guitar shop connect all of the wires for the extra switch

  • Any qualified guitar technician could do this mod with their eyes closed. It's SIMPLE.

  • could maybe a 13 year old boy do it

  • honestly this is the first time i've ever seen a all black strat.& i've seen alot of guitars

  • Hello. I really like your guitar. I am wondering however, if the squier body is thinner than the stratocaster body. I am thinking of doing the exact same project you done starting with a squier. Please let me know.

    Thanks

    JW

  • I would say, unless you're trying to do an exact replica, start with a guitar that feels good and looks right. If that's a Squire, so be it. (Mine's an early Squire body.)

  • most likly before they made them from plywood. remeber the strat body is the key to a strat. stay away from the hevy bodys. they kill the guitar

  • Just wondered if your body is 45mm deep or less and if your neck is a fender or a squier neck? How do you like the slimmer profile of a squier?

  • how do u get the hole in the pickguard to add the extra switch or is there already like a pickguiard with an extra hole

  • You drill a new hole. A techie could easily do this job if you're unsure about it.

  • is the mini toggle a 3 position or just 2 position

  • how do you connect the mini toggle to the pickups

  • Hi Wray. Funny, we had a similar project.

    My first electric guitar was a 1992 Squier and as I didn't want it to stay in the attic, I choose to custom it to my preferences. Warmoth neck, ssl-5 bridge, cs54 middle and neck, Callaham tremolo bridge, and a switch that allows me to have any combination of pups, in series or parallels.

    If you're interested to hear it, I posted a video response to your own video.

    Best wishes, and many thanks for the "Montreal 77" review.

  • Hey nice job. I have a candy apple red Strat with 54 Holy Grails and they're great.

  • Fender is making a replica of Dave's strat. It's coming out in September.

  • yeh its $2499

    i'd rather make it

  • It has DiMarzio FS-1 because that's the pick-up he had in it during the mid-70's. I just prefer the FS-1's sound to the Seymour Duncan he has now. He has EMG's in his other guitars (Red and White) and they sound more like humbuckers.

  • do you know what seymour duncan is in his?

  • Aboth the pickups...you have an DiMarzio Paf in the bridge position?

    But you say that Davide has now an SeymoureDuncan it that position?

    I always thought he has EMG DG20?!

    Thanx!

  • NIce! i love that guitar.

  • You can get 2 switches that look like Glimour's at Radio Shack for under 4 bucks.

    Is there a way I can post a picture of my guitars on here?

  • HOW DO U ADD THE EXTRA SWITCH

  • It's simple if you know guitar wiring. If not, get a techie to do it. Basically, you add an on/off selector bypass. From the Bridge pick-up's input point at the selector switch, run a wire to the input of an on/off mini toggle. From the toggle, run a wire back to the selector's output. Toggle off, nothing changes. Toggle on, you suddenly have 7-way wiring. It just allows you to turn on the bridge pick-up indendently of the selector. There are several ways to do it. I think that's the simplest.

  • where can i buy the parts for that extra switch???

  • I get most of my stuff on e-bay.

  • I never guessed that's how he got that sound. The wiring is so simple and perfect, like a physical manifestation of the music he made with it. Thanks for posting this. I'll probably do this to my guitar. But I don't know if I can find a black pickguard for a Mini Strat. Maybe Fusion spraypaint for plastics.

  • i heard fender was actually coming out with a signiture edition... and selling it retai?

  • Correct. There's no date for its release set at the moment. Better save your pennies - it won't be cheap.

  • I guess it is since your holding it(duh) nevermind

  • I got the first printing. There's a newer hardcover edition now that I don't have.

  • your the man , has the book came out yet i just seen about it in last months guitar world

  • oh ok thanks, in your info thing it lists a rosewood neck but thanks for the info it is helpful

  • Rosewood was his old neck. When he changed his to maple, I changed mine too. Now, I highly recommend the maple neck.

  • where do you get a light colored rosewood neck, the only ones i see light in color are maple, id like to do one myself is why i ask

  • I believe all rosewood necks are dark. Rosewood is nice but it's very mellow. This Strat has a 1957, V-shaped maple neck - and I prefer it over rosewood. Maple is a little brighter with a snappier feel.

  • Whats that other little switch called?

  • It's an on/off mini toggle.

  • And also what are you playing at the very beginning?

  • Why, that's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" form the Wish You Were Here Album.

  • That dog is really going nuts on its toy. Nice guitar!

  • Nice guitar. Quick question: would not be better to put aged white knobs and pickup covers? I am trying to assemble my own replica of the Black Strat and am thinking about aged white accessories. Have you tried?

  • Mine's merely a "Tribute". I wanted to approximate his sound. Looks are a distant second. I didn't bother with all the "relicing" either. I have several guitar projects I've built where I did use aged accessories but I figure, after hanging on my wall for a few years, this will age naturally. If you want to get really serious, buy an authentic black 1969 Strat and start from there. That's certainly out of MY price range. Besides, I could never bring myself to modify a vintage instrument.

  • HEY!!! that guy stole David Gilmore's stratocaster!!!

    nice replica, now you just gotta add the little scratches and nicks like the origional. I wonder why dave does want fender to sell replicas of it, like they do with Eric Clapton's strat.

  • now you need the strap

  • You should but in some CS-69s those are the pickups david has except his r original late 60's pickups.

    Have you done anything to eliminate noise like using a copper sheet on the back of the pickguard like David...?? Check my vids to see my strat

  • Thanks. I ordered a SD vintage SSL-1 for the bridge and a black pickguard. I will do the switch mod and see how it sounds.

  • A few options: Fender Custom Shop 1969's ($220 on e-bay) and replace the bridge with a Seymour Duncan Vintage Staggered Strat Custom. That's his current set-up. I prefer his mid-70's sound so I got a DIMARZIO DP110 FS-1 and dropped it into the bridge position. About $60 new. Better yet, look for used pick-ups where they service guitars in your area. My guitar tech sold me a used FS-1 for $30. I kept the stock Squire pick-ups in the neck and middle. I'm happy with them. Hope that helps.

  • can you tell me how you´ve done the mod with whitch you can switch all pus on?

  • It's simple. I ran a wire from the bridge contact point (where the bridge pickup meets the 5-way selector switch) to an on/off toggle switch. Then, from the other contact of the toggle, I ran another wire back to the selector switch's "out" point. It allows you to turn on the bridge pick-up independantly of the selector. Switch off, it's a normal Strat. Switch on, you get 2 more pick-up options for a total of 7.

  • thanks!!!

    that help me a lot. by the way, great strat.

  • Great. Just think of it as a selector switch bypass. You can do it with the bridge like mine OR with the neck pick-up - like David's. Both ways do exactly the same thing.

  • Hey man i have the same strat exept my neck is maple

  • take care of it !!! is a dream guitar i have a black start too but with the headstock black , check it out on my video: my studio! in my channel

  • THANKS FOR THE INFO BYE  =D

  • Hi ! I have a doubt. The pick-ups that david gilmour uses are saymour duncan? are there "vintage"? Thanks I wait for a response Bye.

  • He has a Seymour Duncan "Vintage Staggered Strat Custom" pick up in the bridge position. There's no more info on it than that. The other 2 pickups are original, from 1969.

  • That is a very cool axe! Just ordered that Gilmour Strat book myself.

  • where did you buy the black pickguard?!

  • Go to e-Bay, do a search for pickguards - then, do a sub-search "black 1-ply Strat". I just checked - You'll find a couple there right now for under $20 US. Cheers.

  • hey you should check out the fender lite ash strat. Its very similar to the authentic black strat. The pickups and knobs are a little different though

  • IF he has Phil Taylors book, then he prob has the digram. I can make you a tremolo, shorter one in about 10 minutes if i have an extra one. I use it on my strat to help with his tremelo technique. Its about 2 1/2 inches shorter, and has a sharper angle on the plastiv head, so it respts in your palm while you hold the pick , wither strumming or bending. works good. feels great. Nice job man.

  • Hey, I have been thinking of getting the Dimarzio fs-1, and Iwas wondering what your thoughts are on the pickup and if you recommend it? Thanks a bunch and Amazing job on the strat!

  • Thanks for the comments. The FS-1 is a really nice blues pick-up. I like it. DG has swithced his to a Seymour Duncan bridge p/u now. I haven't updated mine as I'm quite happy with the tones as-is.

  • do you have a wiring diagram of the david gilmour strat

  • That is an excelent piece. Is it made from an American Standard? How can I get one of these????