od pedal(s) for david gilmour lead tone.

That's a lot of ground to cover. I have not tried one of the newer ones, but the Fulltone Distortion Pro may cover a lot of these bases. Used to own the older model, but sold it years ago. Also an EQ like the Boss GE-7.

 

In his early days (studio, and live) Gilmour used an Orange Treble/Bass Booster for his overdrive and a Fuzz Face for the harder distortion stuff. Later, he used a Colorsound Power Boost (the same as an Overdriver) live and the Orange Treble/Bass Booster for studio work.
For The Wall he used a Orange TBB for studio and the Colorsound PB Live. In the studio and live for the harder stuff he used a Fuzz Face and a Big Muff Pi.

 

Lemme tell ya what,
I have been using a Boss OD-3 for about two years now, tried every new o/d thats come along and always ended up going back to ol faithfull.
Dave Gilmour is a real specialty with this bad boy.
Smooth, fat, singing overdrive is what it produces, harmonically rich aswell.
Just the right amount of compression which most overdrives dont offer.
I strongly recommend trying one.

 

Keep in mind that Gilmour is a mega-style player and will still sound like Gilmour playing through an AM radio, ipod, or sea shell. As you study his tone, you also may want to study his technique.

 

Check out this site: http://www.gilmourish.com/

 

How much $$$ ya got... http://www.petecornish.co.uk/

 

His touch transcends all of his effects. You can get all of the effects to match the sound, but it still won't sound as good as someone who has his feel down pat, even if they are playing really low-end gear. His choices in phrasing and vibrato are more important than the right overdrives. Not that I'm bashing this thread or anything. I searched for a long time before I found a setup that could cop the tone from ABB @ the Fillmore East. And when I found what I liked, I was immensely happy. But even when you find it, then you have no excuse for not knowing all of the songs and licks... Gear is a great distraction from actually playing, and it can open up lots of opportunities and new avenues of creativity and expression, but it remains a distraction from playing... And I will come home and read some forums for a while in "internet bug out mode," and then realize that I've been reading/posting for an hour or so and I haven't played any music at all. Another hour later, I'll pick up the guitar and forget all about the forums for a while. Viscious cycle...

 

Well, if you need something for cheap, a black russian muff will do you for that type of tone. If you have more money to spend, get a mjm foxey fuzz, a skreddy pedal, or an icbm. Set them low and scooped and you'll get that tone you want. I'm sure the compressor will help you out on that front, too. His tone is actually more complex than that, but that will get you started. If you play on a really loud amp (like I do) than you won't need the comp (I don't, but I don't like what comps do to my tone). The muff can be that smooth. I really have no interest in copping his tone because its too scooped for me, but I use an icbm and even with my wooden ass tone, it's still quite smooth. Alternatively, a rat might get you there, though I wasn't happy with it when I had one. I even had the keeley mods for it, and it did nothing for me.

 

I would seriously consider contacting David Main via email. He is the guy behind the Differential Audio Manifestationz pedals from the U.K. Very close build quality to Cornish and he offers a full range of stock pedals on his site plus an unlimited array of custom jobs. He will basically make you any replica you desire from the classics of fuzz, OD and dirt to treble bossters and of course his MkII Tone Benders. He offers a variety of Big Muff replicas and is also doing a custom Tube Screamer for me now in addition to a MkIII Tone Bender, Colorsound Overdriver, Unidrive and Sam Ash Fuzz. I also have one of his custom X-mas 2005 Meatheads which is an amazing dirt box with a tone of tone and very volume knob sensitive. His stuff is also very reasonably priced for custom work and looks indestructible. We should all be considering a lot more of this guys stuff-he has the most musical pedals I have ever heard with no harsh tones whatsoever. Check them out-www.stompboxes.co.uk

 

Four words - Original Chandler Tube Driver

 

If you were to get one, I'd recommend the G-2. It's the most amp like, and usable for more than just Gilmore.

If you saw the Pink Floyd reunion on Live-8 a few months ago, I've read it was all G-2. His tone was killer.

 

I have a Cornish SS2 which was designed by Pete C. for Gillmore. It is THAT tone, "super smooth sustaining." It is also the biggest sounding pedal I've ever used, very organic and definitely a cool pedal, lots of fun, a lot of bucks, some very scarey tones. I find, like most pedals, it's at its absolute best with an amp cranked up.

 

ICBM will get u there..........:AOK

 

I hate to say it but you don't need one pedal you need 4. Brain May = Rangemaster clone. David Gilmour = Fuzz Face clone. Jimmy Page = Sola Sound Tone Bender MKII Professional clone. Jeff Beck is either the Sola Sound MKII Professional for Yardbirds era or a Colorsound Overdriver for the Wired - Blow By Blow era.

There are many good clones out there. Go here to listen to some clips of mine. www.throbak.com

Oh yeah you also said Satriani and Vai. You need a modified Boss dirt box for that. Okay you need 5 pedals.

 

I think you should do yourself a favor and search on TheGearPage for Vox Tonelab, there was a thread that Scott Peterson, had in regards to I think when he bought his Line6 POD XT and a fellow forum member posted clips of some Pink Floyd tunes he did using the Vox ToneLab and I will tell you the guys playing was top shelf and the tone was spot on. If I could remember his name, I would list it, but they were definitely some of the best Gilmour sounding clips, allot of positive comments about his tone and playing.

I realize you are looking for a pedal, but as others have listed Gilmour plays through a mountain of gear and does have incredible touch and feel to his playing, but the guy with the Tonelab has been the closet of anyone I have heard in matching Gilmour's tone.

TheGrooveking

 

Just as the post above this (Reese?) mentioned...it is often overlooked that a decent EQ pedal is usable as many things, one of them a bass boost, treble boost, or bass and treble boost...as well as ought to be a "transparent" boost if you want it, or a cut, or...the list just goes on.

It took me SO many years to be ready to hear it, because an EQ pedal just plain isn't so "sexy" seemingly as a cool OD, or vibe, but I reall have come around to it as being the single most important pedal to your sound that you can get. Just playing with one you can get a guitar to sound like some weird instrument, or you can coax out the most amazing sounds. It also helps you get a better handle on quickly dialing in sounds you want to get. You learn what 400hz does when boosted, first by exaggerating it (raise it by 12db and just hear that freq!) or what 1khz does to a guitar signal. In front of OR behind an OD it can get even a so-so one to sound WAY better...in the effects loop it can give you a last chance to adjust the overall total sound. You can boost all the frequencies to drive the amp harder, or can be used to cut a signal (turn it off for a solo boost).

In a perfect world, it ought to be the first pedal for anyone
because it is so versatile.

 

I did an experiment last night.

I reinstalled my DG-20 in one of my Strats. Using a "flat mids" Fulldrive, Choralflange and a MPX-550, I got close to the sound DG got on "Sorrow". Simply turning down the SPC got me closer to the '70s DG sound. If I had a compressor going into the Fulldrive and some tweaking of the tone controls, I would be much closer. I'd never be exact.

I'm guessing this would be ordinarily a compressor and Big Muff, flanger, reverb/echo in DG's Rig.

My point is you don't need the exact equipment to get those tones. I'm not that familiar with Vai and Satriani's stuff, but you probably could get in the ballpark with a good OD box like a Keely, Fulltone, Chandler, etc. provided you get enough drive out of it. You just have to do some tweaking/experimenting with other effects.