David Gilmour’s 1966 Fender Stratocaster

Brand: Fender

Model: Stratocaster

This is the second white Fender Stratocaster that David purchased in mid-1970 – his first one being the one that was stolen from the truck that was carrying the band’s equipment in late 1970. Most notably, David was seen using this guitar during the French television show Pop Deux, and at Fête De L’Humanité, Parc Des Vincennes, Paris, France in September 1970.

The is about the best look we get at the guitar during the Pop Deux video. Note that the plastic pickup covers are at this point removed.

Sometime in the early 1970s, David removed the plastic pickup covers from the guitar, and a couple of months later, completely stripped the guitar of its paint. Apparently, the guitar was repainted by the previous owner, and not particularly well, so David thought that it would just look better without any paint.

Around the mid-1970s, he removed the original pickups from the guitar and installed a set of Dawson Stereophonic pickups – which remain in the guitar to this day.

David’s 1966 Fender Stratocaster was among the guitars that were auctioned in 2019 through Christie’s. The guitar was at the very top of the list in terms of the price realized, selling for $423,000.