Up for sale, a 2008 Fender Custom Shop David Gilmour Stratocaster Relic in near-mint, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case, CoA, hangtags, and case candy. This is an early first-year example of the Gilmour Strat, carefully reproduced in full by the Fender Custom alongside Gilmour and his longtime guitar technician, Phil Taylor, exceedingly faithful to the legendary original “Black Strat.”

Easily among the most famous Stratocasters of all time and, as of this month, the most expensive guitar ever sold (auctioned for almost $15 million), the “Black Strat” was indelibly linked to Gilmour for decades. Used across the most important stretches of his career, the iconic original featured extensively on landmark Floyd records like The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall (to name just a few), as well as on Gilmour’s critically acclaimed 2006 solo album On an Island. This Custom Shop iteration evokes the aesthetics and tones of that immediately recognizable instrument, boasting a premium feature set including a “Thin Skin” Black Over Three-Tone Sunburst nitro lacquer finish with carefully executed Relic treatment, custom pickup trio, select alder body, shortened tremolo arm, and Gilmour-style electronics with a mini-toggle that engages the neck pickup in positions 1-3 on the selector switch.

The trio of single coil pickups includes a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered bridge pickup, Custom ‘69 middle pickup, and a Fat ‘50s in the neck position (the latter two hand-wound at the Fender Custom Shop). The SSL-5 is described by Duncan as “the ultimate overwound medium-output Stratocaster pickup,” designed to achieve an ideal middle ground between classic Strat tones and modern, punched-up output, perfect for soaring solos. The Fat ‘50s in the neck and the Custom ‘69 middle pickup yield quintessential Strat sparkle and shimmer, with slinky cut at the “in-between” positions on the switch. This David Gilmour Stratocaster Relic weighs 7lbs 14oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

• Wood: Maple
• Shape: “Thin-Shouldered” C, measuring .795” 1st fret, .885” 12th fret
• Fretboard: Maple, 7 ¼” vintage-spec radius
• Frets: Slender, faint wear on frets 1-5
• Scale Length: 25 ½”
• Nut: 1.675”, bone
• Tuners: Kluson-style
• Serialization: R-prefix stamp (neck plate)
• Factory Markings: Custom Shop chevron logo (peghead)

Body Specs:

• Wood: Select Alder
• Pickups: Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered (B), Custom ‘69 (M), Fat ‘50s (N) single coils
• Controls: Volume, Tone x2, Five-way pickup selector, two-way Neck On mini-toggle
• Hardware: Synchronized Tremolo with custom beveled block and shortened arm (standard arm included), jack cup
• Plastics: One-ply black pickguard, gently aged pickup covers/knobs with greened text

The Relic treatment on the gloss Black Over Three-Tone Sunburst nitro lacquer finish is designed to carefully replicate the wear on the original Black Strat, including the imprint of the Kahler tremolo Gilmour used in the ‘80s and ‘90s, “shattered glass” checking, and various chips and marks, a few revealing the original Sunburst beneath the Black finish. This is an exceedingly well-kept example: what little genuine playwear there may be is indistinguishable from the factory aging. The ambered nitro gloss on the neck profile is flawless.

The original G&G Deluxe David Gilmour Signature Model hardshell case is included, along with the CoA (dated 10/10/08), all hangtags, and case candy including a custom leather strap, David Gilmour Signature pick, Three Disc Live In Gdansk CD and DVD Package, and a Copy of Phil Taylor’s “The Black Strat” Book.