David Gilmour

As a producer and songwriter, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour is drawn to floating, dreamy textures, but when he picks up his black Stratocaster to play a solo, an entirely different sensibility takes over: "I wanted a bright, powerful lead guitar tone that would basically rip your face off," he says. He was a fiery, blues-based soloist in a band that hardly ever played the blues – his sprawling, elegant, relentlessly melodic solos were as bracing a wake-up call as those alarm clocks on The Dark Side of the Moon. But Gilmour was also adept at droning avant-garde improv, as seen in Floyd's Live at Pompeii days, and could be an unexpectedly funky rhythm guitarist, from the slinky riff to "Have a Cigar" to the Chic-like flourishes on "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2." His pioneering use of echo and other effects – initially inspired by original Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett – culminated with his precision use of delay on "Run Like Hell," which directly anticipates the Edge's signature sound.
Key Tracks: "Comfortably Numb," "Shine on You Crazy Diamond"