Comfortably Numb

The recording

Comfortably Numb grew from David Gilmour’s music and Roger Waters’s lyric, while Bob Ezrin’s orchestral vision helped turn it into a defining collaboration during The Wall sessions. The released studio master combines Waters’s verse vocal and bass-centered sections with Gilmour’s chorus vocals, layered acoustic and pedal-steel textures, and two electric-guitar solos. Gilmour said he recorded five or six solo passes and assembled a composite from the strongest phrases, whereas Ezrin recalled the final performance as essentially an early take. The high-strung rhythm layers keep the verses and choruses airy while the sustained solos provide the song’s emotional release.

Tuning The acoustic rhythm parts use modified Nashville/high-strung tuning: the low E is replaced by a high E, and the A, D, and G strings are octave-high strings; the available sources do not establish a separate tuning for the Black Strat or pedal steel.

Original gear

Fender Stratocaster

Guitar · David Gilmour · Solo

Gilmour played the two featured electric-guitar solos on his modified Black Strat; the documented pickup arrangement used bridge plus neck for the first solo and bridge alone for the second solo and outro.

Hiwatt DR103

Amp · David Gilmour · Solo

The Hiwatt amplifier formed the main loud, sustained side of Gilmour’s parallel solo sound and was paired with a WEM 4x12 cabinet.

WEM Super Starfinder 200 4x12

Cabinet · David Gilmour · Solo

This WEM 4x12, fitted with Fane Crescendo 12A speakers, carried the Hiwatt side of the recorded solo chain.

Yamaha RA-200

Cabinet · David Gilmour · Solo

The RA-200 supplied the parallel rotating-speaker modulation and additional body that distinguishes the recorded electric solos.

Alembic F-2B

Processor · David Gilmour · Solo

The F-2B was used as the preamp in the parallel path feeding the Yamaha revolving-speaker cabinet.

MXR Dyna Comp

Compressor · David Gilmour · Solo

The recording-specific rig account lists a Dyna Comp in the solo chain, functioning as compression before the driven amplifier and rotary-speaker paths.

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

Fuzz · David Gilmour · Solo

The Big Muff supplied the thick fuzz/distortion underpinning the two featured electric-guitar solos.

Alternatives

Practical playing approach

Recreation guidance, not a claim about undocumented studio control positions.

1. 1.Ensure your acoustic guitar is strung with a high-strung/Nashville tuning to capture the percussive, airy chime in the rhythm parts.
2. 2.Use a combination of bridge and neck pickups for the soaring first solo, switching to the bridge pickup alone for the final solo.
3. 3.Combine a thick fuzz pedal with sustained delay to replicate the singing lead tone characteristic of the lead guitar.
4. 4.Maintain a smooth vibrato and unhurried phrasing to let the notes bloom and sustain.

Frequently asked questions

Researched and reviewed by the ToneTwin Research Team.

Sources