Riff Tone

Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarOvation Custom Legend 1619-4 (acoustic, Nashville tuning)

AmpUnknown (likely direct or through studio preamp, no evidence of electric amp for riff)

PickupsPiezo (Ovation acoustic pickup system)

Amp Settings

gain3

bass6

mid6

treble6.5

reverb3

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1979. The main riff/verse rhythm is played on an Ovation Custom Legend 1619-4 acoustic in Nashville tuning, not electric. Electric guitar (Fender Stratocaster) is only used for solos and fills. No evidence of amp or pedal use for the acoustic rhythm track.

Tone Character(10)

clean and brightshimmery top endarticulate and clearrich harmonic contentopen and airyslightly compressedno audible distortionnatural acoustic resonancecrisp attackbalanced frequency response

Difficulty

The riff is technically straightforward but requires accurate strumming and familiarity with Nashville tuning, which may be unfamiliar to many players.

Sources

David Gilmour's guitar tone on Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb: how he got his sound | Guitar World

This tone has been researched 9 times by the community

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