Riff Tone

Comfortably Numb (Live)

Pink Floyd

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1969 Fender Stratocaster (alder body) with late-'70s Charvel birdseye maple neck

Ampcirca 1973-74 custom Hiwatt DR103 100-watt head (linked channel input) with WEM Super Starfinder 200 4x12 cabinet (Fane Crescendo 12A speakers)

PickupsDiMarzio FS-1 single-coil (bridge), 1971 Fender Stratocaster single-coils (middle and neck)

Amp Settings

gain6

bass6.5

mid5.5

treble5.5

reverb3.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

compressionMXR MXR Dyna Comp

fuzzElectro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (c. 1974 Ram's Head)

Notes

Live setup, Pink Floyd, late 1970s/early 1980s era. Settings and gear confirmed for live performances of 'Comfortably Numb' riff section. Pickup engage switch allowed bridge+neck or bridge only; main riff typically bridge pickup. Effects chain includes classic Big Muff fuzz and compression. No chorus/flanger on riff, only on solos. No acoustic guitar in riff section.

Tone Character(10)

punchy and articulatemid-gain fuzz with clarityrich sustainBritish-voiced clean headroomslight compression for even dynamicswarm but definedtouch-sensitive responseclear note separationnot overly saturatedclassic rock rhythm clarity

Difficulty

The riff requires clean chord changes and dynamic control to balance the compressed, fuzzy tone with clarity, but does not involve advanced techniques or fast passages.

Sources

David Gilmour's guitar tone on Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb Comfortably Numb Solo Tone - forum topic - Ultimate Guitar

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