No. 0021979·progressive-rock·7 blocks
Comfortably Numb
Arguably the most famous guitar solo tone ever recorded. Gilmour's tone on the second solo of Comfortably Numb is built on a Big Muff Pi fuzz into a cranked Hiwatt, with delay adding depth and sustain. The Hiwatt provides clean headroom while the Big Muff does the heavy lifting for gain and sustain. The result is a singing, vocal-like lead tone that sustains endlessly.
The WallSignal path · input → output · 10 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Fender Stratocaster (Black Strat)
Pickups
SSS
Tuning
neck
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Triangle Fuzz
Heir Apparent
Scream 808
WhoWatt 100
4x12 Greenback 25
Transistor Tape
DynPlate
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← MXR Dyna Comp
Threshold
-37.1dB
Ratio
3:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.0s
Release
0.2s
Mix
1
Level
7dB
Triangle Fuzz
← Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Ram's Head)
Tone
0.6
Level
0.8
Sustain
0.2
Heir Apparent
← Colorsound Power Boost
Gain
0.6
Tone
0.6
Level
0.7
Presence
0.5
Clipping
0
GainMod
1
Scream 808
← Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer
Gain
0.2
Tone
0.6
Level
0.7
WhoWatt 100
← Hiwatt DR103 Custom 100
Drive
0.5
Bass
0.4
Mid
0.6
Treble
0.7
Presence
0.7
ChVol
0.7
Master
1
Bias
0.6
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.6
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
4x12 Greenback 25
← WEM 4x12 with Fane Crescendo
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut20100Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Transistor Tape
← Binson Echorec / MXR Digital Delay
Time
0.5ms
Feedback
0.2
Mix
0.3
WowFlutter
0.4
Headroom
0
Spread
0.3
Scale
1
SyncSelect1
6
Level
0
DynPlate
← Studio plate (EMT 140)
LowCut100Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Mix
0.3
Decay
2s
Level
0
PreDelay
0.0ms
BassFreq
100
VarDelayAmpl
0.6
Damping
3720
MatrFreq
0.3
BassBoost
0
Engineer's note
File 002
Arguably the most famous guitar solo tone ever recorded. Gilmour's tone on the second solo of Comfortably Numb is built on a Big Muff Pi fuzz into a cranked Hiwatt, with delay adding depth and sustain. The Hiwatt provides clean headroom while the Big Muff does the heavy lifting for gain and sustain. The result is a singing, vocal-like lead tone that sustains endlessly.
— David Gilmour
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →David Gilmour Tone Recipe: Pink Floyd Settings for Comfortably Numb, Time, and the Wall
David Gilmour's Pink Floyd tone decoded: amp settings, Big Muff dials, delay chains, and song settings for Comfortably Numb, Time, and Shine On.
Big Muff vs. Hiwatt: Which One Is Doing the Work on Comfortably Numb?
The Comfortably Numb solo tone is one of the most studied in rock history, but most guides get the source wrong. Here's what's actually happening between the Big Muff, the Hiwatt, and Gilmour's technique.
David Gilmour's Animals Era Tone: How The Wall Sound Evolved
The Animals album tone is darker, more aggressive, and less studied than Comfortably Numb, and it's a different rig. Here's what Gilmour was running in 1977 and how to get there.
