Beyond Wine: The David Gilmour Collection

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | AUGUST 02, 2019

David Gilmour and Pink Floyd were a big part of my early musical education. I wore out my copies of “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall” (it was vinyl back then) in high school learning how to play all the guitar parts note for note. As a kid growing up in the 1980s, much of the guitar scene was dominated by players who emphasized technical dexterity and speed. In that context, Gilmour stood out for his brilliant songwriting and melodic, emotionally charged guitar work. Needless to say, I was deeply intrigued when Gilmour decided to auction off a large number of his guitars – including the instruments that had given birth to so many Pink Floyd classics – all for charity, further cementing his legacy of philanthropy. On the eve of the auction, Gilmour announced that 100% of the proceeds would go to ClientEarth, a non-profit organization that uses the disciplines of law, science and policy to fight climate change.

David Gilmour in concert with his iconic Black Strat

I had a chance to view the collection at Christie’s headquarters in New York City and play some of the instruments prior to an opening to the public that was so anticipated that a line formed all the way around the block hours before. 

And there they were, beautifully displayed. Dozens of guitars that had inspired so many of the most iconic songs of the 1970s and 1980s. But the collection encompassed far more than the usual suspects in its 127 lots, including dozens of instruments not often associated with David Gilmour, like the stunning 1958 Gretsch White Penguin and White Falcon, a 1959 Fender Jazzmaster and a 1950 Fender Broadcaster, to name just a few, all of them impeccably maintained over the years by Phil Taylor, Gilmour’s longtime technician. Interestingly, Gilmour never made a fuss over his guitars. He regarded most of them as tools of the trade rather than collectibles.