David Gilmour

• Use a long slapback delay (400–500ms) at low mix level
• Big Muff sustain around 7–8, tone around 5
• Vibrato is everything — practice slow, wide bends
• Play in the spaces — Gilmour's phrasing is about silence as much as notes
• Clean amp is essential — the Muff does the work, not amp distortion
• Add a mid-boost (Boss GE-7 EQ or MXR 10-band) after the Big Muff — the Muff's severe mid scoop disappears in a band mix without it
• Use dotted eighth-note delay: delay time (ms) = (60000 ÷ BPM) × 0.75 — this is the rhythmic pattern behind Comfortably Numb, Shine On, and most Gilmour leads
• Switch between neck and bridge pickups within the same song — neck pickup for solo leads, bridge for rhythmic chord work
• Try a compressor before the Big Muff to tighten the attack and increase sustain, or after it to even the output — both are valid and give different characters

David Gilmour's tone is the benchmark for sustained, singing Stratocaster leads — rich vibrato, cathedral-like delay and modulation that turns a single note into a landscape.