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One of David Gilmour's most superbly crafted solos, from the title song of his On and Island album. He supposedly used a Pete Cornish G-2 for the solos on the record, and a Pete Cornish P-1 or G-2 with Tube Driver boost, or possibly just the Tube Driver when playing live (all are on his custom Pete Cornish board). It is likely David used different pedals for different shows depending on the venue sound and his mood at the time. The G-2 is a sort of a Big Muff mixed with a warm germanium fuzz tone. The P-1 is a high quality Ram's Head Big Muff clone, and the BK Butler Tube Driver is a tube overdrive pedal. Here are clips of both solos from the studio recording, with isloted parts from the 5.1 mix.
On an Island solo #1 - Isolated guitar mix without delay and reverb. Les Paul and Black Strat.
On an Island solo #2 - Isolated guitar mix without delay and reverb. Black Strat.
On an Island solo #2 - Here is the same, but what sounds like deep room reverb from another mic.
Since I was going for the live tone here, below are clips of Gilmour playing the solo live at different times from 2006 for reference
On An Island Solo #2 Clip - From Dortmund, Germany. March 10, 2006
On An Island Solo #2 Clip - From the Mermaid Theatre, London. March 6, 2006
I found that just about any good vintage sounding Big Muff or Muff clone will give you a similar sound when lightly boosted with a BK Butler Tube Driver and colored a bit with a Boss GE-7 EQ. The Ram's Head Big Muff seems to be the best match in my rig. David uses some delay here, so you need a warm sounding digital or analog delay. You need a clean tube amp with lots of headroom like a Hiwatt DR103 or Fender Twin, and the amp should be set fairly bright. I would stay away from using amp reverb, unless it is set very low. Below are clips I made with the various pedals David has used for comparison, and some alternates.
Signal chain: Am Std Fender Strat w/Seymour Duncan SSL5 bridge pup > Muff (or clone) > BK Butler Tube Driver > Boss GE-7 > TC Electonic Nova delay. Played into a clean '65 Fender Twin Reverb RI. Backing track was created by Deck, posted on The Gilmour Gear Forum, with a bit of the studio track mixed in by me. The settings on the Tube Driver, EQ, and delay are basically the same on each clip, EXCEPT the Tube Driver overdrive clip, which is just the TD and some delay. Settings used are shown below.
Pete Cornish G-2 (Modified Big Muff clone with Germanium diodes)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Ram's Head Big Muff
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Pete Cornish P-1 (Modified Ram's Head Big Muff clone)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track diminished, for exact tone reference
Solo with backing track. P-1 only. No Tube Driver or GE-7
Same as above but without backing track diminished, for exact tone reference
Pete Cornish P-2 (Modified Ram's Head Big Muff clone)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Solo with backing track. P-2 only. No Tube Driver or GE-7.
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
BK Butler Tube Driver overdrive - with “TUBE 2” overdrive settings from David's Cornish board (No separate EQ)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Here are some clips of this solo using other Gilmourish sounding pedals. Some sound much better for this tone than others, but each have thier own unique character, so this is a good reference for the tonal differences in each pedal. The settings (pictured above) on the Tube Driver, EQ, and delay are basically the same on each clip, except the Pink Flesh, which does not require the Tube Driver boost.
Sovtek Green Big Muff
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
USA Big Muff Re-Issue (current V9 Muff)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Skreddy Pink Flesh (Triangle Big Muff clone with some built in boost). The Skreddy Pig Mine is another alternative for this tone.
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
B.Y.O.C. Large Beaver (Triangle Muff clone - 4 Knob Version)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Absolutely Analog Green Russian (Green Sovtek Big Muff clone)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
ProCo Rat 2 (A Muffush sounding distortion)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference
Skreddy Lunar Module (Not a Muff, but more of a Fuzz Face type pedal)
Solo with backing track
Same as above but without backing track, for exact tone reference