David Gilmour's Red Strat: Did It Shape 'Learning to Fly'?

David Gilmour’s 1983 Candy Apple Red Fender Stratocaster—often called the “Red Strat”—debuted on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, but its first recorded appearances actually came earlier. According to Phil Taylor’s The Black Strat, Gilmour used the guitar during the About Face sessions (1983–84) and it appears on that solo album’s “Murder.” For Momentary Lapse, Phil Taylor noted the Red Strat was primarily a live guitar; the album’s basic tracks were cut with other instruments, but Gilmour did overdub some solos with it—possibly the “Learning to Fly” slide solos, though Phil Manzanera’s Gibson SG also played a role. By The Division Bell, the Red Strat was a studio fixture, heard on “Take It Back,” “Coming Back to Life,” and “High Hopes.” Its EMG-SA active pickups (installed in 1985) deliver a quieter, more hi-fi signal with scooped mids and extended highs, which Gilmour blended with his usual Big Muff and Alembic preamp. That cleaner, glassier top-end is especially noticeable on “Learning to Fly’s” arpeggiated verses—less of the vintage Strat’s hum, more of a polished sheen that suits the song’s skyborn theme.