David Gilmour’s ‘Run Like Hell’ guitar sound: chorus, cocked wah, and the signal chain

The main trick on “Run Like Hell” is that Gilmour parked his wah pedal in a fixed position—usually about a third of the way forward—to notch out a midrange spike. That “cocked wah” turns a standard Stratocaster pickup selection into something nasal and aggressive, almost like a built-in EQ filter. He ran that into a chorus pedal (an MXR or Boss, depending on the tour) set to a slow, deep modulation, which gives the notes that watery wobble without losing the percussive attack.

His studio signal chain for The Wall started with his black Fender Stratocaster (the one with the rosewood neck and a DiMarzio FS-1 in the bridge position) into the cocked wah, then into the MXR Dyna Comp compressor, then into a Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble. From there it went into a Hiwatt DR103 head and a WEM 4x12 cabinet with Fane speakers—the same setup he used for most of the album. The chorus effect is blended with a dry signal so the riff stays punchy, while the cocked wah gives it that harsh, almost synthesized sheen that cuts through the dense Wall production.