Time
A biting, loud lead over the verse and bridge chords, after an intro of chiming clocks.
What is the Time guitar tone?
The Time guitar tone is a biting, loud lead over the verse and bridge chords, after an intro of chiming clocks, heard on Pink Floyd's 1970s prog rock recording. It is a distorted solo tone, and Pink Floyd reportedly tracked it with David Gilmour's Black Strat, a late-1960s Fender Stratocaster with an extra switch for more pickup combinations, into a Hiwatt DR103 100-watt head and a WEM 4x12 Starfinder cabinet; Guitar Player says he played the solo in F sharp minor pentatonic and recorded it at high volume through the Hiwatt, and Mixdown and Gilmourish both name a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face for it; Guitar.com, citing a 2012 Alan Parsons interview, says Gilmour played from the control room on a long cable to his amp, which is thought to have taken some top end off, and the intro's spaghetti-western guitar is heavily reverberated; the album was recorded at EMI Studios, now Abbey Road, between May 1972 and February 1973. Sustain and ambience carry these parts, so the delay and modulation settings shape the sound as much as the amp does.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Time amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 8, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 4, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut.
- Gain 5.5
- Bass 5
- Middle 8
- Treble 5
- Presence 5
- Reverb 4
- Signal chain
- Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face → Hiwatt played loud → Binson Echorec echo
- The control that matters most
- Volume, not the gain knob. Guitar Player says the solo was recorded at high volume through a Hiwatt, an amp with a lot of clean headroom, and the fuzz came from a Fuzz Face, so get the sustain from a fuzz into a loud, fairly clean amp rather than from a high-gain channel. Keep the treble a notch lower than usual: the long cable Gilmour played through is thought to have taken some top end off.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Pink Floyd use on Time?
David Gilmour's Black Strat, a late-1960s Fender Stratocaster with an extra switch for more pickup combinations, into a Hiwatt DR103 100-watt head and a WEM 4x12 Starfinder cabinet; Guitar Player says he played the solo in F sharp minor pentatonic and recorded it at high volume through the Hiwatt, and Mixdown and Gilmourish both name a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face for it; Guitar.com, citing a 2012 Alan Parsons interview, says Gilmour played from the control room on a long cable to his amp, which is thought to have taken some top end off, and the intro's spaghetti-western guitar is heavily reverberated; the album was recorded at EMI Studios, now Abbey Road, between May 1972 and February 1973.
Sources: Guitar Player: a listening guide to The Dark Side of the Moon, Guitar.com: the gear David Gilmour used on The Dark Side of the Moon, Mixdown: gear rundown, The Dark Side of the Moon, Gilmourish: Dark Side of the Moon 1972-75, Wikipedia: Time (Pink Floyd song)
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Time tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Time
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Time tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Time?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 8, Treble 5, Presence 5, Reverb 4, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same biting, loud lead over the verse and bridge chords, after an intro of chiming clocks from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Time tone?
Volume, not the gain knob. Guitar Player says the solo was recorded at high volume through a Hiwatt, an amp with a lot of clean headroom, and the fuzz came from a Fuzz Face, so get the sustain from a fuzz into a loud, fairly clean amp rather than from a high-gain channel. Keep the treble a notch lower than usual: the long cable Gilmour played through is thought to have taken some top end off.
Can you get the Time tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with David Gilmour's Black Strat, a late-1960s Fender Stratocaster with an extra switch for more pickup combinations, into a Hiwatt DR103 100-watt head and a WEM 4x12 Starfinder cabinet; Guitar Player says he played the solo in F sharp minor pentatonic and recorded it at high volume through the Hiwatt, and Mixdown and Gilmourish both name a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face for it; Guitar.com, citing a 2012 Alan Parsons interview, says Gilmour played from the control room on a long cable to his amp, which is thought to have taken some top end off, and the intro's spaghetti-western guitar is heavily reverberated; the album was recorded at EMI Studios, now Abbey Road, between May 1972 and February 1973, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Time a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a distorted character, from Pink Floyd's 1970s prog rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
