This is the lesson where you stop measuring solos in notes-per-second and start measuring them in intention per note. Gilmour's outro solo is one of the most loved in rock not because it's hard to fret, but because every bend lands exactly on pitch, every note is allowed to bloom, and the whole thing climbs like a story with a beginning, a middle, and a roof-raising end. Your hands can probably play these notes today. The work is in the patience.

The Rig & Signal Chain

• Guitar: A Fender Stratocaster (his famous black Strat), typically on bridge or bridge-plus-middle for leads. Single-coils are central — that glassy attack is doing real work.
• Fuzz: An Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, the violinist's secret weapon, for that endless, vocal sustain. The Muff is a fuzz, not a tube-amp overdrive — it compresses hard and sings.
• Delay: Tape/analog-style delay for the wide, rhythmic repeats that make the solo feel three-dimensional.
• Compression: A touch of compression (he's a known MXR Dyna Comp user across this era) to even out sustain and round the attack.
• Amp: Hiwatt heads run clean and loud, a big uncolored platform so the pedals define the dirt.

The signal philosophy matters more than the brands: dirt from a pedal, cleanliness from the amp, space from delay. That's the template for the whole genre of soaring lead tone.

The Tone Recipe

You can get ~90% there with very accessible gear. The point is the relationship between fuzz, clean amp, and delay — not boutique exotica.

What's Going On Musically

The famous outro solo sits over a repeating loop in B minor: Bm – A – G. Your core scale is B minor pentatonic, rooted at the 7th fret. The magic ingredient Gilmour adds is Dorian color: a minor scale with one bright note raised, the major 6th (in B Dorian, that's G#). Hitting it over the A or G chords gives that hopeful, lifted, "not-quite-sad" sound that keeps the solo from feeling like a generic blues.

Here's the chord-tone map you'll target — the whole secret to why his notes sound "right":

• Over Bm: aim for B, D, F#.
• Over A: aim for A, C#, E.
• Over G: aim for G, B, D.

When the chord changes, a great soloist changes their target note to match. That's why Gilmour's lines feel like melodies that belong to the song rather than scales sprayed on top. Targeting chord tones is the single highest-value skill in this lesson.

Signature Moves

1) The conversational opener (call-and-answer phrasing)

e|------------------------------------------------|
B|--10b12r10--7~~~------------7--10b12~~~----------|
G|---------------------9~~~-9----------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

Phrases that pose a question (the first bend) and answer it (the resolution), with silence carrying the line. Let the delay fill the gaps.

2) The soaring sustained bend

e|------------------------------------------------|
B|--15b17~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

Push the 15th-fret B up a whole step to the target pitch, then sustain. Don't rush the vibrato in — let the note bloom first, then shimmer it. This is the Big Muff and compressor doing their job; your job is the vibrato.

3) The climactic repeated bend

e|--15b17~~--15b17~~--15b17~~--15b17~~-------------|
B|------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

Repetition is the payoff. Every repeat must hit the exact same pitch — wandering intonation kills the climax. Dig in slightly harder each pass.

The Drills

Drill A — Sustained bend-to-pitch with delay

Trains intonation and patience. Set delay long with a few repeats.

e|------------------------------------------------|
B|--15--15b17~~~~~~~~~~~~--15--15b17~~~~~~~~~~~~---|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

Builds pitch-perfect whole-step bends. Trick — first fret the destination note (17) and listen, then bend the lower note and make it match exactly. Tone: Muff Sustain ~7, delay mix ~4 so the repeats reinforce your sustain.

Drill B — B minor pentatonic chord-tone targeting

Trains landing on the right note when the chord moves. Loop Bm–A–G underneath (or imagine it).

      (Bm)              (A)               (G)
e|------------------|------------------|------------------|
B|--10b12~~--10-----|--10--7-----------|------------------|
G|-------------11---|--------9--7~~----|--7~~--9--7-------|
D|------------------|------------------|------------9~~---|
A|------------------|------------------|------------------|
E|------------------|------------------|------------------|
   target: F#/D        target: C#/A       target: D/G

Builds hearing the chord under your line. The held notes are chord tones of each chord — that's why the line sounds "composed." Tone: a hair less gain than the climax so the note changes stay articulate.

Drill C — Long-phrase building (the narrative arc)

Trains stamina and dynamic shape: start low and quiet, climb, and peak. One continuous four-bar idea.

e|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------|--15b17~~~~~~~~~~|
G|--7~~--9--7----------9b11~~--9--------------------|-----------------|
D|------------9--7--9-------------9~~--7------------|-----------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
E|--7~~--------------------------------------------|-----------------|

Builds solo architecture — the discipline of saving your highest, loudest note for last. Play it three times without stopping; the high bend should feel earned, not early. Ride your volume knob up as you climb for a built-in crescendo.

Make It Yours

The lesson of "Comfortably Numb" transfers to any solo you'll ever play: slow down, bend in tune, and target the chord. Next time you take a lead break, give yourself a one-note rule for the first phrase — bend to pitch, hold it, add vibrato, and stop. Let the silence (and a little delay) do the talking. Then build, raising your register and intensity only as the section repeats, so you always have somewhere left to go. The Big Muff sustain is fun, but the real tone here is restraint: a clean amp, a held note, and the confidence to let it ring. Steal the architecture, not just the licks.