1969 Martin D-35

David Gilmour purchased one of his most cherished Martins, this 1969 D-35, in 1971 while on the way to the famous Manny’s Music in New York City. Gilmour had purchased his iconic “Black Strat” from Manny’s just the year before. “It was a very New York experience—the sort of thing we English boys had seen in films,” Gilmour told Christie’s regarding his pilgrimages to buy guitars at Manny’s in the ’70s. “It’s hard to describe, but it was a wonderful place.” However, this Martin D-35 came into his possession while he was en route to Manny’s, not in the store itself.

At that time, there was as much business happening on the sidewalks of Manhattan’s 48th Street, where Manny’s was located, as there was going on in the stores lining the block. Gilmour was approached on the street by a musician who was hawking a Martin D-35. Gilmour took a look inside the case, played the guitar a bit, and bought it on the spot. It became his primary studio acoustic for both Pink Floyd and his solo recordings for decades, most notably appearing on “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” an homage to Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett, who left the band in 1968.

“There’s a great quote from Gilmour when he was interviewed by Desert Island Discs [a popular radio show on BBC Radio 4] years ago,” says Christie’s musical instruments specialist Kerry Keane. “They asked him, ‘What would you need on a desert island?’ and he basically said, ‘It’s not what I need; it’s what I have to have and that would be my Martin D-35. It’s the best guitar I own. It’s the guitar that’s always by my side. I’ve written just about every piece of music using that guitar. My ideas come through that guitar.’”