At nearly 600 pages, this massive coffee-table book will send Floydians into paroxysms of pleasure. Authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon craft encyclopedic entries on every single Pink Floyd song, including personnel, tracking date, studio location, and an essay with quotes, technical details, and anecdotes. The level of detail is staggering.

For “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2,” you can read about David Gilmour’s use of his famed black Stratocaster with either an MXR Phase 90 or Electric Mistress for the funky chords, with a ’55 Les Paul goldtop for that throaty solo. It was recorded straight into the mixing board, but later “re-amped” into a Mesa/Boogie for its sweet overdrive tone.

On “One Of These Days,” we learn about the famous double-bass part, with Gilmour and Roger Waters playing basses in tandem, one of which had seriously dead strings.

“Comfortably Numb,” one of the band’s best-known guitar anthems, features L.A. sessionman Lee Ritenour on acoustic guitar, while for gear, Gilmour’s landmark solo was cut on the Strat through a Big Muff, Yamaha rotary speaker, and Hiwatt amp.

There are thousands of factoids and stories in this book and, with a bargain price, this monster Floyd tome seems like a steal. After all, it’s only “Money.”

This article originally appeared in VG April 2018 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.