David Bowie Tonight

(last updated: 21/08/24)

Musical gear

Drums:

• Gretsch (or Yamaha) drums with Zildjian cymbals
• Ludwig 400 chrome snare
• Simmons SDS-V electronic drum system

Keyboards, synthesizers & samplers:

• Fairlight CMI: Rob Yale, uncredited
• Oberheim OB-8 (or OB-Xa)
• PPG Wave 2.2
• Roland Jupiter-8
• Roland GR-700/G-707 guitar synthesizer system
• Yamaha DX7

Guitars:

• Alembic Stereo
• C.F. Martin 12-string
• Fender Stratocaster
• Kramer (Pacer?)

Guitar rig (Carlos Alomar):

• Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (x2)
• Ibanez UE-400
• Ibanez UE-405
• Electro-harmonix 230 guitar synth (x2)

Basses:

• Fender Precision/Jazz hybrid
• Music Man Cutlass: played by Derek Bramble on “Loving The Alien”
• ESP custom (x2)

Bass rig:

• Yamaha bass amp

Acoustic pianos:

• Steinway – hired in?
• Yamaha 9’ grand: Le Studio’s property

Recording & studio equipment

Microphones:

• AKG C414 EB
• Sennheiser MD421: possibly tom-toms & guitar amplifiers
• Shure SM57: possibly snare, tom-toms & guitar amplifiers
• Neumann U47 FET: bass drum (Hugh Padgham’s choice)
• Neumann U87: vocals, strings, possibly drum ambience & overheads
• STC 4038: possibly overheads

Tape recorders:

• Studer A80 mk. II 24-track
• Studer A800 mk. III 24-track
• JVC BP-90 digital 2-track

Outboard gear (partial list):

• Altec 9473A dual compressor
• AMS DMX 15-80S digital delay
• EMT 140S stereo plate
• Lexicon 224X digital reverb
• Lexicon PCM-41 digital delay
• RCA BA6A tube limiters
• UREI LA3A limiters

Mixing consoles:

• Solid State Logic SL-4000E, Serial no. 11 (Le Studio)

Monitoring:

• Acoustic Research AR18
• UREI 813

Sources

Musician, December 1984

Modern Drummer, December 1984 (Omar Hakim)

International Musician & Recording World, January 1985

Mix, November 1984 (Le Studio information, PDF page 160)

Various Hugh Padgham interviews