David Michael Murray (born 23 December

1956) is an English guitarist and

songwriter best known as one of the

earliest members of the British band Iron

Maiden. He joined the band just two

months after their inception in 1975.
 
Murray developed an interest in rock

music when he was 15 after hearing

Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix on the radio.

Influenced by Hendrix, he bought a guitar

and would practice along with records up

to seven hours a day. He formed his first b

and, a trio called Stone Free which also

included Adrian Smith (Guitar/Vocals) who

later became a member of Iron Maiden.
 
From there, Murray played with a number of different bands before meeting Steve Harris and joined Iron Maiden for the first time in 1976. He briefly left the band following an argument with then vocalist Dennis Wilcock. Murray again teamed with Adrian Smith in a band called Urchin. During this short tenure with the band, Murray recorded one single titled "She's A Roller". Following the single, Murray left Urchin and returned to Iron Maiden, replacing Terry Wapram. Wilcock left the band shortly after Murray's return.
 
Murray managed to briefly hold down a 9 to 5 job working for the then GLC (Greater London Council). He worked as a store keeper in the Housing Department. Based around in the Woodberry Down Estate, Frampton Park Estate and Geldeston road, Clapton area of North East London. His boss, Ronny Petit, expressed his concerns about Dave giving up a good steady job to tour Japan with Iron Maiden.
 
Murray's solo guitar style throughout his career has been mainly based on the legato technique. Examples of this can be heard in Iron Maiden songs such as "Phantom of the Opera", "Lightning Strikes Twice", through to their 2006 studio release A Matter of Life and Death.
 
He has also written songs for the band, though he is less prolific than other band members. Murray usually forgoes lyric writing to another bandmate and concentrates on the musical elements of songwriting. He mainly co-writes songs with another member of Iron Maiden, "Charlotte the Harlot" being to date the only composition credited solely to him.
 
Murray played with the Jazz ensemble on Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain's instructional video Rhythm of the Beast.
 
Murray and Steve Harris are the only members of Iron Maiden to have appeared on every one of the band's albums.
 
Equipment
 
Throughout his career, Murray has used and endorsed Marshall amplifiers almost exclusively, other than on the 'Somewhere in Time' and 'Seventh Son...' albums and their respective tours, when he instead used Gallien Krueger amps. He has used Fender Stratocaster guitars almost exclusively as well. His black 1957/63 (the body is from a '63 and the neck is from a '57) Stratocaster, previously owned by the late Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, was used from circa 1976-1990. It was used as a template by Fender to manufacture an Artist Signature model since 2009 - http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0118802806. The original now resides in a glass case at his home.
 
Murray has occasionally performed with various Dean, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP and Jackson electrics as well. As for acoustic guitar performances, Murray has used Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitars live for the song 'Journeyman'. He also used a Gibson Chet Atkins solid body acoustic on the 'Fear of the Dark' tour for the song 'Wasting Love'.
 
Murray used his 1957/63 Strat (equipped with DiMarzio Super Distortion and PAF humbucking pickups) extensively, retiring it at the end of the 'Seventh Son...' tour in 1988, when he switched to Jackson guitars.
 
Guitars
 
Since returning to Fender in 1995, following several years from 1986 - 1993 when he endorsed ESP and Jackson, Murray has had several variations of the Stratocaster made for him by Fender. The first was the prototype for what was to become the Hot Rod Re-Issue series.
 
Currently his main guitar is 2 - tone sunburst Fender Californian Series Stratocaster with 3 Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups and a chrome Floyd Rose tremolo system. He also plays a Gibson Les Paul Traditional model and three USA Floyd Rose Classic Stratocasters (with a 22-fret maple neck and same electronics and hardware as the sunburst Strat) on stage, one of which featured a mirror pickguard and black plastic parts; it served as a basis for the Japanese-made Iron Maiden Stratocaster of 2001.
 
Guitar Specs
 Ernie Ball Strings - custom gauge .009, .011, .014, .024, .032, .042,
 Seymour Duncan Hot Rails single coil sized humbucking pickups with dual blade coils
 "Original" Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo Systems
 His Artist Signature model features a soft "V"-shaped maple neck with satin back and sports a humbucker/single-coil/humbucker (HSH) configuration - DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 (bridge), American Vintage '57/'62 (middle), DiMarzio PAF DP-103 (neck) - with 3-way switching and American Vintage hardware. The Japanese-made "Tribute" version of the guitar (HST-57DM) features an "Original" Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo system, dual DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 humbucking pickups (bridge/neck), a Fender Texas Special single-coil pickup in the middle position, a 5-way pickup selector and an oval neck profile
 The original black '57 Stratocaster has similar features to his Artist Series Model
 
Amplifiers
 2 x Marshall 1960B Straight Cabinet / 4x12 300-Watt Loaded with Celestion 12" G12T 75 Watt Speakers[2]
 2 x Marshall JCM 2000 DSL tube heads (rack gear plugs into power amp section via FX loop)
 Marshall 9200 Rack Power Amp (as backup for main heads)