Brian May

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:47 pm

Im not a large fan of Queen and all that, but his guitars look interesting, is anyone played it ever.. and so..

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:09 pm

so it's like a strat with some extra switches?
what do they do?

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:16 pm

theyre phase switches and something else.

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:18 pm

Yes, it looks pretty similar to strat, that was my first idea, but the switcheys and all that.. I just wanted to know.

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:21 pm

Each pickup has an on/off switch, and each pickup has a phase on/off switch.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:22 pm

how are you supposed to keep track of all that crap while you're playing?

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:41 pm

youre supposed to sprout 3 new limbs to take care of that.

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:50 pm

Mo Rocca wrote:youre supposed to sprout 3 new limbs to take care of that.

Brian May has small furry animals in his perm to do it for him.

Is it just me or does that neck look waay wide?

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:22 pm

Nothing like a strat, different construction, different electronics, only the bridge is strat-esque and thats only on this particular compromised-for-cost consumer model, the original bridge was actually very similar to the Mustang bridge in terms of how it worked. On the original 50's/60's model, the bolt-on neck uses one massive bolt, and the pocket for it is huge, twice the length of a strat's pocket.

The guitar has Burns single coils, because they were the only aftermarket pickups available at the time May and his father built the original guitar.

Neck profile is supposed to be really thick, because when May and his father built the original they carved the neck by hand with a penknife and May couldn't wait to start playing so he left it baseball-battish.

I've played ones like the ones you posted, but nothing that was too authentically like his.. supposedly the gretsch versions were pretty close as far as production versions go, but a guitar tech he knows makes copies that are the closest thing to the original for May's personal onstage use. He still mainly uses the original guitar that his dad and him built, though.

There have been a lot of different versions of the Red Special presented to consumers in the last 20 years or so, none of them ever go the whole hog and recreate every feature of the real thing, because it was a one-off made with motorbike parts, a mantelpiece, pearl buttons from a women's blouse for tuning pegs, etc...

Genericized parts on an RS bother me for some reason. I don't like the ones posted, for example, almost entirely because it's possible to liken them to a strat.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:35 pm

I thought they made the pups as well on the first guitar. I remember reading him talking about how they made them I am pretty sure. (I could be wrong of course.)

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:37 pm

DiMarzio had (has?) single coil Brian May pickups. B4 internet I had them in a catalog and was like "who the fuck is brian may"

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:45 pm

Nope, they're clearly Burns tri-sonics, which has been mentioned many times by May and his tech and by Greg Fryer, luthier who built the almost-identical copies for him. A Trisonic re-issue was also commissioned by Guild for their sig version of the RS.

THE ORIGINAL:

THE GUILD:

The DiMarzio pickups Justin mentioned were used in a wanky 80's version of the Red Special by Guild, which also featured a Kahler locking tremolo.

Post by **dots** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:06 pm

well said, paul. the red special is nothing like a strat. . . not only does it use those trisonic pickups, but they're also wired in series.

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:36 pm

For a while I was considering dropping a reissue Tri-Sonic into a Musicmaster. I'm curious about those huge pole pieces.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:45 pm

I think it's one of the coolest guitars ever created, and really unique considering it's a homebuilt guitar like literally built from many things around his home. He's gone on to use it to conquer rock arenas everywhere.

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:33 am

yea, it looks nice, but has anyone a opinion on the sound , its like stratesque.. right. I mean along the lines.. Is starto to like that guitar.. esspecially the black one, I do.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:46 am

jcyphe wrote:I think it's one of the coolest guitars ever created, and really unique considering it's a homebuilt guitar like literally built from many things around his home. He's gone on to use it to conquer rock arenas everywhere.

Totally.

Contemplating that guitar's potential monetary value gives me a headache. There's only one, it was made from the dude's childhood home furnishings, he used it almost exclusively on his top-rated band's back catalogue to define "rock anthem" and has still played it regularly since, using copies of it made by world-class luthiers merely as back-ups...

I also wonder how many other people would find it as awesome as he does... I know I can't play with a sixpence too well while we're on the subject... it'd be hillarious if, for all the hooplah surrounding it, it was a total clunker but just worked for him.

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:46 am

3 single coils does not = strat.

Also the red special is semi-hollow, it has a very unique tone, I can't really think of something to compare it to.

Bust out the Queen and have a listen.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:11 am

paul_ wrote: I also wonder how many other people would find it as awesome as he does... I know I can't play with a sixpence too well while we're on the subject... it'd be hillarious if, for all the hooplah surrounding it, it was a total clunker but just worked for him.

He has described it at times as totally raw guitar. He says from a luthier standpoint a lot of the copies he's had made are "better" but his has the sound. Which is one of the weird mysterious things about electric guitar. Sometimes a combination of things just add up to become Magical. It also has a huge neck, and the tribute models he has been involved with don't and the original is 24" short scale with 24 frets and zero nut. It's really a guitar that has a ton of odd features.

I follow the copies made and read those red special forums, because one day I would like one. A lot of people get really obsessed with these. There is guy on ebay that sells a replica style "knife-edge" tremolo and you can even buy replicas of the weird looking aluminum bridge and Red Special Knobs.

as far as the Burns Tri-sonic pickups there are have beena few made. Some people like them and others don't think they're much like the originals. I know alot of the high end Red Specials use Adeson pickups

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:19 am

I know a lad who's got one and he loves it, I've yet to have a go on it though.