QUEEN --- 40th anniversary!

[guitarron]

i thought Burns were manufacturing those Red Specials

[Saijinn Maas]

I could have sworn that one of the older polls for an upcoming fest had Queen as a choice, but hardly anybody voted for it. Maybe I am misremembering. A Queenfest would definitely be cool!

[AndyR]

i thought Burns were manufacturing those Red Specials

Not anymore. It might actually be the same factory, though.

He and some folks set up "Brian May Guitars" a while back. I understand it is basically the same guitar he developed with Burns but with a few minor changes.

There is an expensive one, made in Japan I believe, that is as close as you're going to get to "accurate" specs - actually has the Brian May trem system, scratchplate is nearer to the "right" shape. It has one possible drawback, apart from the price (and a waiting list, last time I looked): the neck profile is accurate as well... But I've not played one, or the original, so I don't know how that might affect me. I do know a luthier who has played the original, and he always says "trust me, you do not want a neck like that, I can't believe Brian May manages to play like he does on it..."

I understand that Brian May's stage guitars are actually the expensive copy now. And that he's wired them so the pickups are in parallel now, like a strat, rather than in series like he originally designed it.


Anyway, these cheapie ones are well worth the money if you've got it spare for a "novelty" guitar for personal amusement. The only problem I've found is that I can only play "Brian May" on it!!

[Greeny]

I watched the second part of the Queen 'Days of our Lives' documentary last night - it was incredibly moving, and totally enthralling. Poor old Freddie gave it his all until the very last.

[Greeny]

I saw an article on the Brian May 'sound' a while back, and it's not just about his Red Special or the fact he used a coin as a plectrum - there are a couple of key fx pedals that were integral to the sound. I think they've been released commercially by the guy / company that did the originals. One of them was a treble booster I think.

[AndyR]

I saw an article on the Brian May 'sound' a while back, and it's not just about his Red Special or the fact he used a coin as a plectrum - there are a couple of key fx pedals that were integral to the sound. I think they've been released commercially by the guy / company that did the originals. One of them was a treble booster I think.

Yep, the treble boost is important, but the biggest factor in the sound (after the guitar and Brian May using it ) is an AC30 on full-tilt. He really does max it and then use the guitar's volume control.

He credits Rory Gallagher with the advice on how to use his amp - use the normal channel, not the topboost, crank it full and stick a treble booster in front of it. That's what Rory was doing to AC30s at the time as well.

I can get similar effects out of my little AC4-TV without a treble-boost, but it's a bit loud for Tooting! Strats behave very like early 70s Rory, the BM Red Special behaves like Brian May. Actually, the out-of-phase stuff on the Red Special only sounds usable (to my ears) if you run the amp that hard

A side-effect is that there's a HUGE amount of unwanted noise coming off of Brian May's rig - you can just about hear it on some studio recordings if you're looking for it. On the BM Guitars web-site there is a question/answer section from his tech. Someone was complaining about how they got their "Brian May" rig together and it hissed like a b@stard, what were they doing wrong? The tech told them it was the nature of the beast - if you decide you want to use an AC30 like that you've got to learn to control it, put up with the extra stuff, and use it as part of your sound...

[guitarron]

He used a small vox overdriven and compressed as hell in the studio read somewhere

[Geir]

He used a small vox overdriven and compressed as hell in the studio read somewhere

This explains a bit about that:
http://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/vbm1.html

[Oldrottenhead]

talk about synchronicity just turned on the telly bbc4 guitar heroes whats on? killer queen, fuck yeah baby!

[OsCKilO]

I first heard queen on the highlander sound track. "who wants to live forever " is one of my favourite songs ever!