GloopyJon
Distinguished Member
Part One - Background
Introduction
I got my new Brian May Special guitar very recently and I thought I'd post a detailed review of it. These have been around for a while in various guises, but there aren't that many reviews on the Internet so I thought I'd add my impressions. I'll do this review in several posts to cover different aspects of the guitar, and I'll try to make it as complete as possible. I will also post some photos of my guitar.
About Me
I am not a professional or a particularly good or experienced guitarist. I've had guitars for most of my life but never really took it seriously until October 2012 when I got my copy of Rocksmith. Since then I've been playing a lot and have improved a lot, although I have a long way to go. Regarding guitars, I own six now (4 electric, 1 acoustic and a bass), including my BM Special, so those are my main basis for comparison (plus times when I've played other guitars in shops).
I am a big fan of Queen and of Brian May, as you might expect since I have this guitar. One of the best evenings I ever spent was at the Hammersmith Odeon, watching Brian and his band in concert, perhaps around 1992. His brilliance as a musician (not just as a guitarist) and the unique nature of his guitar have made me want to own a copy for some time, and now I've got one! I freely admit that I was predisposed to like the guitar anyway, but I've tried to be as fair as possible in my review.
History
Brian May is the guitarist from Queen. The group formed in 1970, released their first album in 1973 and released their most famous song, Bohemian Rhapsody, in 1977. Queen recorded a total of 15 studio albums from 1973 to 1995, four years after Freddie Mercury's death, and then another album with Paul Rodgers on vocals in 2008. Brian May has released a number of other albums, including two main studio albums (Back to the Light and Another World), a film soundtrack (Furia), and most recently a collaboration with Kerry Ellis called Anthems.
Brian May was fascinated with science and studied physics at university, eventually getting a doctorate in astrophysics. His father was an electrical engineer, and when Brian was about 17 they worked together to make him a guitar. This guitar was made out of all sorts of bits and pieces - the body was carved from an old mahogany fireplace, there were bits taken from a motorbike and even one of his mum's knitting needles. This guitar was called the Red Special (also nicknamed the Fireplace or the Old Lady), and is the instrument that Brian has played for most of his career.
The guitar has some unique features (not least the knitting needle!). The most individual feature is that it has two switches for each pick-up, one to turn them on or off and one to control the phase of the pickup (in phase or out of phase). This gives a total of 27 different combinations of pickup selection (including "all off", which isn't very useful, and some duplicates, e.g. all in phase or all out of phase). More on that during the review.
Due to the success of Queen and the unique nature of Brian's guitar, many people wanted to have copies (and Brian himself wanted to have copies as backup guitars). These have been made by two or three different companies over the years, with varying degrees of success and quality. In the end, Brian decided to create his own company to manufacture and sell the guitars, so that he could be closely involved in the design and quality. They make a replica of the Red Special (in a number of different colours), as well as three other models - an acoustic, a mini version of the Red Special, and a bass guitar.
You can find out more about the history online, and Brian May's company is at Brian May Guitars - The Official web site for Brian May Guitars You can buy the guitars there, or from a number of other retailers around the world. I bought my guitar from Anderton's in England (I recommend their videos, on their website or on YouTube).
My Guitar
My Brian May Special is not red, like Brian's. Out of the various colours that are available, I chose Black and Gold. I think it looks very classy, and a bit more individual than the red colour. Here's a photo of it (sorry that the photos aren't brilliant; I didn't have studio lighting!).
My review itself will start in the next post. Thanks for reading this far, if you're still awake - I did say that this would be an in-depth review!
Introduction
I got my new Brian May Special guitar very recently and I thought I'd post a detailed review of it. These have been around for a while in various guises, but there aren't that many reviews on the Internet so I thought I'd add my impressions. I'll do this review in several posts to cover different aspects of the guitar, and I'll try to make it as complete as possible. I will also post some photos of my guitar.
About Me
I am not a professional or a particularly good or experienced guitarist. I've had guitars for most of my life but never really took it seriously until October 2012 when I got my copy of Rocksmith. Since then I've been playing a lot and have improved a lot, although I have a long way to go. Regarding guitars, I own six now (4 electric, 1 acoustic and a bass), including my BM Special, so those are my main basis for comparison (plus times when I've played other guitars in shops).
I am a big fan of Queen and of Brian May, as you might expect since I have this guitar. One of the best evenings I ever spent was at the Hammersmith Odeon, watching Brian and his band in concert, perhaps around 1992. His brilliance as a musician (not just as a guitarist) and the unique nature of his guitar have made me want to own a copy for some time, and now I've got one! I freely admit that I was predisposed to like the guitar anyway, but I've tried to be as fair as possible in my review.
History
Brian May is the guitarist from Queen. The group formed in 1970, released their first album in 1973 and released their most famous song, Bohemian Rhapsody, in 1977. Queen recorded a total of 15 studio albums from 1973 to 1995, four years after Freddie Mercury's death, and then another album with Paul Rodgers on vocals in 2008. Brian May has released a number of other albums, including two main studio albums (Back to the Light and Another World), a film soundtrack (Furia), and most recently a collaboration with Kerry Ellis called Anthems.
Brian May was fascinated with science and studied physics at university, eventually getting a doctorate in astrophysics. His father was an electrical engineer, and when Brian was about 17 they worked together to make him a guitar. This guitar was made out of all sorts of bits and pieces - the body was carved from an old mahogany fireplace, there were bits taken from a motorbike and even one of his mum's knitting needles. This guitar was called the Red Special (also nicknamed the Fireplace or the Old Lady), and is the instrument that Brian has played for most of his career.
The guitar has some unique features (not least the knitting needle!). The most individual feature is that it has two switches for each pick-up, one to turn them on or off and one to control the phase of the pickup (in phase or out of phase). This gives a total of 27 different combinations of pickup selection (including "all off", which isn't very useful, and some duplicates, e.g. all in phase or all out of phase). More on that during the review.
Due to the success of Queen and the unique nature of Brian's guitar, many people wanted to have copies (and Brian himself wanted to have copies as backup guitars). These have been made by two or three different companies over the years, with varying degrees of success and quality. In the end, Brian decided to create his own company to manufacture and sell the guitars, so that he could be closely involved in the design and quality. They make a replica of the Red Special (in a number of different colours), as well as three other models - an acoustic, a mini version of the Red Special, and a bass guitar.
You can find out more about the history online, and Brian May's company is at Brian May Guitars - The Official web site for Brian May Guitars You can buy the guitars there, or from a number of other retailers around the world. I bought my guitar from Anderton's in England (I recommend their videos, on their website or on YouTube).
My Guitar
My Brian May Special is not red, like Brian's. Out of the various colours that are available, I chose Black and Gold. I think it looks very classy, and a bit more individual than the red colour. Here's a photo of it (sorry that the photos aren't brilliant; I didn't have studio lighting!).
My review itself will start in the next post. Thanks for reading this far, if you're still awake - I did say that this would be an in-depth review!
Last edited: