Ha, I have that same exact color Brian May guitar! Looks even better in person. Sounds *so* unique-I've nothing else like it-and the playability is great, too.
I bought one of these 2 years ago. It's one of the most stable guitars I've ever played. The term system is great. It does hang a bit top heavy but it is a very light weight guitar. And it sounds great thru a VOX or a Fender amp ( if you want to get away from Mays signature sound). It can do a pretty good Tele sound when you switch the Pups around. Great demo. That AX FX is sweet.
I bought the same creamy one 10 years ago, love it! I use 6-7 settings and really dig going out of phase+chorus pedal dialed in tight! Nice review, as well as all your others!
Maybe. I have a BM designed guitar. Keep in mind these have 24 frets fitted on a 24" scale, so fingering on those highest frets can be quite challenging being that there's so little space between them.
I have this guitar in Natural. Would post a photo here if I knew how. Guitar is really great. I use it with the Digitech Brian May Pedal and the tones are very authentic (unlike the Hendrix version they put out and I since resold). Guitar came wired wrong and Brian May's guitar tech called me back from the UK to the USA to walk me thru the soldiering/wiring and sent me some full aluminum knobs for me trouble. So great tech support too. This guitar should not only be thought of as use for Queen stuff, but you do need to start from a place as a Queen fan. Neck is unlike any other guitar, but its great.
you dont even have to like Brian's playing to appreciate everything about this guitar. I am of the belief that Jimi himself told Brian the guitar was better than anything on the market at the time. Tim Staffel didnt specifically say who said it, but they opened for Jimi so he was well aware of the guitar, and Brian could summon feedback as fast as Jimi and Brian didnt have a Marshall stack to do it.
Sound isn't beefy enough, I liked the tone you had in the axe fx vid for a sec. C, Brian liked the resonance of tweaking the mids and ducking the treble a hit and boosting the low end a bit at the mixer
+Neil Barbu Right. Thanks. Thankfully this is about the guitar, though. You can take my preset and make it better, record a video for us all to learn from and upload it here. That would be cool. Cheers.
you can find Red special on queen online store, you can have the original (Red and black) you can have it on blue and white, green and black and so many others
@Dav Bj And yet you appear to be even lamer still. Which likely explains your experience. Maybe strats are not lame at all, and it's just you. Food for thought.
For me the best combination for a clean sound are bridge and neck pickup, for a distortion also this two, or just neck. Don' like bright sound, but with treble booster bridge and middle pickups sounds awesome.
24 frets & 24 inch. Man that is jamming them in there. Wish they'd make a 22 at 25.5 or something more useable for us old guys. Sounds good though. Most likely due to the capable hands it is in.
Awesome, a White Special!! You play it well too, Brett! I once had the pleasure of picking up one of these (albeit not in white) at my local retailer when they were being produced for musicians to use during the early 2000’s. Instead of trying to play Queen songs, I found myself trying to play cocktail jazz. Even though it is a foregone conclusion people buy this model to play Queen songs, the objective should be to play everything with it. On some sonic level, the switching on this guitar is indirectly reminiscent of the Rickenbacker 325 that John Lennon is known for using at the beginning of the Beatles.
Great review, superb guitar, so versatile, the only other guitar with similar versatility (and they probably copied Brian May) would be the Elite Strat from the 1980s? Thanks for filming and the review 😊👍😊👍
I already fix it it was a malfunction.. now it works great... the switch was stuck inside.. i just tap it a couple of times and start working properly...
I seem to recall reading somewhere that this guitar has a slightly wider and thicker neck than a lot of guitars today. Is that true? I would definitely like to have a guitar with a neck that's a little wider than a Gibson or Fender. Maybe not as wide as a classical guitar neck, but a little extra space would probably make my playing a bit less sloppy. If anyone knows, please share.
+Michael Baker I can confirm the neck is quite chubby, which feels great on long fingers. I've played large necks before and hated them but this one feels just right
+Michael Baker I have the Black & Gold BMG and absolutely love it. The neck is reasonably wide and has a fairly flat comfortable profile. It feels pretty slick to me. Approx. dimensions are Zero fret: 45mm wide & 20mm deep, 16th Fret: 55mm wide & 24mm deep. The original Red Special has a thicker neck but these production models are toned down from that. Some reviews have stated that there can be a bit of variation between individual guitars, so if you are in any way concerned, find a local stockist and try a few examples for yourself. I'm a big fan of Ibanez Wizard necks and don't find the BMG in any way cumbersome in comparison.
I see can why this guitar is more versatile than the Stratocaster although I've been playing strat for ages maybe i might get myself a red special see if they are great
Dav Bj Y’know that Brian made his red special because he couldn’t afford a strat and he wanted one. So your just calling Brian a lame ass mother sniffer
Lovely looking guitar, the other colours available are nice as well. But for me, if I were to buy a Brian May guitar it would have to be in the red special livery
Yes you can do some wonderful things with switching pickups in and out of phase and various other things there. What I would love to try mine with. I'm looking at mxr layers pedal. I'm very tempted with that one. I don't have a vox. I have a valve state Marshall amp enjoy mine's the red special from Burns and I love it to bits what you can achieve. What I could achieve with it years ago? Wow! Enjoy! Enjoy to your heart's content. Lots of fun as well. It's all about. God bless
Nice one Brett! I love those Tri-Sonic pickups,and I've been wanting one of these for quite awhile! When I saw them on the Queen website,they had some other colors.Do you know all of the other color's? I happen to have one of Greg's pedals,the TB Plus! I've spoken to him through email quite a few times,but the last one I sent didn't get answered.Was wondering how he's doing?
There appears to be an earthing fault with my new BM Special guitar. When the strings are not depressed the volume control produces a crackling sound. Is this a design or manufacturing issue? Should I return the guitar for repair?
yes - I replaced potentiometer and it's now much better, thanks - but still, it shows that BMG quality control sucks - as it's a new guitar it should have been tested before being dispatched from the factory. I've never had this problem with a new guitar before - not even the budget ones!
Just ordered it from Brian May's website $850 with shipping (shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/the-bmg-special/brian-may-special-white.html) White one is available now and they sell out really quickly. Can't wait for delivery.
Good playing mate .its funny the amount of people who own better rs replicas that are not that good and others who like u have the cheeper brand modal thst are great and much better players
Hi. Some nice tonea going on here. Tell me, honestly... how stable is the tremolo system? I know it's not a Floyd, but will it hold tune against the odd divebomb? Can you pull the tremolo up like floating bridges? Cheers
Joe Vincent well it's a modern style two post tremolo which if set up right can work great. It can float like a Floyd so it pulls up and dives down just without the range that the Floyd can detune but it's good enough.
Nice video, though I wonder, are the pickups strong enough for playing heavy metal? Or do I really need to get myself a guitar with emg pickups? Thanks!
I bought one a few years ago and it just wouldn't keep in tune. I went back and I've been shy to get another. The super version, which has a fatter neck and a more authentic styled trem is so very expensive and is therefore not an option. I'd like another try at owning but seeing as it let me down on stage a little too often means I'm in need of more convincing. Great review.
It's meant to, that's where he gets the scratching effect from, by using the six pence, all that you hear is from that coin, stuff which is impossible to achieve using a standard pick
Another standard demo. Got a Brian May guitar; you play Queen. Ugh... People need to demo these guitars playing *other* music to show what they're good for.
Guitar looks great in white
Ha, I have that same exact color Brian May guitar! Looks even better in person.
Sounds *so* unique-I've nothing else like it-and the playability is great, too.
No
fr
I bought one of these 2 years ago. It's one of the most stable guitars I've ever played. The term system is great. It does hang a bit top heavy but it is a very light weight guitar. And it sounds great thru a VOX or a Fender amp ( if you want to get away from Mays signature sound). It can do a pretty good Tele sound when you switch the Pups around. Great demo. That AX FX is sweet.
You sir are a proper fan. I want that in white now.
Great tone and very professional video. Guitar looks great in white.
I bought the same creamy one 10 years ago, love it! I use 6-7 settings and really dig going out of phase+chorus pedal dialed in tight! Nice review, as well as all your others!
Awesome playing and a really great demo. Also great to hear it through different amps.
when I saw this I literally said "wwowwww".they're such a versatile, great sounding and looking guitar.
The 24" scale is reason enough to have one. I bet it feels great.
Maybe. I have a BM designed guitar. Keep in mind these have 24 frets fitted on a 24" scale, so fingering on those highest frets can be quite challenging being that there's so little space between them.
I have this guitar in Natural. Would post a photo here if I knew how. Guitar is really great. I use it with the Digitech Brian May Pedal and the tones are very authentic (unlike the Hendrix version they put out and I since resold). Guitar came wired wrong and Brian May's guitar tech called me back from the UK to the USA to walk me thru the soldiering/wiring and sent me some full aluminum knobs for me trouble. So great tech support too. This guitar should not only be thought of as use for Queen stuff, but you do need to start from a place as a Queen fan. Neck is unlike any other guitar, but its great.
you dont even have to like Brian's playing to appreciate everything about this guitar. I am of the belief that Jimi himself told Brian the guitar was better than anything on the market at the time. Tim Staffel didnt specifically say who said it, but they opened for Jimi so he was well aware of the guitar, and Brian could summon feedback as fast as Jimi and Brian didnt have a Marshall stack to do it.
Oh, I didn't know that they're short scale! Now I'm interested
Steven Chabot yeah Brian mentioned in his RS book that it made sense to him that having 24 frets meant having a 24 inch scale.
And Brian May is a very tall guy with big, long fingers, so it must have been very easy for him to play.
Great sound! Very close to Brian's.
Great vid Burgs, your demos are spot on!!
Sound isn't beefy enough, I liked the tone you had in the axe fx vid for a sec. C, Brian liked the resonance of tweaking the mids and ducking the treble a hit and boosting the low end a bit at the mixer
+Neil Barbu Right. Thanks. Thankfully this is about the guitar, though. You can take my preset and make it better, record a video for us all to learn from and upload it here. That would be cool. Cheers.
+Brett Kingman I'm a keyboardist producer so I was just being critical
Cheers no worries
Hello! please review the phaser pedals paired with Brian May’s guitar !!!)
That's just great. Really sounds good.
you can find Red special on queen online store, you can have the original (Red and black) you can have it on blue and white, green and black and so many others
Sounds great! I'm wondering about tri-sonics in a Strat.
Dav Bj lmao no they aren’t
@Dav Bj And yet you appear to be even lamer still. Which likely explains your experience. Maybe strats are not lame at all, and it's just you. Food for thought.
Cabby Cabby Here are a couple:
ruclips.net/video/DlvGjSEi264/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/83Orq0un6ck/видео.html
I like to play the guitar.
For me the best combination for a clean sound are bridge and neck pickup, for a distortion also this two, or just neck. Don' like bright sound, but with treble booster bridge and middle pickups sounds awesome.
24 frets & 24 inch. Man that is jamming them in there. Wish they'd make a 22 at 25.5 or something more useable for us old guys. Sounds good though. Most likely due to the capable hands it is in.
Awesome, a White Special!! You play it well too, Brett!
I once had the pleasure of picking up one of these (albeit not in white) at my local retailer when they were being produced for musicians to use during the early 2000’s. Instead of trying to play Queen songs, I found myself trying to play cocktail jazz. Even though it is a foregone conclusion people buy this model to play Queen songs, the objective should be to play everything with it.
On some sonic level, the switching on this guitar is indirectly reminiscent of the Rickenbacker 325 that John Lennon is known for using at the beginning of the Beatles.
Beautiful guitar. Nice color
I got this in the usual red colour but im gonma see if i can return it for this white 1 as i really like it better
Killer BM tones there.
Great guitar, excellent AXE-FX-preset (you just nailed the tones), super demo!
Thanks a lot!
Great review, superb guitar, so versatile, the only other guitar with similar versatility (and they probably copied Brian May) would be the Elite Strat from the 1980s?
Thanks for filming and the review 😊👍😊👍
Why do i have to keep my middle pickup switch on all the time in order to hear pick-ups 1 and 3 ..
Wots wrong with my guitar?..
You shouldn't have to. I don't on my red special. Sounds like the wiring is knackered.
I already fix it it was a malfunction.. now it works great... the switch was stuck inside.. i just tap it a couple of times and start working properly...
I seem to recall reading somewhere that this guitar has a slightly wider and thicker neck than a lot of guitars today. Is that true? I would definitely like to have a guitar with a neck that's a little wider than a Gibson or Fender. Maybe not as wide as a classical guitar neck, but a little extra space would probably make my playing a bit less sloppy. If anyone knows, please share.
+Michael Baker I can confirm the neck is quite chubby, which feels great on long fingers. I've played large necks before and hated them but this one feels just right
+Michael Baker I have the Black & Gold BMG and absolutely love it. The neck is reasonably wide and has a fairly flat comfortable profile. It feels pretty slick to me. Approx. dimensions are Zero fret: 45mm wide & 20mm deep, 16th Fret: 55mm wide & 24mm deep. The original Red Special has a thicker neck but these production models are toned down from that. Some reviews have stated that there can be a bit of variation between individual guitars, so if you are in any way concerned, find a local stockist and try a few examples for yourself. I'm a big fan of Ibanez Wizard necks and don't find the BMG in any way cumbersome in comparison.
Michael Baker yes the neck is pretty chunky and the fretboard is one of the widest I've played
Another one to confirm, yes it is pretty wide and chunky. Plays great!
Man, you're cool!
Brian May applauds backstage.👍
Beautifull guitar. Thanks!
Beautiful guitar!
Great demo
Great review mate
Very classy in white and tortoise shell
Love the tone, but It won't worn on the AX8 :(
I see can why this guitar is more versatile than the Stratocaster although I've been playing strat for ages maybe i might get myself a red special see if they are great
Dav Bj Ok dude we get it you don’t like strats you don’t need to reply to every comment mentioning them jeez
@Dav Bj yea says the guys the guys with Blowjob as his initials
Dav Bj Y’know that Brian made his red special because he couldn’t afford a strat and he wanted one. So your just calling Brian a lame ass mother sniffer
That sure is a sweet lady!
Lovely looking guitar, the other colours available are nice as well. But for me, if I were to buy a Brian May guitar it would have to be in the red special livery
Just ordered this exact one!
Chris Wilson where do you get it from ?
I like the Sweet Lady intro
I like someone recognized it.
killer tones!!!
kickass! nice job. great post.
Yes you can do some wonderful things with switching pickups in and out of phase and various other things there. What I would love to try mine with. I'm looking at mxr layers pedal. I'm very tempted with that one. I don't have a vox. I have a valve state Marshall amp enjoy mine's the red special from Burns and I love it to bits what you can achieve. What I could achieve with it years ago? Wow! Enjoy! Enjoy to your heart's content. Lots of fun as well. It's all about. God bless
Dod phaser pedal or tc electronic helix phaser pedal!!!
Yes!
Subscribed. Very informative video.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW PERFECT
Nice one Brett! I love those Tri-Sonic pickups,and I've been wanting one of these for quite awhile! When I saw them on the Queen website,they had some other colors.Do you know all of the other color's? I happen to have one of Greg's pedals,the TB Plus! I've spoken to him through email quite a few times,but the last one I sent didn't get answered.Was wondering how he's doing?
nice Guitar
There appears to be an earthing fault with my new BM Special guitar. When the strings are not depressed the volume control produces a crackling sound. Is this a design or manufacturing issue? Should I return the guitar for repair?
cloud squeezer we call that a dirty pot.. it's common.
yes - I replaced potentiometer and it's now much better, thanks - but still, it shows that BMG quality control sucks - as it's a new guitar it should have been tested before being dispatched from the factory. I've never had this problem with a new guitar before - not even the budget ones!
White Special
love is guitar
Hey man, great video! Just one question.. how good is it for styles like blues and metal?
What delay where you using?
Very enjoyable video thank you. Which pedal do you use to get the 2 x repeats?
Impressive guitar Brett. Did you play in a Queen cover band, why do you know those lead parts so well?
Just ordered it from Brian May's website $850 with shipping (shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/the-bmg-special/brian-may-special-white.html)
White one is available now and they sell out really quickly. Can't wait for delivery.
Good playing mate .its funny the amount of people who own better rs replicas that are not that good and others who like u have the cheeper brand modal thst are great and much better players
Wouuu😍😍
Its great
Hi.
Some nice tonea going on here.
Tell me, honestly... how stable is the tremolo system? I know it's not a Floyd, but will it hold tune against the odd divebomb?
Can you pull the tremolo up like floating bridges?
Cheers
Joe Vincent well it's a modern style two post tremolo which if set up right can work great. It can float like a Floyd so it pulls up and dives down just without the range that the Floyd can detune but it's good enough.
what country are these made in?
Korea :)
Nice video, though I wonder, are the pickups strong enough for playing heavy metal? Or do I really need to get myself a guitar with emg pickups? Thanks!
Listen to Stone Cold Crazy. I would say they are.
No pinky finger?????
There aren't 23 pickup options, there are 13.
+Noord Dieren Yes. Did I say 13? Silly me. I must have been reading the spec sheet which actually said 21 switch positions but 13 real combos.
GAS!!!
wow !!!!!!!
Sounds really good that guitar ... but so does any guitar you play so... ^_^ Not much noise coming out. Are they humbuckers in disguise?
+Sleepydog Those pickups are pretty quiet but I did have a light gate on at the input - Threshold -43.3 dB; Ratio 1.68.
+Brett Kingman And if u switch the guitar in certain ways it does hum buck.
5:49
I bought one a few years ago and it just wouldn't keep in tune. I went back and I've been shy to get another. The super version, which has a fatter neck and a more authentic styled trem is so very expensive and is therefore not an option. I'd like another try at owning but seeing as it let me down on stage a little too often means I'm in need of more convincing. Great review.
All you will have needed is probably to have the nut filed a bit rather than sending it back. Mine is very stable.
Now its called The White Special
I know it wouldn't be authentic - but three + 0 - switches would be much 'cleaner'.
Having that guitar with that color is a federal crime
Using a six pence just sounds too metallic and scratchy to me....esp. on a clean tone...
That is part of BMs tone.
It's meant to, that's where he gets the scratching effect from, by using the six pence, all that you hear is from that coin, stuff which is impossible to achieve using a standard pick
ILike the white color but don't like all the silver screws...that looks bad.
🤘👍🤘👍🤘👍🤘
Is that replica or original???
Brian May built his guitar with his dad. The only ''original'' is the one he has.
now do a video playing 15 songs that are NOT Queen and show people what the damn thing can do.
that guitar sound sweet, hahahahaha!!!!
I hated his Wembley/ Magic Tour sound because of the 80s chorus effect which makes it sound weaker and mushy
Another standard demo. Got a Brian May guitar; you play Queen. Ugh... People need to demo these guitars playing *other* music to show what they're good for.
Clean sounds are worthless.
The best clean sound is found at the neck pick up. You can get a nice Under Pressure tone with a bit of mild flanger.