Brian May's Red Special: A Short History
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
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A true "one guitar guitarist" I should have made this video about Brian May's Red Special long, long ago.
A wholly unique instrument that has been copied by endless fans. I hope you enjoy the history. Sorry for running behind schedule on this one. It was some massive research.
Keith
"There are many famous Les Pauls, many famous Stratocasters and Telecasters, but there is only one Red Special" I never get bored with learning more about that guitar and I am so happy that people continue to honor Brian in this way. Amazing guy, amazing guitar! Long Live Queen!
I mean they make red specials now. Brian has more than one. He has the original but he also has replacements.
@@derpatel9760 But only THE Red Special is the one. All the rest are things like BHM1 etc. And honestly, the point is, all the rest are imitations of the original. That's like saying Eddies Frankenstrat is all over the place. Sure...copies!
Ahh you missed the trick - "There can be only one... Red Special"
@@jca111 I cant believe I missed that opportunity. I'm glad you Saved Me from it
And only one Frankenstein
The red special. Proof that if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. The red special is quite ahead of its time, having some features that wouldn't make their way to other guitars until the 80s.
The tremolo system in particular is ingenious. If I'm not mistaken it is one of the first knife edge style designs. Fender tremolos were mostly pivoting in the room between the screws, Bigsbys used a roller system and Gibson Vibrola tremolos just used bendy steel. The knife edge tremolo concept wouldn't take off until the 80s when Floyd Rose's locking design became readily available.
Thank you for making this video. I am a huge Queen and Brian May fan and i love watching this type of video breaking down and detailing the construction of the red special, one of the most iconic instruments ever built. Rock on 🤘
Yes, wow, tears in they eyes of anybody when you approach Thomas Kirche who ever played a note. Two days ago I talked about the Zwischenspiel in the WTC b minor fugue, with its unreached progression, heaven air but copied by Bach note by note. Bach new that he himself stood on the shoulders of those Italians. But the Erbarme Dich or MP Final choir is unreached in music History yes of course . Thank you for this collection of statements.
Five Watt World made another great video? It must be a day that ends in y!
This might be the next guitar on my list. The tone on "Tie your mother down" is just something else.
I’ve always wanted have this guitar but I don’t know if it’s too expensive
22:56
But why is he playing a slowed down version of _"Spirit of Radio"_ ?
{:o:O:}
Fantastic Hypes!! One of your best 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thanks Hypes!
An actual factual Beato Bomb!!!!
❤
I gotta hand it to Brian's father for taking interest in his son's musical dream at a young age. My hats off to you, sir.
Totally. Lots of parents (probably most) wouldn’t have taken the trouble. What a great story. Makes me want to save for one!
I saw an interview with Brian who said Father could not understand why, with his qualifications, he went into music, when he could have followed almost any career he wanted. Brian quoted him as saying "I don't get it"
Years later, when Queen where at their peak, Brian flew his Mother and Father over to see them play a sell-out gig in Paris. So the story gose it was a particularly great show, and backstage after the show his Father said to him "Now I get it"
I'v always loved the fact his Father was willing to allow him to follow his own path and later acknowledge his son made a good choice.
Yeah, I wanted to play drums and my parents wouldn’t have it had them one day then I had a clarinet which I never learned to play but sports they supported
@@stewarttomkinson3356 parental support is a good thing. It's not required in order to be great at something, but it ain't bad.
@@NavidainBrian flew his parents on a Concorde to New York in 1977 when Queen played at Madison Square Garden and after the gig Brian's father finally shook his hand admitting: "Ok. I get it now."
I'm my humble opinion, Brian May's sound is the most recognizable tone of any guitarist I've ever heard.
Tom Scholz (Boston) is way up there too, and Robert Fripp as well. But I would concur, you know Brian May in the first 3 -5 notes.
@@DJBuglip Agree. May, Scholz, and possibly Eric Johnsons.... oh and Yngwie... (his is not so much a _good_ tone, but very unique).
Oh, and EVH's brown sound....
😄
Now you finally get around to this iconic guitar?
Les Paul, Leo Fender, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May all built their own guitars for the betterment of humanity.
Somewhere Paul just let out a "Muhahaha!"
Of course the guitar Les Paul built, the Log, is not the Les Paul guitar we know today. Ted McCarty built that.
Yep. Brian's was a lot of his DAD'S insights actually. His Father was like Thomas Eddison.
He's only one man give him a break, donate money so it can help him make more videos.
@@shanewalton8888 not entirely. Les Paul built the neck and pickups himself and then put them into a 2x4. After that he decided to take an Epiphone Zephyr, an archtop acoustic guitar, cut it in half, and affix both halves to his “Log” guitar. (This was mostly for aesthetic purposes, as he was getting odd looks from audiences when he played the guitar minus the Zephyr bits in the clubs.)
Mind blowing that Brian and his dad problem solved their way to such an iconic guitar, which led to Brian‘s iconic sound. This video was a wonderful weekend treat thank you Keith!
Imagine having the success Brian has had and still playing the guitar him and his dad built when he was just a kid. Amazing. Besides the iconic tone, I imagine Brian enjoys the fact that his father will always live on through his music he created on the guitar in which both he and his father created. So freaking cool. Brian is just an awesome dude 🤘🏻
Love this.
I had no idea just how "from the ground up" his guitar was built by him and his father. Amazing; he created a unique guitar and then used it to make music with unique sounds over songs that would hold up for generations. 'Wow' on so many levels.
Perhaps you could do one on Rory Gallagher's well worn stratocaster ? Plenty of stories !
The 6d (sixpence) wasn't minted after 1970, but remained in circulation and legal tender until 1980. One of the reasons was that many cities had parking meters that took shillings and sixpences before decimalisation, and it would have been expensive to replace all the mechanisms. .... Anyway that left the UK with the peculiar situation of having a 2½p coin in circulation throughout the 1970's.
Brian May , in addition to being one of the most recognized guitar tones in Rock music, is a freaking genius! He and his Dad were engineering around problems big manufacturers hadn’t even touched on. How can you play the hell out of 1 guitar for nearly 60 years and not need to refret it. Amazing! Hand chiseled, hand filed, hand made! The neck to body attachment is simplistic perfection. Just looking at, it resembles nothing else on the market. Compared to the Red Special, any old partscaster is just a canoe paddle.
Fantastic history lesson Keith!
But where do you go from here?
Maybe Tom Scholz’s Les Paul, or Dick Dale’s Strat?
Would love to see a video on Dick Dale’s Strat!
@@Brian_Vallejo
That was/is an iconic guitar. I had the opportunity to know Dick. He had bought an airplane from where I worked at the Fresno Airport. We got invited down to his Sky Ranch in 29 Palms. He and I swapped guitars and sat on his living room sofa and jammed. His original Strat was given to him from Leo Fender himself and was the one in all the “Beach “ movies. I remember it had a serial number from 1961, and had a very fat neck. He teased me about the lite strings on my Strat. Then he brought out another Strat the custom shop had made him, with all gold hardware. He insisted I play it as well, but said he wouldn’t play it because he would “ tear it up”. The last time I saw him was a couple years before he died. He was still playing his original Strat. I believe his widow , Lana, still has it.
IQ of 180. Not bad.
Although it’s not covered here in this video, before using Vox AC30s he was using an amp that had been hand-made by Queen’s bass player John Deacon. Affectionately called the Deacy Box, even some engineers with doctorates in electrical engineering have no idea how it works, only that it does!
Every time I listen to Queen I remember that Sir Brian and his father built that guitar and it's incredibly heart-warming. An iconic tone with such an amazing and unique story behind it.
One can only hope to have that sort of impact on their son's life.
A M E N
I don't know... built his own unique and awesome guitar with father back in the 1960s, formed a band that would successfully encompass just about every music style you can possibly think of... finally got to finish his PhD on astrophysics... had the most successful biopic ever made about his band... is now SIR Brian May... bit of an overachiever? But he's such a modest and softly spoken gentleman that you can't help but love this man.
Brian based his sound on Rory Gallagher. AC 30 and treble boost.
Soz, I should have watched the full video before commenting.😂
You gotta do Travis Bean guitars/ Aluminium necked instruments a whole. They have such an interesting history and have been used by so many big names.
Great job - and you even got our place names right! Btw, a grammar school was a state funded 11-18 school which was selective on the basis of ability. So it was a chance for bright kids from poorer backgrounds to get somewhere. The only thing you might've missed - apologies if you did mention it - was that the tremolo arm came from the panier on a bicycle, with a plastic bobbin from his Mum's knitting needle. I'm pretty sure that's correct. Thanks for paying tribute to one of our best exports!
Actually, the main reason that Brian built the guitar is because his family didn’t have enough money, so he couldn’t even afford any of the official guitars, nor the cheap copies.
I did a video on his gear/tone and without the guitar it is impossible to get the vibe of Queen. The combo of his tone, clean picking and bends are gold. Great video.
My guitar teacher from when I was 12-13 had a Guild Brian May guitar, that thing was an incredible piece :)
Brian and his father were visionaries on what features and specs are necessary to make a truly great guitar. Their brilliant ingenuity and perseverance created an iconic guitar guitar and a vehicle capable of delivering Brian's masterful playing and inspired musicality. What a fantastic achievement!
Keith, this is one of my favorite episodes of your wonderful series highlighting amazing guitars. A thousand thanks. 👏👍😎
Well, that was f’n awesome! As a luthier of nearly 15 years now, I was fascinated by this view of the Red Special. Such an iconic guitar! The father/son engineering team deserves accolades! They were so far ahead of their times. I primarily build flat top acoustic guitars and bent top mandolins, but have built many Tele style electrics and even a few P basses.
Loved this, 5 Watt World vid!
Peace
It took 50 years for me to learn the 5% of this I already knew.
It took KW less than half an hour to supply me with the other 95%..
Brilliant episode.
Thanks and blessings.
Great work, Keith. I have read about this guitar over the years, but there is nothing quite like the 5 watt treatment! Great job by Angus, too, capturing those awesome tones!
Thanks!
FREAKING AMAZING AND BRILLIANT!!!! Thank you for another incredible installment of FiveWattWorld. Fantastic playing by Angus Clark.
Thanks Michael!
@@AngusClarkGTR Gonna log into my True Fire account to take your class!
The live tones he was able to produce on their Live From Montreal, Live from The Bowl, Live Aid and Live at Wembley performances are some of my favorite guitar tones of all time.
Thoroughly researched and thoughtfully presented Keith. You've done a much better job than so many of the articles and interviews over the years. And I don't mind the fact that you've used a lot of my photos. Keep up the good work!
Hello Greg, Thank so much for that!
I have a left hand one, it's a cool Guitar. The Tri Sonic's sound excellent. I've never heard a Burns sound like the RS. It has inspired circuitry. I bought it to play through my AC 30. I just had to have one, they don't come anymore iconic than Brian's Red Special. Great choice to do a Short History on Keith. Superbly presented as always, thank you.
As a guitarist, I love May's playing. He's got a truly unique style that just brings a smile to my face. Plus, he's the only guy who can record a three part harmony in one take.
Add in that his scientific, engineering and charity work, you hear him speak in interviews, you see his collaborations with other musicians, and you just know he's truly one of Rock and Rolls Good Guys.
All Praise Dr May
Well done once again sir! I'm always happy when a new Short History vid shows up in my feed. And I've never been disappointed! Thanks for all you do Keith!
You mentioned Stone Cold Crazy as the bridge and middle out of phase, it was actually neck and bridge out of phase. The bridge and middle out of phase is very harsh and thin.
The picture of Greg in the spray booth is Mark Reynolds stepdad's, & Mark actually made the surrounds...
Hey Keith!🤘..I saw this notification this morning and thought about it all day at work..lol..too busy today to get to it so it was nice to look forward to.. catching up now..thanks this is one many have awaited forever 🤘😁🎸
I literally just saw one of the Import Brian May Signature guitars at my local guitar center, it looked the part, had all of the bells and whistles (minus the homemade trem, a Wilkinson was on it but it was solid) and played nicely, didn't have a chance to plug it in though :C
It happened to be hanging next to a Schecter Tele made for someone with the initials MGK, probably not a very important person methinks... it twas a gaudy looking black and pink thing that was completely outclassed by a import replica of one of the most important guitars of all time.
And for the 849 bucks the barn was offering, I would have happily taken it home as a impulse buy if I had the cash on hand.
he played other guitars. Telecaster on Crazy Little Thing Called Love
While you're doing custom built one-off guitars, you should do Bo Didley's square guitar. That would be a cool story!
I’ve been a Brian May (& Queen) fan for about 45 years.
Yet today I have learnt more things about both Brian and his guitar that I did not know.
Another outstanding video!
Thanks Keith and all the team at Five Watt World. 🙏
He built this guitar like a master luthier with 30yrs experience!!! What a genius!!!
man, I love your writing! Never fails to connect emotionally. Suddenly, we are not just talking about guitars and specs, we are talking about music and its effect in our lives. Thanks!
Wait, we still don't have a short history of the Hiwatt amplifiers? Definitely a project to consider!
Absolutely!!!
I consider myself lucky to have seen The Red Special and The Greenie Burst live onstage both in one night. Thin Lizzie with Gary Moore filling in for Brian Robertson as the opening act for Queen. They just don't make concerts like that anymore.
The irony is, before the Internet, the few of us who knew about the story of this guitar marvelled at how this great player managed to pull off such great playing on such a amateurish & mediocre instrument but now, with the publication of his books and the Internet and videos such as this, it dawns on everyone that it was such a well designed instrument from the very beginning that he actually had an 'unfair advantage' for all those years!!
I think, at the end of the day that's the real wonder and miracle of the story
With the repair they 'Potted' the pickups ?. EVH used to dip PAFs in Paraffin wax so the windings would soak it up so as to not vibrate too much.....But he would leave them in too long & they would MELT...lol ..........I remember that light blonde wood replica of the Red Special being used on the 1977 video of WE WILL ROCK YOU.....I always wondered what it was & why we rarely saw Brian using it. So it was John Birch's instrument but there were tuning problems on it because of machine head/headstock /nut alignment not being as precisional as on Brian's Original guitar ?...He broke it in temper ?...Oh dear, I can't imagine Brian doing a Ritchie Blackmore...A bit like watching Quantum Niels Bohr breaking dinner plates.🙁🥺..lol ......Along with work for Tony Iommi did John Diggings do repair work for MICHAEL SCHENKER when he was playing limited edition Gibson Flying Vs ? ....They X-RAY'D Brians main axe ? Good idea...Brian never Patented any of this stuff ? ..Oops....Thanks for this five watt World...Very interesting video.
I'd LOVE to see you do a video on Boston and their homemade amps/pedals !!! Also, Schecter and ESP one day!!! I beg of the, sir.
Love your videos so much.
back in '015 i got into a show with a vendor and put a half dozen PRIME Gibsons out on the aisle , with one "NEW" Burns of London, Brian May model in green ... Guys only sniffed at the Gibsons , but JUMPED ALL OVER the Brian May !!!
... of course that's the one i didn't Really Want to sell , but i was "swarmed" and didn't know what to do ~ i still kick myself for letting it go 🤕
I like guitars. You like guitars. I like your guitar videos. I like motorcycles. You like motorcycles. I’m fairly certain I’d like videos you did on motorcycles. Jus sayin.
Great stuff! Now, let´s learn about the "Deacy" amp, too. Wattages are reported from 1 W to 10W. "five watt" literally would be middle in the average of those assumptions... ;-D
Enjoyed the video. Couple of 'corrections... When it comes to British guitarists, ALL the legendary 60s and 70s guitarists were influenced by Hank Marvin. Their fans might not like it, but they all give him credit when asked.
Regarding the Guild Red Special, they did a version, more a lookalike, with BHM's consent, in the mid '80s, which had a Kahler locking trem.
I don’t believe Gibson, Fender,
Or any other major brands
Made a 24 Fret Electric
Guitar… but Brian May’s is.
You really make the best, most informative videos!
✌️😎🎸 🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶
I don''t know if I believe that story about the red special.
I don''t believe that they could not buy Brian another electric guitar.
My son only just turned 1, but I'm already hoping he expresses an interest in guitars and we get to build one together some day.
I recall that Guild made a version of the Red Special in the 80s with a Kahler Tremolo system. It was made for production, but I think I remember he hated the Kahler as it felt nothing like his original trem design
Did you know that Brian May is also a top tier Fortnite and CoD player? And makes a perfect omelette, every time. Yes, he’s better than you at everything.
I had no idea that May actually built that guitar himself! So fascinating!
Whoops, I forgot to also say- Thank you, Keith!!
You forgot about the mid 80s Guild with Dimarzio pickups as seen in making of One Vision.
Brian May epitomizes the "Fine, I'll do it myself" attitude.
Incredible that May built a guitar that was MUCH better and way more advanced than anything on the market at that time.
I bought a Red Special but had to set it aside for one reason-It doesn’t feel good when sitting down. This is particularly frustrating when recording and needing to sit for extended periods.
First of all, thanks for what is probably my favourite of your short histories. This is a superb account of an iconic instrument. Brian May did actually play a different electric guitar live on stage. If you see Queen play Crazy Little Thing Called Love at the Live Aid concert in 1985, he started with his acoustic 12-string, then switched to a black Telecaster and finished on the Red Special. He played the first solo on the Telecaster. I remember watching on TV at the time and thinking he must have broken a string but the videos on RUclips show he hadn't. It looks like it was planned that way all along.
Right you are. He always used acoustics.
Great video Keith, i has no idea this guitar was custom and hand made, wow! I wonder if you e thought of doing a guitar (and bass) vhistory video of Rush,. Would also love to see one on John Petrucci of Dream Theater if it would interest you
What an engineering marvel - The Great Egyptian Pyramids have nothing on this guitar 🎸
Great episode’ I love the history of Brian’s guitar’ it really goes to show if u can find something that is custom to your playing and the sound u like them u really only need one guitar’ even tho we will all always buy more for what ever reason haha 😂
I bought the Brian may vox amplug plug in it has queen drum tracks to play with and Brian may signature sounds
1:50 That's such a fantastic snapshot!
Kudos to the video creator for giving us an incredible journey through Brian May's Red Special! You've struck a chord with your storytelling skills, leaving us all strumming with joy. Bravo! 🙌🎸
Another amazing video, as usual. Ty
Apparently Brian and his father had designed plans for more guitars.
The really amazing part of this guitar is how much Brian and his father understood so early in the history of the electric guitar. So many insights and innovations for its day!!
What i love about this is the thing has all the hallmarks of a home project, Throwing in as many features as possible, fixating on fine details to an almost ludicrous degree (hand cutting string rollers for example), but also exhibits the classic "lets just blow through the boring parts" quirks like anchoring the truss rod with a wood screw and simply cutting groves for the strings to pass through after the nut.
the phase switching reminds me of the stuff i put on my first build, albiet seemingly much more functional,
overall its just such a human thing, teenager wants guitar, father and son collaborate to build it, then son uses it for decades to make defineing music of the rock genre
such a cool story
Thanks for everything you do Keith!
Only a handful of Great guitarists that built their own.
This is what happens when a brainiac makes his/her own guitar! Jesus! 😊
Great vid Keith! He should bring his first band back. Their time has come. I've said too much. 😬
Great video. Thank you.
Just to add. Brian originally used banjo strings for the top G, B and E strings. As they were easier to bend, with 8’s not being available in guitar strings. If my memory serves me correct, this is in the Red Special book.
They all used banjo strings until Ernie Ball started making the lighter ones in the mid 60’s.
I had no idea Brian May's guitar was handmade by him and his dad.
Very interesting perspective on the read it special, thank you. Most of us probably know a lot about the red special but there’s always a couple fun little tidbits. You forgot to mention the Deaky, which was the speaker that John Deacon made for Brian, which he uses all the time now. Instead of the Vox
Yes indeed! One can't properly mention "The Brian May Sound" without reference to the Deac(k)y!
Took you a while to get round to but grate video as always.
Oh boy, I was looking forward to this!
Wow! Awesome. So interesting how the red special was created and the pickup configurations are amazing.
There is currently an exhibit of guitars owned by Randy Bachman at the National Music Centre in Canada, it has a Red Special replica in it. Saw that online
Exceptional- bravo, Keith and FWW team: most enjoyable.
I've never heard Greco pronounced "Greeko" before.
Thank you for the awesome video! You forgot the legend that the end of the tremolo bar was his mothers sewing needle
What a fantastic video have a good weekend
Brian May is my favourite Guitarist of Time.
Another unexpected (for me at least) great vid! Angus is DA MAN!
Thank you!
When I was 15 on Saturday I would have saved my lunch money to buy a new Album. I went to Argus Tapes and Records, planning to buy Andy Frasier from Free newest solo project. SHARKS. I saw this Brand New Band that had just been put on sale that Thursday. I took a risk and Bought Queens First LP. Knocked my Socks off!!!! Lair came on and Ive never looked back. Brian wanted a Metal band I Love. Freddie made them for the whole world to Enjoy. Ive spent my Life listening to Queen. All the Better for it. Thanks Keith for an Oustanding Presentation!!!!!
For some reason, this was unexpected, but a great surprise!
Legend has it that's Keith's 5 o'clock shadow. Impressive
Ha! Pretty close…and trimmed.
Talking of Brian's backups, like someone had mentioned, he also used the 1984 Guild BHM. Both his prototypes were used as spares in the 80s and 90s. Brian also had a prototype of the 1993 BM01 which he used for drop D in the Back To The Light tour. It had a natural finish, and used the same DiMarzio BHM pickups from the 1984 BHM1.
Before I forget, one of the 1984 prototypes was used in the A Kind Of Magic album. Its harsher sound can be distinguished from the original's. In the last few songs Brian switched back to his original, as he wasn't happy with how the guitar turned out. Around the same year he told Guild to stop producing the BHMs. Then in the 90s he worked with them again to produce the BM01s until 1995, when Fender took over, causing Brian to end the deal completely.
Thank you for going over the wiring. I always wondered what all the switches did.
As a fan since Sheer Heart Attack came out I congratulate you on this video Keith. The best you have ever done!