You can now get strats that have the bridge eck\all 3 pickups. I think I like the idea of the Brian May pickguard though because a lot of people seem to have issues with the placement of the volume in relation to the bridge pickup and the position of the selector switch on a regular strat. Everything on your pickguard seems to be convenient but at the same time out of the way of your strumming hand.
I think 13:40-13:50 is what Brian uses for his first solo on “Bohemian Rhapsody“. If I am not mistaken, it is also the setting John Lennon utilized with his Rickenbacker 325 when the Beatles recorded “All my Loving“. I would like one that has 24 frets, straightaway stringing and no string trees. Is the neck of a MusicMan six-string compatible with a Strat body?
Pickups sound good. But, I would have to go with *no 60 cycle hum.* Some way----- somehow. Maybe insulate the guitar cavities with not only, the special paint-like stuff but, the copper strips to line the cavities, as well(?). These Brian May pups are kick ass.
I’ve been wanting to do something like that but until I saw your video I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. I actually like the color of that guitar too. Great job with the video and the explanation. I’m pretty sure I would’ve needed to use a chart as well. The other one that I’ve seen that I’m interested in is the Jimmy page wiring harness.
Intersting guitar. . I too love May's tone but not the shape/contour of the Red Special. I have one but I don't like the fat, wide neck and it is top heavy. I have been thinking of doing what you have done here. Is this Strat body of yours chambered or solid? Also, what amp you you putting this thru? Thanks for posting this.
Solid Strat body. Just everything Strat with the pickups and wiring of Brian May's guitar. The amp is just a small Fender practice amp that we use at the music school in the lesson rooms. And, yes, the Red Special is an odd guitar with a HUGE neck. I can't get into it, either!
Thanyk you mate, you helped me a lot! I will order the stuff at guitarfetish and will mod my stratcopy with the GFS Brighton Rock PU´s and that wiring. It realy sounds good to me, what could be done with it ;)
The pickups are just good Strat pups. They are fat! I like them but $90 is steep for set. How much are the tri sonic minis? Where did you get them? So gfs sends u a pre cut pick guard and you install switches? I have a bright yellow Strat body, with black binding of unknown origin that I put a 70s Squier neck on after painting headstock yellow to match. It’s a hardtail and I’ve been thinking about making it into my Brian May Guitar. I know he uses a tremolo but I don’t and wouldn’t if I had one. I’m a Les Paul player. Although I just got a Diamond Hailfire I adore. You should check Diamond out. They are unique and really cool
It was put together from various parts that I had just sitting around. Except for the pickups and pickguard. I bought those specifically for this. But, it would work fine with a pre-existing Strat-style guitar. Just replace the pickguard assembly.
I kind of lost count after a while!!! And there's really only a few that I actually use with any regularity. There's just so many different sounds available!!! :-)
By 13 you had done all the switching possibilities. All of them on with the bridge and middle out of phase is the same as all of them on with the neck out of phase.
hey, great information here, designing my first guitar that I'm building from scratch and I really want the out of phase options! my question is, do the pickups need to be tri-sonics? is there a difference in terms of wiring if they're just regular single coils/P90s? I've seen that Brian May's tri-sonics have 3 wires coming out of the pickups but these minis only have the regular 2... cheers mate
Doesn't matter. I've done it with standard single coils. Even the individual coils of a humbucker! I can get some cool sounds out of a single humbucker!! :-)
@@JoeHartRocks you have any idea if I could do this with push/pull tone knobs? I'm considering doing three pickups with an overall volume and a tone for each. It'd come out a lot cleaner looking if I could just wire these to the knobs you know
Joe Hart I have a great yellow special now. I really like the way it sounds better than yours but I wish you could play it with the other pickups. I used completely pre soldered kit and pups, I unsoldered the caps and output jack and replaced them with orange drops and switch craft. I have a super Strat totally pre soldered harness and I added quick plug female plug ins to a Duncan Everything axe set of Strat sized humbuckers and I put a flat Michael Kelly neck on a 20 year old Squire with zero play time. It was a time capsule. Sucks it wasn’t a 58 LP. It’s replaced every damned guitar I own. I have 6 listed on Reverb now that I have earmarked the money for a much better Bass boat by this time next year. I’m keeping a vintage by trev Wilkinson SG in Pelham blue I put gfs dream 180 pups in and they’re all any SG should have imo. Think higher output filter Trons crossed with mini humbuckers. If you go to guitar fetish’s channel and search dream 180 the young Latino man is playing an off brand SG with the pups in it. He is ripping AC/DC.
Your videos would be more effective if you spent less time talking and beating us over the head with every verbal point 5 times and just get on with it!
The middle pickup is what a strat is all about! It's the sweetest spot.
Sound starts at 11:20
doing the lords work
GunShySunshine thanks man! 🙏🙏
Not all heroes wear capes
At 7:09, there has been no sound yet from the guitar.
I would like to hear the guitar too,,,,when is it coming?
Love to see a wiring diagram. Great guitar! Thinking of building one for my son.
You can now get strats that have the bridge
eck\all 3 pickups. I think I like the idea of the Brian May pickguard though because a lot of people seem to have issues with the placement of the volume in relation to the bridge pickup and the position of the selector switch on a regular strat. Everything on your pickguard seems to be convenient but at the same time out of the way of your strumming hand.
Exactly! It's a very well laid out design.
Total Badassery Dude!!! Thanks for making this video for us that want to learn more about guitar building and wiring! :D:D:D -Cholly
Thank you!
What a crazy noise bro, you need to shield it with copper tape.🙆♂
I think 13:40-13:50 is what Brian uses for his first solo on “Bohemian Rhapsody“. If I am not mistaken, it is also the setting John Lennon utilized with his Rickenbacker 325 when the Beatles recorded “All my Loving“.
I would like one that has 24 frets, straightaway stringing and no string trees. Is the neck of a MusicMan six-string compatible with a Strat body?
You are correct!!!
John Lennon didn't play that
Pickups sound good. But, I would have to go with *no 60 cycle hum.* Some way----- somehow. Maybe insulate the guitar cavities with not only, the special paint-like stuff but, the copper strips to line the cavities, as well(?). These Brian May pups are kick ass.
Great job!!!!!!!
Thanks!!!
I’ve been wanting to do something like that but until I saw your video I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. I actually like the color of that guitar too. Great job with the video and the explanation. I’m pretty sure I would’ve needed to use a chart as well. The other one that I’ve seen that I’m interested in is the Jimmy page wiring harness.
Loved the video!!!!!!!
Wow great tone.
Thank you!
Intersting guitar. . I too love May's tone but not the shape/contour of the Red Special. I have one but I don't like the fat, wide neck and it is top heavy. I have been thinking of doing what you have done here. Is this Strat body of yours chambered or solid? Also, what amp you you putting this thru? Thanks for posting this.
Solid Strat body. Just everything Strat with the pickups and wiring of Brian May's guitar. The amp is just a small Fender practice amp that we use at the music school in the lesson rooms. And, yes, the Red Special is an odd guitar with a HUGE neck. I can't get into it, either!
Thanyk you mate, you helped me a lot! I will order the stuff at guitarfetish and will mod my stratcopy with the GFS Brighton Rock PU´s and that wiring. It realy sounds good to me, what could be done with it ;)
I'm starting to think tri-sonic pickups are superior to others. Amazing tone when they humbuck sir. Thanks for sharing.
Woden of the Angles make sure to get one of the pickups reverse wound
These are GFS Brighton Rock pickups, inspired by tri sonics
I have a set but don’t have the switching system. I didn’t know how complicated it would be. If I order one can I ask you a question if I get hung up?
Of course! I'm here to help!! The instructions from GFS were very simple and easy to follow. But if you have any questions, just ask!!
Great tone
Sounds like Ritchie Blackmore meets May. Lovely.
Thank you!! Two of my favorite players!!!!
Same thoughts!)
@@JoeHartRocks Ritchie is the best. :)
The pickups are just good Strat pups. They are fat! I like them but $90 is steep for set. How much are the tri sonic minis? Where did you get them? So gfs sends u a pre cut pick guard and you install switches? I have a bright yellow Strat body, with black binding of unknown origin that I put a 70s Squier neck on after painting headstock yellow to match. It’s a hardtail and I’ve been thinking about making it into my Brian May Guitar. I know he uses a tremolo but I don’t and wouldn’t if I had one. I’m a Les Paul player. Although I just got a Diamond Hailfire I adore. You should check Diamond out. They are unique and really cool
The Burns pickups were $150.00 from eBay. And GFS sends you the pre-cut pickguard and the switches, you just need to wire it up. It's easy!!!
Joe Hart I had ordered, received installed, bought a Vox and a treble booster and learned my favorite Brian May riffs before you started playing.
Damn,,,I fell asleep,,,is there any guitar playing yet?
Brighton Rock, tons of money through there - coke, dope, speed, trees, E, and dust.
Did you build the strat from scratch or did you modify a pre built strat, it’s just I was thinking about doing this myself aha?
It was put together from various parts that I had just sitting around. Except for the pickups and pickguard. I bought those specifically for this. But, it would work fine with a pre-existing Strat-style guitar. Just replace the pickguard assembly.
Joe Hart sounds good :) do you have a link to the parts for the pickups and pick guard?
@@bendobbing9239 the pickguard is from GFS and the pickups I got on eBay.
Joe Hart thank you :)
I loved it.
I'm pretty sure 16 and 11 are the same thing as they both have all 3 pickups on and the middle is out of phase with the neck and bridge
I kind of lost count after a while!!! And there's really only a few that I actually use with any regularity. There's just so many different sounds available!!! :-)
By 13 you had done all the switching possibilities. All of them on with the bridge and middle out of phase is the same as all of them on with the neck out of phase.
You are correct! Whoops!!!
hey, great information here, designing my first guitar that I'm building from scratch and I really want the out of phase options! my question is, do the pickups need to be tri-sonics? is there a difference in terms of wiring if they're just regular single coils/P90s? I've seen that Brian May's tri-sonics have 3 wires coming out of the pickups but these minis only have the regular 2... cheers mate
Doesn't matter. I've done it with standard single coils. Even the individual coils of a humbucker! I can get some cool sounds out of a single humbucker!! :-)
@@JoeHartRocks oh that's great, did you follow a schematic of some sort? if so, where can I find one?
@@johnthunderstone1654 I just Googled around. There are plenty!! The Seymour Duncan site has a lot of good ones, and they are easy to read/understand.
@@JoeHartRocks thank you very much, excited to get building
@@JoeHartRocks you have any idea if I could do this with push/pull tone knobs? I'm considering doing three pickups with an overall volume and a tone for each. It'd come out a lot cleaner looking if I could just wire these to the knobs you know
the dude finally starts shredding at 11:22
Which switches r those?
Switches that came with it. DPDT slide switches.
@@JoeHartRocks aren't those toggle switches?
@@JoeHartRocks how did u make the holes for the switches in the pickguard?
@@jisanbaidya7743 no. They are mini slide switches.
@@jisanbaidya7743 all of the holes were already there. I got the pickguard from GFS.
Did you consider the gfs Brighton Rocks pickups?
I did, but then decided to go with the Burns Tri-Sonics. Have you tried the GFS ones?
Joe Hart I have a great yellow special now. I really like the way it sounds better than yours but I wish you could play it with the other pickups. I used completely pre soldered kit and pups, I unsoldered the caps and output jack and replaced them with orange drops and switch craft. I have a super Strat totally pre soldered harness and I added quick plug female plug ins to a Duncan Everything axe set of Strat sized humbuckers and I put a flat Michael Kelly neck on a 20 year old Squire with zero play time. It was a time capsule. Sucks it wasn’t a 58 LP. It’s replaced every damned guitar I own. I have 6 listed on Reverb now that I have earmarked the money for a much better Bass boat by this time next year. I’m keeping a vintage by trev Wilkinson SG in Pelham blue I put gfs dream 180 pups in and they’re all any SG should have imo. Think higher output filter Trons crossed with mini humbuckers. If you go to guitar fetish’s channel and search dream 180 the young Latino man is playing an off brand SG with the pups in it. He is ripping AC/DC.
Are the pickup is series like the Red Special?
Yes!
They sound much more like it than he does because he has not got a Vox Tube amp and a treble boost and an eq pedal.
What did you use as a base?
It's just some parts that I had lying around. A generic body, a Squier neck, some hardware... nothing that special. But the pickups sound great.
I woul like to watching more videos.
It must be great to watch if you have all day.
cut to the chase man, jesus
Laundry day... nothing clean.
Why no clean sound ? pity !
11 plus minutes,,,where's the guitar sound?
Your videos would be more effective if you spent less time talking and beating us over the head with every verbal point 5 times and just get on with it!
Dude buzzcut your hair .. extreme makeover