Last time we looked at the construction of Brian May’s Red Special guitar and delved into a bit of it’s history. This time we’ll get to the question that I know you’re all wondering: how does he get that tone?
It’s hard to point at one thing as responsible for the Brian May sound, there are many variables—the construction, the electronics, the banks of Vox AC-30s wired together, May’s use of a sixpence piece instead of a pick, or the Burns Tri-Sonic pickups and May’s unique wiring.
One thing is clear, this is not something slapped together haphazardly. May designed every aspect of the guitar—from the “acoustic pockets” he carefully designed to his choice of pickups—to meet very particular needs. His meticulous attention to detail is pretty evident in the fact his tone is so distinctive. (Did I mention that Brian May was pursuing a PhD in physics when Queen became popular?)
There have been many copies made of Red Special, both official and not. Guild made the first wave of commercially available replicas. I remember seeing these when they came out. They are really well made and super fun to play, but they came with a pretty serious price tag and still sell for top dollar. If you’re prepared to drop some serious coin on one, you can usually find one on eBay. Burns also made replicas of Red Special up until a few years ago.
Besides a few smaller guitar builders the main builder is now Brian May Guitars, a company founded by Brian May due to his desire to have more control over the quality of the guitars bearing his name. He enlisted his long-time guitar tech and a luthier to help with the design and manufacture. As a result, you can now get an official replica with a host of different options and in a wide range of colors; you can even get a mini version of the Red Special or the new Brian May Rhapsody, which is a small-bodied acoustic in the shape of the Red Special.
So if you’re searching for the perfect Queen tone, you can build one of your own like Brian May or search out one of the replicas. One thing is for sure, it won’t be made from a repurposed Victorian fireplace mantle and it will most certainly cost significantly more than the reported eight quid that May paid for the materials for the original Red Special.
