The second edition of the coffee table book on the story of Brian May’s Red Special – “the home made guitar that rocked Queen and the world” was published on 1st October 2020 with two new chapters included. One explores technical repairs and maintenance and the other, the Red Special’s role in the Academy Award-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody, revealed in Brian’s own words and Gwilym Lee who played Brian in the film. The book, written by Brian and Simon Bradley is a celebration of the iconic guitar that Brian May built with his father and has treasured and played all over the world for over 50 years.
A five minute preview video of the second edition of the Brian May Red Special book.
The embedded video below is a 35-40 minute presentation by Brian at the original launch. He demonstrates the capabilities of the Red Special by playing it through three Vox VBM-1 practice amplifiers. You can get your copy of the book mail order through the London Stereoscopic Company or via the usual outlets such as Amazon.
I am pleased and relieved to report that the approximately three year labour of love to make a replica Brian May Red Special guitar is finished. I have written 60 numbered articles covering every part of the project plus four additional articles describing the design process, covering tools and tips and listing the materials, parts & suppliers. These are richly illustrated with hundreds of detailed pictures and should be of general interest to Queen and Brian May enthusiasts including anybody who is considering embarking on a similar mission. This has been like undertaking a second PhD in terms of the time and intellectual effort I expended so please check out the project pages on this website here:
The Red Special now inspires a new Seiko 5 Sports watch whose dial echoes the design of the guitar which Brian and his father built in the early 1960s. Seiko celebrates Brian’s creativity and his music with this Seiko 5 Sports watch. Brian commented: “I am delighted to see this watch come alive, and proud that the creation of me and my dad all those years ago has inspired this collaboration. I love my Seiko and it has served me well for many years. I will wear this new one with pride.”
The dial has the same red and black color scheme as the Red Special and features a delicate wood-like pattern like the body of the guitar. Special markings on the case back. The watch is offered as a limited edition with Brian’s signature on the case back and comes with “LIMITED EDITION” and the serial number 0001/9000-9000/9000. The presentation box also contains a commemorative coin that is based on the sixpence that Brian has used throughout his career as a plectrum.
IK Multimedia of Modena in Italy has released a Brian May collection for their industry-leading AmpliTube Custom Shop guitar amplifier and effects PC, MacOS and iOS modelling software in August 2019. Costing £99.99, it is available as download direct from the IK Multimedia and Brian May Guitars websites or the Apple stores.
This emulation software is one of the cheapest and most straightforward ways to recreate many of Brian May’s tones, especially the complex three amplifier, twin delay Brighton Rock solo. It is ideal for quiet practice when used with a suitable interface such as the iRig HD2 and monitor headphones and as a travel outfit. Renowned professional guitarist Jamie Humphries helped develop the tone patches and you can watch him demonstrate the software on this official video:
Made in the U.K. and engineered by Brian May’s electronics guru, Nigel Knight, this compact, multi-mode treble booster pedal combines three uniquely-voiced circuits that faithfully replicate Brian’s most recognisable tones from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The tones representing each decade have been meticulously modelled on the actual vintage equipment used by Brian during each period of his career – his germanium transistor Dallas Rangemaster from the 1970s, the silicon BC149 transistor powered Cornish TB-83 installed on his pedal board throughout the 80s, and an original 1998 Greg Fryer strap booster.
Nigel Knight analysed every nuance of the original circuits to realise an authentic reproduction of their tonal responses and output profiles. This 3-in-1 treble booster provides amateur enthusiasts and professional guitar players alike the opportunity to select the distinctive sound of their favourite Queen era using a switch and level control based on the lathe-turned aluminium control knobs fitted to Brian’s Red Special guitar. Whether you seek to replicate the heavier Queen tracks such as Stone Cold Crazy, the live sounds of the 1986 Magic Tour or explore your own ‘New Horizons’ with Brian’s more recent works, this will be the only treble booster you will ever need. Available now from Brian May Guitars and Knight Audio Technologies:
Collectors of Queen and Brian May gear, merchandise and memorabilia should look out for these quality collectable lapel badges on eBay. Long since discontinued, they measure 2 1/4″ (57 mm) long by 7/8″ (22 mm) wide and are decorated with black and reddish brown colour enamel. The proportions of his famous Red Special guitar and the placement of the hardware are relatively authentic given the small size of the reproduction. The pin badges affix in two places with one pin located behind the guitar headstock and the other behind the guitar body (not visible in the photograph below).
“Here’s my Badge”. Background texture courtesy of John Deacon’s amplifier.
For those readers who are not Brian May enthusiasts, I’d like to draw your attention to this innovation by Nigel Knight of Knight Audio Technologies (KAT): the BM RS Superpot. It is an Alpha brand dual-gang 250 kΩ linear (B) taper potentiometer fitted with a 1 MΩ resistor and a 2.2 nF capacitor. It was designed by Nigel to serve a specific purpose: that is to create a volume potentiometer with a shallower response curve than a standard logarithmic/audio (A) taper to increase the range over which Brian can control the transition from ‘sparkly cleans’ to sweet overdrive while performing on stage. Nigel flew out to Portugal to fit it to the Red Special before the Lisbon Queen + Adam Lambert concert on 7th June 2018. Check out the post on Brian’s Instagram account below:
R. G. Keen’s 1999 article entitled “The Secret Life of Pots” at Geofex.com explains the theory behind modifying the taper of linear potentiometers in an easily assimilable format:
Nigel explains: “When you cascade potentiometers you end up with a super-log pot, so the effective end result is a ‘forced’ log taper. Secondly, because after about halfway round the volume sweep of the RS, the pot is no longer really being used as a volume control, but more of a distortion drive which requires a more linear taper. So the new pot is more log at the bottom and more linear at the top. This allows better control over the cleans and smoother transition through the various stages of distortion. In fact, there is no discernible point where the distortion comes in with this configuration. It just slowly feeds in from the cleans.”
“The function of the capacitor is to compensate for high frequency losses while the resistor is there to pull the bottom leg of the pot to ground. The pot (short for potential divider) can’t ‘divide’ the level if it has no reference to the two points it is dividing between. The new pot gives Brian an array of tones that used to reside within about half a degree of pot movement (if you could find the sweet spot in the dark)”
Nigel has published a diagram of the pot shown in the image above. You can download it here and on the KAT website:
I have completed converting my 2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster to Brian May Specification. It has Adeson pickups, a custom switching PCB module based on that fitted to the Guyton RS Transporter designed by Nigel Knight of Knight Audio Technologies, Anotone aluminium Strat style control knobs, Fender branded Schaller locking tuners and roller bridge saddles. I designed the custom pickguard in CAD and CNC cut it myself using my Stepcraft 2/840 CNC machine. You can find full details of the project here: https://dsgb.net/projects/maycaster/
My first foray into the world of Brian May Red Special ownership in 2013 was a model year 2009 BMG Special conversion carried out by an amateur luthier in Portugal. I then further modified the guitar myself including a reshaped pickguard. It played well and looked acceptable. Nevertheless, I don’t recommend attempting conversion work on the commercial Burns and BMG Special guitars yourself. It’s a great deal of painstaking effort and you will still have an attractive but non-authentic deep burgundy red colour guitar which has evidence of the original tremolo system on the back (if cosmetic details concern you).
While unmodified BMG and Burns Brian May Red Special replicas sound authentic played through a BM signal chain and are excellent value for money, if you seek an more authentic instrument, Woody Thomas at RS Conversions in the USA has carried out conversions for a number of satisfied customers:
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