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(The pickups i got dont come with mounting screws)

I can't give definitive advice because you haven't stated any key dimensions such as the hole size in the mounting tabs on your specific set of pickups or even what your guitar is. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@dsgb my guitar is a strat (dont worry, i modded it to fit normal sized Tri-Sonic pickups), and my pickups have the same hole size as regular Burns Tri-sonics. Im not sure what are the dimensions of both mounting holes though, all i know is that they are the same. I am pretty sure they are the same (the mounting screw type) as the one in most Red Special replicas.

I recommend buying an assortment of different size screws and seeing which ones fit best. I don't know in which territory you live but there are numerous sellers of small pack sizes of all common sizes of wood and machine screws on U.K. eBay. I have a tool chest drawer full of small bags of primarily stainless steel fasteners in common metric and imperial sizes left over from my projects. I'm afraid that I can't help with only non-specific statements like "regular Burns Tri-Sonics" and "most Red Special replicas".

Thank you so much. 🙏🏻💜

Thanks Josef! I know you appreciate it. 👍🏻😀

He mentions it in several interviews or talks in 2014 which was the 50th anniversary of the Red Special's completion. The second sound clip was taken from the Red Special book launch video.

It was an unforgettable day! 😀

Thanks Colin. Much appreciated. 💜👍🏻😀

Thanks. An Easter egg for viewers who stuck with it to the outro. 😀👍🏻

Thanks. 👍🏻😀 Please would you provide some supporting information for this. The Deacy and Vox AC30 would certainly have been used for various different sections. The passage I include in the video sounds very Deacy to me.

@@dsgb Brian May in the Bohemian Rhapsody mini Documentary (3 of 3) stated that he used the deacy amp in the end lead solo part. The rest of the parts are Vox Ac30. Heres a link to the video th-cam.com/video/v15oIktGJOo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vTYAiMLqW-6eQadw&t=1366 he talks about it around the 23 minute

@shaikhjunaaydjs1217 The clip starting at 02:03 in my video is Deacy, the section after, I'm not sure, to be fair.

Thank you so much Nolhan. I am glad that you appreciate my efforts to reveal the elegant design of the Red Special. 💜😀👍🏻

Thanks for your supportive feedback Jon. 💜🙏🏻

This is one way. Injection moulding is another. #AskGrogu.

Thanks Brad. 💜🙏🏻

I explain in the video that it is 2 degrees from tenon to main section and 5 degrees from main section to headstock yielding a total angle from tenon to headstock of 7 degrees.

Ohhhh thank you

No problem. On reflection, I might not have explicitly stated that the main neck angle from the body is accepted to be 2 degrees but I do discuss this so review that section of the video again. 👍🏻

I see what you mean.

Don't take what I have presented in this video literally. It addresses an urban myth regarding drawing around pieces of a dinner service which is plausible I suppose, and illustrates general manual sketching and draughting techniques of the era that they are likely to have deployed.

There are numerous valid methods for securing the wound coil and it's certainly worth trying your suggestion. The vintage coil I show looks like it has been immobilised using a similar method, possibly with lacquer due to its age, not a modern low viscosity cyanoacrylate adhesive. My aim in this video and several others was to discuss the characteristics of the item(s) I'm presenting then provide some 'bonus content' where I attempt to reproduce the item (pickups, treble booster, guitar components, etc.) I don't always aim to replicate items exactly or authentically because this philosophy is very labour intensive and I try to pitch my videos at general audiences, not knowledgeable Brian May enthusiasts. 👍🏻😀

Got it.

I'm pleased that you appreciate it. 😀👍🏻

Thanks Colin. 💜🙏🏻 The Jeanrenaud switch reverse engineering and remake project was one of the most challenging projects I have taken on.

No. I recommend watching my longer video on this issue: th-cam.com/video/_fziCh_NRuA/w-d-xo.html

Scott is that good. 🤘🏻😀

@@dsgb Yes thank you so much for posting this. Queen is my favorite band of all.

Sorry for my bad English

Firstly, it's well understood that you can't set intonation *perfectly* across the entire fretboard on any guitar unless you fit true temperament frets which looks strange and the benefit is probably outweighed by the extra effort. Since there are limited bridge roller slots on a Red Special, achieving proper intonation is a bit more of a compromise than guitars with adjustable bridge saddles. However, good intonation is still possible. I haven't heard anybody with an authentic Red Special complain about this limitation and I haven't had any issues personally.

No problem, I understand you but you could try using an online spellchecker to help. 😀👍🏻

@@dsgb thanks for helping me

Thanks. 🙏🏻 I'm pleased that you enjoyed the video. I don't know exactly what Brian did, possibly just cleaned out the fret slots after lacquering. Cutting the slots after lacquering would likely crack the lacquer. Another possibility is that he put some sort of soft wax in the slots then removed it after lacquering by scraping out and swabbing with white spirit.

I don't know either but my best judgement is that the arrangement Brian chose is more secure in the underlying wood and threaded machine screws permit a more precise alignment of the roller bridge pieces. I can foresee challenges getting wood screws precisely inserted even with careful pilot drilling. A straightforward option to achieve the same secure and precise fit and avoid inserting six separate threaded inserts is to drill and tap six threaded holes in a section of thick (say 3-5 mm) brass bar and screw the brass bar into a rebate routed out of the top of the guitar body so that it is flush.

@@dsgb thanks

@@dsgbdo you have any blueprint on the shaft extenders

Yes. I designed them myself and the dimensions are customised to my Red Special.

That's news to me. The Red Special is a challenging guitar to replicate to an affordable budget £2,000-3,000 (US$2,500-3,500). If the rumours are true and Brian May Guitars are handing over responsibility for producing authentic replicas to Gibson, I am sceptical that they will be able to bring a Red Special Super to market within design, construction and aesthetic compromises/constraints that will be acceptable to discerning Brian May enthusiasts who are willing to pay that kind of money. Especially so given that a market leader such as Gibson are likely to want a significant percentage cut of sales. The most appropriate way to do it is with a two piece routed mahogany body with a 4-5 mm thick 'lid' and a set neck. This tends to result in a noticeably heavier instrument than one constructed from engineered timber construction board with oak inserts. A good option in my view would be to retail a replica guitar with correct basic elements (body and pickguard shapes, neck dimensions and body/neck timber colour) but with simplified and cheaper hardware that can be easily customised/upgraded using aftermarket or DIY components to suit more discerning enthusiasts.

Agreed. It pains me to think of all those rich discussions and nuggets that Nigel threw to us like crumbs from a rich man's table being lost to the digital graveyard of expired websites. 😟 They're already difficult enough to access and often I can only find information I remember reading or posting myself after trawling pages of forum posts returned by a specific keyword search.

Hi Tom. I got the feeling that some people just wanted to fit a KAT RS Superpot because it's the latest innovation that Brian has, without properly considering all the benefits and drawbacks. Also, people are asking me (some random guy off the internet) questions that they should be directing at the OEM, vendor and expert, Nigel Knight!

Hi Thomas. Thanks for the kind words as always and for chipping in with useful insights. 💜😀 l became a bit concerned that some people who were asking me about fitting a KAT RS Superpot weren't completely sure of what was involved in the modification and hadn't fully appreciated the benefit of retaining the treble cut circuit. I don't play through my Deacy enough but whenever I do, I feel compelled to dull treble from its output. When you piece together the information about Brian preferring to use a depleted battery and recording with a coat or blanket over it, it points to him trying anything possible to cut treble to emulate violin/cello tones. The KAT RS Superpot is a nifty idea that has been around for a while: geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm But I don't need or desire a more progressive transition from clean to overdriven tones. All the best. Doug

I'm not aware of any changes. I suggest asking the vendor, Nigel Knight of Knight Audio Technologies (KAT) directly. Perhaps Nigel just revised the drawing to correct an error. I recommend reading this article written in 1999 by R. G. Keen which covers the theory behind emulating log/audio tapers. geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm

Thanks Nolhan. That's useful feedback. 👍🏻😀

No.

@@dsgb do i have to remove the tone pot or can i keep It?

You can retain the treble cut tone controls but you will need to mount the tone capacitor somewhere else.

That good to know. I don't intend to fit mine to the guitar featured in this video. I might fit it to my upgraded Burns Special in future.

Fantastic feedback. As you recognise, understanding the quirks and features of Brian's original Red Special provides a sound basis for both accurate reproduction and heavy customisation. Although I guess that I'm a purist, I enjoy seeing original design guitars whose creators have been inspired by The Red Special. 😀

@@dsgb Absolutely. One could say that the wise would read the rulebook before throwing it out, as opposed to those that ignore historic background and claim authentic value anyway. The difference between working from a basis of knowledge and one that actively rejects it. I wrote a blog many years ago about the Red Special, questioning many of the assumptions that are made, for example the blockboard, and quantifying exactly what authentic value is contained by following that to the letter, and what one might expect from making choices that differ, and quantifying that which one has no control over, eg. 200yr-old trade woods. The differences between blockboard then and blockboard now, what it actually is and whether alternatives such as solid softwoods would provide the same contribution beyond the mental hurdle and limited visual aspect. Unsurprisingly, resistance of often found in the most reasoned of ideas when dealing with subjects of an "authentic" nature! We're very silly people.

A number of U.K. enthusiasts have believed for a while that you can strap a set of Adeson BM specification Tri-Sonic pickups to a broom, string it up and play it through Brian's rig and it would sound close. We ran a 14 guitar blind test at the 2018 U.K. meetup and very few seasoned amateur experts could pick out one Red Special over another (my converted Strat and a Gibson Les Paul included).

@@dsgb Ahhhh....but did you have a control broom? ;-) It is abundantly obvious that there is no one singular reference point given that the actual Red Special has changed over the years, including in age through use. What we hear as a recorded tone is never direct, and subject to its own interpretation. I enjoy that we have have a variety of subtleties in our instruments that are somewhat in the orbit of a nebulous "one", and that we should lean into those idiosyncracies and variations, especially when there is no absolute definition of 100% correct. I'd love to attend a meetup one year should I be able to. My RS Firebird and proposed Navy/gold RS schemed to match the cover of Greatest Hits II would be great to have critiqued by "the ears" at least for their unique interpretations upon the baseline!

Unfortunately, Mallers didn't bring Brian's control broom in 2018. We're still waiting and hoping it will return after the 2011 meetup appearance. ☺️ It would be good to see you at one, in the U.K. or U.S.A. 👍🏻😀

Thanks again! 😎

They have a Facebook page. Send them a message and suggest it. 👍🏻😀

I don't sell plans or make my 3D CAD files available to download if an official product already exists. In this case it does. You can buy Deacy amplifier cabinet kits from Knight Audio Technologies (KAT) when they are in stock: deacyamp.com/products/kat-kit-deacy-amp-cabinet-kit

@@dsgb They dont have them anymore. Permanently "sold out" .

That was the situation when I made my cabinet but Nigel eventually reintroduced them to stock. You could produce your own plans quite easily in Fusion360; the cabinet design is relatively straightforward. Another option is to find a suitable vintage loudspeaker cabinet from shops or internet auction sites then customise it.

@@dsgb Impossible if I dont have the dimensions.

I mention the key dimensions in this video that you are commenting on starting at time index 00:29. 🤔 That should be more than sufficient for anybody to create working drawings from. 👍🏻

Unless you can find stores which sell NOS (new old stock) or recovered vintage electronics equipment, the original Jeanrenaud switches fitted to the Red Special are extremely difficult to find retail. As is the way in a capitalist society, people who trade in vintage audio and vintage electronics can research items that are in demand by niche enthusiast groups and charge high prices for what were originally low cost components. This is why it is more satisfying to make your own. You can use any suitable panel mounted DPDT switch. Toggle switches are popular for example. The push-to-make push-to-break PCB mounted microswitches on the Guyton RS Transporter that I used on my Stratocaster conversion are very intuitive: dsgb.net/projects/maycaster/part8/ Different switches will not influence the sound but should always be make-before-break to avoid generating circuit noise during actuation. Although modern Tri-Sonic pickups are potted to reduce microphonic feedback, they can still pick up mechanical actuation noise.

I didn't measure the pickups on this video, only my home made coil. The standard retail sets made by BHK do not have the Brian May modifications or have the specific DC resistance and inductance values that Adeson "original BM" pickups do. This makes the distinctive N+M out of phase 'scream' heard in Bohemian Rhapsody difficult to achieve. The tones from the other combinations are close to, but less distinctively Queen in my opinion. One of the BHK Tri-Sonic bridge pickups I tested coincidentally has a similar DC resistance and inductance to an Adeson "original BM" neck pickup. dsgb.net/faqs/trisonics/ Look out for a video later this year in which I will fully characterise several different types of pickup (PAF humbucker, Strat single coil, mini Tri-Sonic, BM Tri-Sonic) across the entire 10 Hz to 30 kHz audio spectrum using a PicoScope PC driven oscilloscope and exciter coil setup.

@@dsgb Thanks for the reply and the info. Very interesting indeed!

Thank you so much for your supportive comments and I'm pleased that you liked watching this video. 🙏🏻💜 A lot of my motivation arises from trying to learn new skills and improve existing ones which includes video production of course. However, the unfortunate reality for many niche enthusiast communities (particularly automotive and vintage audio) is that some people have to take on reverse engineering, designing and small volume manufacturing obsolete components or existing parts with original design compromises or flaws. Regards. Doug

Thank you so much. 😀🙏🏻💜

That is an extract from the studio recording made in 1975 so it would be difficult to obtain that information. However, Brian records the Deacy at Allerton Hill by positioning a studio quality microphone (e.g. Shure) close to the baffle in front of the low frequency driver (woofer). You might be interested in reading this: deacyamp.com/blogs/news/brian-mays-deacy-amp-plinth

@@dsgb ohh , I thought you recorded that , are you sure that is the Deacy speaker? Sounds a lot bigger than the other takes and with a resonance I can't hear on the other takes

@@dsgb I wrote a reply but it seems to have disappeared. My comment is that the take I mentioned sounds very different from the other takes , and seems to have a resonance not present on the other takes. Sounds to me like a bigger speaker. Thinking you recorded that , I was curious to know what was used in that specific take. Maybe Brian used the Deacy amp with a bigger speaker? Seems we'll never know. Cheers !

I choose to review and approve all comments before publishing them which is why your earlier comment 'disappeared'. I downloaded the Queen studio stems from an internet site so I can't vouch for their authenticity to the original recording. Isolated tracks will sound different than in the mix.

You can use any type of magnet you want; but it will affect the output. However, the magnets in Tri-Sonic pickups are vintage ferrite ceramic similar to Alnico 2.

You have previously asked me this in the comments section of another of my videos Matthew. The answer is still no. 👍🏻😀 I have updated my channel guidelines to reflect this. See also the answer to FAQ question 2 on my website: dsgb.net/faqs/

I don't know.

@@dsgb found a new channel under a different name, but it inly has a few new videos. The archive of tutorials from basix4 are nowwhere to be found as far as I can tell 😢

O.k. Thanks for letting me know. Please comment the new channel name so others can find it. 👍🏻 Let's hope that Matt rectifies this situation at some point.

@@dsgb No problem, and yeah the channel I found is under "Queen Guitar Vids" (Queenguitarvids) he has a few videos uploaded mostly on brighton rock, and yeah I also hope he reuploads his other videos sometime

Gracias señor. 🙏🏻💜

I assume that you meant "Forstner" drill. I needed to remove the old dots and drill the existing holes deeper so the job was a bit more involved than just a straightforward remove and replace, that's why I chose to re-run the CNC toolpath. 👍🏻😀

Hmm. You may have a valid point there. 😏

Hi Adam. Yes, I did consider avoiding all the alignment faff and just drilling the dots out manually using my drill press. However, I thought it would be more of a challenge and, if it worked out o.k., make an interesting video. 👍🏻😀

Thanks for chipping in. It's sound general advice rooted in physical science principles. Some species are relatively impervious to water such as ebony. Of course, several factors such grain orientation, structure and damage from cutting or abrasion will influence water take up. Please bear in mind that I pitch my videos to a general audience including people with a primarily musical or artistic background and try to edit them so that they have some pure entertainment value, rather than being informative or instructional. 👍🏻😀